Day Hikes

Forbes Traveler has an article about day hikes. Definitely click on the slide show.

"I feel most spiritually alive when I'm connected with the earth." That's Brian Robinson, the first person to complete the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian trails (the hiking "Triple Crown") in one year. He adds, "I need to get my heart and lungs pumping and muscles moving to feel that intense joy."

Tom Stienstra, too, waxes poetic on the importance of hiking in his life. For this prolific outdoors author, newspaper columnist and radio/TV host, even Los Angeles can provide a favorite mountain trail. "There are so many people in that area," he says, "you start to feel like a speck of sand on the beach. But you climb to the top of that peak, you realize you're still important to the world."

According to the Outdoor Industry Association, more than 29 million Americans day-hiked in 2006; that's nearly 11 percent of us. And not everyone is traveling hundreds of miles to reach a desirable destination. "People want to recreate close to home," says the American Hiking Society's Cohen. "A current phenomenon in hiking is the availability of trails really close to urban centers. Lots of cities have a big push to bring hiking and other recreational opportunities closer to where people live."