Let’s talk hiking
October 27th, 2005Two-Heel Drive is the Web’s oldest regularly updated hiking blog. Born as a general-interest hiking blog in the fall of 2005, it evolved into a Bay Area-focused blog in the summer of 2007. I had to shift focus again in the summer of 2009 because the job situation obliged me to relocate to the Triad region of North Carolina (Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point).
I used to work at the San Jose Mercury News, where I wrote a twice-monthly hiking column in the weekly Eye entertainment section from the spring of 2007 through the summer of 2008. (All columns archived here). Lately I’m the assistant editor of Trailspace.com, where we offer sage advice for safe outdoor adventures.
I was a blogger before the term existed. I took up hiking in the summer of 2004 to get in shape and burn off the beer gut (lost 30 pounds!), so a hiking blog was a natural combination of these obsessions (and it keeps me out of the bars).
So, what should you expect? Mainly, a weekly hike write-up with pictures, descriptions and perhaps a link to GPS tracks. Throughout the week I’ll post local hiking-related links and commentary when the mood/opportunity strikes.
I take the weekends off to, you guessed it, go hiking.
How I pay for all this: A hiking blog is a cheap hobby, but’s it’s not free. All the hosting fees and hourlong drives to trailheads add up, so I have affiliate deals with Amazon.com, REI.com, Backcountry.com and a few other retailers. If you click on one of their links and buy something, I get a little commission, typically between 4 and 10 percent. If you don’t like it and return it, they revoke the commission, so I have no incentive to link to crap you won’t keep. I won’t put my name behind anything I haven’t either a) tried myself or b) researched to my satisfaction that it’s worth a look.
Frankly I’d rather muse about the wonders of nature and the glories of walking upright as our species has done for 100,000 years, but the gear content helps pay the freight.
October 28th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
I’m from Ontario, so most of my hiking trips have been in Canada. I did manage to enjoy the outdoors on two trips to the U.S., however. On a business trip to Irvine, California in the fall of 2000, I managed to steal away for a weekend to Cleveland National Forest. The drive through the mountains was awesome and the SoCal style of backcountry was a nice change from what I’m used to.
My most recent trip south of the 49th parallel was to Loveland, Colorado in November 2004. What a beautiful state. I climbed to the top of Dear Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, which may be only a bump among the Rockies, but for someone from the flat side of North America, it was a big deal to me. The mountains were breathtaking – literally, as I gasped atop Dear Mountain, at 10,000 feet above sea level, and planted my Canadian flag.
October 28th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Joe: welcome to the blog; I hope to be linking you yours in coming days.
One thing I noticed as I was tracking down all these hiking sites is how damn many other totally awesome trails there are around the country. Heck, it’ll take half a lifetime just checking out the ones in California.
October 28th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
Hi!!
A hiking blog! Whoopee!
I’ve been thinking of making such a thing for a long, long time. Finally, tonight I sit down to learn about typepad and moveable type and the such and low and behold I find your blog! Started only yesterday too
I hope you won’t mind a little competition if I ever get mine started.
You seem to be doing nice work. I’ll be checking back often.
October 29th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Jack: It’s not a competition, it’s a community. One good blog on any given topic will encourage others to start their own. There’s so much stuff out there that it’s impossible for a single person to cover it all anyway.
For instance: I see “norcal” in your handle, which suggests you could do a blog on hiking in northern California that wouldn’t compete with mine at all.
November 29th, 2005 at 12:25 am
This is an excellent page. I go hiking with my time-share dog, Edna, every weekend around Portland. I should start a hiking blog like you have done– funny I haven’t thought of it before. Edna is cute, sweet, and slightly insane, and deserves to have her adventures admired by millions on the world wide web. So it’s the copy editor who writes those silly headlines, is it? The sillier the headline, the larger the font size–is that how it works?
November 29th, 2005 at 6:46 am
Henry: I used to have a whole blog devoted to copy editing but it got to be too much like work. It’s testament to the purely average writing skills of your average newspaper hack that pun headlines are considered clever, creative, etc. Many of them win awards. But it might reassure you to know there is a website for folks in our trade called http://www.testycopyeditors.com — its keeper works at the Washington Post and insists there’s no place (much less a need) for pun headlines in the paper. He’s had to fight off torrents of abuse for taking such a contrarian stand.
As to fonts: technically, your statement should be “the siller the headline, the larger the type size.” A font is a collective of character shapes, not sizes; the font stays the same but the type size can change. Very large type is often called “display type” — the idea being that the words become a visual element on a page like photos and charts. It used to be that only big news got big headlines, but that was before desktop publishing made it so easy to get all cute and creative.
January 16th, 2006 at 11:33 am
This is a good site, Tom.
A few days ago I was searching in google for any outdoor related blog, and I’m so glad that I found your site here. Originally I thought there was few sites about outdoors but when I checked the links you provide, I have to say I am overwhelmed.
Hope you don’t mind that I link to your site.
March 6th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Tom, you’ve got a good thing going here. Keep up the good work! Meanwhile, you and I are practically neighbors – I live in Sunnyvale, and I’m out there on the same trails you are at least every other week, if not more often. Saturday found me leading a group at Mt. Diablo, which had had a good dusting of the white stuff the day before. Could be there’s a hike in our future!
April 14th, 2006 at 7:40 am
So I google “hiking blog” and Wham! There you are siting at the number one spot… Good Job!
Quite appropriate too, you’ve got a great site here. I’ve just started my hiking blog focused on the Flathead Valley, which includes Kalispell Montana, and I’m itchin to get out on the higher trails! Snow’s melting slowly!
Great Site! Great Community! See ya on the trail!
Mel
May 31st, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Help Needed with my packing trip to Bib Basin
Hi you all. I planning to take a three-days, two-nights backpacking trip with some High Schoolers from my local church through Big Basin but I dont’ know where to begin or where to end, trails to take and places to see. These young men have never gone backpacking and want to introduce them to the beauty of it. Can you guys recommend anything, a book, a website? Thank you all, and God bless you all.
Eddie
June 1st, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Go to http://bigbasin.org — all the info about camping in the park is there, plus it has recommendations for routes.
Also, be sure to call the park’s main office (the number should be at that website somewhere) and reserve your campsites. Just tell the ranger or whoever is on the phone what you’re planning and they’ll provide all the help you need.
June 20th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Hi Tom,
Great site. Lots of usefull information. I designed a new kind of day hiker/adventure racing ype of backpack and would love to hear what you think about it. check it out on http://www.symbiotdesign.com
September 25th, 2006 at 9:01 am
Hi Tom,
Good to see a quality hiking blog out here.
Enjoy your adventures and your musings!
DSD
“Summit Stones & Adventure Musings By DSD”
Blogger.com
October 16th, 2006 at 8:15 pm
I stumbled across your blog a few days ago and can
November 14th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Hey Tom, ran into your hiking blog via the Trout Underground. I’ve recently put my own blog out there to share as well at http://gsmhiker.blogspot.com, which will highlight day hiking, backpacking, and fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and the surrounding areas. It’s a WIP for sure. I look forward to checking back on yours for the happenings of SoCal hiking in the future. Thanks Tom.
Adam
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:32 am
Hey Tom, thanks’ for checking out my blog and hipping me to your own. Very inspiring seeing all those wonderful hiking photos and info.
Happy Trails,
OK HW
February 5th, 2007 at 8:38 am
G’day Tom,
It’s Tom here from Australia. I found your blog while searching for “hiking blog”. I’m into all things that have to do with nature, such as camping and all that stuff.
I see that you’ve never hiked here in Australia yet. I just came back from Grampians last week. For those who don’t know where that is, it’s in Victoria, Australia. It’s the third largest national park here in Victoria. I was up there with a couple of mates for a whole week, hiking, barbequeing and basically having the time of our lives.
Should you happen to be in Australia, let me know. We have great hiking locations that are sure to blow your mind.
Great blog, by the way. Keep it up!
Tommy L. from Camping Tips
May 12th, 2007 at 9:00 am
Just back from section hiking PCT section D. Really dry down there in Southern California. I’m concerned for the thru-hikers just starting out. We had a dry camp every other day, and I started out from each water source with 2 gallons.
You might enjoy our site http://www.backpack45.com – don’t know how to classify it – good stuff on PCT & Camino de Santiago, plus general long distance hiking tips.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:03 am
My name is Alexandra Snyder; I am the Content Editor at HealthCare.com. I’ve been reading your blog, Two-Heel Drive, A Hiking Blog, and was really impressed by the content. I would like to invite you to feed your blog to our blog community.
We have a growing community of bloggers, health care seekers and care providers, and are one of the top online health destinations in the U.S. We currently receive millions of visitors each month! By feeding your blog to our site you will expose your posts and work to the millions of users in our network since each post is featured on our homepage. This is a great way to increase traffic for your existing blog or website and gain notoriety.
Best of all, it’s simple, no need to write a separate blog or leave your current blog site. You would simply create an account at http://blogs.healthcare.com and feed your content. Please feel free to contact me if you need help setting up your blog feed, I will be glad to help you.
Have a great day!
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Just stumbled on your site in Google Reader, it’s now added to my RSS faves. I live in Seattle and haven’t done much hiking in CA (some in Yosemite area), however, I’m in the bay area every few weeks or so for work – perhaps I’ll make a weekend out of it one of these days and check out some of the day hikes you mention.
I’m a big fan of Ultralight backpacking – and have my own blog if you wanna add it to your reader and check it out – http://www.brettonstuff.com.
There’s a bunch of detailed trip reports, but a blow-by-blow account of everything that goes in my pack in excruciating detail
Looking forward to reading more…
August 7th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Hello,
My name is Heidi Ahrens and I live in Carbondale, Colorado.
I have just launched a new website http://www.outdoorbaby.net. It is a website for families who enjoy the outdoors. It is a place where parents can get advice on how to proceed in the outdoors with their children. I believe that you may be interested in my project. Many parents may need extra information on how to bring their children outside; that is what this site is for. To help parents feel supported on their desire to share nature with their children. This is a free site to use and it may inspire some of your readership We have running, climbing, camping, hiking sections and many more.
As an educator I believe that we have a responsibility to start to reintroduce the awe of the natural world into our lives. I hope this site inspires more families to step outside.
Please take the time to browse through the website and let me know what you think. You can also pass my information along to anyone who may be interested.
Thank you, Heidi Ahrens
April 27th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Tom,
The Los Padres NF and Ventana Wilderness will open May 1 except for the Pine Ridge Trail. Lots of problems there with fire damage.
I couldn’t find a way to give you hot tips so I hope this works.
- Jim Preston
Trail Lead
Ventana Wilderness Alliance.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Hi Two-Heel Drive,
I wanted to give you the heads up since this seemed up your alley for Two-Hell Drive. We are gearing up to launch a new website called Sierra Club Trails. It’s (as far as we know) the first-ever comprehensive hiking wiki…A website where anyone can post their favorite hikes and anyone else can edit the descriptions so that the trails are constantly up-to-date. The site is up and running in a beta test now, and we’re planning to launch it this Thursday, July 9th – so I wanted to make sure you were in the loop.
http://www.sierraclubtrails.org
What makes this site unique is that it’s a wiki – i.e. anyone can update or edit the trails that are posted. So if I post a trail in, say, Yosemite, and you’ve been there recently and saw that part of the trail is really muddy, or the bugs are bad this time of year, or if camping spots are getting really popular and should be reserved in advance, you can update that.
In addition to hiking and paddling trails, the site also features tips for hikers, a birding blog, photo contests, and Nature Notes, a series of audio features based on interviews with naturalists and Sierra Club Outings leaders. Sierra Club Trails is also an online community where users can create profiles and meet other hikers and nature-lovers, as well as join discussion forums with topics like the best trail mix recipe or whether guns should be allowed in national parks. Community members can form groups around a particular outdoor interest or place.
Does this sound like something you’d be interested in covering for your blog?
The link is http://www.sierraclubtrails.org – and the logo is on Flicrk here – http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3701119013_84723f28d9.jpg
Best,
Malia
Malia Tice
Sierra Club
85 Second Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 977-5526
media.assistant@sierraclub.org
September 29th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Hi,
There is an upcoming PBS series that launches this week from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”
We thought that “Two-Heel Drive” readers would be interested to know that in honor of the series (and to spread the word about the importance of protecting our national parks for future generations), we are giving away a trip to Yosemite and San Francisco as part of our 100,000 Champions for National Parks campaign. Our goal is to get to 100,000 names by October 4th – All you have to do is sign our statement of support for parks at http://www.sierraclub.org/parks. Tell us your favorite national park and your name will be added to the scrolling list of “Champions for Parks” on our homepage.
Your readers might also be interested in the other info we have up on http://www.sierraclub.org/parks – tips for how to visit the national parks, an interactive map featuring info about 12 of our most iconic national parks, the best trails to enjoy in each of the parks, interviews with Ken Burns, video excerpt from the series, and more.
Is this the kind of thing you would be interested in covering?
http://www.sierraclub.org/parks
Best,
Sarah
Sierra Club Media Assistant
85 Second Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
media.assistant@sierraclub.org
November 4th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Hi Tom,
I want to make sure you know about the upcoming premiere of the Spanish-language version of Ken Burns’ documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” The Sierra Club is proud to be working in partnership with V-me, the nation’s fastest-growing Spanish-language TV network, to promote the upcoming Spanish-language airings of “Parques Nacionales.”
Between November 4 and January 20, the documentary series will air in one-hour segments for twelve consecutive Wednesdays on V-me. For local times and channel info visit vmetv.com/estaciones
Visit http://www.sierraclub.org/parques to see a trailer of the film and find helpful resources – tips for first-time national park visitors, highlighted Sierra Club Outings trips to national parks, and information about some our country’s most beloved parks – all in Spanish.
Bilingual spokespeople from the Sierra Club are available for interviews. Would you like to schedule an interview or receive more information?
Gracias,
Sarah
Sierra Club Media Assistant
85 Second Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
media.assistant@sierraclub.org
January 19th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Just found your blog, and am picking my way through. Lots of great posts here. Mostly just wanted to say Welcome to North Carolina! Looking forward to future posts about my favorite places in the Blue Ridge, and all across NC. Stone Mtn. was a good start, but there’s so very much more out there!
Mary Hughes
Greensboro
February 4th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Tom – I rated your blog as one of the best hiking blogs for 2010. I would love to pull an image to add to the post. If so let me know.
Thanks
Scott
March 11th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Hey,
Just wanted to thank you for sharing all this great info.
I’m taking your advice and choosing between tomales bay and mount diablo!
You rock!
Boston transplant in the East Bay!