Screen Name Required

Archive for 'January 2013'

Guidebook Getaway: Hike Among Rare Torrey Pines in Usually Warm Southern California

The place: Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. The attraction: a 600-acre park with hiking trails that is one of just two places in North America where torrey pines grow. (The other: Santa Rosa Island, near Santa Barbara.) Bonus attraction: Nearby Torrey Pines State Beach and its tall, 45-million-year-old sandstone cliffs. ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on January 15, 2013 9:15 AM & Tagged Guidebook Getaways, Hiking and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve | permalink | Comments



How Walkable Are Your Favorite Ski Towns? Walk Score Lists the Best Ones

If you make a regular habit of urban walking like I do, you may have heard of Walk Score. This website and app—it’s especially popular with home-shoppers and real-estate pros—offers a fun and useful tool that rates the walkability of cities and neighborhoods. Walk Score’s latest interesting report compares the walkability of North America’s top ski towns. ...

Posted by Steve T on January 14, 2013 9:45 AM & Tagged Snowboarding, Walk Score, skiing and walking | permalink | Comments



A Pinnacle Moment: Central California Monument Becomes America's 59th National Park

Pinnacles National Monument in Central California, a volcanic field with rocky spires popular with climbers, this week was elevated to national-park status. It was originally designated as a monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on January 11, 2013 2:00 PM & Tagged Pinnacles and national parks | permalink | Comments



Be a Volunteer While on Vacation? This Group Makes It Easy to Give Back

Can a vacation be both fun and meaningful at the same time? Chris Braunlich knows first-hand that it can. The San Francisco Bay Area resident is the CEO of Conservation Volunteers International Program, an all-volunteer nonprofit that organizes “volunteer vacations” to a few of the most spectacular places on the planet. ...

Posted by Steve T on January 10, 2013 12:45 PM & Tagged REI Adventures, Torres del Paine, Travel and Volunteer Vacation | permalink | Comments



Winter Wonders: Ice and Snow as Art Forms

Turn artists loose in the cold and you can get amazing results. Examples: the annual St. Paul (Minn.) Winter Carnival, slated to for Jan. 24-Feb. 3 in 2013, and the 29th annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival which opened Jan. 5 in China. It runs through Feb. 25. We provide links to some dazzling photo galleries. ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on January 9, 2013 9:00 AM & Tagged Snow, Winter, art and ice | permalink | Comments