Your outdoor news bulletin for April 22, Earth Day:
Missing Hiker Found in Virginia
A hiker missing for almost 24 hours was found alive in Nelson County, Virginia on Sunday. George Carr, 66, was hiking with his Manasses church group around Spy Rock on Sunday when he decided to take an alternate route back to the trail head, separate from the rest of the group. Carr got off the trail, got lost and eventually hunkered down next to a creek as night fell. He was found around 1:40pm on Sunday complaining of a sore knee, but otherwise no worse for wear.
Unfortunately, the search for another missing hiker, not seen since November, 2012, is back to square one. Bones discovered over the weekend were determined to not human, so the mystery of what happened to Robert Fitzgerald continues.
National Parks Week
This week is National Parks Week, a joint effort by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation to introduce more people to our National Park System. Most people know about the big ones like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Shenandoah, but there are 401 total national parks in the system with over 84 million acres, and 17,000 miles of trail to enjoy. You will also be able to enjoy the national parks for free from Monday, April 22-Friday, April 26, so get out there, enjoy it and spread the word.
Gold Nugget of a Story
We are right in the middle of prime trout fishing season in the East, so this one has some pretty good timing. Outdoor columnist Jim Brewer wrote about the origins of the West Virginia Golden Trout for a piece in the Daily Progress, sharing the interesting story of where this particularly aesthetic strain of trout came from. Turns out, it was a happy accident. A hatchery in West Virginia began cultivating a rainbow trout deviation they theorized were malnourished fingerlings, but was was an odd looking golden color. They nicknamed the fish ‘little camouflage.’ Eventually, the eggs got mixed up and the golden trout got into the standard rainbow population and boom, West Virginia Rainbow Trout.
