Southern Indiana Trails

Jake and Natasha Moon raise their 4-year-old daughter Zoey on the road. They believe the best thing they can give Zoey are opportunities to explore, run barefoot, play in the sand, swim, and just be outside. Watch to learn more about raising a family on the road and see the Moon family’s most recent adventure in the all-new Toyota Tundra. Learn more about why the Toyota Tundra is Born for Adventure . The post Growing Up On the Road: Adventuring in the All-New Toyota Tundra appeared first on Outside Online . by mmiranda via Outside Online

Jake and Natasha Moon raise their 4-year-old daughter Zoey on the road. They believe the best thing they can give Zoey are opportunities to explore, run barefoot, play in the sand, swim, and just be outside. Watch as they set out on a family adventure in Pedernales Falls State Park with the all-new Toyota Tundra—the ultimate family camping vehicle. Learn more about why the Toyota Tundra is Born for Adventure . The post The Ultimate Family Camping Truck Is Here appeared first on Outside Online . by mmiranda via Outside Online

As gear gets more technical and higher performing with every season, many sustainability-minded brands are trying to figure out how to keep their old products out of the landfill. Skis, the vast majority of which see only around seven years of use, are no exception—which is why Rossignol’s announcement of a new limited-release 75 percent recyclable all-mountain ski for the 2022–2023 season rose above the Earth Day noise on Friday. At only 69 millimeters underfoot, the new Essential is a carving ski geared toward European audiences (as opposed to the wider skis you’ll find all over U.S. slopes). It has a short turn radius and is available in lengths of 156, 161, and 166 centimeters (a 171-centimeter length will be available in winter 2023–2024) and is designed for the mid-to-advanced frontside resort shredder. To make the ski recyclable, designers reduced the amount of materials used. Most other skis are constructed with eight or more different types of materials that don’t easi...

Welcome to Ask a Gear Editor, our monthly column where we answer readers’ most puzzling gear questions. Have a burning question of your own? Become an Outside+ member  to  ask an Outside expert for advice . Dear Gear Team,  What is the point of a soft-shell jacket? Most of the options I’ve seen at stores aren’t really waterproof like a rain shell, or as warm as a fleece or sweater…When or why would you use a jacket like this?  – Sincerely, Confused Hiker  I remember the first time asked this exact question, Confused Hiker. Sadly, it was also the first time I was severely disappointed by a soft-shell jacket . It happened to be my second day on the job at Outside , and I, a giddy editorial assistant, just received my first-ever gear sample. It was an unreleased soft-shell jacket from a big-name brand. Brand-spankin’ new—so new, that the jacket’s color wasn’t even finalized, the PR rep told me. I couldn’t believe I had something this rare in my hands. S...

Hawaii is known for its miles of powdery white, otherworldly black, and even red- and green-sand beaches. Kamilo Beach, on the Island of Hawaii’s southeast coast, boasts blue, green, purple, and pink hues. But the colors here are not natural—they come from plastic fragments mixed into the grains of sand. This stretch of shoreline is a magnet for marine debris, thanks to ocean currents, strong winds, and its proximity to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a trash vortex between the West Coast and Japan. Each year, volunteers from the nonprofit Hawaii Wildlife Fund remove 15 to 20 tons of fishing nets and lines, straws, utensils, cups, plastic bottles, toys, and disposable lighters from the remote beach. But the garbage keeps on coming. Kamilo Beach is not alone—visitors to even the most famed beaches in the state, like Oahu’s Waikiki, Maui’s Kaanapali, Kauai’s Hanalei Bay, and the Island of Hawaii’s Hapuna, will encounter marine debris that’s floated ashore, along with trash ...

This article is part of Outside ’s Sandal Battle . Vote for your all-time favorite here . My earliest memory of Birkenstocks is of my mom’s chunky, classic two-strap leather sandals sitting by the sliding door to the back patio of our house. It was baking hot outside—too hot for bare feet on concrete—so I slipped them on. They were too big, and the leather sole was worn satiny smooth from years of use, so my feet slid around in them as I walked. At the time, Birks seemed profoundly uncool—a symbol of my crunchy, outdoorsy, embarrassing mom who I swore up and down I would never turn into. I am now the proud owner of not one but two pairs of Birkenstocks, and I wear them almost every day from March to October if the weather allows. At campsites and on beach days, you’ll catch me lounging in my Arizona Essentials EVA ($50), whose tread has been worn down (but isn’t smooth) from three summers of intensive use. While I’m writing this, I’m wearing the Sierra Oiled Leather ($160) model,...

This article is part of Outside ’s Sandal Battle . Vote for your all-time favorite here . Like clockwork, every five years or so, an ugly sandal gets its wings. In 2012, Céline sent models down a Paris runway in fur-lined Birkenstocks. Sales of the hippie-lite footwear doubled . Then, in the late teens, practical Tevas started showing up on typically much better-heeled feet. Cue trend stories about Dad sandals at fashion week. To whoever it is that pulls the strings: please, do Bedrocks next. I love them so dearly. They have not yet been dubbed cool. But let me tell you, they are the best sandals you can buy. And despite their humble appearance, I persist, wearing them as often as the weather permits and quite often when it does not, on hikes, to the crag, to the river, and, perhaps regrettably, to bars and parties and everywhere else I go. Bedrocks are a happy medium between a flip-flop and a Chaco: just enough strap and sole but not too much. A thong connects to an ankle-and-...