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My Interesting Tales page has old front page items. Dated but still interesting.



























Towns Along the Way
An index of some towns near trails and parks that I've described.

Rails to trails: A discussion of historical connections to old railbeds

Study of Gneiss Rock, Glenfinlas, 1853, Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, England. Pen and Ink and wash with Chinese ink on
paper. Photo: From John Ruskin Wikopedia page.


The U.S. government is cutting off its nose to spite its face, as my mum used to say.

Here's a piece from the Knoxville Daily Sun describing cutbacks to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The insane push to save government dollars will kill a thriving tourist industry and deprive millions of Americans of a cheap and healthy way to relax. It's happening all across the States and it's devastating parks.


Photo: from Flickr.com. I'm off to the Appalachians in June, when I'll
get my own picture of the sign!

Here in Canada, the federal government and the Ontario provincial government (and likely other provinces) are slashing programs too. It's somewhat more muted than the American version, but it's slow and steady and it's eroding our parks and natural spaces. (See this Globe and Mail report for federal park cuts; this Toronto Star article for Ontario park cuts.) Same end effect: a nasty jab at affordable recreation for the middle and lower classes, a devastating kick at the livelihood of tourist operators, and the elimination of hundreds of research programs, youth programs and the like to generally lower our standard of living. False thrift.


Know your poisonous plants

I got a tip from a volunteer at Yosemite Park in California (an awesome park, by the way, with the Pacific Crest Trail cutting through it) referring to a site giving good information on poisonous plants. The link is here. I'll build a more comprehensive page as time allows that will expand on this information. Meanwhile, click on my "Plants-Animals" list in the links to the left to see the rough beginnings of the page. Thanks for the tip, Rachel.


The Art of Walking: A conference will be held at the the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, October 10-12, 2013. It looks like the window for submitting papers is over (April 15, 2015), but the conference could be interesting if you're academically minded. In fact, the above link to a "Walking and Art" blog has some interesting reflections. The conference will feature  papers that "engage the conceptual, cultural, textual, and visual dimensions of walking."

Vanderwater Park, near Thomasburg, Ontario is my "home park." This ice and water pictorial essay of a little seasonal falls and creek that flows in the park, eventually pouring into the Moira River, describes one of my favourite haunts.



Here are my January 2013 chronicles of the O'Hara Mill Homestead and Conservation Area, near Madoc Ontario. It has some fine trails with lots of loops so you can take on as little or as much as you like, from an easy half-hour walk to a full afternoon of hiking.






The Visitor Centre at O'Hara Mill Homestead and Conservation Area

Stephen Gough is trudging across Britain as we speak. He has spent an incredible amount of time in prison for his efforts, but continues his hobby with passion. See this March 13, 2013 National Post article for details.   In February, 2013, the courts ordered him to cover up, but  if the past is anything to go by, he won't abide.

Prudery, attention-getting, psycological warts and so on aside, it's more about the right to be eccentric. The Brits, of all nations are experts at that.


Naked hiking in Vermont.  Watch out for the poison ivy!
Photo from a Vermont "Freehiking" organization.

June 21, 2013 is apparently Naked Hiking Day (it's on the solstice). Get planning.

Some years ago, the Canadian Federation of Podiatric Medicine, declared Vancouver the best Canadian walking city. (By the way, the CFPM site is pretty cool if you're looking for advice on foot care.) Second was Fredericton, followed by Nanaimo, Brantford and Peterborough. A CNW article (which looks like it's actually a CFPN news release) provides more information, including a list of the top 15 cities. Westjet airlines has a 2010 list that's interesting, although a  check of where the judges live indicates some bias in city choices.

 

Texting and walking -- not a good idea.
2012: Here's a CBC report on texting and walking. Some U.S. states are considering a ban on texting or listening to music while walking. Recently, after a decline, there's been an increase in  deaths while walking. Some say this is because of inattentive walkers, listening to music or texting while walking. CBC filed a report from New York.

In Fort Lee, New Jersey, cops are Handing out $85 tickets for texting and walking. You are warned: in Fort Lee, just walk and chew your gum. Stop at a bar for a couple of beer before texting.
 

Time to walk faster. An article in the Post Chronicle discusses a study in which it claims older people who walk slowly will die earlier than those of the same age who walk faster. A report last year (2012) links slower walking with the greater chance of getting dementia in later years.

On the other hand, some claim that walking slower burns more calories. Be careful here: an often-cited University of Colorado report by Ray Browning actually makes a more subtle point, which is that obese people, who may like walking at a more leisurely pace will make more strides within a weight-loss management program than if they push themselves.

The Human Body is Built for Distance Check out this  New York Times article. It's mostly about running, but there are arguments here for walkers to ponder.

I like the pitch for lower tech footwear. I'm testing out a very light pair of Vibram Five Fingers now (March 2013).  It's too early to tell, but I think at the very least they'll make a light second piece of footwear for fording creeks and sitting around a camp in the evening giving my boots a rest.

Walter Benjamin, in One-Way Street (1923-26):
 

"The power of a country road when one is walking along it is different from the power it has when one is flying over it by airplane. In the same way, the power of a text when it is read is different from the power it has when it is copied out.

"The airplane passenger sees only how the road pushes through the landscape, how it unfolds according to the same laws as the terrain surrounding it. Only he who walks the road on foot learns the power it commands, and of how, from the very scenery that for the flier is only the unfurled plain, it calls forth distances, belvederes, clearings, prospects at each of its turns like a commander deploying soldiers at a front. Only the copied text thus commands the soul to him who is occupied with it, whereas the mere reader never discovers new aspects of his inner self that are opened by the text, that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it: because the reader follows the movement of his mind in the free flight of daydreaming, whereas the copier submits it to command. The Chinese practice of copying books was thus an incomparable guarantee of literary culture, and the transcript a key to China's enigmas."

I am walking; it is enough.
 

What's a site if no one views it? I have to accept that  this enterprise involves a dose of indulgence. My writings, like Benjamin's copied texts are a discovery of "new aspects of [my] inner self, ... that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it."

My graphically challenged site has no sophisticated wizardry to propel it to the top of search engine lists. Like my walks, I'm generally happy meandering the cyber backwaters. 

            Appalachian Trail, Maine.
            November, 2008