I just received a press release from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department that offers “Hiking Safety Tips.”   I appreciate the fire-fighters in Santa Barbara and everywhere else (a similar release was distributed nationwide by the Fire Department Network News) reaching out to share their expertise about hiking.

On behalf of hikers I want to return the favor by sharing our expertise about safely fighting fires with the brave men and women in fire departments across the country.

But first I need to respond to the hiking advice offered by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.  Oddly, for advice issued during the first week of summer, there are dire warnings about the need to conserve body heat to stave off the dangers of hypothermia.

It would seem hikers, particularly those in sunny Southern California, need to be warned of the dangers of HYPERthermia—that is getting too hot on summertime hikes—not about getting too cold. It’s been my observation that hikers drop like flies in the summer heat.

“Take a lighter, matches, or a flint bar,” fire officials advised hikers. “This will allow you to start a warming fire and avoid hypothermia.”  But “use extreme caution when doing this.”

Advice about the dangers of heat exhaustion might have been more useful and firefighters, with long experience in places that are too hot, would have instant credibility on that subject.

Curiously, while the fire department suggested hikers bring the means to start a fire, it did not advise them to carry water—something by all accounts firefighters routinely do.

In an effort to let fire-fighters know that we hikers are as concerned about their safety as the fire-fighters are about ours, The Trailmaster offers some advice.

                         Tips for Fire-fighters from Hikers

Bring Water  Bring lots of water, more than you think you’ll need. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Be generous and share your water with others.

Wear Protective Clothing   Choose high quality outerwear with good insulation. Dress in layers. Layering is the best way to adjust to changing temperature conditions. Always wear a hat. No sneakers, sturdy boots are a must!

Pack a First-Aid Kit You’d be shocked to learn how many people get hurt or maim themselves in unusual ways in the great outdoors. Always carry a first aid kit, well stocked with bandages and burn ointment. Ideally, at least one member of your team has completed the Red Cross First Aid Class.

Don’t go Alone It’s tempting to want to go solo, especially when you’re around guys that talk too much and move too slow. Still, people in a group are much more effective. If one member of the group is injured, someone can go for help.

Eat Healthy Snacks Other first responders—the cops—might go for the donuts, but trail mix, with lots of fruit and nuts (and OK, M&Ms) is better fuel for your fire.

Ask Directions If you’re not familiar with remote terrain and want to avoid getting lost, ask a local hiker for directions.

Getting Lost Try to retrace your steps. Don’t panic: remembe, trained hikers, skilled in rescue techniques, will be able to find you and lead you back to safety. If you have cell phone service, avoid the potential embarrassment of dialing 911 and instead call the American Hiking Society at 1-800-972-8608 and ask about the best way out of this situation.  Don’t start a big signal fire to attract rescuers; this could result in igniting a major conflagration that incinerates all the hiking trails for miles around.

By The Trailmaster

The 2010 Green Book Festival has awarded “The Hiker’s Way: Hike Smart. Live Well. Go Green” an Honorable Mention in its annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect for and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.

Winner of the festival was “Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming” by James Hoggan with Richard Littlemore.  The book probes a campaign of dishonest spin-doctoring surrounding climate change created by those with a vested interest in the status quo.

Some of the other Green Book Festival Honorable Mentions well worth a look include “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer.  This book gets to the very essence of our eating habits, myth and tradition, culture and commerce, as well as the often brutal process of life and death in a factory farm.

I’ve always enjoyed Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerrilla Marketing” talks and books and benefited from the author’s sage advice when I’ve used it—which certainly hasn’t been often enough. I’ m looking forward to reading his new book “Guerilla Marketing Goes Green.”

Another Honorable Mention at the Green Book Festival worth mentioning—even worth celebrating—is the newest children’s/young adult novel from Carl Hiaasen. “Scat”  is the latest in Hiaasen’s eco-themed fiction oriented to Middle-graders. My 7^th grader and I loved his earlier work, “Hoot” and “Flush” and can’t wait to read “Scat” together.

I’m a trail hound not a gym rat. Give me fresh air and exercise in the great out-of-doors over the temperature-controlled gym and a workout at the club.

Still, I reluctantly drag myself to the local YMCA twice a week for a spin on the stationery bike and a round of the machines just to keep up on the ‘ol core strength and to keep my middle-aged middle flat.

Never, though, did I ever walk on a treadmill, though there are plenty of them, in two workout rooms at the Y. I always figured there are plenty of places to walk outdoors, why would I ever want to tread indoors? Surely treadmills are only for those who live in colder climes and urban areas, not for someone who lives in coastal California. For ten years, I’ve watched others walk and jog, huff and puff on the treadmill, but was never tempted to try it myself.

Until last week. It was a dark and stormy night, following a dark and stormy day; I had walked nowhere all day and missed getting any exercise the day before, too.

I mounted the StarTrac and scrolled through the programs. Imagine my surprise to discover worouts that seemed named to reach my inner hiker.  I started out with “Forest Walk,” which was wayyyyy too slowwwww. I tried to speed up the pace and increase the incline, but the machine kept defaulting back a very, very slow walk in the woods.

Next I tried the more challenging Trail Blazer program and the even more challenging Alpine Pass. My favorite treadmill trek turned out to be “Mystery Hike,” a combo of easy flat hiking and some surprise ascents.

I tried to imagine myself on a hike in nature but the reality of a guy, 50 pounds overweight and gasping for breath, plodding along at two miles an hour on the treadmill next to mine, intruded on my visualization attempts. The graphic display for the Mystery Hike program was a large question mark (“?”) on the screen in front of me, which did cause me to wonder why I was doing what I was doing.

No question, though, I felt fitter and de-stressed after my indoors workout. It was better, much better than nothing. And I appreciated the StarTrac Company naming workouts to appeal to hikers. Next time it’s cold and rainy, I might take the Lake Walk on the treadmill. Or maybe I’ll just go for a hike in the rain.

By The Trailmaster

Cahuenga Peak, adjacent to Mt. Lee, which hosts the famed Hollywood Sign, has been saved from development.

Cahuenga Peak, Mt. Hollywood, Mt. Lee, Mt. Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, hiking, Hollywood Sign, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Hugh Hefner, hikers, movie fans, Howard Hughes, Ginger Rogers, Griffith ParkHikers and movie fans from across the nation and around the world were delighted to learn that some creative conservation efforts, combined with fundraising from private and public sectors, succeeded in purchasing the peak and adding it to Griffith Park.

As the story goes, Cahuenga Peak piqued the interest of aircraft mogul (and movie producer) Howard Hughes, who purchased it in the 1930s with the intention of building a mountaintop love nest for Ginger Rogers.  She turned him down and the property remained undeveloped (a minor miracle in SoCal) until 2002 when a group of Chicago developers bought the land from the Hughes estate.

When the developers announced plans to subdivide the peak into luxury estates, local conservationists, film fans, and celebs rallied to “Save the Peak.” Some $12 million was raised to purchase the 138-acre site. Hollywood notables, including Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, plus the Tiffany & Company Foundation, Hugh Hefner and Aileen Getty contributed some serious cash, as did state and local agencies.

Next time you’re visiting L.A., take a hike in the Hollywood Hills. Visit Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park, then head out on the trail toward the Hollywood Sign. Tramp the brush-covered hills and enjoy the grand views of FilmLand and greater L.A. from downtown to the beach.  A fun hike! I would give the hike to the Hollywood Sign a “Star” ranking, but then I would start down the trail toward a lot of bad puns…

By The Trailmaster

It’s about time we have a President who hikes. Recently Barack Obama hit the trail with Michelle in the Blue Ridge Mountains on a footpath near Asheville, North Carolina.

I’m sure I’m not the only hiker who wondered about the details of the hike: how long, how far, whether or not the President and First Lady admired any wildflowers or met any other hikers. However, such details were not released by the White House for security reasons.

What little coverage there was of the Chief Executive’s hike was matter-of-fact: “The President and First Lady took a hike today…”

Of course the last time the press reported on one of Michelle Obama’s hikes, she got far more attention on the trail in the Grand Canyon than she ever imagined because of her attire: she wore hiking shorts. “Undignified,” “Too revealing,” “Hideous” scolded critics from the (urban) fashionista and (conservative) political camps.

We hikers rushed to Michelle Obama’s defense: If not hiking shorts, what was she supposed to wear on a hot summer hike in Grand Canyon National Park? And besides, she has great legs.

Next time the First Hiker and his intrepid mate take a hike I hope the President enthusiastically reports the highlights: “Before I discuss our policies on bank regulation, Iraq and nuclear proliferation, let me tell you about this great hike Michelle and I took yesterday…”

About sixty million Americans say they like to hike, Mr. President. Tell us about your time on the trail.

 
California’s state parks offer a diversity of spring blooms and some of the best wildflower hikes to be found anywhere in the nation. From the purple sand verbena and yellow bouquets of brittle bush that grace Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in early spring to the columbine, lupine and leopard lily coloring Emerald Bay State Park in late spring, there’s always a park in bloom somewhere in the Golden State/
 
Atop Montana de Oro State Park bluffs grow fields of mustard and poppies which give the park its “Mountain of Gold” name. The park system even features a trio of reserves named, respectively, for their profusion of poppies, rhododendrons and azaleas.
 
Even some of the state’s big “reservoir parks” have been known to put on a flower show. Take a hike around San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area in the spring when the usually brown hills turn green and are brightened by California poppies, tidytips, larkspur, bush lupine, goldfields and Chinese houses. Springtime colors the hills around Lake Perris State Recreation Area with a host of wildflowers including goldfields, California poppy, fiddleneck, baby blue eyes and blue dicks.
         
You never know whether or not it’s going to be a “good” wildflower year, though early reports are this one is at least okay.

I love a good trail map and the process of mapmaking has always fascinated me.

As for GPS, I’m definitely a late adapter to that technology, though not completely resistant. In fact I wrote a book for kids, “Let’s go Geocaching” with the idea that going on a kind of treasure hunt with a GPS would at least get kids outdoors.

Many—from academics to highway engineers to hike leaders—are concerned about whether human sense-of-direction is fast degenerating in the digital age. The Trailmaster shares this concern.

As new navigational aids are introduced, how will we—literally and figuratively—find our way?

Check out my story,  “Don’t Throw Away Your Paper Maps Just Yet” published recently by the print/online magazine, Miller-McCune:

www.miller-mccune.com/.../dont-throw-away-your-paper-maps-just-yet-11077/

“What are some tips for making a marriage proposal while taking a hike?”
 
The Trailmaster gets asked that question about popping the question more often than you’d think—considering we guys don’t like to ask for directions on the trail, on the road to romance or anywhere else. Here’s a recent exchange with a romantic hiker, whose name and circumstances have been changed to protect his privacy.
 
Dear Trailmaster,
 
I was wondering if you could give me a few tips about proposing marriage on a hiking trail. Can you guide me in the right direction for the perfect spot to propose and for a picnic after I ask her to marry me? It was recommended to me that we hike up Temescal Canyon for a good view of Santa Monica.
 
Romantic Hiker

Bill Summary Title I: California Desert Conservation and Recreation

Sec 101: Amendments to the California Desert Protection Act of 1994

Title XIII: Mojave Trails National Monument.

• Establishes a national monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protecting 941,000 acres of federal land between Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave Preserve along historic Route 66 in San Bernardino County.

For a young hiker, aged 18 to 25, it might just be the ultimate summer job or what the Sierra Club calls “The Best Internship on Earth.”

The Sierra Club is looking for one guy/gal to spend the summer of 2010 traveling across the U.S. to report on various Sierra Club outdoors youth programs including Volunteer Vacations, Inner City Outings and Building Bridges to the Outdoors.

By “report on” the Sierra Club means the lucky employee will hike, backpack, camp and raft in beautiful places then video-blog about these outdoor adventures.