Naked Hikers Enjoy Solstice Au Naturel

(NEWSER) - Backpacker combed through info on outdoor programs and proximity to national forests and parks to find the best cities in the US to raise active, crunchy kids. The results:

• Boulder, Colo.: "Yes, we live here, but Boulder wins on its merits." Close to woods, glaciers, and mountains, the population of 94,673 has been named "Smartest" and "Most Livable" by Forbes.

In echoes of Depression-era hobos, hikers subsist on bartered farm labor

(NEWSER) - The Appalachian Trail has been packed this year, as the unemployed wait out the bad economy by hiking almost 2,200 miles between Maine and Georgia—and often pay for the journey by working as they go, the Wall Street Journal reports. The trail offers a subsistence lifestyle—hikers budget $1 a mile and trade short-term labor at farms and businesses along the way for food and shelter—without the stigma of homelessness or unemployment. More»

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford is missing no more. The AWOL South Carolina governor surfaced early today at an Atlanta airport, saying he had just returned not from hiking the Appalachian Trail, but from cruising the Buenos Aires coastline, The State reports. As to why his staff said he was hiking, Sanford said he’d told them he might hike the AT, but later changed his mind. “I said ‘no’ I wanted to do something exotic.” More»

(NEWSER) - The purer pleasures of the outdoors don’t seem to be enough for some campers anymore, the New York Times reports. Increasingly, campgrounds are offering amenities like pizza delivery, air-conditioning, kiddie rides, and valet service to the delight of families and owners’ balance sheets. “The objective is to maximize dollars,” one campsite manager said. “If I add an amenity, I can charge $15 more a night.” More»

McCain, Obama declare their love for the outdoors in nature mag

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and John McCain will talk fishing and hunting in the October issue of Field & Stream magazine. (Coincidentally or not, the cover feature implores readers to “Find Your Bull,” the Swamp notes.) In the interview, both candidates profess to be big fans of the outdoors, with McCain recalling fishing and hiking in Arizona, Obama describing spearfishing in Hawaii. More»