Scaring off a Mountain Lion While Hiking in a Skirt _ and Breaking a Record

Wow. This is the best hiking story I've seen in a while. An overweight couch potato turns into a hiker and breaks a record for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.

Her name is Heather Anderson. She prefers to hike in dresses and skirts. (Wait until you find out why.) She also scared off two mountain lions. An inspiration to us all.

Read Heather's story here, as told in the New York Times.

Also, we have an update to an earlier blog post: I have found a partner for the CitySolve Urban Adventure Race in D.C. on Sept. 14. Thanks to all those who responded.

I was also contacted by the organizers of a new adventure race, the XPlore Urban Adventure Race Series. It looks similar to CitySolve, but "The Amazing Race" craze is such that I'm sure there's room for both. XPlore is coming to D.C. on Sept. 28 _ I plan to stop by and maybe even take part, schedule permitting _ and there are other cities on the list. Give it a try. Looks like fun.

Even more fun, of course, is a hiking trip to the Swiss Alps. Or Vermont. Or Nevada. Or Virginia. Visit our website and join us for one of our walking vacations in 2014.

See you on the trails.
Joseph

Boy Scouts, hiking and Switzerland

OK, so you may have heard that this is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. They did the celebration up big, with a parade down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., and then welcomed tens of thousands of scouts to their Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.

But what you may not know is that the scouting movement is older than that. Scouting was founded in 1907 in England by Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and he was wise enough to choose Switzerland as the site for his ideal permanent Scout camp _ a place where Scouts from around the world would be welcomed for all kinds of fellowship and adventure.

The Kandersteg International Scout Centre is located in the beautiful village of Kandersteg, Switzerland, which just happens to be one of our destinations in the hiking trip I'm leading next summer. The hiking is magnificent in that area, and the scenery is spectacular.

We're now in full swing in the planning for our return to the Alps on 12-22, 2011. We're sure you'd love to join us for the vacation of a lifetime! Visit our website
http://myhikingvacations.com for details.

Happy Hiking (and Happy Birthday to the Scouts!)
Joseph
http://myhikingvacations.com

Can You Canoe?

Hard as it is to believe, not all great vacations revolve around hiking. I've just returned from 9 days canoeing in the remote, endless and unspoiled lakes, ponds and streams of southern Ontario (Quetico Provincial Park) and southern Minnesota (the Boundary Waters).

It was a fabulous trip. We camped on islands, watched bald eagles soar, heard the loons give a concert and saw centuries-old pictographs left by native North Americans. Quite a bit of preparation goes into a trip like this (and the mosquitos are everywhere!), but I highly recommend it to all you outdoors adventurers.

If you'd like to know more _ or, as always, if you're looking for the perfect hiking trip _ check out my website http://myhikingvacations.com. We're now planning our summer hiking trip to Switzerland, set for July 2011.

Happy hiking (and canoeing),
Joseph

Google Hiking Searches ... (key word: underwear?)

"hiking underwear you dont have to wash"

I'm always intrigued to see how people end up visiting my hiking Web site. My wish/hope is that they're looking for the ideal hiking vacation _ particularly in the Swiss Alps _ and therefore have typed something like "hiking vacations Switzerland." Then, of course, they click on http://myhikingvacations.com/, examine the Web site and maybe even sign up.

Ah, but that's too straightforward. We live in a convoluted world. The phrase I typed above _ "hiking underwear you dont have to wash" _ is an actual phrase that someone typed into a Google search that led to a visit to my Web site. I just typed it in myself, and the "What to Pack" page of my Web site came up No. 4 on the results list. How about that!

I'm afraid the searcher might have been disappointed. I'm sure he/she found me because I list underwear on the packing list for the July 2010 hiking trip we're offering to Switzerland. I say nothing about whether the underwear should be washable or not. Hmmm. Maybe I should.

Anyway, for the Web-curious among you, here's a list of some other search strings used to find my Web site. Some make sense; some don't. For instance, I have no clue how "cottage rental va 20194" made the cut.

cost of hiking in alps
cottage rental va 20194
guided hiking in the alps
herndon
hiking
swiss guided hiking
swiss hiking vacation
switzerland vacations hut overnight
what clothes to take on hiking vacation
what to bring when going to the alps
what was your favorite hiking vacation in europe


Anyway, feel free to visit the Web site any way you please. Happy Googling ...

Joseph

A Hike Under the Stars ... Well, Almost

Light pollution is a major bummer here in Northern Virginia, and I got a fresh reminder of how bad it is this weekend when I took a group for a short stroll Saturday night around 9 o'clock, out to a big field near the area where we were camping at Dennis Farm.

Essentially, we were celebrating the fact that the clouds had finally disappeared after five straight days of rain in the area, so we figured we would to do some stargazing. Yet even among the woods and fields of Dennis Farm, the stars were no competition for the intrusion of light from nearby Leesburg. We could barely make out the Little Dipper, and parts of the southern sky had only one or two stars visible.

That's too bad. The stars have wonderful stories to tell through their shapes and colors. An hour or so looking at the heavens with good company on a clear night beats watching television anytime, but our cities and towns and houses waste light (and therefore money!) like nobody's business. There's even a group called the International Dark Sky Association (darksky.org, if you're interested) that does all it can to promote more efficient lighting for roads, houses and other buildings. Maybe one day we'll get our nighttime back!

Of course, much of my hiking has been done in Switzerland, which begs the obvious question: "How's the stargazing over there?" While the Swiss are more efficient with their lighting, they can't do anything about the big problem: Those big mountains block the view of much of the sky! That said, if you're at a mountain hut on a perfect summer night _ and you don't mind staying up late _ the view of the stars can be tremendous. We hope to have some nights like that when we do our next guided hike to Switzerland next July. Go to our Website (http://myhikingvacations.com/) to find out more.

Happy hiking!

Happy Friday the 13th Birthday

Happy Friday the 13th birthday to Lou Ann, who was actually born on Friday the 13th. Lou Ann is a good friend of MyHikingVacations (http://myhikingvacations.com/) and was in a group we took to Switzerland in 2006.

Happy trails, Lou Ann.

Return to Dennis Farm

While Switzerland is my favorite place to explore (and I'll gladly direct you to http://myhikingvacations.com/ for more info if you wish to go with us to the Alps next summer), I'm always thrilled whenever there's an invitation for a good hike or camping trip.

This weekend, I'm headed to a place called Dennis Farm, a spot near Leesburg, Virginia, that has a wonderful story behind it. It's a gorgeous spread of forest and farm that overlooks the Potomac River, privately owned by the Dennis family. They could make millions many times over in an instant if they sold it to developers in rapidly growing Loudoun County, but they have remained steadfast in their desire to keep the land in its wonderful, natural state. They allow Boy Scout troops to camp there for free _ because the Scouts know how to take care of the land _ so I'll be there to help as an adult leader with Troop 1018 from Dranesville.

Mr. Dennis passed away recently. Very sad news. He would always walk down to visit us at the campsite. I can't wait to see Mrs. Dennis again. I feel for her loss, but, knowing her, I bet her spirit remains strong.

"Honey, Should I Bring an Umbrella?"

One of the toughest decisions on the eve of any vacation: "Should I pack this or not?" From my experience, most people overpack when they travel -- yet those same people still manage to leave behind many of the essentials.

Packing for a hiking vacation can be just as challenging. You'll hear experts telling you to "pack light," but they'll also implore you to "pack everything you need."

So what's on the list and what's not? You can find the list we've compiled on the following link, which takes you to the "What to Pack" page of our Web site, MyHikingVacations.com. This will be the packing guide we give people who go hiking with us to Switzerland next year.

http://myhikingvacations.com/packing.php

Notice anything you think is missing from the list? Anything you don't think is necessary? Drop us a line. And maybe, just maybe, you'll be tempted to join us for our trip to the Alps.

And, no, you don't need the umbrella ...

Return to the Scene of a Swiss mini-golf disaster ...

The Web site is only days away from going live. Meanwhile, I've been busy researching some of the hikes and hostels that will make up our inaugural My Hiking Vacations trip to Switzerland in July 2009. I'm especially excited to return to Grindelwald, a special little Swiss town (aren't they all special?) south of Interlaken and not too far from the Jungfrau.

Odd as it seems, I'm looking forward to revisiting a miniature golf course in that area. In Switzerland, mini-golf is often played on a cement-like surface rather than fake green grass. It's a difficult change-of-pace for us Americans, and it threw me for a loop. There was one hole I never was able to complete because the ball kept rolling away from the cup. It was too embarrassing for words. I want to get back to that course and finally get the ball in. Then I'll probably vow never to pick up a putter in Switzerland again _ and stick to the hiking trails instead.

Writing a Web site

Just finished turning in the info for my Web site to my good friend Will, who is putting it all together for the world to see. Even though I have been a professional writer for 16 years, the effort was more work than I had anticipated. Nothing like trying to sell yourself link-by-link. Picking out the photos, however, was much more fun.

In less than 3 weeks, you should be able to see if for yourselves _ MyHikingVacations.com. Meanwhile, I'm doing more research and planning for the great debut trip, next July in Kandersteg and Grindelwald, Switzerland. Get your hiking shoes on and join us!

The Start of New Adventures to Come

Hello to the Hiking World,

It's an exciting time in the White household. We're not far away from launching our new hiking guide venture _ MyHikingVacations.com _ offering a spectacular 11-day hiking trip to Switzerland in July 2010. After leading Scouts and other groups on hikes for the better part of the decade, we're anxious to share our experiences with as many people as possible. If the July hike fills up quickly, we'll also offer one in June 2010 as well.

Lots of last-minute things to finish up. Got to make final additions to the Web site before it goes live in a few weeks. Many details have already been sorted out_ accommodations, price, train itineraries. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, imagining the feeling 10 months from now, when we're leading our group to the beautiful lake known as Oescheninsee, where we'll have a nice picnic lunch before heading up to our mountain hut in the Swiss Alps to spend the night.

We'd love to see you there. ...