The Four Day Marches - aka Nijmegen Marches

Some 40 thousand people participate annually in this 4 day event held in July in Nijmegen, Netherlands. www.4daagse.nl

Hiking Podcasts;

Mountain Lion vs Dog Tracks, etc

www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html a great site for identifying feline tracks vs canine tracks - photos of cougar tracks and dog, fox, domestic cat, etc plus illustrations.

Gap Year Choices:

If you at a transition point in your life where you have a free year, check out this site for options: www.the-backpacking-site.com/

Off Topic but outdoors related Links:

Other Sites that are interesting, but are off topic compared to our content pages. Most of these sell products and we have no experience dealing with them as a customer.

Great ideas for Sequoia-Kings Canyon hikes in www.sierrahiker.com .

www.hikingandbackpacking.com mainly commercial - links to other sites featuring good deals on gear, also has tips, links to organizations, where to hike info.

www.backpackinglight.com some good links, a lot of articles and product reviews.

www.slackpacker.com Mostly United States Trails, but some International as well.

www.gps-planet.com - GPS devices are now used by some hikers, so here's a site: - discounts on GPS systems from Garmin, Magellan, and Navman. GPS software, GPS accessories, Fishfinders and Chartplotters.

fleetmatics.com/resources/articles/using-gps-for-hiking - A lot of detailed introductory articles on GPS use.

www.wisdomofthecrone.com This unusual site has a single product - a deck of 54 cards, each with a photo of a woman between the ages of 50 and 100, and on the backside (I think), words of wisdom.

www.offthebeatentrail.net - Bayou country outdoor gear.

www.hikingtripsandgear.com - well designed website featuring gear and advice to hikers and campers.

www.randymerrell.com - This appears to be the premier custom boot making and orthotics site. This is the same Randy Merrell that designed Merrell boots.

www.vaflyfishmtguide.com/ Mountain Guide of Virginia offers custom built, tailored hiking and mountain walking - wildflower and tree identification, Native Americans and early Colonist info -  a peace and solitude.

fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingmethods.htm#2trillion 31 ways to lace your shoes, boots, etc.

www.boyscouttrail.com/ I owe a lot of my early outdoors experiences to the Boy Scouts so of course have to include this site with all things re Boy Scouts.

www.taigaworks.ca/ - Cold weather expedition quality gear - I have no direct experience with this Canadian company, but they have an impressive product line if you are considering, for instance, scaling Denali.

www.backpackbasecamp.com - A work in progress - they have a good outline of a lightweight backpacking site, but are still working at filling it in. 2014 note - looking better.

Mt. Rogers Outfitters an outfitter right on the Appalachian Trail.

safestars.org/hiking - Good resource on hiking for beginners - but don't click on senior scam link at the bottom - didn't check it out.