The cure for cabin fever has two simple parts: Get outside. Get active. In that order. Need some strategies? GORP organized a round-table of authors published by Menasha Ridge Press to plot how to combat the dreaded cabin fever. Menasha Ridge specializes in outdoor recreation and is based in Alabama, the heart of rebel territory. So we figured the Menasha folks would know better than anybody how to fight back against the chill north winds of winter.

Our roundtable featured hiker Leonard M. Adkins, fisherman L.J. DeCuir, expert camper and hiker Johnny Molloy, mountain biker Steve Jones, and all-around adventurer Lynn Setzer. Let us tell you about them. . .

Leonard M. Adkins is known as the"Habitual Hiker." This guy has walked more than 16,000 miles exploring the wilderness and backcoutry areas of the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean. Leonard has hiked the Appalachian Trail four times, and lacks only 600 miles to add a fifth completed hike to his impressive resume.

L.J. DeCuir was raised in the swamps of southern Louisiana where long residents frowned upon fishing with those"funny long poles." L.J. had the good sense while in the Army to get himself stationed in Colorado where he learned to flyfish. L.J. has lived in Knoxville, Tennessee for more than 20 years, happily surrounded by some of the best flyfishing in the southeast. But L.J. doesn't sit still in Knoxville. He's travelled all over the southeast, and knows plenty of good Dixie waters.

Johnny Molloy is another Knoxville resident. His love of the natural world started on a backpacking foray into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That first trip, though a disaster, unleashed an innate love of the outdoors that has lead to his spending over 100 nights in the wild per year, backpacking and canoe camping.

Steve Jones is GORP's Expert Mountain Biker and host of GORP Mountain Biking. In the past 12 years, he has logged thousands of miles of mountain biking experience on trails and backroads throughout America. Steve finds mountain biking a natural extension of the other sports he enjoys — canoeing, camping, hiking, and fishing.

Lynn Setzer is no stranger to GORP's forums. She did a stint in 1998 to talk about her book A Season on the Appalachian Trail. Lynn's new book is about adventure travel in North Carolina."It's a big world to be discovered. Where better to start than North Carolina?" Lynn knows her territory. She's a native North Carolinan who has traveled extensively in her home state. Lynn is an avid hiker, cyclist and sea-kayaker.

It is no coincidence that all these writers have been published by Menasha Ridge Press. Menasha Ridge is big on outdoor recreation and active travel. It has cooperative relationship with the Appalachian Trail Conference, GORP, and several international guidebook publishers.

Our Fighting Cabin Fever in Dixie forum ran from January 10 to January 30, 2000. Read over the discussion on how to stay outside and active in winter.