For All Trailkind

 A new organization is out there and seems to be in place to promote responsible trail use.  The mantra is:

"No matter our differences in backgrounds or how we choose to enjoy the great outdoors, trails create common ground that connects us. Access to trails is a privilege we acknowledge and can only safeguard through our actions toward one another. Treating each other with kindness in how we share the trails and interact with each other is more important than it has ever been. Everyone deserves to pursue happiness in nature. Let’s rise together to ensure a positive trail experience for all."

It makes sense, since trails are a shared resource.

Trail conflict is nothing new, and recreation geographers have studied the issue for decades. See for example: 

Jacob, G. R., & Schreyer, R. (1980). Conflict in outdoor recreation: A theoretical perspective. Journal of leisure research, 12(4), 368-380.  You can fetch it from UVM.

So read this on a rainy day, but for now, got out and embrace a trail.  Me?  will head out shortly with my hiking companion to do the same.

https://hiking.org/

 Discovered this webpage this morning looking for something else.  Lots of great illustrations and ideas for hiking.  It seems to be in the brainstorming stage, so that is why I am noting it here on this blog.  

I wish Frits Ahlefeldt the best of luck on this ambitious project.  

In the meantime, here is a hiking movie from Richardson Brook (Massachusetts).

So, take a hike this weekend.

Herding 6,000 Volunteers

 Looks like you can read this chapter on Google Books!

The citation:

Bristow, R. S. (forthcoming 2022). Herding 6,000 Volunteers.  Chapter 9 in Holmes, K., L. Lockstone-Binney, K. Smith & R. Shipway (eds.) Handbook of Volunteering in Events, Sport and Tourism. Routledge.

Details on the book are found here.

Here is an AT pic to wet your appetite.

 

Trail Building Research Survey

 From the American Hiking Society:

Trail Building Research Survey 

You are invited to participate in a research study on trail use and trail building practices as they relate to stewardship ideology, sense of place, and community identity. Researchers from the University of Maryland are reaching out to folks with interest in trails—which is you of course. Your participation will help them develop a more participatory and nuanced understanding of trails and trail work in the United States and elsewhere. Participation involves completing a 15-minute long, anonymous survey.

https://umdsurvey.umd.edu/jfe/form/SV_3kOJAxYAFgAMOOy?Q_CHL=email

 

Zero Days on the AT

 With "hikers revenge", I spent 3 days at Father Charles' Catholic Church in Pearisburg.  I got on a tangent yesterday about a recent book on the AT, so I want to return to the subject of the hostel.

So far on this 1974 trip I had spent 8 nights in trail towns (Wesser, Hot Springs, Elk Park, Damascus and now Pearisburg).  Town stops were outside my budget so a free hostel was greatly appreciated.  Today, hikers do frequent zeros in towns in a variety of lodgings and this can rack up some serious money, especially when you consider the price of backpacking.

Anyway, recovering from my tummy problem, I had a chance to meet some great people.  We played volley ball, made some jam and other untypical hiker activities.  All in all it was an emotional (and physical) up and down kind of experience; but one that is part of the AT experience.  (this is my ending thoughts on the AT Biography book I wrote about yesterday; the author can not really write about the AT without these experiences.  Even Bryson spent a couple weeks (or maybe  a month or two) on the trail).

So in these blog entries I summarize my trip some decades later AFTER I have reflected and relived the trip.  Oh yeah Pearisburg from the AT.

Hiking Research at NCSU

Found at HikingResearch.COM and redirected to http://hikingresearch.wordpress.com/ this is an interesting site for some research being conducted by a doctoral student at North Carolina State University. I know his supervisor is Dr. Roger Moore, but unfortunately the student doesn't post his name on the blog.

Check it out, since it seems to have some promise.