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wycanislatrans 
Group: Members
Posts: 2268
Joined: Nov. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 7:40 pm |
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We all love the big trips, but often in our daily lives we don't have the time or money to get away as often as we would like. Most people recreate in local parks and natural areas.
What is your favorite local site and activity? It doesn't have to be world-class, just a nice place you enjoy.
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| Post Number: 2
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tarol
Well I never!
Group: Members
Posts: 10298
Joined: Mar. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 7:48 pm |
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Well, for mountains the San Bernardino and San Gabriels are only 20 minutes away - that's where I was today! And where I work  For desert hikes Joshua Tree is about 2 hours away - and there are a few other places en route that are very much worth exploring - the backside of the San Bernardino Mountains where it meets the desert is awesome - very beautiful and diverse.
My favorite place to hike is the Eastern Sierra, and I can be in Lone Pine in 2.5 hours - so not too far ;)
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Got elevation? www.tarol.com
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| Post Number: 3
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13152
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 7:55 pm |
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Last couple of years, it's been Mistletoe state park. Walk in sites that are like backcountry on a huge great fishing lake.
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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| Post Number: 4
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SWest
Group: Members
Posts: 79
Joined: Dec. 2010
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 8:15 pm |
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My favorite place to get away is lower moro campground (Crystal Cove State Park) in Laguna Beach. Its a short but very steep hike up the bluff, but the view is phenomenal. There is something very soothing about watching the sunset over the ocean.
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| Post Number: 5
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21837
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 8:16 pm |
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We have a set of interconnecting rail trails that link to trail systems in several state parks, the combination of which spreads across much of NW NJ. I can reach it from a number of convenient trailheads, or best of all, walk to one of them from my house.
I also hike a lot on the AT and associated side trails in the Delaware Water Gap.
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| Post Number: 6
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GoBlueHiker
Obsessive Island Hopper...
Group: Members
Posts: 14069
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 8:18 pm |
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I get my "quick fixes" in one of the several wildernesses straddling the Continental Divide nearby: Indian Peaks, James Peak, Rocky Mountain or thereabouts. Works for me.
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Wealth needs more. Happiness needs less. Simplify.
www.RainForestTreks.com
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| Post Number: 7
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RumiDude
Group: Members
Posts: 13649
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 8:50 pm |
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Olympic National Park and surrounding Wilderness areas, USFS land, DNR land, state parks and recreation areas. I can drive to either Sol Duc or Whiskey Bend in about 15 miles, Lake Crescent in 7 miles, Lyre River, or Salt Creek areas in about 5 miles, etc. ONP is my favorite. If conditions allowed, I could be on the High Divide Trail with half hour drive and four hour hike. I love where I live.
Rumi
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“This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all.”
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| Post Number: 8
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hikerjer
Group: Members
Posts: 9144
Joined: Apr. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 9:26 pm |
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For me, it's the Absaroka-Beartooth Wildnerness Area with Yellowstone a somewhat distant second.
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"Too often I have met men who boast only of how many miles they've traveled and not of what they've seen." - Louis L'Amour
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| Post Number: 9
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swimswithtrout
Group: Members
Posts: 7236
Joined: Jan. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 10:29 pm |
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RMNP/Indian Peaks Wilderness/ Roosevelt NF is just 30-45 min away. Comanche Peaks Wilderness, Neota Flattops, and Rawah Wilderness are ~ 1 hr away.
But for the ultimate "Out the Door", instant get away, I can hop on my Mountain bike on the paved pedestrian City Trail 20 yds from my garage, pedal west for 20 min to the Foothills of The Rockies, and get to the closest TH to cobweb of natural surfaced aka "dirt" multi-user interlinked trails in our City Open Spaces, County Parks, State Parks and NF's with well over 100 mi of linked/shared access trails.
Three years ago when I was barely employed/ unemployed for 9 months, I logged nearly 5000 mi of MTB'ing just west of town this way.
Without that quick daily getaway, when I could barely afford gas money to get to an interview/ go job prospecting, I would have gone crazy !!
And the views weren't too bad either...
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Want to see The Wind River Range in widescreen 1080p ?
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| Post Number: 10
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Echo
Group: Members
Posts: 6380
Joined: May 2008
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 10:36 pm |
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When I lived in Cody, Chief Joseph highway to Beartooths and around that whole area, Cooke City, Bear Creek, Red Lodge was my favorite escape to place. Here it is a tie between coast and redwoods but Fern Canyon is Probably My Favorite.
Beartooths
fern Canyon
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If Light is in your heart, you will find your way Home. (Rumi)
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese proverb
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/
http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/
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| Post Number: 11
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Chuck D
Group: Members
Posts: 7360
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 10:51 pm |
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Where I was last weekend, when I need to get away from the rat race that is Houston this is the place, only about 90 minutes away.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/lake-somerville
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Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
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| Post Number: 12
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PanatomicX
Group: Members
Posts: 129
Joined: Jul. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 23 2013, 11:23 pm |
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Harriman/Bear Mountain SP. Not the Rockies, but about an hour away, with real pretty, surprisingly rugged trails.
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| Post Number: 13
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Tigger
Woods Pouncer
Group: Members
Posts: 10514
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 1:14 am |
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Currently, Three Sisters Wilderness which is 20 minutes to the trailhead.
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If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
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| Post Number: 14
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llamapacker
Group: Members
Posts: 659
Joined: Feb. 2010
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 1:30 am |
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The Pacific Ocean is one hour to the west and the Cascade Mountains are one hour to the east. There are countless things to do in between, but lately I've been very content in my heated shop. Right out my door there are about 4 miles of trails meandering through our community owned forest, never get tired of walking those.
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| Post Number: 15
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gunslinger
Group: Members
Posts: 6031
Joined: Mar. 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 6:23 am |
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For quick local trips where I need cell phone coverage it's the Chickamauga Battlefield.
As we're only 35 miles away, the wife and I spend a fair amount of time in the Cherokee and Chattahoochie National Forests and the Cohutta Wilderness area.
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For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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| Post Number: 16
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red dog
Elev 2,180'
Group: Members
Posts: 6635
Joined: Nov. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 7:26 am |
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That is a 'no-brainer' question for me
The entrance to Saguaro NP West is 5 miles from my driveway
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Arizona
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| Post Number: 17
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JimInMD
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 7:34 am |
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Harpers Ferry, WV is only about 45 minutes away and offers a few spectacular views and hikes. Gettysburg is under 2 hours for a daytrip, same with the grounds of Mount Vernon and Monticello, Antietam, Fort McHenry and a dozen smaller sites. The beaches at Ocean City, MD and Assateague Island also make nice day trips with plenty of miles to be walked. Finally I can always lose a Saturday roaming the Smithsonian museums, the monuments and the National Zoo.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 18
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Cloudwalker
?
Group: Members
Posts: 6711
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 8:02 am |
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Medoc Mountain State Park is my "go to" local area. It's only a 35 minute drive from my house in Eastern, NC. Medoc stands at a whopping 300 feet above sea level and has a 2 mile paddle trail along fishing creek and about 9 miles of hiking trails.
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| Post Number: 19
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retired reddog
"I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost
Group: Members
Posts: 1211
Joined: Jun. 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 8:49 am |
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Within a four and a half hour drive of me are Mt Rogers National Recreation Area, Linville Gorge, Pisgah National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Chattooga River when I have time for a weekend get away. If I only have a day then it's usually off to Congaree National Park to swat mosquitoes, count woodpeckers and spot wild pig.
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Good night Chesty, where ever you are!-(It's a Marine thing.)
“The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!”
General John Pershing, United States Army
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| Post Number: 20
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| Post Number: 21
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OldGuyWalkin
Group: Members
Posts: 158
Joined: Nov. 2012
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 9:55 am |
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I hate you all.
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| Post Number: 22
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zipposdad
Group: Members
Posts: 294
Joined: Feb. 2009
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 10:05 am |
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Manistee River Train in Michigans Lower Peninsula
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Teach your babies to camp 
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| Post Number: 23
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zipposdad
Group: Members
Posts: 294
Joined: Feb. 2009
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 10:06 am |
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OOops Manistee River TRAIL. The cat walked in front of the keyboard
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Teach your babies to camp
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| Post Number: 24
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| Post Number: 25
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CampinCarl
Group: Members
Posts: 248
Joined: May 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 10:40 am |
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Hands down- Silver Falls State Park, OR, 30 minutes away.
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"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." - John Muir
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| Post Number: 26
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TravisNWood
W Y O M I N G
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Posts: 14893
Joined: Apr. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 11:08 am |
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Nearly half of Wyoming (over 43%) is a patchwork of public land under various land managers. There are probably between a dozen and two dozen federal and state land managers in my area. They vary from national forests, national grasslands, national monuments, national parks, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, state parks, and so on.
It would not make much sense for me to name favorite land managers because in a crunch I go for hills with decent off-trail climbs. If I can get close to 2000 feet climb every week, that will generally get me by for a few days — with the other exercise I get during the week. I suppose that is roughly my criteria for "favorite."
So if I have "favorites," they are not so much land managers but rather those hills that afford me a passable workout for most of a week. And those hills and mountains can be scattered among the land managers across the area. So that is about as specific as I can really be if we are talking about an easy drive from home or even a walk out the back door.
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Location — Wyoming
Webpages — Cloud Peak Wilderness Maps — Rocky Mountain Wildlife
Photos — Bighorn Mountains — Wyoming Steppes
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| Post Number: 27
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RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9869
Joined: Jul. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 11:23 am |
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We are fortunate to live in an area with a lot of nearby open space. Probably my favorites within and hour are the Marin Headlands/Mt. Tam to the north and Huddart Park to the south. Give me up to 1.5 hours (the roads in the coastal mountains are slow--most of these places are less than 50 miles away) and I'll take Pt Reyes to the North, and Big Basin Redwoods to the south.
Most of my outings in recent times have been by bicycle, and since I'm road bike sort, are not actually in the parks. But the scenery on Highway 1 is not to be topped, north or south (well, actually when south of Half Moon Bay I use even smaller side roads that climb just enough into the hills to give incredible views).
My favorite is often just where we haven't been as much lately. For years we were out trailrunning every Sunday, and rotated through the parks/open space areas.
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Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at
The Ninja Librarian Blog
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| Post Number: 28
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Firedancer
Colorado Dreamin'
Group: Members
Posts: 4221
Joined: Sep. 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 11:27 am |
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Chicago isn't really known for hiking opportunities. I find myself just over the Wisconsin border at Kettle Moraine State Forest fairly often. Only an hour from my house, and more hills than we have south of the border.
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The future is no place to place your better days.
Dave Matthews
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| Post Number: 29
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EastieTrekker
Group: Members
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Joined: Mar. 2012
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 11:39 am |
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Geez...I'm quite jealous of everyone's proximity to some of their favorite locations!!
For me, I consider the White Mountain National Forest to be my favorite "local" site. There are parks/areas of interest closer to Boston (Blue Hills and the Middlesex Fells), and they are a nice respite from the city. But the allure of the White's makes the 2+ hour drive fly by, and I already have plans to move closer this year (okay only by 20 minutes or so...).
In a portion of the east coast so densely populated, the WMNF can truly provide a remote experience in the wild, and if you know which trails to avoid you can really find some solitude out there. I enjoy it's rocky and boulder strewn trails, the masochistic nature of the sometimes switchback-less trails, as much as the views and peace spending time there brings me.
It's my home away from home.
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I request all the possible consumer protection organizations, and fight with their injustice. 
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| Post Number: 30
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BCPete1
Group: Members
Posts: 503
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 24 2013, 11:55 am |
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The real mountains are about an hour east of us, but we have a 9850 acre provincial park bordering our property. It's day use only with a good hiking trail route, and a bunch of lakes where you can only hike in your canoe or kayak - very quiet. The amount and variety of wildlife & birds we've seen in there over the year is quite astonishing. I'm almost thinking about putting together a photo book of the different stuff we've seen in there during the past 20 years - a good retirement project perhaps. Anyway, this is were we spend our week nights after work. This photo is from the marsh where the trail system starts out at - the sound of sandhill cranes is magical here because it echos off the perimeter of trees bordering the marsh. We're in there a lot - it's only a 5 minute bike ride from our front door. 
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
