~ Early Web Links ~

BirdingPal is a worldwide directory connecting birdwatchers who want a local guide or companion for birding trips, with this page focusing on European countries from Albania to Ukraine. Visitors can browse country-by-country listings to find a local birding pal, arrange tours with professional guides, and discover hotspots across dozens of European nations.

Bike Washington is a comprehensive recreational bicycling guide to the Baltimore and Washington DC metropolitan area, covering local trails, bike routes, rail-trails, and tips for riding Metrorail with your bike. Visitors can explore iconic routes like the C&O Towpath, Mt Vernon Trail, and W&OD Trail, along with a weekend planner and visitor guide for newcomers to the region.

Thru-Hiker.com is a comprehensive resource for long-distance hikers, offering expert articles on lightweight gear, nutrition, water purification, stove comparisons, and trail resupply strategies. Written by nutritionist and hiker Brenda L. Braaten Ph.D., R.D., the site blends scientific rigor with hard-won trail experience to help backpackers go farther with less weight.

Dave Hull's personal blog chronicles his preparation and journey for a Grand Canyon Rim to Rim backpacking trip, covering ultralight gear choices, permit lotteries, and training routines from his home in Kansas. The site blends trail adventure writing with occasional tech and security links, making it a relatable read for hikers interested in the nitty-gritty of backcountry planning.

Ethereal Goat is the personal blog of Sictaena, a nature-loving hobbyist who documents outdoor adventures including GeoCaching finds and Kindness Rocks discoveries. The site also features a dream journal, stamp collecting, pixel art cliques, and a microblog, giving it a charming old-web personality.

Hiking Dude is a long-running personal hiking resource and blog where an avid hiker shares trip journals, gear reviews, safety tips, and multi-week adventures on trails like the PCT, Kungsleden, and Alpine Lakes Wilderness. With sections covering everything from starting out to overnight backpacking and a published tips book, it offers substantial practical content alongside engaging first-person adventure narratives.

Hundredrabbits (100R) shares hard-won lessons from running a creative studio aboard a sailboat entirely off the grid since 2016, covering solar power management, internet scarcity, data storage, and low-power software choices. The site is a practical, experience-driven guide for anyone looking to do meaningful digital work while living and traveling independently of shore power.

Action Squad is a Minneapolis-based urban exploration group documenting their adventures through tunnels, sewers, abandoned buildings, and underground spaces across the Twin Cities and beyond. Active since 1996, the site features true tales of adventure, photos, and a healthy disclaimer that trespassing is both illegal and dangerous.

Zak's personal small-web space chronicles life in the Queenstown Lakes District of New Zealand, with a strong emphasis on trail running, mountain biking, skiing, paragliding, and gardening. Alongside outdoor adventures, the site documents his tinkering with Linux, static site generators, and FOSS tools, making it a genuine slice of an active and curious life.

TopoQuest, created by Ryan Niemi, is a free online viewer and download hub for USGS topographic maps covering the entire United States at multiple scales, plus Canadian topo maps and 1-meter satellite imagery. Hikers, campers, anglers, prospectors, and GIS enthusiasts will find it an invaluable replacement for the old TopoZone, offering free DRG GeoTIFF downloads and a searchable place-name database.