Gear Review: The Sawyer One Gallon Gravity Assisted Water Filtration System *Note that BecauseItzThere receives NO compensation of any kind from any outfitter. The products you see reviewed here are purchased with our own funds and objectively reviewed under field conditions.* Our recent multi-day hike of the Standing Indian Loop forced me to re-think an old problem that I had […]
North Carolina’s Wild South Mountains
South Mountain State Park, NC *We traveled to South Mountains State Park in the Spring of 2015. This was a sad time for Sylvia and I as my mother had just recently passed away after a long and difficult battle with heart and lung problems. Among many other things, the outdoors is a place we go to heal. **We have […]
Forest Ridge Park in Wake County Opens
Forest Ridge Park is Wake County’s newest! Located in the extreme Northern Corner of Raleigh, near the Wake County Line, is the new Forest Ridge Park. We think it may become on of the best places to hike in the Triangle area. Though it is a multi-use park, most of this new recreational area is preserved in its natural wooded […]
Beat the Crowds to Crowders Mountain
Crowders Mountain State Park, NC **We originally hiked Crowders Mountain State Park in 2012, and this trip draws heavily from that visit…so if you see some fashion styles that appear ‘so yesterday’, this explains it. **We have added Crowder’s Mountain to our list of Best Hikes in the Carolinas. It’s got some very fine trails if you can find a […]
The Roof of the Smokies…The Gregory Ridge Trail
The Gregory Ridge Trail, Great Smoky Mountain National Park *One of the Best Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains is the Gregory Ridge Trail **We have added Gregory Bald to our list of the Best Hikes in the Southern Appalachians. It’s a fine trail well worth doing IF you can make the logistics work…this is one trail where getting there […]
Hummingbirds 101: The Basics of Backyard Birding
It’s a Fact, Hummingbirds are Cool **We’re getting ready to put out Hummingbird Feeder out for the spring…we expect to see the first bird in the next week or two. It has me thinking of birds, which means…I thought I’d perch on a different branch for this post…** BecauseItzThere is almost entirely a hiking blog, but sometimes we’ll indulge in […]
Super hiking plans for Super Sunday!
Pre-Super Bowl update on our Tour du Mont Blanc planning… If IS official, Brian & Sylvia re going to attempt (no, FINISH!) the Tour Du Mont Blanc…the 110 mile walking circuit around the Mont Blanc Massif, the highest mount in the Alps and all of western Europe. On the way the route passes through France, Italy, Switzerland, and back into […]