January 2012 Archives | Marking My Territory

New Stuff for Marking My Territory in 2012

January 30, 2012 in Hiking Community, Milestones

The first month of 2012 is nearly over (did this month fly by as fast for everyone as it did for us?!?), so this update on what we’ll be doing with Marking My Territory (MMT) in 2012 is well-over due. First off, thanks to everyone – old friends and new – for your support! January has brought us the most blog visits to date and we’re looking forward to keeping that positive momentum the rest of the year.

Just in time to support this new traffic, we’re also graduating from a wordpress URL to our own domain name – very exciting status update for us. You can now easily find us at www.MarkingMyTerritory.com.

Between work, home & other obligations, we’re not always able to get out and hike as much as we’d like. That’s why we’ve decided to broaden the topics on MMT this year. In 2012 we’ll be rotating through a variety of themes throughout the year, but a few that you can expect to see in coming weeks include:

Camp Recipes - first post on this was last week – Campfire Baked Cinnamon Apples, anyone?
Product Reviews – between the dog needs and human needs, we’ve learned a few things about the product quality and reliability and will share our experiences with everything from leashes to tents to power bars and more
Outdoorsy Commentary – from learning experiences to dog topics to trail etiquette and legislation issues, there’s a lot that’s worth sharing

So that’s a recap of what you’ll see coming around the bend. Thanks again to everyone for your support. We’re having lot of fun… and hope you are, too.

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Camp Recipes – The Campfire Gourmet: Baked Cinnamon Apples

January 26, 2012 in Camp Recipes, Camptastic, Good Eats

Nate knew that our first camping excursion could’ve been a make-or-break experience for introducing me to the great outdoors, so he took every step to make sure it’d be a great experience… with special attention to our camping meals. And boy did he make a good call on that… no hot dogs on a stick for us. Ever since that first trip when we threw foil packets of Peppered Chicken with Roasted Rosemary & Garlic Potatoes & Peas on the campfire, finding great camping recipes has been a top priority.

That’s why we’re creating a new section of the blog dedicated to great camp recipes… because a long day of hiking deserves a great reward.

Baked Cinnamon Apples

Apples wrapped & ready for the coals.

These Baked Cinnamon Apples are the perfect treat on a cool night after a long day on the trails. By chopping up the butter and blending it with the brown sugar, the flavors glaze both the inside and outside of the apple, making every bite like a mini-apple pie.

Ingredients

Apple
1 Tablespoon Brown sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Butter
Chopped pecans (optional)
Raisins (optional)
Aluminum foil

Preparation

Core an apple and place it on a square of aluminum foil.
Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut up butter into small pieces and toss into the brown sugar mixture.
Fill cored apple brown sugar mixture, pecans, raisins.
Wrap foil around it and bake for 15 – 20 minutes on hot coals.

Tender cinnamon apple ready for camp side enjoyment

Tags: camp recipes, camping, foil packet recipes
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Rogers Walk Trail at Ellington Agriculture Center

January 24, 2012 in bonus funtimes, Convenient to Nashville, Dog Friendly, Family Friendly

Trails at Ellington Ag Center

Another sunny winter afternoon, another day on the trails. This week we stayed very close to home and hit up the Rogers Walk at Ellington Agricultural Center in south Nashville. For a short trail, it offers surprising variety and a relative escape from the city that surrounds it.

Scenery: 2.5
Difficulty: 2.0
Distance: 1.9 miles
Convenience: 5.0
Dog Friendliness: 5.0
Bonus Funtimes: 3.0

Trailhead: 36.063625 -86.748819

Sevenmile Creek

Scenery (2.5 out of 5.0): The Rogers Walk at Ellington Ag Center provides a little of everything – history, woodlands, streams, open fields and paved roads – all in 1.9 miles. The trail is well shaded and aside from a brief excursion over a parking lot after you pass by the restored 19th century cabins, it’s mostly a refreshing walk in the woods.

Once down the hill, Sevenmile Creek appears, providing a nice scenic bonus to the trail. An open field with overhead power lines appears about 2/3 of the way through before re-entering the wooded area that lasts for the majority of the remaining loop.

Difficulty (1.5 out of 5.0): People of all ages and fitness levels were on this trail. There are a few minor climbs, but the terrain is steady and the paths are well-worn and well-kept.

Woodlands at Ellington Agricultural Center

Woodlands at Ellington Ag Center

Distance: 1.9 miles

Convenience (5.0 out of 5.0): This trail is in the Crieve Hall area of south Nashville. We recommend parking at the top of the hill in the large parking lot near the horse barns (it is an ag center) and the historic cabins.

Dog Friendliness (5.0 out of 5.0): With easy terrain and creekside access at multiple spots on this 1.9 mile loop, the dogs stayed plenty refreshed and had ample opportunity to cool down when they needed to.

Bonus Funtimes (4.0 out of 5.0): Ellington Agriculture Center is home to a host of museums, ag, archeology and wildlife resources and an Iris Garden cared for by volunteers. The Agriculture Museum hosts family friend events throughout the year. Just across Sevenmile Creek, there’s another greenway and soccer and baseball fields maintained by the city of Nashville.

History & Hiking: Log Cabins at the Ellington Agricultural Museum

History & Hiking: Log Cabins at the TN Agriculture Museum

Tags: ellington agricultural center, hiking, nashville, tennessee
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Bells Bend Loop Trail

January 19, 2012 in Convenient to Nashville, Dog Friendly, Family Friendly

Bells Bend Park

We headed out to Bells Bend Park on an unseasonably warm January day (which seems like almost every day this winter) to give our legs a good stretch and knock another trail off our 60 within 60 list. This turned out to be less of a hike and more of a walk through the fields, but did make for a decent outing.

Scenery: 2.0
Difficulty: 1.0
Distance: 2.5
Convenience: 5.0
Dog Friendliness: 5.0
Bonus Funtimes: 2.0

Trailhead: 36.15611 -86.92617

Wide open spaces at Bells Bend.

Scenery (2.0 out of 5.0): Bells Bend Park was originally slated to become a landfill, but the city eventually deemed it unfit to house all the city’s trash. As that history alludes to, the park is fairly wide open and mostly flat.

This hike was more reminiscent of a walk on a Kansas farm than a hike in the Tennessee foothills. The trails are well-kept, mowed swaths the break up the rolling prairie-type grasses. There are some scenic spots as the trail parallels the Cumberland River.

Difficulty (1.0 out of 5.0): This was an immensely easy trail… and would’ve been even more of a breeze if we had paid attention to the trail map as we set out from the Poplar Hollow trailhead. There are a lot of spur trails and none of them are marked, so we wound up WAY off the loop early on, but easily managed to get back on track.

Satisfied with Bells Bend.

Distance: 2.5 miles

Convenience (5.0 out of 5.0): This trail is an easy 20 minute drive from downtown Nashville, a few miles off of Ashland City Highway in the western Davidson County.

Dog Friendliness (5.0 out of 5.0): The dogs didn’t break much of a sweat on this trail. There’s a creek at the trailhead so they could drink up before and after hitting the trail. This is a very dog friendly trail in the Nashville area.

Bonus Funtimes (2.0 out of 5.0): This is a very family-friendly with easy trails and plenty of room for the kids to safely roam. There’s also an Outdoor Center that looks likely to have plenty of activities during open hours. Also, ornithologist will greatly enjoy this trail for the abundant bird life the flits and flies about the area.

This hike and others found in 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Nashville, get your own copy now from amazon.com.

Tags: dog friendly, hiking, tennessee
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Protect Trail Funding: An Open Letter to Senators Alexander & Corker

January 16, 2012 in Hiking Community, Uncategorized

Pardon us while we get a little political for a few minutes. Our friends at TrailsNet.com posted a very important update about federal funding cuts to Recreational Trail Program funding. This is an open letter to our senators to keep these cuts from occurring. Many thanks to TrailsNet.com and the Council for Recreational Trails for bringing this to light.

Please write, email or call both of your Senators. Here’s a link if you need it: http://www.senate.gov/. Here’s a copy of the email we just sent them… Feel free to repurpose it for your senators.

—————

Senators Corker and Alexander,

As your constituent I am asking you to amend MAP-21 to include dedicated funding for RTP.

I was immensely disheartened to learn of the threat to cut funding to the Recreational Trails Program. As a Tennessean you understand the impact of supporting natural resources in the community. You’ve seen the changes that occurred in a town like Chattanooga when its natural resources were supported, you should especially understand this. And now the Senate is threatening to eliminate this useful program.

These are trails people throughout the state use every weekend. If you haven’t been on one in a while, I suggest you check them out – if you need help finding one, here’s our blog that has reviews for trails throughout Tennessee: http://markingmyterritory.wordpress.com

As your constituent I am asking you to amend MAP-21 to include dedicated funding for RTP.

- For the last two decades, RTP has received a portion of the gas taxes paid by users of off-highway motorized vehicles to fund trail building, maintenance and other trail-related projects. More than 13,000 projects have been funded across the country for all kinds of trail uses. THIS IS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM.

- At its current level of annual funding – $85 million – RTP receives less than 42% of the Federal Highway Administration’s conservative estimate of the federal gas taxes paid by America’s nonhighway recreationists. The Senate bill would reduce that percentage to zero and represents a substantial new tax on motorized recreation enthusiasts. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

- The return of gas taxes to trail users through the RTP is in keeping with the user-pay, user-benefit philosophy of the Highway Trust Fund. Ending dedicated funding for RTP takes these gas taxes away from the people who pay them. ENDING DEDICATED FUNDING FOR RTP IS BAD PUBLIC POLICY AND JUST PLAIN WRONG.

- Here is an article from the Orlando Sentinel from a couple months ago that shows that Bike trails pumped $42M into Central Florida economy. Why would you not want to invest into Recreational trails? http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-10-17/news/os-trails-economic-impact-20111017_1_bike-trails-west-orange-trail-trail-users PROGRAMS LIKE RTP MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT ON LOCAL ECONOMIES AND SUPPORT JOB CREATION.

The RTP is the foundation of state trail programs. If the RTP loses its dedicated funding, organized trail planning and development will simply vanish in many areas of the country, as will the jobs they create.

Sen. Alexander and Sen. Corker, PLEASE AMEND MAP-21 TO INCLUDE DEDICATED FUNDING FOR RTP.

Sincerely,
Amy & Nate (Ezra and Coltrane, too)

Nashville, TN

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