August Outdoor Blog Carnival: What's Your Dream Hike?

Welcome to the August Blog Carnival. We asked the question, "What's dream hike?" We wanted to know where it was, what all it would entail, etc. We got quite a few entries and each on just as good as the other. Have you ever thought of the Inca Trail, Crater Lake, or how about the Oregon Trail? Without further ado, here are this months Outdoor Blog Carnival Entries. Enjoy!

New Knives Winner

In case you've been wondering where we've been, it has been crazy busy around here.We haven't abandoned y'all and we are sorry we haven't been posting lately. We're especially sorry that we missed Friday's Giveaway Round Up post. We know how much everyone looks forward to those. If you keep up with us on Facebook, then you know we've been neck deep in converting a bathroom into a nursery and have started the house buying process.

We've got so much stuff to get done before the appraiser comes out so we may still be hit or miss on the blog for the next couple of weeks. This week though we will have the outdoor blog carnival post up so y'all will have plenty of blogs (both new and old) to read. Also, we will make it up to you on Friday for the gear giveaway roundup.

Anyway... Remember the knives and GoGirl giveaway? Well the winner of the knives has never contacted us with an address or anything. You know what that means right? It's time to pick a new winner. We removed the initial winner from the list and let the RNG do it's thing. This time it has picked D.Nash (of My Leaky Waders fame) as the lucky winner of the Winchester Knife set. Congrats D. Nash. Send us an email to appalachiaandbeyond (at) gmail (dot) com with your address and we will get the knife set out to you as soon as possible.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Our Dream Hike

I used to think, when I first started really getting into the hiking thing, that thru-hiking the AT would be my dream hike. To some extent, it is still a dream to thru-hike it, but it seems to be a hike that I could feasibly attain at some point in my life, at least I'd like to think so anyway. I think what sold me on the idea was listening to Bill Bryson's account in "A Walk in the Woods". Yes I say listen because Robin and I listened to it a few years back during a road trip to New Orleans and back.

Image Courtesy of
http://www.imagesofanthropology.com

Seriously though, I don't think that would suffice for this post as a dream hike because it is certainly attainable, at least if I can ever get our debt reduced to zero and enough money saved to cover six months worth of recurring bills while away on the trail. Anyway, for the purpose of the Outdoor Blog Carnival Post, "What's Your Dream Hike?", ours would have to be a hike up to Machu Picchu in Peru with the Llamas. Of course the Camino de Santiago wouldn't be half bad either, but I don't think I can coax Robin to Europe, but if I walked in the door with a complete itinerary for two and all travel arranged to Cusco, Peru, she'd beat me out of the way to our packs to get them ready and out the door in a matter of hours.

Announcement - August Outdoor Blog Carnival

It's time for another Outdoor Blog Carnival. If you remember last month several outdoor bloggers, like ourselves, submitted their idea of the perfect hike for the June Outdoor Blog Carnival which was hosted by Outdoor Vancouver. Those who submitted did a fabulous job, and I so want to hike Grandfather Mountain over in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Anyway, to take it a step further, Ross from Pure Outside (Father of the Outdoor Blog Carnival) asked if we would like to host this month's carnival. If you're reading this, then you know our answer.

Continuing in the fashion of best type of hike, we all want to know, what is your dream hike? If money wasn't an issue, if time away from loved ones, work, school, etc. wasn't an issue, if there was nothing preventing you from going, what hike is your dream hike? That is this month's theme. Let us know what your dream hike is. What are the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of your dream hike?

Any outdoor blogger is more than welcome to submit their post in answer to the question.Write up the post on your blog and fill out the entry form. You have until August 5th to submit your article. Once all articles are submitted, we will present them all in one glorious post with links back to your entries on your own blog on August 10th. So what are you waiting on? Get those brains working and those fingers typing, this is your chance to dream and dream big. Heck, you never know, you just might find the inspiration to actually move forward with that dream hike. If you have any questions shoot us an email at appalachiaandbeyond (at) gmail (dot) com. We look forward to your entries. Until then....

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin

Our Favorite Kind of Hike/Trail

The question is "What makes the best trail and what is you favorite example of one?" This question is the subject for June's Outdoor Blog Carnival by PureOutside.com and will be hosted at OutdoorVancouver.ca. This is a very valid question and to those who remain skeptical about hiking or who are new to hiking. We can imagine they would have the same sort of question(s).

For us, the best trail isn't something that can be simply answered with a few words. Neither can this be answered with one valid answer because just as we all hike for different reasons, every person has a favorite trail type. The best type of trail for one person could be the worst type of trail for another. I suppose it all comes down to a matter of preference as well as why it is you are hiking in the first place. If it's fitness you are after, then you would want something that is challenging and physically demanding. If it's solitude or an escape from the everyday world, then the best trails can be entirely different.