Southern Indiana Trails

Welcome to Tough Love . We’re answering your questions about dating, breakups, and everything in between. Our advice giver is Blair Braverman , dogsled racer and author of Small Game and Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube . Have a question of your own? Write to us at  toughlove@outsideinc.com . I think I know what you’re going to say, but how bad of an idea is it to move in with someone you have a crush on? My friend is building a yurt and invited me to live there with him. We’ve been close for a few years and sometimes I’ve thought there might be more between us, but I know that may not be possible and I’m OK with just being friends too, as long as we’re always part of each others’ lives. I also need to move anyway and have been considering my options, so the timing is natural. But I worry that in close proximity, it might make things even more complicated between us. The great thing about knowing what I’m going to say is that it’s not actually me you’re hearing; it’...

I’m notorious for getting caught up in the latest, greatest gear. When it comes to hobbies, sports, and outdoor adventures, it’s easy to focus on performance. But my latest acquisition has been a powerful lesson that sometimes, experience might matter more.   Behold: the Diamondback Topanga. It hails from the early 1990s, when it would have been one of the cheaper mountain bikes you could find in an actual bike shop. Think of it as a bit of an upgrade from the Huffy you’d buy at K-Mart, but an awful long ways from the kind of ride you’d see featured in this magazine 30 years later.   It came to me through Alter Cycles , a local bike shop operating out of a garage where I live in Bozeman, Montana. I was drinking coffee with Mason, one of the mechanics one morning, when she reminded me I’d been talking about getting a new townie. I asked her to build one for me, and a few hours later she texted me a picture of the Topanga frame, wearing some distinctly rusty parts.   I’...

Between braving holiday traffic and navigating family dynamics, this season is overwhelming enough as it is. We’ve made shopping easy for you this year by searching far and wide for the best deals on some of our favorite gear.   Janji Details: 25 percent or more off sitewide Dates: November 10-27 A Deal We Love: Transit Tech Pant (now $71) Photo: Courtesy Janji The Transit Tech pants made our list of best new men’s running apparel this year, and the tapered fit and DWR finish will make them prime for bustling around town all winter.  Buy Now Sponsor Content Orvis Details: Up to 50 percent off select items Dates: November 21-December 7 A Deal We Love: Lined Teton Denim Shirt (now $89) Photo: Courtesy Orvis Orvis paired a soft denim outer with a warm fleece liner to make this shirt stylish as well as functional, especially in chilly winter months. Throw it on over a tee or bundle it under a jacket for extra warmth. Our tester recommends sizi...

A campground at Grand Canyon National Park has a new name this week after a government body voted to ditch its old, offensive moniker. In a unanimous vote earlier this month, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names voted to change the name of Indian Garden to Havasupai Gardens , following a request from the tribe of the same name who have resided in the canyon for hundreds of years. The National Park Service announced the change on Monday, November 21, and noted that efforts to change the name on maps and signs were already underway. The NPS and Havasupai Tribe plan to hold a renaming ceremony in 2023. “The eviction of Havasupai residents from Ha’a Gyoh coupled with the offensive name, Indian Garden, has had detrimental and lasting impacts on the Havasupai families that lived there and their descendants,” Havasupai Chairman Thomas Siyuja, Sr. wrote in a press release. “Every year, approximately 100,000 people visit the area while hiking the Bright Angel Trail, largely unaware of this hi...

I am married to a consummate gearhead, a weight weenie, a hiker who can speak of the grams and deniers and R-values of every item she owns like it’s her first language, her love language. I am, well, the opposite, so relatively agnostic to those attributes that gear decisions are sometimes the last ones I make before a big adventure. This, of course, makes giving her gear as gifts (which is what she always wants, natch) not just hard but kind of terrifying, too. What if I buy the wrong length or last year’s best brand or, worst of all, something too heavy? And when it comes to modern hiking equipment, with jackets and tents and sleeping bags that can cost a month’s rent or more, the mistakes can be costly. No one wants to tote bad, bulky gear for 3,000 miles out of romantic obligation. If you feel this trepidation about the hiker in your life, I’m here to help for the holidays with a list of five items—all under $20, all made by independent companies—that I put in my backpack every ...

A long time ago, I used to think it was a good idea to confront people when they cut me off in traffic, while I was in my car or on my bicycle. I was younger, maybe a little angrier, and it was probably a little less likely that they were carrying a gun. I would throw both hands up in the universal gesture signaling “what the fuck?” Maybe honk my horn, maybe even give someone the finger.  Then the horn in my car broke, or a fuse went out, or something, and I no longer had the option of honking my horn. I suppose I could have gotten it fixed, but I had other stuff going on, and I didn’t get it done. This went on for a couple years, and I really had to consider how many times honking my horn was essential in possibly preventing an accident. I discovered it was not that many. Without the option of getting another driver’s attention with a short honk (hello), a longer honk (whoa, your driving almost caused an accident), or a really long honk (whoa, your driving almost caused an accid...

Beginning on March 1, 2023, Appalachian Trail thru-hikers will have to pay double to hike through Great Smoky Mountains National Park . Under the Park it Forward program the fee for a permit will increase from $20 to $40. To qualify for a thru-hiker permit, hikers must begin and end their hike at least 50 miles outside of the park boundaries and limit their travels within the park to its 72-mile section of the Appalachian Trail.  The park first issued thru-hiker permits in 2013, and the system was immediately successful. Now, park officials issue about 3,000 of the permits every year. The park estimates its increase in permit costs will raise the money it brings in from the program  from about $60,000 to $120,000 per year, allowing it to offset the costs associated with thru-hiker-specific services. All of the money raised will go towards park projects, like potentially increasing the number of ridge runners on the Smokies portion of the Appalachian Trail.  Over th...