I'm looking to make a job change, but I want to work in a U.S. city that is in an area that has good backpacking (mountains) and kayaking (lakes and class 1-class 4 rivers). I realize this is just a backpacking website, but I thought I would throw in the kayaking part. Do you have any recommendations for such a city that has both in the area?

Darwin
daroos@indiana.edu

Pretty much anywhere in California meets that criteria, if you don't mind driving 2-3 hours on an outing. But people from out of state go through HUGE culture shock and sometimes move right back out again.

Western NC might be up your alley. It's one of my go-to areas for backpacking trips outside my "home base", and friends that are into kayaking have had nice things to say about the area, though I'm not sure on specifics.

i'm pretty well hooked on the left coast above central California, and any city in the region will put you within range of all. Vancouver, Seattle, Portland are tops on my list, but you must like rain. Smaller cities like Victoria, Bellingham, Eugene, and Chico get you closer and are less hectic. Even smaller towns like North Bend, Bend, Ashland, Nevada City, Placerville, and Sonora plop you right in the middle of things.

There are nice enclaves in the Bay Area and So-Cal, but they're gruesomely expensive and you'll be ringed by unimaginable traffic, trying to get anywhere.

Happy hunting, I wish I had your dilemma!

I have no idea about kayaking - but we have great backpacking!

Fairbanks, Alaska

Heather

Come to SoCal, but choose your locality carefully. If you want kayaking, here in my town (Ventura) there is the entire Pacific Ocean. I came for Channel Islands National Park, but the mainland backcountry is great.

I would stay on the periphery of the larger urban centers.

With the current economy, I'd make sure you have a job before you move anywhere. Unemployment is in the double digits out here on the west coast, and that statistic doesn't include the many folks who have given up looking.

Seattle might have a slightly (very slightly) better employment outlook. Lots of mountains both east and west and the whole of Puget Sound plus lots of rivers for kayaking. Most years, there are 6-12 weeks in the summer with no rain (although mornings may be foggy). But I would never move there without a job in hand!

Reno, NV. Less than an hour from the #1 recreation destination in the US, Lake Tahoe. Little over an hour to American and Feather Rivers. Numerous lakes in and out of wilderness areas, bp in the Sierra, what else is there to life? You have the whole east side of the Sierra to explore outside your window. Downside, NV has one of the highest if not the highest unemployment in the US right now. Truckee River flows right thru Reno. Not sure of the class ranking of the water in the rivers.

I doubt that the Truckee, at least in the Reno area, can be more than class 2 or 3 at normal stages' You do see kayakers on it routinely. And you have an REI right there in town....

Reno would be perfect, if not for the casinos, but at least they are confined to a distinct district.

Just south of Reno maybe 30 miles is Minden/Gardnerville, back in the late '70's early '80's, "The Mother Earth News" best place to live in the US. Still nice there but has grown a lot like any secret that has been let out, but all is relative. My view from work is awesome, especially after a good snow. I'm used to small towns, so big doesn't take much for me. The county I live in in CA used to have 18,000. With the spotted owl issue, not sure what is is now with so many mills shut down.

If Bloomington is anything like Rockford Illinois, the sooner you escape the better.

So Cal ain't bad. Neither is Reno, Oregon, or Alaska. They're all pretty good spots. I've been to all them, but I ain't there.

But now, you don't want to come here. Sure, we have your mountains, and class 4 rivers and streams that are crystal clear, and sure, we have hundreds of miles of hiking trails inside big tracts of National Forests, but it ain't all fun and games here.

At the very least yer bound to get snake bit if you go in there. I was bit twice by copperheads this past summer, and three times by cottonmouth water moccasins over the past few years. But looking back, those were good times. A pack of coyotes run off with my baby here about 16 years ago. That was only a year after I was attacked by a family of meth heads. Three years after that I was tied to a tree in a holler and made to "Squeal like a pig" by a big, toothless, ugly guy carrying a shotgun, for the first time. All that takes some gettin used too, and in my experience, not many city people try very hard to get the hang of it.

Really, it's too bad. You might've liked it here otherwise. Shoot, it's less than a 10 hour drive from Bloomington to Ponca, AR, where the some of the best trailheads and a class 4 ride on the Buffalo River begin. But nobody here goes in there to hike or kayak. They just go there to work hiding in the bushes to wait for "feriners" to walk or float by.

If you do get the crazy idea of coming here to kayak or hike, you ask anybody what to do and they'll all tell ya, "If you hear banjo music, hike or paddle faster". (that's cause most of us are lazy and won't work that hard to catch a tourist, and you don't need electricity to play bluegrass music and sip shine)

And if anyone in Arkansas tells you I'm wrong about the Buffalo River, you tell them I said they're lying through their tooth. They'll know where I'm from when they hear that and they'll tone it down fast. Most of them are good and honest people though, and they'll tell you I'm right.

Dear Bill,

We need to talk.

Sincerely,

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

p.s. Yee-Haw!!!

There are mountains and there are MOUNTAINS! I climbed Mt. Rainier when I was 16 and after that, hills just would not do. So when you say mountains, if you want to do serious mountaineering then you need to be in the West or Alaska. If you simply appreciate mountains and like it woodsy, then there are a lot of nice mountains in the East. And are you into sea kyaking, calm water kyaking or whitewater kyaking? Are you able to outdoor-recreate in rain and snow? If not, you may not appreciate the Pacific NW or Rockies. How important is it to be near the coast? How important is city life to you? If you have never lived in a small town (I mean a town of 5,000 or so) then you may be in for a shock. Good luck in your search!

What's your opinion about the Arkansas (Ozark Highlands Trail/Buffalo River) area? In terms of what I'm looking for?

Thank you for your reply. In terms of kayaking, I'm looking for calm water and whitewater.
I'm not into snow or lots of rain.
I don't care about being close to the coast.
I would like to be in a big city with a major university because I'm pursuing getting a university staff position.
I hope this answers your questions. I look forward to hearing back from ya.
Take care.

OOPS! I missed part of what you asked.
I'm not looking for mountaineering. Basically any mountains for backpacking/hiking with elevations between 0 and 14,000 ft..

Now I feel guilty....

You probably should come visit the Ozarks, you've pretty much described it.

Springfield and Columbia Missouri are pretty nice and both have Universities. Fayetteville Ar. does too, and it's nice as well, and coyotes never really did run off with my baby, and all that other stuff never happened either. I apologize for saying it did

Don't come to Utah. Anywhere else in the Rockies would work, but not Utah.

Brer finallyME,

Colorado is even worse. California...yea that is the plan.