How to keep hiking during the COVID-19 pandemic – Vail Daily News

With business, restaurant and mountain closures, it might feel as though, even if it was appropriate to leave the house, there wouldnt be anything to do besides push through crowds at Walmart. But theres still a chance to get outside and do an activity that gets blood flowing and keeps people of all ages entertained: hiking.

Hiking, outdoor recreation are great things to do with your family and we encourage that in the coming days and weeks, Governor Jared Polis said in a press conference last week.

Similarly, in a news release from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the department stated that along with practicing social distancing and self-quarantining, residents and visitors in Eagle county should continue healthy, non-group activities like walking, hiking, jogging, cycling and other activities that maintain distance from other people.

I went on a 4-ish mile hike yesterday, and didnt even need to drive to the trailhead, which can be pretty easy especially if you live near the North Trail system in Vail. I walked from my house to the Davos Hill Climb in West Vail, which starts at the intersection of North Frontage Road and Arosa Drive (parking is available). You could also start at Davos Trail Road, where theres a parking lot in a cul-de-sac.

There are a few switchbacks on the aforementioned trail, and its a bit rougher, but quite beautiful. The latter is well-packed, but there will be more people. Both trails merge and continue for another 1.5-2 miles from there, so you can even experiment and take one trail up and the other down. The trailheads are less than a mile from each other, so if you parked, you can get to your car fairly easily. I recommend starting with the first trail and ending with the second trail because your walk to your car will be downhill.

New to the area and dont have go-to trails? Here are my favorite ways to find spots.

Everyone knows about this app, so I wont go too in-depth, but make sure you click over to map view and scour the nearby area, since youre not really supposed to leave Eagle County at this time, per the CDPHE release. This apps best feature is its difficulty rating, which is accurate most of the time.

Basically AllTrails, but way better. I frequently find that there are more trails listed on this app, and I prefer the interface it feels faster and less clunky to me. I like using this app to track where Im at using geolocation in real time. Of course, that feature only works when Im not too deep in the woods.

In the age of ever-present technology, its hard to not want to capture your hike with a tiny digital image. If youve ever wanted to learn how to take those amazing pictures on your iPhone, here are some photography tips to help you get the perfect shot.

For the love of everything that is good in this world, turn your phone horizontally (unless your subject warrants a vertical, like trees at a close range). Theres a reason they call it landscape orientation.

Draw a tic-tac-toe board visually across your viewfinder/screen, (or turn on Grid when using your camera). Try to capture your most important subject in one of the areas where the lines intersect. Thats the rule of thirds threes are pleasing to the eyes.

Especially with phone cameras, you need a ton of light to ensure it will be that high resolution that phone manufacturers promise when selling you the thing. Personally, I like to shoot in the same direction that light is illuminating, so the sun is behind my back. It ensures your subject wont be too washed out or dark, and you wont get light glares, unless thats something you want to capture.

Plus, try tapping your phone screen to focus on one exposure (amount of light the camera is letting in to create the image) and adjusting it until your screen shows you the most pleasing image.

Read this article:
How to keep hiking during the COVID-19 pandemic - Vail Daily News