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Archive for 'July 2012'

What's Your Fave Park's Facebook Status? National Parks Steadily Accumulate FB Fans

Here's a follow-up to a question we posed in April: Which national parks have the most Facebook fans? Early this year the National Park Service issued official guidance for cultivating social media outreach, and several parks subsequently launched Facebook pages. Some parks (Glacier National Park, for instance) were ahead of that curve, creating Facebook pages long before 2012. Since late April both Yellowstone National Park and Cuyahoga Valley National Park (the latter park near my home turf ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on July 27, 2012 4:17 PM & Tagged facebook, national parks and social media | permalink | Comments



What Electronics Do You Bring Camping?

You may have seen this new Google ad for their Nexus 7 tablet. It shows a father and son using their tablet as a tool to enhance their camping experience. The video cleverly points out the advantages of having technology be an integral part of our lives—even during a backyard campout. We're guessing dad had a decent WiFi connection here, something that may be beyond the reach of many campground campers and most backcountry travelers. What technology do you bring along on your camping trips? ...

Posted by Steve T on July 27, 2012 1:12 PM & Tagged Nexus 7, camping, tablets and technology | permalink | Comments



Think You Hike Fast? Great, But This 3-Time Olympic Racewalker Can Really Blaze a Trail

A few summers ago I hiked 30 miles in a day. It took 15 hours to do it: almost 5 hours for berry-picking, scrambling, snacking, picture-taking and goofing off, the rest for hoofing down the trail. That was a full day. So anyone who can walk 31 miles in 4 hours instantly has my admiration. Meet Philip Dunn—hiker, backpacker, geocacher, cyclist, kayaker, trail runner, English major (with a emphasis on Irish lit), family man, nice guy and (ta-da) elite racewalker. A native of Eugene, Ore., who ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on July 26, 2012 5:39 PM & Tagged Hiking, Olympic Games, Philip Dunn, REI Olympia, Racewalking, backpacking and trail running | permalink | Comments



Dreaming Big: REI Employee Organizes Charitable Bike Ride

Think riding a century (100 miles) on your bike is tough? Try organizing a century event—from scratch. Such was the daunting task taken on by Mark Dupray (right), a 26-year-old bike enthusiast and a sales specialist at the REI Huntington Beach, Calif., store. His inaugural event, the Big Ring Century, took place last month on the local streets of Orange County. The ride was originally the brainchild of Mark's dad, Mark Sr. They wanted to support a friend who does charitable work in the African ...

Posted by Steve T on July 26, 2012 4:01 PM & Tagged Big Ring century, Cycling, bicycle and charity | permalink | Comments



Earth as Art: Gallery Images Taken in Space

Monday (July 23) marked the 40th anniversary of NASA's Landsat satellites, a series of earth observation satellites intended to inform scientists about land use and natural resources. They also capture some impressive images, made even more eye-popping when enhanced with color. For the anniversary, folks at the U.S. Geological Service took 120 images from 40 years of satellite fly-bys, applied a "digital palette" and asked the public to pick their favorites. Below are the top 5, with ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on July 25, 2012 2:09 PM & Tagged Landsat, NASA, earth as art and satellites | permalink | Comments