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It’s a tale with a happy beginning, a troubled middle, and knock wood - a happy ending.... Read more

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Crunching through the forest and then scrambling to the summit of a Vermont peak for heart-hammering views and fistfuls of trail mix is one of summer’s greatest pleasures. But when you’re sharing those same paths with a conga line of fellow foot travelers, going up can be a downer. Camel’s Hump shoulders more than 20,000 hikers each year, according to the Green Mountain Club, while Mount Mansfield’s distinctive face sees more than 40,000 people trample across its Nose and Chin.... Read more

A thriving bike culture can be directly correlated to a city’s degree of coolness. Anyone who doesn’t think so should consider the über-coolness of the world’s predominant cycling cities: Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo and Portland, Oregon. For whatever reason, places that promote cycling also seem to have vital arts communities, good health and great bars in which to hang out with fellow bikers. Paris and Tokyo may not be squeaky-clean and green, but compared to the car mentality that dominates much of the United States, they’re doing all right.... Read more

Like California’s surfers, Vermont anglers tend to be pretty tight-lipped when it comes to sharing their favorite spots. So I was surprised when, after only a little cajoling, Waitsfield’s Peter Cammann agreed to tell me exactly where some smallmouth bass tend to spawn. But he would do so only when the fish were actually there — the spring phenomenon typically happens in May. When the time was right, he’d give me directions — providing I promised to keep the location secret.... Read more

According to Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-seller Eat, Pray, Love, the nice-girl way to get over a break-up in your mid-thirties involves dining in Italy, meditating in India and romancing in Indonesia. Whatever. The badass way to get over a break-up in your mid-thirties is to ride your 2001 BMW F650 GS Dakar motorcycle 10,700 miles to the Arctic Circle and back. Alone. Along the route your ex-boyfriend meticulously planned.... Read more

Fifteen years ago, University of Vermont computer-science lecturer Robert Erickson hiked the 270-mile Long Trail end to end. He’s backpacked through Alaska, paddled much of Lake Champlain, and climbed to the summit of Camel’s Hump in the winter. Now that Erickson has two preschool-aged girls, however, he’s more likely to be found tramping the trails around his Essex home. And it’s more difficult than you might imagine.... Read more

STOWE — The specter of a warmer world scares a lot of people, including skiers. That’s why, when faced with the need to do a project for his bar mitzvah in May, Josh Wolfgang, 12, a ski racer from Stowe, picked a cause that hits close to home: He’s organizing the Race Against Global Warming for skiers, snowboarders and telemarkers, on February 9 at Spruce Peak.... Read more

Last weekend was a bonanza for those whose sights were trained on acquiring the newest guns, ammo, bows, arrows and camo gear, and yet another reason for critters in the North Country to indulge their anxiety disorders. The area was host to both the Green Mountain Gun & Knife Show at the South Burlington Holiday Inn and the Yankee Sportsman’s Classic at the Expo. The former was a more basic ogle-and-handle adventure in firearm display. I chose the latter, a more diverse and esoteric journey into the culture of animal dispatching.... Read more

Never mind those doohickeys that allow you to read a magazine while running on a treadmill — pages and perspiration have never been particularly good companions. Still, 2007 witnessed the publication of a mountain of books dedicated to getting buff, biking, brain-training, baking treats for hungry skiers, and more. For the outdoors-oriented and fitness- or sports-obsessed recipients on your giving list, here are a few of the most intriguing reads.

Backcountry Magazine
(http://www.backcountrymagazine.com
888-424-5857)... Read more

Got whitetail? Well, now you've gotta cook it. "It's not the kind of thing that's offered on the Food Network or in most cooking magazines," says Chris Saunders, hunter education coordinator at the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. "Too often, people take the easy way out and make a casserole . . . Not that I have anything against cream of mushroom soup or Italian seasoning." ... Read more