Understanding your surroundings often starts with researching your surroundings.  And so I give you the Baltic Forest Guide:
http://www.celotajs.lv/lv/p/ebook/ForestGuide2012en#/Chapter%201

Stay tuned!  This blog as of now is simply a holding zone until I can actually get out in the woods once more. I arrived in Riga on July 28 but without my backpacking gear, which is being shipped slowly from the United States with all of our household goods -- along with my car!  Until then, there will be day hikes but this isn't going to satisfy us for long.

Backpackinglight.com

The gold standard websites for backpacking:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/index.html

http://andrewskurka.com/

http://gossamergear.com/

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/

http://www.hikinginfinland.com/

Fresh Start

After three years of exploring and backpacking the trails and forests of the mid-Atlantic (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia), I'm moving on.  With my transfer to Riga, Latvia this month, I aim to hit the trails and forests of my new Baltic terrain.

Gone will be the well-maintained and researched trails that I am used to.  Gone too will be the experienced ultralight backpackers with whom I've shared countless trail miles.

My initial plan is to discuss and research the national parks and forest environs of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, as well as to undertake some exploratory hikes.  My gear and vehicle will not arrive for a couple months yet, so the real backpacking of the year will have to wait.