The AdventureKEEN Blog

Identifying Trees of the Carolinas

Learn to identify the trees in the Carolinas with Stan Tekiela’s famous Trees of the Carolinas Field Guide. Learn about all 153 species found in the two states, organized by leaf type and attachment. Just look at a tree’s leaves, then go to the correct section to learn what it is. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while ...

Discovering Waverly, A Town with a Population of 106

Travis Bryant

Today, Nicole Hardina, author of Little Washington, takes us to the town of Waverly. Founded in 1879, the town has a population of 106. A Complicated PastThe town of Waverly received a post office and a name in 1879. Then, while other Inland Empire towns met the railroad and began to flourish, Waverly remained a lonely outpost. An early history describes it as a “little village, quiet ...

Let’s Discover the Birds of Florida

Travis Bryant

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

Travis Bryant

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!

Mindy Sink

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

Travis Bryant

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

Travis Bryant

[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

Mindy Sink

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

Mindy Sink

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

Travis Bryant

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 […]

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