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PORTLAND — It was a misty, wintry Sunday morning at one of this town's special meet-up places for misty, wintry Sunday mornings — after, of course, a stop at a cozy neighborhood coffeehouse for caffeine and a scone.

At the Lower Macleay Park trailhead, one of the busiest portals to the city's beloved Forest Park, runners in Crayola-colored softshells and skull-hugging fleece hats stretched at the curbside as they greeted running partners or nodded hellos to familiar faces they knew from the trails.

From here, they could trot along babbling Balch Creek, with its resident population of cutthroat trout, up a ravine where moss adds velveteen upholstery to maple branches and countless sword ferns bristle as if ready to do battle for the forest primeval.

Go far enough and you can link up to more than 70 miles of trails in this 5,170-acre park, reputed to be the largest forested natural area within city limits in the United States.

Mostly second-growth woods, the park stretches along more than 8 miles of Tualatin Mountain hillsides overlooking the Willamette River northwest of downtown. In its boundaries, you can find old-growth Douglas firs, 112 species of birds and 62 species of mammals, including blacktail deer, bobcats, coyotes and more.

Source: The Seattle Times

As the saying goes? ” There is no bad weather, just bad clothes!” Such a walk outside when it rains, but not necessarily cold, can really be quite funny. Especially if you can bear to send his rain hat.Walking, hiking and other outdoor activities in rainy weather can be fun, but they require functional rainwear. All too often, however, the headgear is neglected. Rain hats are not only practical but chic.

The rain hat, yesterday and today Which story has the rain hat is not exactly known. Hats are worn since ancient times. They were, however, as a status symbol. The seafarers are protected from wind and weather and used the so-called south-wester as a headdress. These were large, bell-shaped hats with a brim, which was wider in the rear than the front.

With the invention of the rubber in 1923, the first rain clothing was made from rubber latex, including rain hats. Entrance into the women’s fashion was the rain hat in the First World War. Reports from 1915 show that the ladies wore at that time already rain hats, they laid emphasis on practical clothing. Over time, many new models have been developed, adapted to the current fashion trends. The new rain hats for ladies and gentlemen are made of polyester, PVC or material made from a new, breathable material....

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by Riker

A Grand Canyon expedition is the trip of a lifetime, an adventure unrivaled in terms of the spectacular surroundings as well as the sheer excitement of rafting the big waters of the Colorado River. Unlike other vacations such as to a tropical locale or a ski resort, packing for a Grand Canyon rafting trip requires that you literally take everything you need along for the ride. Given that some trips can last two weeks or longer, that’s quite the haul. Not only that, but necessary supplies can vary from one time of year to another. In order to be prepared for each season, it’s best to adhere to a packing list.

Trip Options and Packing

Commercially guided Grand Canyon rafting tours take care of all the packing for you, with the exception of personal items. If you’re rafting the river in a private group, however, you’ll have to do the packing yourself. There are outfits that will supply your group with virtually everything you need, but if you decide to do it yourself, following a checklist created by expert rafters is the best way to go about it.

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