Fully revised and updated, the third edition of this celebrated Sierra Club Totebook is an information-packed guide to America's best-known national park--destination of more than four and a half million visitors annually.

Hiking the Grand Canyon provides detailed, authoritative descriptions of more than one hundred of the best trails--from easy, level day hikes along the Canyon's North and South Rims, to rigorous but rewarding rim-to-river and trans-canyon expeditions. Author and seasoned Grand Canyon adventurer John Annerino offers invaluable information to help visitors plan their trips, ensure their safety and comfort, and enhance their enjoyment of the Grand Canyon's natural wonders--including sage advice on hiking equipment and technique, clothing and food requirements, and map selection; vital information on water sources and on climate and weather; and tips on lodging and camping, as well as on how to book guided hiking, rafting, muleback and horseback trips, and climbing and caving expeditions. Also included are chapters on the park's natural history and geology and on its Native American history.

For adventurers familiar with the Canyon's many attractions and first-time visitors alike, this is the most "user friendly" and comprehensive guide available to one of our nation's premier natural wonders.

Hiking the Grand Canyon

This is random:

Odd Indy 500 parking fact: few African-Americans, almost no Hispanics, but amazing number of Asians.

... from the weblog of the author of The Pentagon's New Map. (This post by Sean Meade, who shares posting duties with Barnett.)

Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog: Perqs of living near Indy...

You can choose to have the seats automatically inflate for extra side bolstering when you go around corners. This feels as if someone in the backseat is jabbing you in the kidneys.

Among all the technology — including Night View Assist, a gee-whiz $1,150 option that lets you see in the dark beyond the headlamps' range — is one brilliant application: Distronic Plus.

Leave the Driving to the Microchips

Mr. Bennett teaches the "Hidden Pursuit" escape and evasion class to college seniors who have forgone the wet T-shirt contests and beer bongs of Cancun, Mexico, and Fort Lauderdale, for the chance to dodge simulated gunshots and cannon explosions at Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School in Amherst, Va.

So-called survival and wilderness schools where students learn team-building and leadership skills through building fires and foraging for food have been around for decades, but Mr. Bennett's course is one of a handful of new offerings around the country that feature a more extreme kind of challenge. For fees that range from a few hundred dollars for a two-day class to a few thousand for adventures that can be four weeks long, those willing can pay to be pursued by make-believe assailants, survive hypothetical plane crashes and car accidents, and hunt down guerrillas.

This sounds remarkably like a terror training camp.

Do you think al-Qaeda could get away with setting up training camps in Western democracies, so long as they sell them as entertainment?

Manly Men Answer Call of the Wild

The cadence you get to experience when the XK's engine is pushed toward the 6,000 rpm point is what Jaguar touts as a centerpiece technology feature. The engine's sound is derived from a combination of valve regulation in the dual exhaust pipes, an intake system replete with a mechanical speaker that transmits sound to the interior and the gear box system, which is tuned to offer a low-frequency pitch to the cabin area.

The end result is a carefully calibrated roar with a pronounced British flavor.

When an Algorithm Takes the Wheel

"I'm not addicted or anything. I always come with other people, and we smoke one hookah in an hour. It's just a nice way to relax and be sociable."

Collegians Smoking Hookahs ... Filled With Tobacco

I suppose if I tied a naked Giselle Bundchen to the hood I could attract more attention, and of course I'm willing to try. But this car screams to be noticed.

Between pit stops, fly like the wind

What's up with Peeps, anyway?

Soft, Chewy and Taking Over the World

In the ongoing battle of the nerds between Caltech and MIT, the latest volley has been fired from a 130-year-old cannon.

Actually, the latest volley is a cannon.

Massachusetts pranksters, posing as professional movers, stole the beloved Fleming Cannon — traditionally fired at each year's commencement — from the Pasadena campus last week.

MIT Pranksters Nab Caltech Cannon

As his 80th birthday approaches, Hugh Hefner is proud of his achievements. He shouldn't be.

"When I found the vault next door to Marilyn was available," he explained to the Daily Telegraph, "it seemed natural."

The Playboy Legacy | OpinionJournal - Taste