Resources

What are the most popular summer activities in America? According to a 2016 survey conducted by the National Recreation and Park Association, the top three are: having a picnic or barbecue, going for a walk or hike, and going to the beach. Hiking to the beach for a barbecue makes for a damn fine summer day, we think. To which we’d like to add: trail running, mountain biking, bouldering, and body surfing, too. More at narpa.org

Building a raft can be made as simple or as complicated as you like, though we’d lean toward the simple. Some foam pontoons, wood crossbeams, and a place to sit are the basics. From there, it’s up to you. The Connecticut River Race, an annual event, publishes a comprehensive guide to homemade raft building. ctriverraftrace.org

Leath Tonino is a frequent contributor to Adventure Journal and is at home wherever the internet cannot reach—though mostly he’s in Colorado.

Oliver Parini is a Vermont-based photographer whose work has appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post, among many other places. oliverparini.com, @oliverparini

Wanna take a swing at archaeology yourself? There are archaeology field schools and excavations that accept volunteers all over the world. Be forewarned that most of them will likely make you wear a shirt and shoes, but you can negotiate that on site. Check out the Archaeological Institute of America’s Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin at archaeological.org

Temple Crag soars to 12,982 feet above sea level in the central Sierra Nevada. It boasts a handful of classic alpine climbing routes, as do its fellow skyscrapers that make up the Palisades. You don’t need to scale them, though, to appreciate their beauty from the backpackable campsites below. Permits can be obtained at the Inyo National Forest ranger station in Lone Pine, California.

Ted Reckas is a writer and photographer who lives, climbs, and surfs in Southern California. tedreckas.com

Painting surfboard fins is easy. We recommend starting with cheap plastic models before working your way to pricier fiberglass options, but hey, you can always strip the paint and start anew. You’ll need sandpaper, masking tape, paint pens (we like DecoColor or Posca pens), and a clear lacquer spray to protect the paint from saltwater. Rough the fin’s surface, tape off your design, and you have your own fin mini-canvas. Or buy ’em already decorated at captainfin.com

Peñoles is a wonderland of bouldering problems and desert rock climbing, but it’s only one part of what the Mexican climbing scene has to offer, not all of which involves skirting cartel territory. For a detailed look at climbing south of the border, pick up a copy of Oriol Anglada’s two-volume set, The Mexican Rock Climbing Guidebook (As de Guia, 2013).

Joe Purtell is a writer, journalist, and climber who lives in San Francisco. joe-purtell.com, @joseph_purtell

Nina Riggio is a photographer who divides her time between California and Nevada. Her work has appeared in Time and High Country News, among other outlets. nina-riggio.com, @ninareeg

Trail maintenance doesn’t happen by itself. Chances are your neck of the woods has an organization or two that offers volunteer days for trail work. You can also get your hands dirty on the big trails. For instance, the Pacific Crest Trail Association maintains a database of trail maintenance opportunities on that majestic path at pcta.org. For paid gigs, check out the Professional Trail Builders Association job board at trailbuilders.org.

Matthew Tufts is a photojournalist residing in a sweet cab-over camper, somewhere between British Columbia and the Eastern Sierra, though when we were editing this story he was posted up in a Chamonix apartment with blissfully slow internet. matthew-tufts.com, @matthew_tufts

Excerpted from Hiker Trash: Notes, Sketches, and Other Detritus from the Appalachian Trail (Skipstone/Mountaineers Books, 2019).

Sarah Kaizar is an illustrator and designer living in Philadelphia. sarahkaizar.com, @sarahkaizar

Maine-based photographer and storyteller Nicholas Reichard’s own book on thru-hiking, Stories, was published by Reichard Studios in 2021. @nicholasreichard

Nobody seems to know exactly how many miles of abandoned railway there are in the United States, though it’s certainly in the many tens of thousands. A rail enthusiast named Andrew Grigg has built a crowdsourced atlas of abandoned lines, with more added all the time from users around the world. It would take many lifetimes of railbike riding to cover them all. Grigg’s map is available at his website, Forgotten Railways, Roads & Places. frrandp.com

Photographer and filmmaker Brian Vernor is becoming a frequent contributor to AJ, and we like that. brianvernor.com, @vernor

You’re fired up about rafting now, aren’t you? Photographer David Zickl created these photos with the guides at Arizona Rafting Adventures (azraft.com), and they’d be happy to take you, too, though maybe not in the bow facing backward. But why just go on a whitewater trip when you can guide one? You do own river sandals, don’t you? There is simply no better place to learn than with Outdoor Adventure River Specialists guide schools. oars.com/guide-school

David Zickl is a photographer based in Arizona. davidzickl.com, @davidzickl

You might have noticed two of the recipes in this installment of Three Square were cooked with cast-iron skillets. There’s no better piece of equipment for campground cooking. We’re big fans of the Chef Collection 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet from Lodge. lodgecastiron.com

Fresh of the Grid is Megan McDuffie and Michael Van Vliet, who live and eat in Bend, Oregon. freshoffthegrid.com, @freshoffthegrid