Bronx River
The Bronx River 24 miles long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of 38.4 square miles. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck; the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City. It rose in what is now the Kensico Reservoir, in Westchester County north of New York City. With the construction of the Kensico Dam in 1885, the river was cut off from its natural headwaters and today a small tributary stream serves as its source; the Bronx River flows south past White Plains south-southwest through the northern suburbs, passing through Edgemont, Tuckahoe and Bronxville. It forms the border between the large cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon, flows into the northern end of The Bronx, where it divides East Bronx from West Bronx, southward through Bronx Park, New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo and continues through neighborhoods of the South Bronx, it empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, between the Soundview and Hunts Point neighborhoods.
In the 17th century, the river—called by the natives "Aquehung"—served as a boundary between loosely associated bands under sachems of the informal confederacy of the Wecquaesgeek, Europeanized as the Wappinger. The same line would be retained when manors were granted to the English; the Algonkian significance of the name is variously reported. The tract purchased by Jonas Bronck in 1639 lay between the Harlem River and the river that came to be called "Bronck's river". During the 19th and 20th centuries, the river became a natural sewer into which industrial waste was poured every day. An early mill on the industrialized river was the Lorillard Snuff Mill, preserved in the grounds of the New York Botanical Garden. With the decline of manufacturing in the area, the river continued to receive water pollution from the communities that lined its banks. In December 1948, flow of the Bronx River was changed to eliminate a curve in its course in Bronxville, to create land in the old riverbed on which to construct an addition to Lawrence Hospital.
During the excavations a large sand bar was uncovered where sand had accumulated at the bend over hundreds of years and made a sandy beach. In the 21st century, environmental groups including the Bronx River Alliance proposed to return the river to its original state as a clean waterway; the river became a favorite project of U. S. Representative José Serrano, who secured US$14.6 million in federal funding to support the rehabilitation of the waterway, into which some Westchester towns continued to discharge raw sewage intermittently, as sanitary sewer overflows, as late as 2006. Under a November 28, 2006 agreement, the municipalities of Scarsdale, White Plains, Mount Vernon and Greenburgh agreed to stop dumping sewage in the Bronx River by May 1, 2007. Urban runoff pollution continues to be a serious problem for the river; the Bronx River Watershed Coalition, a partnership of local and state agencies, citizen groups and non-profit organizations, have developed watershed management plans to reduce stormwater pollution and improve water quality.
Local alewife, taken from a coastal tributary in nearby Connecticut, were released in the river in March 2006. The alewife were expected to spawn in the river's headwaters, their offspring would spend the summer in the river, migrate out to sea in the fall, in three to five years return, like all anadromous fishes, to their spawning grounds. Stocking was intended to be repeated annually for the following five years, to build up the new resident population; the fishes, among a group called "river herring," feed low on the food-chain and help reduce eutrophication. And in fact, several adult alewife were found below the first dam on the river on April 7, 2009; as an analysis revealed they were 3 years old, the assumption of scientists is that these were in fact descendants of the alewife released 3 years before in March 2006. The next step will be to erect fish ladders over the 3 dams lowest on the river, allowing the alewife access to a portion of the river with more suitable spawning habitat.
In February 2007 biologists with the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Zoo, spotted a beaver in the river. "There has not been a sighting of a beaver in New York City for over 200 years. It sounds fantastic, but one of the messages that comes out of this is if you give wildlife a chance it will come back," said John Calvelli, a spokesman for the Society; the beaver is named Jose Serrano, after the Congressman, was sighted below the East Tremont bridge at Drew Gardens as as June, 2009. Beaver had not lived in New York City since the early 19th century when trappers extirpated them from the state. In the summer of 2010 a second beaver joined Jose. Beaver were once important to the city's economy and pair of beaver appear on the city's official seal and flag. Along much of its length in Westchester County and the northern Bronx the river is paralleled by the Bronx River Parkway and its associated bicycle path from Bronxville to the Kensico Dam plaza. A project, the Bronx River Greenway, proposes a unified management plan for the narrow ribbon of riverside green spaces in the 8 miles stretch of river that passes through Westchester County and the Bronx, as part of the East Coast Greenway.
It includes Concrete Plant Park on the right bank, below Westchester Avenue and Starlight Park above there. Construction on the Bronx River Greenway st
Continental Divide Trail
The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail is a United States National Scenic Trail running 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada. It follows the Continental Divide of the Americas along the Rocky Mountains and traverses five U. S. states — Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico. In Montana it crosses Triple Divide Pass The trail is a combination of dedicated trails and small roads and considered 70% complete. Portions designated as uncompleted must be traveled by roadwalking on dirt or paved roads; this trail can be continued north into Canada to Kakwa Lake north of Jasper National Park by the Great Divide Trail. The Continental Divide Trail, along with the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, form what thru-hiker enthusiasts have termed the Triple Crown of long-distance hiking in the United States. Only about two hundred people a year attempt to hike the entire trail, taking about six months to complete it. Dave Odell thru-hiked in 1977 and in the same year Dan Torpey hiked from the NM/CO border to Mt Robson, Canada.
German long-distance rider Günter Wamser, Austrian Sonja Endlweber managed to complete the tour with four Bureau of Land Management mustangs in three summers 2007–09. In 2007, Francis Tapon became the first person to do a round backpacking trip "yo-yo" on the Continental Divide Trail when he thru-hiked from Mexico to Canada and back to Mexico along the CDT and needed seven months to finish it; this seven-month journey spanned over 5,600 miles. Tapon took the most circuitous, high, difficult route north and while returning south, took the more expedient route. Andrew Skurka completed the trail as part of the 6,875-mile Great Western Loop in 2007; the youngest person to thru-hike the trail is Reed Gjonnes, who hiked the trail with her father Eric Gjonnes from April 15, 2013 to September 6, 2013 in one continuous northbound hike at the age of 13. The CDT in New Mexico is about 700 miles long and some portions have limited water. Local volunteer groups place water caches at strategic points along the trail.
Three southern termini of the trail exist: 1) Crazy Cook Monument, the official CDT southern terminus, east of the Big Hatchet Mountains, 2) Antelope Wells, New Mexico and 3) near Columbus, New Mexico. All three are located within New Mexico's boot heel; the terminus near Columbus is not on the Continental Divide but rather in the vicinity of Columbus, a village, the northern terminus of the annual 250-mile Cabalgata Binacional Villista. The Crazy Cook Monument is the most recognized starting or finishing point of the Continental Divide Trail, but due to its remote location, devoid of any lodging or other services, Columbus is considered a legitimate alternate starting or finishing point for those hiking or biking the CDT. Located 3 miles from the International Port of Entry at Palomas, Columbus is a small border village with several amenities including two modest hotels, a gas station, a handful of small cafes, a US Post Office, a bank, auto mechanics, grocery stores. Columbus is listed as a National Historic Landmark due to the invasion in 1916 by Pancho Villa and his "Villistas".
The village has two museums and a state park commemorating Pancho Villa's raid and the so-called Punitive Mexican Expedition led by US Army General "Blackjack" Pershing, who attempted, but failed to capture him. From the Crazy Cook Monument, the trail begins as a cross-country desire path. From Columbus, the route is a roadwalk to Lordsburg. Notable points on the CDT in New Mexico include: Animas and Playas Valleys Carson National Forest Chama River Canyon Wilderness Cibola National Forest Cumbres Pass El Malpaís National Monument Gila National Forest Pie Town Reserve San Pedro Parks Wilderness The CDT passes through many of the highest and wildest mountain regions of Colorado, such as the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado and the Sawatch Range in the central region. In most areas the trail is well marked, it is concurrent with the Colorado Trail for 200 miles. The CDT itself meanders in Colorado some 650 miles at higher altitudes. Depending on any given year's snow-pack and a hiker's individual schedule, alternative routes are available.
The Creede Cut-off in the San Juan Mountains to avoid persistent snow or unfavorable weather is such an example. This should be balanced with Colorado's'monsoon season' with afternoon thunderstorms that occur in late July and August; the route's location makes short side trips to many of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks feasible. A few stretches of the CDT in Colorado have no distinct marked or named trail, but Jonathan Ley's or Jim Wolf's maps are helpful; some stretches of the CDT in Colorado are still a wilderness footpath. Additional points of interest along the Colorado CDT include: Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Grays Peak - highest summit on the CDT Mount Elbert and Mount Massive - Colorado's highest peaks Rabbit Ears Pass Rocky Mountain National Park Wolf Creek Pass North Park Middle Park South Park Of all the five states traversed by the CDT, Wyoming has the most diverse terrain; this includes hiking through a large section of range-land in the middle of the state, known as the Great Divide Basin.
Hikers must decide on a route with regard to the Great Divide Basin since the actual Continental Divide forks in southern Wyoming forming in an endorheic basin. The shortest route
Bike path
A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses shared use paths, "multi-use path", or "Class III bikeway" is a paved path, designated for use by cyclists outside the right of way of a public road, it may not have a center divider or stripe to prevent head-on collisions. In the UK, a shared-use footway or multi-use path is for use by both pedestrians. Bike paths that follow independent rights-of-way are used to promote recreational cycling. In Northern European countries, cycling tourism represents a significant proportion of overall tourist activity. Extensive interurban bike path networks can be found in countries such as Denmark or the Netherlands, which has had a national system of cycle routes since 1993; these networks may use routes dedicated to cycle traffic or minor rural roads whose use is otherwise restricted to local motor traffic and agricultural machinery.
The Fietspad or Bicycle Path in the Netherlands is logically constructed to link shops, stations, workplaces for everyday cycling. The more sensible approach is based on efforts to increase Utility cycling. In countries like Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany the high levels of utility cycling includes shopping trips e.g. 9% of all shopping trips in Germany are by bicycle. The UK has implemented the National Cycle Network. Where available, these routes are rail trails making use of abandoned railway corridors. A prominent example in the UK is the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, a 21-kilometre path for walkers and cyclists, part of National Cycle Route 4. Other UK examples include The Ebury Way Cycle Path, The Alban Way, the Hillend Loch Railway Path and the Nicky Line. In 2003 the longest continuous bike path in Europe was opened, along the Albacete-Valdeganga highway in Spain, a distance of 22 kilometres. Bogota's Bike Paths Network and built during the administration of Mayor Enrique Peñalosa attracts significant recreational use.
The relative safety of bike paths that follow independent rights-of-way closed to motorized traffic is difficult to assess. In terms of car/bicycle collisions, this is mediated by how the bike path network rejoins the main road network. In the English town of Milton Keynes, a study showed that cyclists using the off-road Milton Keynes redway system had on a per journey basis a higher rate of fatal car-bicycle collisions at path/roadway crossings than cyclists on ordinary roads; this safety can be altered by design. For example, the Dutch Simultaneous Green Junction design has a nearly flawless record when it comes to accommodating cyclists at traffic light junctions; the consequences of other risks — falls, cyclist–cyclist collisions and cyclist–pedestrian collisions — are not recorded in official accident figures and may be available only via local hospital surveys. As a general rule, those bike paths with the highest perceived safety tend to be those engineered on the assumption of vehicular rather than pedestrian traffic.
Thus the most popular examples tend to be converted road or railway alignments or constructed to the same standards used by road and railway engineers. In many jurisdictions bike paths are shared with pedestrians, but there is a wide variety of quality in helping to minimize cyclist-pedestrian conflicts. Media related to Bike paths at Wikimedia Commons
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a 2,170-mile historic East–West, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of the future state of Kansas, nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming; the western half of the trail spanned most of the future states of Oregon. The Oregon Trail was laid by fur traders and trappers from about 1811 to 1840, was only passable on foot or by horseback. By 1836, when the first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho. Wagon trails were cleared farther west, reached all the way to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, at which point what came to be called the Oregon Trail was complete as annual improvements were made in the form of bridges, cutoffs and roads, which made the trip faster and safer. From various starting points in Iowa, Missouri, or Nebraska Territory, the routes converged along the lower Platte River Valley near Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory and led to rich farmlands west of the Rocky Mountains.
From the early to mid-1830s the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, miners and business owners and their families. The eastern half of the trail was used by travelers on the California Trail, Mormon Trail, Bozeman Trail, before turning off to their separate destinations. Use of the trail declined as the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west faster and safer. Today, modern highways, such as Interstate 80 and Interstate 84, follow parts of the same course westward and pass through towns established to serve those using the Oregon Trail. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson issued the following instructions to Meriwether Lewis: "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by its course & communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Colorado and/or other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce."
Although Lewis and William Clark found a path to the Pacific Ocean, it was not until 1859 that a direct and practicable route, the Mullan Road, connected the Missouri River to the Columbia River. The first land route across what is now the United States was mapped by the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1804 and 1806. Lewis and Clark believed they had found a practical overland route to the west coast. On the return trip in 1806, they traveled from the Columbia River to the Snake River and the Clearwater River over Lolo pass again, they traveled overland up the Blackfoot River and crossed the Continental Divide at Lewis and Clark Pass and on to the head of the Missouri River. This was a shorter and faster route than the one they followed west; this route had the disadvantages of being much too rough for wagons and controlled by the Blackfoot Indians. Though Lewis and Clark had only traveled a narrow portion of the upper Missouri River drainage and part of the Columbia River drainage, these were considered the two major rivers draining most of the Rocky Mountains, the expedition confirmed that there was no "easy" route through the northern Rocky Mountains as Jefferson had hoped.
Nonetheless, this famous expedition had mapped both the eastern and western river valleys that bookend the route of the Oregon Trail across the continental divide—they just had not located the South Pass or some of the interconnecting valleys used in the high country. They did show the way for the mountain men, who within a decade would find a better way across if it was not to be an easy way. Founded by John Jacob Astor as a subsidiary of his American Fur Company in 1810, the Pacific Fur Company operated in the Pacific Northwest in the ongoing North American fur trade. Two movements of PFC employees were planned by Astor, one detachment to be sent to the Columbia River by the Tonquin and the other overland under an expedition led by Wilson Price Hunt. Hunt and his party were to find possible supply routes and trapping territories for further fur trading posts. Upon arriving at the river in March 1811, the Tonquin crew began construction of what became Fort Astoria; the ship left supplies and men to continue work on the station and ventured north up the coast to Clayoquot Sound for a trading expedition.
While anchored there, Jonathan Thorn insulted an elder Tla-o-qui-aht, elected by the natives to negotiate a mutually satisfactory price for animal pelts. Soon after, the vessel was attacked and overwhelmed by the indigenous Clayoquot killing most of the crew except its Quinault interpreter, who told the PFC management at Fort Astoria of the destruction; the next day, the ship was blown up by surviving crew members. Under Hunt, fearing attack by the Niitsitapi, the overland expedition veered south of Lewis and Clark's route into what is now Wyoming and in the process passed across Union Pass and into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. From there they went over the Teton Range via Teton Pass and down to the Snake River into modern Idaho, they abandoned their horses at the Snake River, made dugout canoes, attempted to use the river for transport. After a few days' travel they soon discovered that steep canyon
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
Pacific Crest Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail aligned with the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U. S. Pacific coast; the trail's southern terminus is on the U. S. border with Mexico, just south of Campo and its northern terminus on the Canada–US border on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia. S. is in the states of California and Washington. The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,653 mi long and ranges in elevation from just above sea level at the Oregon–Washington border to 13,153 feet at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada; the route passes through 7 national parks. Its midpoint is near Chester, where the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges meet, it was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968, although it was not completed until 1993. The PCT was conceived by Clinton Churchill Clarke in 1932, it received official status under the National Trails System Act of 1968.
It is the westernmost and second longest component of the Triple Crown of Hiking and is part of the 6,875-mile Great Western Loop. The route is through National Forest and protected wilderness; the trail covers scenic and pristine mountainous terrain with few roads. It passes through the Laguna, Santa Rosa, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Tehachapi, Sierra Nevada, Klamath ranges in California, the Cascade Range in California and Washington. A parallel route for bicycles, the Pacific Crest Bicycle Trail is a 2,500-mile route designed parallel to the PCT on roads; the PCT and PCBT cross in about 27 places along their routes. The Pacific Crest Trail was first proposed by Clinton C. Clarke, as a trail running from Mexico to Canada along the crest of the mountains in California and Washington; the original proposal was to link the John Muir Trail, the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail, the Skyline Trail and the Cascade Crest Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail System Conference was formed by Clarke to both plan the trail and to lobby the federal government to protect the trail.
The conference was founded by Clarke, the Boy Scouts, the YMCA, Ansel Adams. From 1935 through 1938, YMCA groups explored the 2,000 miles of potential trail and planned a route, followed by the modern PCT route. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson defined the PCT and the Appalachian Trail with the National Trails System Act; the PCT was constructed through cooperation between the federal government and volunteers organized by the Pacific Crest Trail Association. In 1993, the PCT was declared finished; the Trust for Public Land has purchased and conserved more than 3,000 acres along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington. Consolidation of this land has allowed for better recreational access as well as greater ease to manage conservation lands. Thru hiking is a term used in referring to hikers who complete long-distance trails from end to end in a single trip; the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail were the first three long-distance trails in the U. S.. Thru-hiking all of these three trails is known as the Triple Crown of Hiking.
Thru-hiking is a long commitment taking between four and six months, that requires thorough preparation and dedication. The Pacific Crest Trail Association estimates that it takes most hikers between six and eight months to plan their trip. While most hikers travel from the Southern Terminus at the Mexico–US border northward to Manning Park, British Columbia, some hikers prefer a southbound route. In a normal weather year, northbound hikes are most practical due to snow and temperature considerations. Additionally, some hiker services may be better timed for northbound hikers. If snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is high in early June and low in the Northern Cascades, some hikers may choose to'flip-flop.' Flip-flopping can take many forms but describes a process whereby a hiker begins at one end of the trail and at some point, like reaching the Sierra,'flips' to the end of the trail at the Canada–US border and hikes southbound to complete the trail. However, it is not possible to enter the United States from Canada by using the Pacific Crest Trail.
Hikers have to determine their resupply points. Resupply points are towns or post offices where hikers replenish food and other supplies such as cooking fuel. Hikers can ship packages to themselves at the U. S. Post Offices along the trail, resupply at general and grocery stores along the trail, or any combination of the two; the final major logistical step is to create an approximate schedule for completion. Thru hikers have to make sure they complete enough miles every day to reach the opposite end of the trail before weather conditions make sections impassable. For northbound thru-hikers, deep snow pack in the Sierra Nevada can prevent an early start; the timing is a balance between not getting to the Sierra too soon nor the Northern Cascades too late. Most hikers cover about 20 miles per day. In order to reduce their hiking time and thereby increase their chances of completing the trail, many hikers try to reduce their pack weight. Since the creation of the Pacific Crest Trail there has been a large movement by hikers to get away from large heavy packs with a lot of gear.
There are three general classifications for hikers: Traditional and Ultralight. Over the past few years the number of traditional hikers
Old Spanish Trail (trade route)
The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles and southern California. 700 mi long, the trail ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as the late 16th century, the trail saw extensive use by pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s; the name of the trail comes from the publication of John C. Frémont’s Report of his 1844 journey for the U. S. Topographical Corps. Guided by Kit Carson, from California to New Mexico; the name acknowledges the fact that parts of the trail had been known to the Spanish since the 16th century. Frémont's report named a trail, in use for about 15 years; the trail is important to New Mexico history because it established an arduous but usable trade route with California. The trail is a combination of known trails that were established by Spanish explorers and traders with the Ute and other Indian tribes.
The eastern parts of what became called the Old Spanish Trail, including southwest Colorado and southeast Utah, were explored by Juan Maria de Rivera in 1765. Franciscan missionaries Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante unsuccessfully attempted the trip to California, just being settled, leaving Santa Fe in 1776 and making it all the way into the Great Basin near Utah Lake before returning via the Arizona Strip. Other expeditions, under another Franciscan missionary, Francisco Garcés, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza explored and traded in the southern part of the region, finding shorter and less arduous routes through the mountains and deserts that connected Sonora to New Mexico and California, but did not become part of the Old Spanish Trail, with the exception of some of the paths through the Mojave Desert; the Mohave Trail, first traveled by Garcés, from the Mohave villages on the Colorado River westward across the Mojave Desert, between desert springs, until he turned northwestward to the Old Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley looking for a route to Monterey.
Garcés returned to the Colorado following the whole length of the Mohave Trail from the San Bernardino Valley over the San Bernardino Mountains at Monument Peak, down the Mojave River and eastward to the Colorado River. The same trail was used by the first Americans to reach California by land, the expedition led by Jedediah Smith in November 1826; the Mojave desert section of the Mohave Trail is now a jeep trail called the Mojave Road. A route linking New Mexico to California, combining information from many explorers, was opened in 1829-30 when Santa Fe merchant Antonio Armijo led a trade party of 60 men and 100 mules to California. Using a short cut discovered by Rafael Rivera the previous year, the Armijo party was able to stitch together a route that connected the routes of the Rivera and Domínguez-Escalante Expeditions and the Jedediah Smith explorations with the approaches to San Gabriel Mission through the Mojave along the Mojave River. Upon the return of Antonio Armijo, the governor of New Mexico announced the success to his superiors in Mexico City.
As a reward, the governor named Armijo "Commander for the Discovery of the Route to California". Armijo's route was documented by him in a report to the governor, published by the Mexican government in June 1830. After this date, the route began to be used by traders for a single annual round trip. Word spread about the successful trade expedition and some commerce began between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. However, in 1830, due to resumed hostilities with the Navajo, the Armijo route west to the Colorado River Crossing of the Fathers was not practical, a new route north of the river had to be found, which used the trails of the fur traders and trappers of New Mexico through the lands of the Utes; this route ran northwest to the Colorado and Green Rivers crossed over to the Sevier River, which it followed until crossing westward over mountains to the vicinity of Parowan, Utah. It passed southward to the Santa Clara River, linking up with Armijo's route to California; this commerce consisted of one mule pack train from Santa Fe with 20 to 200 members, with twice as many mules, bringing New Mexican goods hand-woven by Indians, such as serapes and blankets, to California.
California had many horses and mules, many growing wild, with no local market, which were traded for hand-woven Indian products. Two blankets were traded for one horse, more blankets were required for a mule. California had no wool processing industry and few weavers, so woven products were a welcome commodity; the trading party left New Mexico in early November to take advantage of winter rains to cross the deserts on the trail and would arrive in California in early February. The return party would leave California for New Mexico in early April to get over the trail before the water holes dried up and the melting snow raised the rivers too high; the return party included several hundred to a few thousand horses and mules. Low-scale emigration from New Mexico to California used parts of the trail in the late 1830s when the trapping trade began to die. New Mexicans came to settle in Alta California by this route, some first settled in Politana established the twin settlements of Agua Mansa and La Placita on the Santa Ana River the first towns in what became San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
The family of Antonio Armijo moved to Alta California and his father acquired the Rancho Tolenas. A number of American
