Great Outdoors - Travel and Recreation in the Great Outdoors

The three most common toxic plants that campers are likely to encounter are poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. Any one of these can cause a painful, itchy rash.

Poison ivy is probably the most common of the three, since it grows throughout most of North America. Shrubs can be as tall as four feet (1.2m), but it is frequently found as ground cover between 4-10 inches (10-25cm) high. It rarely grows above 5,000 feet, but most campsites are below this elevation.

There's an old saying 'leaves of three, let it be' that makes for a good start on identification. The leaves tend to be a dark, dull green but can be purplish at certain times of the year.

Poison oak also has multi-lobed leaves, with fuzzy fruit on the branches. Sometimes the leaves are scalloped around the edge and can be wrinkled rather than smooth as poison ivy leaves are. Three lobes are more common, but five lobed leaves exist as well.

Poison oak grows in sandy soils from southern New Jersey to Florida, but occur in western parts of the U.S. too, such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The range extends north to the Sierra Nevada all the way up to southwestern British Columbia in Canada and as far south as northern Baja California in Mexico. Some types are found in Washington, in the Columbia River gorge, Oregon and Nevada.

Poison ivy is more common in the east, poison oak in the west and south.

Poison sumac is the least widespread, since it prefers very wet soils such as swamps and peat bogs. The leaves are bluish green, sometimes with red tips or tints. The berries on the bush are cream colored. Though less common, it is the most toxic of the three.

To read the rest of the story, go to Plants to avoid

You'll want to spend some time investigating gear. Having a good sleeping bag and a lightweight, sturdy tent is a must. Modern materials and design give you plenty of unbeatable options. These days you're not limited to sleeping in a tent, however.



Larger SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicle) make for great 'hard shell tents', but RVs (Recreational Vehicle) are another great option. They come in a range of sizes with some that can function as a permanent mobile home. Smaller ones can still sleep two comfortably, yet have a stove, running water and a TV for those who just can't leave it at home.

Take some time to research stoves and lamps. Cooking outdoors can be a challenge, but it's made a lot easier with a two-burner propane or Coleman fuel stove. Lighting has reached a highpoint with LED lamps and flashlights.

You may or may not have wireless Internet or cell phone access where you've selected, so be prepared. Getting lost can be a concern, too, so look into a good GPS unit. Learn to use it before you leave and get familiar with maps of the area so you'll recognize what you're looking at.




Do a little advance planning and you'll save yourself a lot of headaches. Decide where and when you want to go, then make reservations far in advance. Camping is more popular than ever! When you're doing that research, do more than just find a place. Check the weather, look into the local wildlife you'll encounter and find out about any toxic plants to watch out for there.

I have been camping from Florida to upper New York state and then out to the West Coast, and many places in between. Even though we had a nicely appointed travel trailer, we enjoyed roughing it, cooking outside, staying in places a little off the beaten track. We knew very little about camping or pulling a trailer, when we picked up what was to be our home for the next 20 months, and hit the road. Sandy, our little terrier mix, would get all excited when we started humming and then singing Willie Nelson's "On the road again", and we weren't even country music fans. But it seemed appropriate as we packed up to go to our next destination.

With all of the emphasis on the so-called extreme sports, cross country skiing seems to have dropped out of the mainstream in the past few years. After all, downhill skiing is faster, snowboarding is more intense, and riding on snow mobiles is bigger and louder.

Yet in my opinion, a good cross country ski trip beats all of these other activities. What is so nice about cross country skiing is that it gives you a way to really enjoy the outdoor winter weather. To me, skiing cross country is the winter equivalent of a nice jogging run. You get to really look around you and enjoy nature in a way that most winter sports don't let you do, all while getting a great workout. I'll take that over the intensity of the ski slopes any day!

I actually got introduced to cross country skis through the NordicTrack ski machine that I bought many years ago. Actually it was a sport that I enjoyed watching during the winter Olympics also.

Somehow the idea of skiing across a pristine, snow covered landscape in that silence, that you only experience in the winter time. Hearing only the shushing of your skis, really appealed to me.

I loved to play in the snow - as most kids do - but I didn't realize that you could go so far and so fast. Sure it was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun as well. From the very first time I went, I was completely hooked.

You should start with a pretty conservative trip. Although cross country skiing looks easy, it is not! That is why the old Nordic Trak ski machine was such good exercise. After just a few strides, you start to feel it. It is even harder than running, and unlike running you could be in a potentially hostile environment, in winter, out in the back country. If you get tired or hurt, You might be stranded in bad weather in an unfamiliar place.

That is why your first cross country ski trips should be easy, and take place in flat, local terrain. That way, if anything goes wrong you can get to safety without too much trouble. Other than that, the only thing to remember is to have fun!

Skydiving is often thought of as a major adrenaline producing sport. And, for good reason. It is. You exit a plane at anywhere from 10,000-18,000 feet (3,050-5,500 m). You fly through the air at 120-180 mph (193-290 kph).

You pull out your pilot chute and hope to heaven it deploys your main canopy. Maybe it doesn't....

Jump into Skydiving and let the adventure begin.

Climbing, whatever your preferred style, is a strenuous activity. That is, after all, why so many pursue and enjoy it. Pushing yourself to the limit is a big part of the thrill. But doing that is only rational when you've prepared your body properly. Otherwise, it's just self-inflicted punishment.

The foremost thing to do before any climb is to warm up and stretch. That's even more important than it is for a regular workout. Climbing uses every muscle in the body and most of them very hard. Grabbing a hold with two fingers to support or (still harder) raise most of your body weight puts tremendous strain on fingers, wrists and arm muscles.....

Go to Climbing for more info.

Mountain biking is a very enjoyable sport. You get to exercise and see the countryside at the same time. If you enjoy going outdoors and wish to get a form of exercise, too, you should get a bike and go mountain biking.....

Maybe you have visions of dusty trails on steep slopes. Or, possibly you think it's an experience filled with just insect bites, blisters and sore legs. Sounds pretty unpleasant, doesn't it?

Well, hiking can involve those things. But, with the proper techniques, equipment and guidance you can enjoy all the many positives that are inherent in hiking: fresh air, beautiful scenery, healthy exercise, soul-refreshing solitude and joyous companionship. You can also avoid those unpleasant things listed earlier.

Just to get started on the right foot, so to speak, it's a good idea to say what hiking is not.

Hiking is not mountain climbing, even though you can hike up some mountains. Mountain climbing involves using gear or special techniques to scale steep inclines. Mountain climbing is potentially dangerous, even lethal.

About the only time hikers confront anything serious is when they get lost in wilderness areas or accidentally suffer a snake bite. Both those fates are easily avoided with a little bit of expert guidance and some common sense.