Does the Forest Service hate the President?
Last week, the U.S. Forest Service trumpeted the news that it would be offering four fee-free days in 2013. This is dandy, but not as dandy as it sounds, for two reasons. First, “fees are not charged on 98 percent of national forests and grasslands, and approximately two-thirds of developed recreation sites in national...
Science struggles to grasp your love handles
You think you know what’s fat, don’t you? It’s defined by pounds, or body-mass index, or how much roly-poly flesh you can pinch between your thumb and forefinger. (Try this only on yourself.) You know fat when you see it. And you can measure it, objectively. Right? And way too many people are way too...
Stop loving your couch
The time between Christmas and News Years is, unofficially, the National Sweatpants Week. A time for long breakfasts that fade into lunch, naps, hanging out, informal family gatherings–all activities that can be undertaken and are perhaps best undertaken while wearing sweatpants. But now it’s over. You know you need to get off the couch....
Here’s to unlimited new years
The time between the holidays is odd. You wake up the day after Christmas and it’s all over except the returns. There’s a morning-after sadness, the hangover that follows a binge on sentimentality and anxiety and, yes, genuine good cheer toward men. You’ve kissed all the cheeks and patted the backs and now we all...
You should be embarrassed if you never feel awkward
You arrive in a new place—say, New York or New Delhi—and you don’t know there’s cheap public transportation from the airport to the city center. You take a cab, pay an exorbitant ransom to be released at your hotel, then realize you could have done it faster/cheaper/more comfortably by bus or subway. But you didn’t...
Merry Christmas: Four more years, half of them pretty good
The Lancet just published a report—actually, a series of seven papers—known as the Global Burden of Disease. It’s a kraken, a beast, a megillah of data, with contributions from experts in more than 300 institutions in 50 countries. The good news: you’re living longer. The bad news: only about half of those new years will...
A “Vertigo” moment for the NPS
The National Park Service is like your cool aunt who can never quite get it together. Despite all her great beauty and abilities and the consensus that life just wouldn’t be the same without her, she’s eternally on the edge of a collapse. Lipstick on her teeth, one corner of her deck railing is loose...
Olds and altitude sickness. And Viagra.
Ski season is here and with it the risk of altitude sickness. You know the drill: you start in Chicago (elevation 579 feet) or New York (which averages around 30 feet of elevation when it isn’t swamped by a hurricane). You fly a few hours west, rent a car, drive to Summit County and a...
Love your car? Get a bike.
If you love your car, you need to ride a bike. I have a slightly complicated rationale for this position, so you to have to pay slightly more attention than usual for a Recreati story. It begins with Superstorm Sandy and our human need to know the cause of horrible things. If we have...
Ultralight in the ultra-cold?
Camping in summer is perfect: a chance to shake off the stale atmosphere in your (probably) air-conditioned home. You live simple, work hard, sleep well and wake up a little sore. And camping in winter seems deranged. Correction: winter camping in the north, or at altitude, seems mad. This is true when you’re twenty, and...
L.L. Bean AT 55 Pack: built for speed and some comfort
Backpacks are like golf clubs. You make your selection based on your size and how far you’re going. The first part is easy: you get a pack that fits your frame. The second changes constantly, which is why golfers lug around 14 clubs and why it’s not uncommon for hikers to have more than one...
Ahnu Mendocino Hiking Boots: Separation Anxiety
This story is about footwear. And emotion. It’s not about the passion young women supposedly feel for $450 stilettos. No. This is about the abiding, nuanced appreciation one feels for certain hiking boots. The ones that feel right from the first moment. The ones that reach out to you, that don’t build a bond so...
