Tag Archives: hiking

Toronto Waterfront, Leslie Spit, Cherry Beach

It was over 90 degrees in July, and with the humidity, that temperature had the effect of 104 degrees, but starting at 2 PM, I hiked from Yonge and St. Clair to the waterfront and then on to Cherry Beach and the Leslie Spit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Then I hiked back to where I started on Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue. (Yonge is the longest municipal street in Canada.) Click on the photos:

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Hiking Photos from Bruce Trail and Grand Canyon

Here are a few of the photos I took on my hikes in Arizona and Ontario. I use a small Japanese-made Minolta.

I took the Arizona shot on the Tanner Trail in the Grand Canyon and the Ontario shots on the Beaver Valley and Sydenham sections of the Bruce Trail (Maps 28 and 29 of the Bruce Trail Reference: Edition 25), about 10 km south of Meaford, Ontario. (Did you know that John Muir once lived in Meaford?). Compared to Arizona, the Bruce Trail does not present large elevation changes, but its moss-covered rocks and boulders are extremely slippery.

I have images from other areas in the Grand Canyon and on the Bruce Trail mixed into the slideshow.

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Flat Feet and Arch Supports

Maybe you visited your doctor after taking up running, and the doctor told you that your feet hurt because your arches fell. In other words, you have flat feet. Well the chances are that it’s your shoes, not your flat arches, that are causing the pain. The arch supports hurt your feet: You do not want humongous arch supports. You want shoes that are built with very mild (low) arch supports.

Both New Balance and Vasque make athletic shoes that fit flat feet and wide feet. Vasque even says that their Perpetuum last is “comfortable for people with flatter feet.”

So don’t quit running, walking, and hiking. Just buy the right shoes!

The Grand Canyon State: Arizona Set to Close and Sell State Parks?

The world flies in and takes a long look at Arizona, the Grand Canyon State (see our Photo Gallery, our Arizona Gallery, and our Grand Canyon Trails Page). And soon after arriving in Phoenix, they fall in love with all the other gems Arizona has to offer: preserved yet accessible desert wilderness areas and wildlife refuges, such as the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction.

But now Arizona’s lawmakers are preparing to vote on budget cuts that could shut down the entire state parks system by July 1. And that vote in January 2010 might result in the sale of state parks to the highest bidders. That’s right: I’m hearing that once an Arizona state park is closed, it must be sold: Land speculators and developers will mutilate our public gems, our community wilderness. They will restrict access, and Lost Dutchman State Park will become a gated community or a private suburb, with lot and house prices starting at $700,000 or more.

Here’s a group of hikers who will show you how to protest the closure of Arizona’s state parks: visit the Take a Hike message board and web site.

Also see Petition to Save Arizona’s State Parks

BPA-free Biodegradable Plastic Bottles

We hear about how plastic bottles are filling our landfills and oceans, but bottled water manufacturers and consumers can solve this problem. We do have biodegradable choices, and biodegradable plastic may cost us a little more in the short term, but I’m sure the costs will fall in the future, as our health and our planet’s health improve.

See www.biogreenbottles.com and BioGreen Biodegradable BPA-Free Sport Bottle with Wide Mouth DuoFlow Lid (26-Ounce). These bottles are BPA, DEHA and DEHP Free, and they are made in the USA.

Tell the bottled water industry that we insist on safe biodegradable plastic.

Also see the post Avoiding BPA in Plastic.

Hiking in Ice and Snow in the Grand Canyon

On Friday December 11, 2009, I phoned the equipment rentals desk in the Grand Canyon’s South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace), which is located in the Market Plaza, Grand Canyon Village. Arizona’s north country had a huge snowfall last week, and I was wondering about trail conditions.

The employee at the equipment rental desk said the snow extends down 3300 feet below the South Rim, with ice covering the last few hundred feet (of the 3300 total). He said that the snow can be knee deep in spots on the maintained trails and that he would take poles and crampons on hikes. (He went on to say that the the non-maintained Grandview and Tanner trails require snowshoes: the snow is over seven feet deep in some areas.)

You can buy crampons and Stabilicers at the South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace), or at Babbitt’s in Flagstaff, or you can rent crampons from the Tempe REI (in the Phoenix area).

UPDATE: Ice and snow derailed the Grand Canyon train, but everyone survived without injury.

JANUARY 2010 UPDATE: A friend told us the Grand Canyon’s South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace) was sold out of crampons on Dec. 30, 2009. The Grand Canyon had fresh snow on Dec. 30 (and some of the roads were closed that day), but when we hiked the Bright Angel Trail on January 1, 2010, the snow did not reach all the way down to Indian Garden, which is located about halfway to the Colorado River.

Hiking and Trail Etiquette

If you join a hiking group you will, of course, meet people from a variety of places and backgrounds. And you will usually meet them early in the morning and then carpool to the trailhead, which is fine when your fellow passengers are courteous enough to refrain from riding along when they have bad colds or bacterial bronchitis. The morning doesn’t seem quite right when the stranger in the backseat shakes your hand, coughs repeatedly, talks about the antibiotics he’s taking and about how his live-in girlfriend died last month after a very prolonged illness that required multiple hospitalizations, how he is looking for a job because he has spent his savings after buying a 2700-square-foot foreclosed home and because his dead girlfriend’s social security checks have stopped coming.

Then later, on the trail, when he keeps sliding on loose rock (you don’t want walk below him), you see that the soles on his 20-year-old hiking boots are worn smooth — there’s no tread.

Top Brands: Hiking Boots

[August 2010 Update: Last fall I bought a pair of Vasque Mantra hiking shoes on clearance at REI for $20. The Vasque Mantras are now my favorites, and I’ll keep on buying them (but if you have high arches the Vasque Breeze Low hiking shoes will probably fit you better). Last spring I bought a pair of North Face Hedgehog low-top waterproof hikers. I find that after 4 hours of hiking the Hedgehogs hurt my feet, especially where my foot meets my ankle. The Hedgehog tongues and metal eyelets seem poorly designed.]

A hiking acquaintance asked me, “A friend of mine just emailed and asked who else, other than Merrell, makes a sturdy hiking boot. Since you seemed to know all the brands, what would be your advice?”

I emailed her my answer:

Boots: I like Merrell, Danner, Vasque, and Columbia brands (and maybe Lowa).

I have found that Danner makes the sturdiest boots (which often weigh more than others), and hunters often say that Danners are the best. Lowas are made in Eastern Europe (rather than in China). Vasque makes quite a few light-weight models.

The REI-brand boots are made by Merrell and Vasque. So it seems that REI likes Merrell and Vasque. But one long-time REI employee says that he likes Lowa best (that they are “made in Slovakia, not China”).

One friend of mine wears only Montrail boots. Asolo makes sturdy boots, too. The sturdiest boots are made for backpacking (day hikers buy the lighter boots and shoes).

In summary, I like Merrell and Danner boots and I want to buy some Lowa boots. (And I like low-top Columbia hiking shoes for short hikes up and down hills and low peaks.)

Here is a link to all the various boots at Campmor (which is known for its very competitive prices): Hiking Boots at Campmor

Here is the link to Danner Boots: http://www.danner.com

And here is the link to Lowa: http://www.lowaboots.com/home/

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I also recommended the following products and services:

insulated sleeping pad: Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad

good pack cover (for rain); get the size thast fits your pack: Sea to Summit SN240 Ultra-Light Siliconized Cordura Pack Cover

extremely lightweight 2mm cord (buy 50 ft): http://www.rei.com/product/716685

REI equipment rentals: http://www.rei.com/stores/rentals.html

Don’t Forget the Duct Tape by Kristin Hostetter — how to repair your hiking and camping gear: Don’t Forget the Duct Tape: Tips & Tricks for Repairing & Maintaining Outdoor & Travel Gear (Don’t Series)

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