And he asks, “Do you know of a fantastic hike that is not yet listed on this site?”

CHOOSE FROM THOUSANDS OF TRAILS

     PEAK TO PEAK is a gem, listing “hiking, backpacking, trail and wilderness” websites in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa – and, I swear, they’ve got Greenland hiking too, which strikes me as a highly braggable expedition. PEAK TO PEAK also has clubs, gear, safety, rescue, and more.

http://www.peaktopeak.net/

     LOCAL HIKES.COM first lists hiking areas near U.S. cities. Just scroll down the website to your city. For hikes AWAY from metropolitan areas, scroll down to the last item, “ZZ – Outside Metro Area (664 hikes).”

http://localhikes.com/

     Hike the APPALACHIAN TRAIL:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH
/b.715465/k.9731/Hike_The_Trail.htm

     Hike the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL: The Appalachian Trail used to be the gold standard: If you’ve hiked the whole Appalachian Trail, which extends from Maine to Tennessee, you are a brilliantly successful, gold medal hiker. But now a new gold standard is opening up: the CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL. Its website says, “The vision for the CDT is a 3,100-mile primitive and challenging backcountry trail from Canada to Mexico along the backbone of America. Approximately 70% of the Trail is usable. However, many of those miles are in desperate need of repair, rerouting for sustainability, or removed from roads and motorized trails.”

http://www.cdtrail.org/page.php

     If you want to hike some of the usable portions of the Continental Divide Trail, amid rugged, majestic scenery, come here for information:

http://www.trails.com/continental-divide-trail.htm

     SLACKPACKER gives you good, free information about North American hiking trails. And not just that. They cover things I never heard of, such as "bouldering," and "peakbagging." Find their U.S. information here:

http://www.slackpacker.com/

     Canadian Hiking Trails: SLACKPACKER.COM says, "Hiking enthusiasts like you have created excellent web pages on hiking trails in Canada -- then posted those pages on free web servers -- only to be ignored by search engines. The purpose of this site is to provide a way to find these personal hiking pages, and make your research easier."

http://www.slackpacker.com/map_canada.html

DEALS ON HIKING, CAMPING EQUIPMENT

     MIKE is “scouring the web for bargains on outdoor, camping and hiking gear for you and your pets (yes, I’m a dog-owner myself).” A very useful site, particularly if you’re looking for hiking boots for your dog. You think I’m kidding? I am NOT. Check it out for yourself.

http://www.hikerdeals.com/

     LIGHT BACKPACKING, that is, backpacking with ultra light equipment, is a field unto itself. BRUCE LEWIS, a senior backpacker, has a blog dedicated to the subject, though he figures that he’s now entitled to a few little lightweight luxuries on his hikes.

http://lightbackpacking.com/

TRAIL JOURNALS

     TRAIL JOURNALS offers a great service to hikers: you can publish your trail journals on this site. It’s also a service to readers and hikers-to-be, as you can read journals of current hikers on many different trails (Appalachian, Grand Enchantment, Israel, and something called the Ice Age Trail, which turned out to be a 1,000 mile footpath in Wisconsin).

http://www.trailjournals.com/

STUCK IN TOWN?

     This site allows you to fall asleep to peaceful forest sounds:

http://www.lime.com/files/meditation_room/forest_loader.html