As any frustrated GPS-toting hiker can attest, we’ve come a long way in the location-aware department. But there’s plenty of room for improvement, both with hardware and GPS software.

One of the most common annoyances is losing signal in steep valleys and dense vegetation — just ask the US military operating in Afghanistan.

To help solve this problem, the US Strategic Command is expanding the number of GPS satelites from 24 to 27 over the next two years (the first of which is already en route to its orbiting position). The increase in satellites won’t just help the military, though…hikers, drivers and anything else that relies on global positioning will also benefit.

So, the US Military is stepping it up on the hardware end of things…let’s just hope the Trimbles & Garmins of the world can get their act together and provide more user-friendly, cross-platform software and maps to its hungry users down here on Earth. I mean, it’s not rocket science.

(via NYTimes.com)

285 million visitors made their way to US National Parks in 2009, representing a nearly 4% year-over-year increase and nearly eclipsing 1987’s record attendance.

According to Ken Salazar, the economic downturn helped drive tourists to locations closer to home, and there’s simply no better value in terms of culture, beauty and fun than our country’s National Parks. In contrast, European tourists were lured to the US by the relative strength of the Euro to the dollar, making trips to this side of the pond quite appealing.

Of course, the parks got some help from good ol’ publicity, too. There was Ken Burns’ National Parks tv series and President Obama’s family trips to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. In addition, the National Park Service waived admission fees three weekends last summer, a move that particularly helped Blue Ridge Parkway area parks Shenandoah in VA and Great Smoky Mountain along the TN/NC border.

(via MSNBC/AP)

image: flickr / James Gordon

According to SNEWS, the go-to outdoor industry news source, Target has added Kelty to their list of partner brands and will begin carrying camping and other outdoor gear beginning January 31st.

Props to Target for giving shoppers more than just Coleman crap to buy, and I’m glad they’re bringing a better brand to the masses, but part of me dies a little every time a big box store starts selling more niche-type brands. It’s like loving a band for years, hoping they make it big enough to earn a nice living and thus churn out more music, only to have them explode into heavy rotation on the local Top 40 station. Then, the next show you see is inundated with 17 year-old douches who only know that one song and act bored the rest of the set (cough–Kings of Leon–cough). But I digress…

I’ll be posting a series of entries about my recent hiking/bouldering excursion to Joshua Tree National Park sometime this week, but a story today on MyDesert.com details the rescue of two groups of hikers, one in near Mecca, CA, and another on Mount San Jacinto, which hovers above Palm Springs.

The two Washington State-based hikers on San Jacinto were reportedly hypothermic due to lack of warm clothing and failing to realize that winter temps are often below freezing in the high desert, and especially on surrounding peaks.

Mount San Jacinto / flickr: caveman

I’ll admit that I once held the same misconception of the California desert, but luckily we had done some research prior to heading to Joshua Tree a couple weeks ago, and subsequently brought a few warm layers, a 20-degree bag, a parka and some gloves. My friend and I, who were seeking a nice respite from the frigid Northeast, were greeted by rain, fog and 40-degree temps in the Morongo Basin, and spent a few extremely chilly nights exposed in the Hidden Valley area of Joshua Tree. Needless to say, we would be the ones being rescued had we not prepared accordingly.

The moral of the story is perhaps obvious: Research, prepare for the unforeseen, and don’t get cocky.

Long story short:

1. A guy in St. Louis decides to create a parody website panning The North Face.
2. Naturally, he named it The South Butt.
3. The North Face gets its panties in a bunch and decides to sue him.
4. The world keeps on spinnin’.

ST. LOUIS — The North Face Apparel Corp. is suing a small suburban St. Louis-area company called The South Butt and the teenager who started it. The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in St. Louis seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit The South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line. — Associated Press

Out There has an interesting take with more details here.

The First State is the last one to have its own National Park, if a bill introduced on Tuesday 10/20 gets passed.  From examiner.com:

The new National Historical Park…will center on the historic town of New Castle. The town’s historic homes and buildings reflect on the state’s Dutch heritage as well as its Swedish and English roots—including the house in which William Penn is said to have spent his first night in the New World in 1682.

I used to live just outside Old New Castle, and can tell you it’s an awesome spot for History buffs.  It’s sort of like a mini Williamsburg, but with less touristy places and more actual residents.

If you’re up for a quick hike, head down to the spot where William Penn spent his first night in the New World, then follow a mostly-paved path along the Delaware river for a nice out-and-back trek.  Make sure to snap some photos of the many 17th century homes and cobblestone streets in town, and also the many different birds and river-dwelling wildlife along the waterfront’s protected marsh areas.