A new study found that expert hikers (those with 4 or more years of hiking experience) have an easier time identifying and recalling visual functional information about those hikes than their more greenhorn trail companions.
In an interesting study, both groups were shown various outdoor scenes from a trail, and told to imagine they were progressing on a hike. After being distracted with an unrelated activity, the subjects were shown the images again. While both groups had trouble remembering those beautiful, sweeping landscape shots we all take on the trail, the more seasoned hikers were better able to remember and organize images that gave actual information about a hike - a muddy trail crossing, slippery talus, etc.
This got me thinking — since I’ve started hiking, my memory — at least for trail-related activities — has vastly improved. I can pretty much narrate the entire route of the Mishe Mokwa Trail from heart, and I find I have a much easier time visualizing a map in my mind in 3-D, for instance, which I’d never really thought about before I read this study.
So what about you? Has hiking improved your memory, or do you still get lost on your favorite footpaths? And what kinds of images will draw you to a specific hike?
Via Cognitive Daily.
The National Park Service has updated and upgraded the maps on individual parks’ web sites.
They’re basically high-res scans of those Park maps they hand out at Visitors’ Centers — so while they’re not really suitable for hiking, they are great at getting an overview of a specific area you’re planning on visiting … and will at least show you which trails are most likely to be crowded.
There’s a small green rectangular button beneath the banner image on each park, which will fire up the streaming, zoomable flash map. Previously, clicking on any map link on an NPS page would open up a PDF map, which would either display the same information or take down your entire computer with a browser crash.
So yeah, these flash maps are a marked improvement.
Via National Parks Traveler.
I’m proud to announce the grand return of the Modern Trail Map!
View Larger Map
This is a home-grown Google Map with hiking information in Los Angeles and Southern California. Every trail I’ve written up for the site is accompanied by a pin, color-coded by difficulty. Clicking on a pin will give you a thumbnail image and short description, and a link to the in-depth review.
This is a great way to get a visual idea of where these trails are in relation to you, and will hopefully be a helpful resource for planning your next hiking trip.
You can use the in-line map in this post, or get a larger version at the Modern Trail Map tab at the top of the page.
Enjoy!
Yesterday, a massive group of surfers, campers and environmentalists flooded a public hearing on a proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park.
The 3500+ person crowd rallied against the 6-lane toll road, which would have taken 320 acres of the park’s land, including sections of a protected marine estuary. In that rare instance of good news, the rabble managed to convince the county commissioners to vote down the toll road, 8 to 2.
The formerly semi-green Governor Schwarzenegger, who has also proposed cutting back the lifeguards at San Onofre, came out in favor of the trans-wilderness freeway last month.
Via LAist.
Lonely Bench in Forest, originally posted by Eszter
A new study finds Americans are getting into the Great Outdoors 25% less than they did in 1987, with the decline continuing at about 1% every year.
The study measured attendance to National Parks, hiking and camping permits, and getting a license to hunt or fish, and say a new national epidemic of “videophilia” - a focus on “sedentary activities involving electronic media,” may be to blame.
Although the folks at the GOBlog take this to humorous heart, I can’t imagine it’s the primary cause of this decline.
I’m a gamer, myself, and I got into the Outdoors on my own accord well after I’d already been indoctrinated into the joy of various-bit gaming systems. We gamers have had our pasttime blamed for everything from obesity to school shootings to the Downfall of Civilization, itself, so I’m not surprised that they’re also being blamed for keeping kids indoors.
There’s probably a laundry list of reasons why people don’t get outdoors as much anymore - but I’d say that the media’s sensationalizing of the Dangers of Nature does more damage than video games and Google ever will. You’ll catch a cold if you go outside. Or maybe even the plague. Or you’ll get a tick and catch Lyme disease. Or you’ll get mauled by a mountain lion. Or eaten by a bear. Or murdered. What parent wouldn’t want their kids staying in the living room with all that Evil out in the woods?
Maybe what we really need is to stop attacking straw men and start reintroducing the appreciation of the Great Outdoors into our educational curriculum. Teach more environmental science. Show kids how important it is to preserve wilderness in their own communities. Teach about the history of the National Park System - a revolutionary idea that grew up right here in the good ol’ US of A. Show students how survival skills serve both a practical and emotional utility.
Oh, and let’s show them adults value the outdoors by not dumping trash all over it, shooting soot into the air, or closing down a fifth of your state’s parks.
A newly-designated trail near the West Entrance, this loop encompasses parts of the North View, Maze, and Window Rock trails. A fantastic route that winds through large boulder formations, desert washes, slot canyons, and Joshua Tree forests, this path encompasses just about everything people love about Joshua Tree in one lightly-traveled trail. Highly recommended.
Continue reading ‘Hiking The Maze’
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