Getting Outside After a Natural Disaster

In September of last year, Hurricane Helene came through Western NC and absolutely decimated large swaths of land in my area. Entire small towns in our area lost their communities to the floods, with some 12,000 homes uninhabitable or completely gone in the aftermath. There were an estimated 1,000 landslides in our mountains, destroying homes, … Read more

Teaching Kids Outdoor Fire Safety

Whether your family is enjoying campfires or living with wildfires, outdoor fire season is in full force.  So many of us probably carry either memories or imagery in our minds of the idyllic childhood camping trip, and a lot of it includes campfires. Who doesn’t want to cozy up with their kids around the fire … Read more

Basic Navigation Skills for Kids

Boy standing over a map with a compass.

If you’re looking for a new skill to add to your outdoor toolbox or working on being safer and more self-sufficient in the backcountry, using a map and a compass is a great place to start! You can spend hours learning about orienteering (and it’s actually pretty fascinating) but this post is a good place … Read more

How to Store Food in Bear Country

Food Storage Safety in Bear Country

How to Store Food in Bear Country Food storage is super important for your own safety, for the people who visit the area after you, and also for the safety of bears. When I was 17, I was backpacking in Shenandoah National Park with a group of friends.  I woke up in the night to … Read more

How to Keep Hands Warm

How to Keep Hands Warm and How to Keep Feet Warm So often the limiting factor in spending time outside in the winter (for adults and children!) is cold extremities. It just stops being fun when you start getting cold! But we have some tips on how to keep hands and feet warm and products … Read more