The AdventureKEEN Blog

Let’s Discover the Birds of Florida

Learn to identify birds in Florida, and make bird-watching even more enjoyable with Stan Tekiela’s famous Birds of Florida Field Guide. This book features 140 species of Florida birds organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. This new edition includes more species, updated ...

Little Washington: A Nostalgic Look at the Evergreen State’s Smallest Towns

Little Washington presents 100 of the state’s tiniest towns. With populations under 2,000, these charming and unique locations dot the entire state―from Neah Bay along the Northwest coast to LaCrosse, a farming community in the eastern county of Whitman. With full-color photographs, fun facts, and fascinating details about every locale, it’s almost as if you’re walking down Main Street, waving hello to folks who ...

There’s a Book for That!

As more and more people look to hiking for exercise, as a hobby, as a challenge, for improving their mental health, and simply as a way to enjoy nature, many need advice on where to go. I often see Facebook posts from people asking for ideas on where to hike if they want to “jump in a lake” at trail’s end, to drive less than ...

Backyard Birding: Getting Started

Birding is big—and getting bigger. As topsy-turvy as this year has been, its events have shaken up enough routines to cause people to notice new things in the world, and that includes the birds flying around their homes. Maybe the boom in new birders is simply tied to the fact that many of us are safe at home and looking out the windows at times when we’d normally be stuck in traffic commuting. Or maybe, […]

Hiking Around Tucson This August

[Note: the following information was current as of August 1, 2020.] The Bighorn Fire, named for the bighorn sheep that roam the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, began after a lightning strike hit those mountains on June 5th, 2020. Fanned by high winds and exacerbated by hot, dry weather often exceeding 100°F, the fire burned for almost 7 weeks, burning 119,978 acres (178.5 square ...

Hiking with My Dad & Tips for Hiking with Yours

Although I grew up in Colorado, I did not grow up hiking with my dad. I really don’t know why this was the case, but at some point, he was a single dad of two with a full-time job, while I was a sassy teen with a part-time job and homework and friends and crushes. Hiking together just wasn’t part of our world. Yet, when ...

Body Appreciation Through Hiking

No one would ever describe me as an athlete, so I am probably late to the game in appreciating my body’s functionality. Being blessed with good genes so that I’m generally healthy also means that I tend to take my body for granted. The truth is, I long thought of my body in terms of how it looked, how it fit into clothes, or how ...

Wildflowers & Enjoying Nature

National Wildflower Week ends this Sunday, May 10, 2020. The photos and posts being shared online with the hashtag #NationalWildflowerWeek have been a welcome window into the wild while sheltering at home (and we do hope you’re safe at home these days!). There are many types of wildflowers and many purposes that native wildflowers serve. The shelter they provide to insects (think links in the food chain) and the diversity they bring to an area’s ecosystem are both […]

Preparation Is Vital, But Leave Room for Adventure Too

by Mindy Sink I recently wrote about some of the things I learned while researching my new guidebook, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Denver and Boulder. One of the lessons I learned in my research was that preparing for various conditions and possibilities along the trail is key to a good hiking experience. In the post I said, “The more prepared I was, the ...

10 Stay-at-Home Ideas for Mother’s Day Gifts

Given the current situation and guidelines for sheltering in place, some families might need to get creative with Mother’s Day gifts this year. If you can’t take the matriarch in your household out for dinner and haven’t found any perfect mom gifts, we’ve got you covered. Following are 10 ways to celebrate while social distancing. 1. Serve breakfast in bed. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Even toast and orange juice will send the message, […]

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