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9 Favorite Activities for Outdoor Singles
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With temps warming up and summer almost here, outdoor singles are going through their garages and attics and pulling out their favorite summer activity gear. Whether it's raging down Class V rapids, carving down a perfect groomer, biking from inn to inn or hiking up a mountain, outdoor singles are happiest when they are outside doing what they love... and what better time to make a connection? So grab a paddle, ski or bike and get outside!
Here's a list of 9 favorite activities for outdoor singles and where to find the best of each activity.
Hiking, Camping and Backpacking
There's probably no easier way to experience the wilderness areas of the world than simply walking right into them and setting up a tent somewhere. Most countries have an established network of hiking trails and backcountry camping sites, which makes access and navigation easier, as well as setting up some opportunities for mingling with other outdoor singles.
The techniques for safe and responsible hiking and camping are simple for anyone to grasp - don't start fires except wherever they are specifically allowed, don't camp in high exposed mountainous terrain, don't use water sources as your personal kitchen or laundry room, minimize your impact on the land and respect nature. There are numerous books on the subject, like this one on ultralight backpacking.
Where to Find Hiking, Camping and Backpacking Singles
Any eco-friendly city worth its salt will be an easy drive from scenic hiking and camping, so stick to these areas for the best chances of meeting like-minded outdoor singles. The Sierras are the backyard playground for all the California coastal cities - Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and Lake Tahoe are the big attractions, but don't forget the beautiful California coast itself with many hiking trails.
Closer to the cities, their Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco and Malibu Creek near Los Angeles. Vancouver's North Shore Mountains provide the backdrop for Canada's most eco-friendly city and offer a nearby network of great trails and campsites. Try camping along Howe Sound for unbeatable scenery.
Colorado's Rocky Mountains are a haven for outdoor singles of every stripe, and you'll be sure to find many of them plying the trails along the Front Range near Denver. Check out the trails in the hills above Boulder, home to one of the greenest and most attractive outdoor single communities anywhere. In the Northeast, the Adirondacks and Catskills of New York as well as the Green and White Mountains of New England are spectactular in the Fall, and are within a couple of hours' driving of all the major northeastern cities.
Britain's network of trails - or Ways, as they're locally called - is among the most established of any country. Many of them have historical significance and are very popular in the summer. The Pennine Way is an excellent place to start and chock full of hiking singles from Britain's major cities. The French Alps draw a huge array of people from all over the world, and the high mountain inns and lodges are perfect for meeting other hiking, camping and backpacking singles in the area.
Kayaking and Rafting
While this is one outdoor pastime that lets you sit down for the most part, it's anything but tame. Raging rapids all over the world draw kayaking and rafting singles to their waters. Luckily, there is a good range of options for all level of expertise, which is ideal for those hardcore kayaking singles whose perfect partner is equally advanced.
Open water or sea kayaking is another way to experience outdoor beauty, and takes the adrenaline factor down a couple notches. You can join up with a friend or date in a two-person kayak and leisurely paddle along your favorite coastal waters.
Where to Find Kayaking and Rafting Singles
Most coastal or mountainous cities populated with environmentally conscious citizens offer fantastic sea or river kayaking and rafting. The Pacific Northwest is a perfect example. Seattle, Portland, Bend and Eugene - all home to huge population of green and outdoor singles - are all a daytrip away from some of the best open water and river kayaking and rafting anywhere in the world. Try the Central Hood Canal for sea kayaking or the Class III Klickitat or Tieton Rivers for relatively mellow white water rafting. For experts, the Wind River is where it's at.
The Kootenay and Fraser Rivers in British Columbia attract thousands of outdoor singles from Vancouver and other BC cities every year. For the more adventurous singles out there, the 10 day Tatshenshini River trip to Alaska cannot be beat. The Sierras draw California green singles to the Merced, American and Stanislaus Rivers among many others that trickle down from the high Sierra peaks.
The coasts of Maine and Novia Scotia are popular with open water kayaking singles in the Northeast, while the wide rivers, huge lakes, fjords and lochs of Europe give outdoor singles there an incredible array of options.
OARS has some trips just for rafting and kayaking singles all over the western US.
Road and Mountain Biking
Whether it's touring through French wine country or barreling down a Rocky Mountain single-track trail, biking is a hugely popular activity the world over, and vivacious outdoor biking singles are in no short supply. There's something in the biking world for everyone, so like-minded biking singles are sure to meet each other based on their interests.
Bike tours are a great way to meet other biking singles. Over the course of several days, you get to know your fellow bikers intimately while biking through beautiful and often deeply cultural parts of the world. For any eco-travel destination, there are numerous operators offering a variety of tours.
Where to Find Biking Singles
For mountain bikers, there is always a selection of trails near major eco-friendly cities. Colorado's Front Range has some great trails with phenomenal views toward the Plains. Los Angeles' San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains serves SoCal biking singles with trails that gets you high above the notorious city smog. BCers have the North Shore Mountains and New Englanders have a huge range of biking opportunities - check out this site to get started.
For bike tour enthusiasts, the options are staggering. Ireland, France, Italy and Spain are popular European destinations, and each offer tours just for biking singles. For a more urban experience, New York has some city tours also just for road biking singles. This site is a good place to start for the best bike tours in the US.
Rock Climbing Singles
Rock climbing is a favorite pastime among outdoor singles with good reason - the pace is leisurely, the setting is almost always beautiful and deep in nature, and you have to climb with a partner. And wherever there are cliffs or exposed rocks, there is probably some climbing to be had. Climbing singles also have an advantage over other sports in that the equipment you need to get started is minimal - just shoes, a harness and a chalk bag.
Rock climbing comes in a few different flavors. Sport climbers clip into bolts drilled into the rock while trad climbers plug their own gear in as they ascend. Boulderers climb boulder, ice climbers climb ice, and aid climbers climb crazy things like El Capitan in Yosemite and Trango Towers in Pakistan. Beginners will probably start on sport climbs since these are usually regarded as the safest form of climbing.
Where to Find Rock Climbing Singles
Climbers are a tight bunch and it's very easy to meet other climbing singles at the base of a cliff or in a boulder field. The most popular climbing spots in the US include Yosemite and Joshua Tree National Parks in California, the numerous canyons around Boulder, Colorado, Cascadian crags of the Pacific Northwest, the Gunks of New York and the Southeast's Red River Gorge. These are all heavily populated with climbing singles out to get their groove on.
Europeans have Britain's Peak District, the French and Swiss Alps, coastal Spain and the Fontainebleau boulders near Paris to meet tons of European climbing singles. These areas tend to draw people from all over the world so it's also a good place to meet singles from other places as well.
Skiing
The only winter outdoor pastime on this list, skiing nonetheless attracts more outdoor singles than perhaps any of the other activities. Maybe it's the long chair rides or the thriving apres-ski scene, but skiing singles love the ski town vibe and can be found in droves.
Could also be the mystique of not knowing what that cutish-looking person really looks like behind the hat and goggles, or the effects of rarified mountain air on alcohol consumption. Whatever the reason, winter is no time to hole up at home!
Where to Find Skiing Singles
Some ski mountains are definitely known as singles hotspots. Killington in Vermont is a very notable example, if you like your parties wild and snow icy. Whistler in BC is Killington's equal nightlife-wise but with better snow and a much bigger ski area. In between, Aspen is the spot for well-heeled skiing singles while Vail does the job for the younger, less-well-off singles crowd. Jackson Hole has a booming nightlife component as well, and tends to draw hardcore experts to its steep and rocky slopes.
European skiing singles gather in Chamonix and Val d'Isere in France, Verbier in Switzerland, and Sauze D'Oulx in Italy. Each ski area is associated a classic Alp mountain village with a modern nightlife flair, and all are chock full of skiing singles.
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Posted on
Jun 4 2009
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