evolution

Some tremendous improvements have been made recently to the Metacomet section of the New England Trail The leaves are changing, the days are cooler and it's time to lace up your walking shoes for the fall hiking season. Kick off your explorations by visiting some of the awesome improvements made recently to the Metacomet section of the New England Trail (NET) in Farmington. Thanks to coordinated efforts by the Town of Farmington and Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA), the trail between Rattlesnake Cliffs and Route 4 has been transformed from a segment in distress to a trail worthy of its designation as a National Scenic Trail. This summer, CFPA's summer trail crew installed over 100 feet of new boardwalk south of Route 6 on property owned by Chase Communications. The trail, which is a primary route for hikers eager to visit Will Warren's Den, Rattlesnake Cliffs and Pinnacle Rock, had been experiencing seasonal drainage issues. Consequently, the fo...

You may have noticed that the kid hiking information is pretty light around here these days. That’s because my kid hikers left me. They went down to Florida with their father to visit their extended family, I went on another trip with my extended family, and basically the hiking pickings have been slim. However, since I came back from my trip before they came back from their trip, I had a few evenings to try out some trails. My instinctive hiking selection technique is to find a mountain to climb. I realize this is a personal issue that I probably need to work out in therapy, but what it means for this blog is that many of the hikes we try are challenging. Since I didn’t have any kids left to hike with, I looked around for another option and I remembered our old dog. She’s been my hiking partner for years, but, sadly, she’s 13 now and her energy level isn’t typically up for major mountain hikes. Even if she can get up and down without trouble, she limps around sadly for da...

The app can do a whole lot more than just telling you when to turn left. Your favorite map app has a wealth of useful tricks hidden under the basics—here are some of our favorites. Nearly everyone loves  Google Maps , except those die-hards clinging to MapQuest (yes, it  still exists ) and Apple Maps. Google's navigation aide has a slew of features that make every part of your trip—planning, execution, and reliving—that much easier. But there's a lot more you can do with the app than just finding your way to the nearest subway stop: Here are a few tricks  Condé Nast Traveler 's own editors use during their own travels. Star, Star, Star Starring places proved the most popular trick around the  Traveler  office. "I star literally everything I like and want to try: restaurants, bars, coffee shops, my hair salon, my dentist, my doctor, my favorite stores, the movie theaters I like, galleries and museums, the place I get my eyebrows waxed, my friend’s apa...