Get Ready for a Great Year Outdoors

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You can examine how shadows fall to help you determine which direction is north.
You can examine how shadows fall to help you determine which direction is north.
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Winter temperatures may be frightful, but don’t isolate yourself indoors all season long. Bundle up, take a hike and breathe in the crisp, cold air. You’ll be surprised at the wonders you encounter and how they lift your spirits.
Winter temperatures may be frightful, but don’t isolate yourself indoors all season long. Bundle up, take a hike and breathe in the crisp, cold air. You’ll be surprised at the wonders you encounter and how they lift your spirits.
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The taut-line hitch is one of the most useful and versatile knots.
The taut-line hitch is one of the most useful and versatile knots.
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Grandfather Mountain in eastern North Carolina.
Grandfather Mountain in eastern North Carolina.
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Oxeye daisy. With the right guide, you can learn to identify wildflowers quickly.
Oxeye daisy. With the right guide, you can learn to identify wildflowers quickly.
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The Big Dipper over Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
The Big Dipper over Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plan ahead for your next National Park vacation, and you can take advantage of hands-on instructions in nature courses and workshops.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plan ahead for your next National Park vacation, and you can take advantage of hands-on instructions in nature courses and workshops.

Winter: It has its wonders, no question. But let’s face it: In most regions, there are downsides — gray skies, chill winds and icy precipitation. As much as you enjoy the outdoors, you can expect to spend too many hours rained out, snowed in or otherwise cooped up this time of year.

But just because winter is the nature lover’s off-season doesn’t mean it has to be the season of the sofa. Here are some things you can do now to nurture your love of nature, feed your dreams of sunnier days and prepare for your best year ever exploring the great outdoors.

Fireside Reading

Sometimes all it takes is a good book to transport you beyond your confines and into the natural world. Curl up near a fire on a blustery winter’s day, open to page one, and presto — off you go, buoyed by the words of writers who have a knack for opening our eyes to the planet’s wonders.

I offer here a list of my own favorites, plus samples from a few of them; over the years I’ve come to consider these books good friends. Some are classics, some contemporary; some are well-known, others not so.

  • Published on Oct 31, 2008
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