Outdoors

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  Medicine for the Outdoors

• Wilderness Management

  Paul Auerbach, M.D.

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  The fourth edition of Wilderness Management, authored by Chad P. Dawson and John C. Hendee and published by Fulcrum Publishing of Golden, Colorado, is a gem. Subtitled Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values, this book is must-read for anyone involved in natural resources management. Given that the entire concept of wilderness medicine is predicated upon there being wilderness, this...

• Thank You to Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities for Grand Rounds

  Paul Auerbach, M.D.

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:01 am

  Thank you to Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities for mentioning my post about sea urchin spine puncture management in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

• Jellyfish and Such

  Paul Auerbach, M.D.

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  This is the fourth post based upon my presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. In the previous posts, there was information about sharks, stingrays...

• Sea Urchins and Such

  Paul Auerbach, M.D.

  28 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  This is the third post based upon my presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. In the previous post, there was information about stingrays and...

• Thank You to codeblog for Grand Rounds

  Paul Auerbach, M.D.

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:47 pm

  Thank you to codeblog for mentioning my post about shark attacks in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

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  Backpacking and Hiking Gear Reviews - CascadeGear.com

• Gear Review: High Sierra’s Sentinel 65 and Summit 45 Packs

  If I'm playing outside, I don't want to get slowed down by realizing that I left something at home for lack of room and I go insane if I've got a piece of gear in my pack but can't find it because it's buried under every single other thing that ...

• Patagonia Footwear Huckleberry Approach Shoe - Men’s

  Patagonia Footwear Huckleberry Approach Shoe - Men's Product Description Price: $110.00 Buy Now Patagonia made the Men's Huckleberry Shoes with all-natural and recycled materials to give you technical footwear for hikes and approaches. Green construction started from the ground up with Vibram Ecostep soles that use 30% recycled rubber .The ...

• Merrell Wilderness Backpacking Boot - Men’s

  Merrell Wilderness Backpacking Boot - Men's Product Description Price: $249.95 Buy Now If you don't prefer the techy space-boot look, you'll appreciate the Merrell Men's Wilderness Backpacking Boots' sleek Italian style. Waterproof leather uppers and grippy Vibram Roccia soles protect your feet from the perils of planet Earth's backcountry surface ...

• Lowa Banff Backpacking Boot - Men’s

  Lowa Banff Backpacking Boot - Men's Product Description Price: $234.95 Buy Now The Lowa Banff Backpacking Boot for Men is the product of history and technology. Like its predecessors, the Banff uses 2.5mm thick seamless leather for unbeatable durability and long life. Coupled with a Vibram sole with a shock ...

• Merrell Traverse Backpacking Boot - Men’s

  Merrell Traverse Backpacking Boot - Men's Product Description Price: $224.95 Buy Now Your friend's pack fits only 45 liters, and it looks like you'll be carrying the heavy stuff. Outfit your feet with the Merrell Men's Traverse Backpacking Boot and count on excellent traction, support, and shock-absorption even under a ...

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  New England & Northeast Skiing, Mountain Biking, Hiking Forums - AlpineZone Forums

• Server Upgrade - Midnight, November 7

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:51 pm

  I'm scheduling a site migration from a semi-dedicated server to our own shiny new virtual private server in a few hours. I'm not sure whether the site will drop for long or not. Hopefully, by the morning we'll be up and running on a new speedy server.

• World's Fastest Snowcat

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:55 pm

  nTDNLUzjkpg

• clear goggles needed for night skiing?

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:20 pm

  For night skiing, are clear goggles "required"? FWIW, I have a zeal photocromatics that are awesome during daytime conditions. Handles variable conditions great. TIA

• Book VS Movie "The Edge of Never"

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:52 pm

  I'm very much looking forward to seeing The Edge of Never when it comes to Hartford CT on November 19th. SuburbanSport.com will have a display at the event and I'm going to help promote the movie as well. I recieved the Promo package and have a book and a DVD. What should I do? The age old questions are: Should I read the book first? Is the movie as good as the...

• K=ton tomorrow?

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm

  Anybody going tomorrrow? I got the pass from the wife. Will post pics and TR here tomorrow.

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  FeedTheHabit.com

• What Ski Resort is on Your “Must Ski” List?

  Jason Mitchell

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:10 am

  With eight world-class ski resorts within an hour’s drive from my house, why do I still dream about skiing elsewhere? Well, maybe because it’s fun to ski something new and exciting and maybe it’s just the lure of the unknown combined with the surreal powder fantasies of ski films or marketing brochures. I must admit… the happy faces and bottomless pow draw me in. Regardless of the hype, there’s something about getting out of your comfort zone and skiing somewhere bigger-than-life. Many times I dream of going back in time and skiing the little areas, like…

• Backcountry.com Launches Stoic Apparel Brand

  Jason Mitchell

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm

  Looks like Backcountry.com is stepping it up with their new Stoic brand. I’ve been very impressed with the variety of Backcountry-branded gear I’ve reviewed in the past and envision the new Stoic apparel and outerwear pieces to be even better. Here’s the news release on the official launch of Stoic. Sheets of light-density snow blanket the mountains before an epic powder day. Solid ice has finally formed on a classic mixed line that rarely exists. The suffocating deluge that has kept a climbing team holed up in their tent for five days at 20,478 feet has abated, giving way…

• 2010 Norco Judan Singlespeed 29er w/Gates Belt Drive

  Jason Mitchell

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  Do you think we’ll ever see the demise of the bicycle chain? Well, belt drivetrains have been around for a few years now as mostly a novelty. For 2010, Norco is trying to bring it mainstream… well… sorta. By sorta, I mean it’s a singlespeed, it’s a 29er, it’s Reynolds steel and it’s also a Norco, so not really mainstream in the States, but for a manufacturer as large as Norco to introduce their dealers and aficionados to the Gates Belt Drive, this is a big deal. While singlespeeds are appealing and fun, I’ve yet to spend much time on one, but…

• Jetboil Flash PCS Stove Review

  Jason Mitchell

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pm

  Cooking in the backcountry can be simple, or it can be archaic and annoying. Be it known that I hate, no loathe campfires. If I was living 100 years ago and loved the outdoors as much as I do–heck even the indoors–I wouldn’t fair too well. The smoke and mess is annoyingly annoying–I just don’t get it. And, even now, some camp or backpacking stoves aren’t much more convenient. That’s what makes the Jetboil Flash PCS stove so different. It’s simple and does one thing really well–boil water. About the Jetboil Flash PCS Starting in 2001,…

• Petzl Tikka XP2 Headlamp Review

  Donald Buraglio

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:47 am

  It’s hard to top the utility value of a durable headlamp that’s bright enough to light your way on dark morning trails, but small enough to conveniently tuck away in a pocket after the sun comes up. For the past two years, my go-to lamp was the Petzl Tikka XP – so when Petzl revamped the product line and introduced the Tikka XP2, I was eager to take it for a test spin. Petzl Tikka XP2 Specs: Bulb type: 1 high-output LED and 1 red LED Beam type: Flood or spot Brightness (high setting): 60 lumens Weight (with alkaline batteries): 88g/3.10 oz Dimensions: 2.5” x 2.25” x 1.5”…

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  Camping Survival Tips

• Camping Perfect For All Occasions

  Editor

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:50 am

  Are you looking for a good time? If you are, have you ever thought about going camping? What is nice about camping is that it is an affordable recreational activity, as well as one that is perfect for a wide range of occasions, as few of which are outlined below. Perhaps, the best type of occasion that is perfect for a camping trip is that of a family vacation. Camping is most ideal for family vacations because it is affordable. Whether you have two kids or five kids, it can get fairly expensive to plan a "traditional," family vacation, like one to an amusement park. Many families…

• Camping in a Military Sleeping Bag

  Editor

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

  A military sleeping bag is a great choice for the camper or hiker who prefers gear that has both extra-protection and a functional, efficient design, something the military is quite well-known for and has rigorously perfected. Many companies have their own version of a military sleeping bag that includes all the components of a real military-issued unit. Some offer lighter designs that are still efficient. However, the heavy duty designs are generally comprised of four units that campers can make use of individually or combine together to make a sturdy all-weather unit built for survival…

• Picnic Tables What To Consider When Buying Them

  Editor

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:22 am

  Do you enjoy spending time outdoors in your backyard? If you do, there is a good chance that you also enjoy eating outdoors. If you enjoy hosting backyard barbeques or picnics, you may want to consider buying a buying yourself a picnic table, if you don't already own one. If this is your first time attempting to buy a picnic table, your first though may be to head on down to your local home and garden store. While this approach is more than doable, you may want to take the time to find the perfect picnic table for yourself. What you need to remember about picnic tables, especially those…

• What To Consider When Hosting A Picnic

  Editor

  20 Oct 2009 | 2:50 am

  Do you love spending time outdoors? If you do, have you ever thought about hosting a picnic? Although hosting a picnic can be a fun and exciting experience for you, it can also be a stressful and overwhelming one. That is one of the many reasons why not all individuals are able to handle hosting their own picnics, especially those that are larger in size. Before you decide to host a picnic for your friends or family members, there are a number of important factors that you will want to take into consideration. A few of those factors are outlined below for your convenience. One of the many…

• What to Know about Camping tents

  Editor

  16 Oct 2009 | 5:15 am

  If you still picture camping tents as being made of canvas and requiring a good bit of pole setting and staking, then you're in for a bit of a surprise when it comes to the camping tents that you can readily find today. From cocoon like miniature tents that are just big enough for your sleeping bag to large room sized tents that can fit the whole family, the kind of tent that you select is just like any other piece of camping equipment that you might purchase - it just depends on the kind of camping that you plan on doing. First, start by considering where and when you plan on using your…

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  Camping News

• Grand Jury: Hunter was killed in self defense during confrontation

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:27 pm

  Wheeler County District Attorney Daniel Ousley announced Friday that a Wheeler County Grand Jury convened on Thursday, November 5th, to review investigative facts into the death of 61-year old Howard Franklin Means from Portland.

• Would You Camp in An Opera House-Shaped Tent?

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:21 am

  Editor's Note: The following story on this European-made Opera capsule caravan comes from www.jaunted.com, which bills itself as 'The Pop Culture Travel Guide." For more more information on this unique "tent camper" and a look at a video, go to www.yoursuiteinnature.com. There's a certain class of people who enjoy the idea of being in nature but ...

• Camping for a cause

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am

  This Saturday, a few locals will be braving the elements to raise money for ShelterBoxes.

• Found: 1929 Studebaker RV

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am

  It's long been known that Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were camping enthusiasts, motoring out into the wilderness for a good ol' time .

• Why Take a Family Camping Vacation - Having Outdoor Tent Fun

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  In the modern family entertainment consists of glowing screens. The computer, video games, cell phones, and television are the things that entertain our families.

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  News from The Outdoor Foundation

• Outdoor Alliance Joins Ninth World Wilderness Congress

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Outdoor Alliance (OA), a coalition of six member-based national outdoor advocacy groups, will share its experience and expertise with wilderness experts from around the world at the Ninth World Wilderness Congress (WILD9) November 6-13 in Merida, Mexico. This is the first World Wilderness Congress held in Latin America and more than one thousand international wilderness experts are expected to attend.

• SIERRA Magazine’s Annual Winter Sports issue

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Slide into Winter with a Low-Carbon Look at Traveling on Snow with SIERRA Magazine’s Annual Winter Sports issue

• Congress Funds A.T. Lands Projects

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Fiscal 2010 Interior appropriations included $9 million for added protection to Appalachian Trail footpath

• Leading Outdoor Retailer Launches New Website

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Leading Outdoor Retailer Launches New Website BACKWOODS.com features easier navigation, enhanced online community

• Outdoor Alliance Launches 'Protect Our Climate' Video Short

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of six member-based national outdoor advocacy groups including the Access Fund, American Canoe Association, American Hiking Society, American Whitewater, International Mountain Bicycling Association and the Winter Wildlands Alliance, today launched a short film designed to rally the outdoor community around the issue of climate protection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTxtKqf7lLc

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  NYT > Camps and Camping

• Cutbacks Will Affect State Park Enthusiasts

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Padlocked toilets are coming soon to California’s once-fabled state parks.

• Backpacking Made Easy, With 4-Footed Friends

  29 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

  For a family camping in Colorado’s backcountry, llamas act as playmates, guards and furry 325-pound porters to lighten the load.

• Two for the Road

  29 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

  With limited time, a tight budget, and a minivan as overnight lodging, a couple make their way across the country, fulfilling a dream for both.

• Do-It-Yourself RV

  29 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

  A Toyota Sienna minivan converts easily into a smaller, stripped-down version of the old Volkswagen Vanagons from the 1970s.

• Campsites the Great Depression Created

  29 Aug 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Trails, campgrounds, lodges -- you name it, the “C.C.C. boys” made it -- and their heartland was a swath of Virginia centered on the Blue Ridge of the Appalachians.

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  American Camp Association - Latest News

• Open letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

  Read open letter to Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, discussing camp's role in the "Race to the Top"

• Celebrate ACA's 100th Anniversary

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:51 pm

  Preserving the rich history of the camp experience is essential for the future. The American Camp Association (ACA) is proud to celebrate our 100th Anniversary in 2010 and the 150th Anniversary of Organized Camping in 2011, and to honor our past with this Web-based tribute.

• The Fall 2009 Issue of The Campline Is Accessible Online

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:14 am

  The CampLine provides camp-specific knowledge on legal, legislative, and risk management issues and is published three times a year covering topics such as: legal perspectives, regulatory matters, risk management, personnel management, and current legislative issues. The digital issue of The CampLine is not only environmentally friendly but allows you to utilize The CampLine resources more readily. Click any of the links throughout The CampLine to be sent directly to a Web browser where you can research and learn more about specific topics. It's just one more way The Campline can help you.

• Reframing the Issue: ACA’s Messages to Parents Regarding the Year Round Education Reform Debate

  2 Oct 2009 | 11:05 am

  The American Camp Association® (ACA) believes the organized camp experience is a vital component in the development and education of the whole child. ACA supports year-round educational opportunities and actively supports the extension of organized camp experiences to all children.

• Say It Big Coast to Coast!

  8 Sep 2009 | 9:11 am

  Because of Camp…™ Coming to a Highway Near You! Because of Camp…™ is going coast to coast! ACA will begin placing billboards nationwide beginning in February 2010 — delivering camp’s positive message to millions of families. Find out how you can “Say It Big” with ACA in 2010.

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  Backpacking Light Magazine

• Comfort and Moisture Transport in Lightweight Wool and Synthetic Base Layers

  An in-depth comparison of the properties of wool and synthetic fabric for base layers yielded some surprising results. by Read this article at BackpackingLight.comView All: Test Reports > Technology

• (M) Rab Microlight Jacket Review

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pm

  Trim-fitting ultralight three-season down jacket with a great shell and basic feature set, but its numerous horizontal seams allow down fragments to leak out. by Will Rietveld | 2009-11-03An ultralight three-season down insulated jacket with high loft down, very light shell fabric, a minimal feature set, and weight under 14 ounces is an essential part of an ultralight or lightweight backpacking kit for summertime backpacking in the mountains or shoulder season camping most anywhere. Down insulation provides the most warmth for its weight, so it's the insulation preferred by backpackers and…

• (M) Le Parcour de Wild Race Report

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  With temperatures that ranged from -5 F to 40 F, the Bob Marshall Wilderness threw some formidable weather our way and reminded us: this stuff ain't for the faint of heart! by Kevin Sawchuk and Dave Chenault | 2009-11-03On October 11, 2009, we left Rogers Pass at the southern end of the Bob Marshall Wilderness for a traverse of what is arguably the wildest and most complex wilderness in the Lower 48. Our goal was to be the first team to arrive at Marias Pass and to get there via an elegant route. Rogers Pass and Marias Pass are separated by 100 miles if you draw a straight line from one pass…

• (M) Olympus E-620 Digital SLR Camera Review

  27 Oct 2009 | 12:05 am

  The E-620 is the lightest mid-sized or "crop sensor" format DSLR with all the functionality and image quality for serious backcountry still photography - even in difficult situations like handheld shots in low morning and evening light. by Alan Dixon | 2009-10-27I found the E-620 quick and easy to use. Almost every function/adjustment is one or two button presses away. Many direct access external controls (buttons, control knob, and Super Control Panel) give speedy access to all commonly used functions. There is little need to get buried deep in the complex menus that sometime plague…

• Sno-Seal Original Beeswax Waterproofing for Leather

  27 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  Treat your leather nicely, THEN abuse the ever-loving daylights out of it. by Roger Caffin | 2009-10-27If you have leather trim on your shoes, you need to look after it when wet, and Atsko Sno-Seal Original Beeswax Waterproofing is the stuff of choice for experienced walkers. ARTICLE OUTLINE Manufacturer Year/Model Manufacture Material Capacity MSRP # WORDS: 810 # PHOTOS: 3 # TABLES: 1 Read this article at BackpackingLight.comView All: Techniques & Best Practices > Techniques

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  Backpacking Tips Blog

• Questions About Backpacking - Forum for How To, Where, What About? - Personalized Answers

  21 Oct 2009 | 11:04 am

  Ask your questions about backpacking in our safe question and answer forum. Find out how to, where to, what's best - get a personal answer to any backpacking question you have.

• Backpacking Tips - Tips from the Hiking Trail for Backpackers

  21 Oct 2009 | 11:02 am

  Top backpacking tips, based on real-life backpacker experiences of a father-son hiking team.

• The Ten Hiking Essentials Store - Easy Search for Backpacking and Hiking Survival Items

  10 Aug 2009 | 9:21 pm

  Shop for the ten hiking essentials that will keep you safe on your next hiking trip. Compare prices on essential items and order online from our top-quality premiere supplier.

• The 10 Essentials List - Ten Hiking Essentials For Survival When Backpacking

  9 Aug 2009 | 10:41 pm

  Here's the 10 Essentials list for hikers and backpackers. Learn why all ten hiking essentials are necessary for your survival on backpacking and hiking trips.

• Backpacking For Beginners

  8 Aug 2009 | 10:06 pm

  Backpacking for beginners -- Are you a beginning backpacker? Be sure to read all the valuable tips, including those submitted by our readers, before you head out on your backpacking trek!

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  Campist

• Tazlab Aqua-Fur Silicone Bowl

  Amy

  25 Oct 2009 | 1:58 pm

  Dogs need water, even in the woods and trails – and that’s why there’s the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Silicone Bowl. Made from FDA approved food grade silicone, the Aqua-Fur doesn’t contain any BPEs nor does it have any nooks for bacteria to breed in. One of the best features of this Tazlab bowl is its ability to fold up so it fits neatly away in your backpack, saving precious room for other supplies. Able to hold 1 liter of water, the Aqua-Fur is dishwasher safe, so it’s easy to clean when Fido gets it dirty. Pick one up here for around $15.

• GoLite Valhalla Camping Tent

  Amy

  23 Oct 2009 | 10:10 am

  After a long day of trekking, you need your space – and that’s where the GoLite Valhalla Camping Tent comes in. A roomy, two-person shelter, the Valhalla is full featured and offers amazing space-to-weight ratio. Made with 1000mm waterproof Nextec EPIC silicone-encapsuled ripstop nylon fabric, this GoLite camping tent promotes exceptional air flow, thanks to its large vestibules, dual directional No-See-Um Mesh doors and wall vents. It’s also sturdy – let the winds blow, because the Valhalla is kept in place by its DAC Featherlite poles, eight Y-stakes and reflective guy-lines. Other…

• Western Mountaineering Apache GWS Sleeping Bag

  Amy

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:43 pm

  Built with attitude to spare, the Western Mountaineering Apache GWS Sleeping Bag is ready to take on the cold temperatures. Equipped with a full 3-dimensionally sewn down filled collar, there’s no way that the Apache GWS is letting any heat out. Designed to be lightweight (it tips the scales at 2 lbs. 6 oz.) so it’s easier to carry around, this Western Mountaineering sleeping bag is filled with 19 oz. of high lofting down that pumps up a durable 6 inches of loft. Surrounded by a Gore Windstopper shell, the Apache is weather resistant and breathable, protecting you from external moisture…

• Inno FlexTop 10 Rooftop Cargo Bag

  Amy

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:08 am

  Extra space on your next camping trip is in the bag, thanks to the Inno FlexTop 10 Rooftop Cargo Bag. Offering 10 cubic feet of storage, the FlexTop 10 attaches quickly and simply to most factory and aftermarket crossbars, making it the perfect fit for any vehicle. This metal-framed Inno cargo bag has all the features of a box without the difficulty of storage – just fold it up when you’re not using it. On the ride there, your cargo will stay safe and dry, as it’s made with weather resistant material, and it’s easy to load and unload since it opens on both sides. Get more space for…

• Evergreen Outback Gourmet Camp Stove

  Amy

  19 Oct 2009 | 4:42 pm

  Forget ever roughing it again – with the Evergreen Outback Gourmet Camp Stove, you can prepare and enjoy all of your favorite meals in the great outdoors! Indoors or out, the Outback Gourmet is a handy gadget that looks as good as it works – its stainless steel exterior is combined with a high-temp porcelain interior, while its oven door seal ensures efficient operation. Giving you 3500 BTU to cook with, this Evergreen camp stove heats to 425ºF and runs on a standard 20-lb. propane tank or disposable 1-lb. propane tank. Other features include tempered glass see-thru window, two upper…

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  Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog

• The Week In Outdoors

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  If you find yourself having next Wednesday off work and you live close enough to make it to a national park, you're in luck; Charlotte Durif can hang with you unless you're one of about 10 male climbers in the world; of course someone is planning to open a hotel in space -- next up, expeditions on Olympus Mons; go Meb; well, maybe that wasn't Everett Ruess after all, LOL, WTF; and Dr. Christopher Thomas Thompson, the douche that tried to kill a couple of cyclists in California last year, could get a well-deserved five years in the can after an LA Superior Court found him guilty last week.Free…

• Energy Company Pissed at Poacher

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

  Employees of a few energy companies in Colorado had become fond of a big horn sheep that had peeled off its herd and made a home in De Beque Canyon. Local residents and employees of the energy company that use a road near the animal had taken to seeing it on a daily basis and shooting pictures of the animal. On October 30th, a person found the animal dead with a single shot to its neck. They contacted authorities who put the word out in the neighborhood to try to find the poacher. The energy company found out about the poaching and has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who turns in or helps…

• Gilt Man - For the Well Dressed Outdoor Man

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:29 am

  The Gilt Groupe is an estrogen focused shopping site for private sales, i.e. you have to be a member in order to enjoy the significant savings.  Started by a pair of pretty hawt Harvard grads and now CEO'd by a pretty high powered business veteran, the company seems to be going in the right direction.  The addition of a travel private sale vertical and now mens - Gilt Man rounds out the offering.  I haven't bought a thing on the site, nor really looked at it, but Gilt Man does focus on higher end fashion brands like D&G, Black Fleece, Y-3.  However, Gilt Man has a significant number…

• The Continuum Project Trailer

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  I've seen both of Alstrin Films' previous videos, and was at the premiere of their last work about the first ascent of the Supercrack of the Desert. Solid work, both of them. The newest, The Continuum Project, looks like it should be up to par. DVDs ship Nov. 27. More info at AlstrinFilms.com.

• Is this a clever parody or a stupid product? The Helmet Flag

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am

  I'm on the fence about the Helmet Flag (music link warning). I can't decide if it's the work of a laid-off web developer keeping his skills fresh by creating an outrageous parody website; or rather it's the work of a Utah family trying to keep their 15 kids safe. Either way, the Helmet Flag is insanely awesome. Short people could wear it at work when they have to walk around cubicle farms, and people who work on golf ball driving ranges could attach the flag to their helmet. It sells for $25 without a helmet attached. Cyclists who fear they'll look like a loser if they wear a helmet will…

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  GoBackpacking

• Friday Flashback – The Taj Mahal & Red Fort in Agra, India

  Dave

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  This post was written by DaveSide view of the Taj Mahal On the overnight train from Varanasi to Agra, I saw my first purple sunset and met a Parisian by the name of Laura, who would eventually show me around her home town. Agra surprised me in that even the budget backpacker hotels had stunning views of the Taj Mahal, at least on the rooftop where meals were served.  While you can visit the icon of India as a day trip from Delhi, I would consider it a shame to not spend at least 24 hours in Agra, taking in the building during various stages of day and night. Specifically, you can try your…

• Why I Hate the Indian Bureaucracy (Part 2)

  Lindsay Clark

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

  This post was written by Lindsay ClarkIndian Visa And that’s when I got the help I couldn’t do without. I used the last of my funds to get a cab from the edge of town I crawled to to get to the bar where I met two Peace Corps volunteers, mutual friends of a sorority sister, and agents of my temporary salvation. I took the weekend off from harassing embassies and enjoyed the hospitality of two fellow countrymen. And I finally found a good ATM, hence my relief. [Written over a beer after the first successful ATM transaction:] “Relief, and that’s all that spills out as my…

• Without Reservations: The Travel of an Independent Woman

  Danielle

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  This post was written by DanielleBefore embarking on my 340-day traveling adventure, I was beyond nervous. Not only do most students not study abroad for a complete year, but they definitely don’t do so alone. Most programs are large, it is nearly expected that you will know at least one or two people… the Chile program, on the other hand was only in it’s second semester. And so I flew out of JFK airport with 9 other strangers, got to know them for a month in Ecuador and then met the other 3 once we reached our destination in Santiago. This personal challenge to meet new…

• Why I Hate the Indian Bureaucracy

  Lindsay Clark

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

  This post was written by Lindsay ClarkPost by contributor Lindsay Clark of Nomadderwhere Passport Problems Abroad Near the middle of my travel notebook are three pages labeled “Problems,” which outline the state I was in in Lusaka, Zambia on my last week in Africa. They were evacuation plans from my very vulnerable state and from the continent. The first worrisome truth: my ATM card wouldn’t work in the country, a country more expensive than my home. Without cash, I couldn’t pay for the hostel accommodations, taxis around the sprawling and scalding city, or the…

• Introducing Leslie: Travel Addict and ESL Survivor

  Leslie Brand

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  This post was written by Leslie BrandFour years ago, I called myself a traveler for the first time. I was a junior in college, not yet two decades old, and three weeks into my first semester abroad (location: London), I was itching to explore.  A short AIM conversation with a friend studying in Paris later, and the following weekend, I jetted off Ryanair -style for 58 hours in Dublin. Six of those hours were spent sleeping; otherwise, I remember every minute – a rare feat in Ireland.  There was the raw chill in the September air, the lush green beyond the city limits, the velvety…

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  Ecuador Adventures

• NUEVO: Curso Intensivo de Kayaking. Dos fines de semana por $269

  Antonio Altamirano

  11 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am

  El curso tendrá una duración de dos fines de semana, en los que se estima los alumnos llegarán a ganar un nivel de principiantes, aptos para continuar avanzado el nivel por medio de entrenamientos. Objetivo: Contactanos hoy para reservar tu puesto. Contacta a Diego Altamirano de Barefoot Expeditions al diego@barefootexpeditions.com Desarrollar un curso el cual ayude a capacitar a las personas interesadas en la actividad de kayaking, con un enfoque turístico deportivo. Conformar el primer club de Kayaking en Quito con la finalidad de hacer crecer esta actividad y difundirla mucho más en…

• Video: What to expect in a whitewater rafting trip in Ecuador?

  Antonio Altamirano

  12 Aug 2009 | 9:26 am

• Anuncio: Curso de Rafting Para Rescates en Aguas Rapidas

  Carolina

  16 Apr 2009 | 6:56 pm

  Barefoot Expeditions anuncia el Curso de Rafting Para Rescates en Aguas Rapidas: Se realizará en el el área de El Chaco, Ecuador.  Un curso para quienes tienen experiencia en aguas rápidas y quieren estar listos ante cualquier emergencia en el rio.  Si estas interesado/a llena esta forma y contactanos hoy mismo. AREA DE ENTRENAMIENTO:  El Chaco  Provincia del Napo. El rio está localizado en el camino a la Amazonia Ecuatoriana. El clima es templado y el agua un poco fria (utilizaremos wetsuits) Experiencia no es necesaria, Pero saber nadar es un requisito indispensable para aprovechar…

• Upcoming Trip: Rafting & Camping Trip in The Toachi and Blanco Rivers (Ecuador)

  Carolina

  1 Apr 2009 | 9:21 am

  Weekend Rafting/Camping Trip in Ecuador’s Rainforest April 11th & 12th Join Barefoot Expeditions on this special discounted adventure tour. Overnight rafting and camping trip to the Toachi  & Blanco rivers. We will depart from Quito on Saturday April 11th at 8:00 am.  After arriving at the Toachi Alto around 10:30 am we will start the adventure, we will raft for 5 hours.  Then we will stop at our camp area where we will set up our tents and enjoy a bonfire and food.  The next morning after breakfast we will continue te rafting  for 4 more hours until we get to the little…

• Two days rafting trip in Toachi & Blanco rivers, Ecuador

  Carolina

  25 Mar 2009 | 4:30 pm

  For those of you who love rafting, you should try spicing your adventure a little more, with a two days rafting trip that includes an unforgettable experience camping in the river shore. Here some pictures of this experience

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  Hip Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

• Kananaskis -- November 22, 2008

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:19 am

  Despite living in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies, I can honestly say there are very few days when the hiking conditions are dramatically cold. Even hiking in -20 C weather isn't a huge deal when you're bundled up and moving fast. Tracking through deep snow will burn a lot of calories and the next thing you know, you're peeling the layers off.The wind is another story, but the odds are pretty

• Chester Lake -- November 9, 2008

  28 Aug 2009 | 9:17 am

  Chester Lake is very popular among winter sports enthusiasts in no small part because its location deep in Kananaskis Country provides some of the best and deepest early snow, as well as snow far into spring. The area gets enough snow to rival some snow resorts!It's also extremely popular for families in the summer, and while Nat and I have hiked the area, we'd never completed the Chester Lake

• Yamnuska -- November 1, 2008

  24 Aug 2009 | 7:22 am

  I'll always be drawn to Yamnuska. It was the first true mountain I hiked, and nothing will ever match the first time I was able to touch that distinctive rockface. It greets me every time I drive down Highway 1 into the Rockies, and it stands as the instantly recognizable gateway to miles of jagged peaks. When I went to summer camp as a pre-teen, Yamnuska loomed over our teepee and was the source

• Ford Knoll -- October 26, 2008

  21 Aug 2009 | 6:58 am

  Ford Knoll is an old favorite. I've covered it many times here before, but the scenery changes so much with each season. Fall was no different:Luckily, we knew this sign had been here since the previous winter... however there's got to be cause for concern when a warning sign appears to have been clawed away. And yes, we kept an eye out for "ears" the rest of the hike:

• Sundance Canyon -- Oct 05, 2008

  13 Jul 2009 | 5:40 am

  Trail Directions: From Banff city centre, take Banff Avenue south across the bridge and turn right onto Cave Avenue. Park in the Cave and Basin lot. Trail head is near the back of the Cave and Basin building, along the paved path from the parking lot.Nat and I don't hike around the Banff townsite area very often. There's no real reason for this, maybe convenience, maybe that the truly challenging

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  LightBackpacking.com

• Winter’s Coming — One More Chance to Backpack

  Bruce

  28 Oct 2009 | 6:19 pm

  This is my 12th season as a backpacker and — I hate to admit it — the first season I haven’t had a pack on my back. Several trips started out with packs packed, but turned into camping / day hiking-into-the-wilderness-trips, covering sections of the PCT. Still, I am hoping for one more chance to [...]

• Sinkyone Wilderness: Elk on Bear Harbor Road

  Bruce

  21 Sep 2009 | 10:25 pm

  Wild Bill, the Duke and I just spent three days in the King Range, that 4,000 foot mountain range that forms the backdrop to the 28-mile Lost Coast Trail. On Saturday we topped King Peak at 4,200 feet and spent two hours having lunch and enjoying the incredible view. On Sunday, we drove down to [...]

• iPod Nano 5th Generation: The Best Backcountry Companion Yet

  Bruce

  14 Sep 2009 | 8:05 pm

  If you’ve read my posts about technology, you know I love iPods as trail companions. I’ve struggled lately on the trail: do I bring my iPhone (with camera, movies, music, GPS app - 5 ounces) or just go with my Flip Ultra (video camera that easily uploads to YouTube). To complicate matters, the new iPhone [...]

• Kennedy Meadows - Hiking Without the Pain of the Pack

  Bruce

  6 Aug 2009 | 9:02 pm

  From the California Gold Rush town of Sonora, follow Highway 108 east for 30 miles, and before you hit Sonora Pass (9,600), you come to one of the most beautiful spots on Earth: Kennedy Meadows. Because of swarming mosquitos, our three days of backpacking and two days of car camping turned into 5 days of [...]

• A Walk in the Near Woods

  Bruce

  22 Jun 2009 | 8:59 am

  I happen to live in a rural area of Northern California where a 10-minute drive and 20-minute walk will take me to a 40-foot waterfall among redwoods and ferns. This setting is as beautiful as you will find in the most remote wilderness areas. A great trek can merely be a walk in the near [...]

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  nomad4ever

• Is this the next President of the Philippines?

  Chris

  12 Oct 2009 | 2:31 am

  With the current sitting-duck president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) trying to pull all strings to extend her 10 years in office by changing the constitution; a clear frontrunner emerges among the presidential candidates for the scheduled 10th of May 2010 election. His family heritage and legacy give hope to millions of ordinary Filipinos and big parts of the political elite also. But can he win and does he have he the guts and long-term stamina  to overcome a climate of corruption, vote rigging and cronyism in a country long starved of the fruits of the labor of its people? To answer…

• Never again Asus Computers!

  Chris

  5 Oct 2009 | 4:10 am

  When I moved away from Singapore on to Thailand and Bali a few years ago, I also gave up on desktop computers. Until then I mainly used self-customized desktops with the graphic cards, mainboards and components I wanted. Asus always was close to my techie heart then, so I didn’t waste too many thoughts, when I made the switch from desktop to laptop computers just to be more mobile and flexible. Big mistake! I didn’t realize then, that Asus is basically a component vendor with a poor track record of assembling complete products. What I wanted to achieve was basically to substitute my…

• Which San Miguel Beer type are you? Poll is up…

  Chris

  3 Sep 2009 | 12:42 am

  Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in Asia. Travelers, Expats and Locals alike are known to happily give it a rest and enjoy a cold one, when leaving the office, sitting in their hang mats, a lively bar or at the many beaches in the region. The Philippines are blessed with one of the best breweries in Asia. The San Miguel brewery is around for ages, they steadily bolstered their grip on the local market, acquiring more and more rivals until they now have an almost monopoly-like strength in the country. Here is a introduction about their most well-known products, which target…

• 3G/UMTS Internet - SmartBro or Globe Tattoo in the Philippines?

  Chris

  17 Aug 2009 | 2:51 am

  The Philippines were one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to embrace wireless 3G or UMTS technology for internet access. Blessed (or punished) with more than 7.000 islands, digging and laying down landlines was naturally a big endeavor for this developing country. So all the way until the mid 90’s the country was one of the laggards in regards to internet access, with Dial-up speeds and slow dedicated lines ruling the access options. Due to the high penetration rates of mobile phones, business leaders soon recognized the great potential for mobile phone based or wireless…

• Bicol Region - a natural beauty to settle down and grow old

  Chris

  2 Aug 2009 | 2:33 am

  The southeastern end of Luzon is a region of plenty. Rich oceans with an abundance of marine life to excite every hobby scientist, volcanic activities in the form of mountains, hot lakes/springs and picturesque bays to shoot your very own postcard photos, wrecked galleons to dive to, caves to explore - Bicol certainly has it all. Most activities and famous sights are centered around the regional capital Legazpi in the Albay province; which could be the perfect base for your explorations. Here is a short overview on what to expect when coming through: The people of Bicol are said to be…

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  Outdoor Camping Survival

• Know How to Build a Campfire for Cooking Campfire Recipes

  EzyBlogger

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:55 am

  When it’s your turn to be the camp cook, knowing how to build a campfire, and the right layout to use for your campfire recipes is critical. Veteran campfire cooks will tell you that a fire built for cooking is more than a pile of flaming firewood. If you are going to be doing more than just roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, you will need more than just an open flame fire. Most campfire recipes call for using some cooking techniques that use the even heat of hot coals too. When you are not restricted to a contained fire ring or other pre-made fire enclosure, and have flexibility in…

• USA Top Hiking Trails

  EzyBlogger

  25 May 2009 | 7:40 pm

  Besides camping, hiking is a great pastime for Americans but where to find the top USA hiking trails.There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of excellent hiking tracks in the USA, but which are the top of the list?This article dives in to show you five of the very top hiking trails in the US.Please note that these are MY personal favorites.Your hiking style may differ from mine but I can assure you that if its quality scenery and a great hike you're after, you won’t be disappointed with these locations.Hiking Trail 1 - Breakneck Ridge TrailThis trail is located in Hudson Highlands State…

• Different Types Of Camping Knives Perform Different Functions

  EzyBlogger

  7 Apr 2009 | 6:33 am

  Camping knives can be used in many ways, that depend on what plans you have and where you go. For example, if you’re in the woods, camping, you can use a knife to cut food, trim trees, but it depends on its size if you can do it. Most people use a single knife for all the tasks, instead of carrying different ones with them, so you have to pick your knife carefully.You can use knives that have serrations to cut loafs of bred, but they’re not as good to cut branches from trees. Others will use their camping knives to fillet fish, as task that is more complicated if the blade is serrated.

• Arriving Home After Outdoor Camping

  EzyBlogger

  7 Nov 2008 | 5:58 pm

  Arriving Home After Outdoor Camping.The ride back home after outdoor camping may be psychologically arduous.The allure of a hot shower and relaxing home bed become irresistible.Before fulfilling that desire, one has to complete the following chores after coming back from the outdoor camping trip:-Unpacking the camping gear• Unload the gearAll the gears to be unloaded from the car, truck or camper and separated out the used one in the camping trip.• Empty the CoolerThe cooler to be emptied and all food removed to be packed in the refrigerator. The cooler to be rinsed and allowed to dry.•…

• Some Interesting Aspects Of Outdoor Camping

  EzyBlogger

  29 Oct 2008 | 5:00 pm

  Some Interesting Aspects Of Outdoor Camping.One can have nice family reunion and have lot of fun in outdoor camping.Obviously, one has to plan out properly. One must explore state by state campgrounds available in state parks and national forests.Also, there are some private campgrounds that may be having facilities more to someone’s liking.After identifying the campground, one should contact them through all possible means like email, fax, phone and postal mail to ensure proper reservations.It may take some time in the complete exercise and patience to make it a successful venture.Some…

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  The OutPost

• New Bike Design is Missing Chain…Comfort?

  Emile

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:48 am

  This new bike design from Jruiter Studios lacks a chain and probably a lot of comfort. It looks like you are sitting on a plank and pedal behind your body. “Our project, simplicity in inner city bicycling, was at first glance a fun aesthetic opportunity in new trends, color, and materials. Our target lived / worked in an inner city environment with minimal space. Bicycling at this level can be more about fashion and culture than speed and performance.” via geekologie Links on Outdoorzy.com: Join Outdoorzy.com Today! Similar Posts: Giant Rats – GRats Outdoorzy.com Gear Review…

• Tripbase.com Travel Upgrade Guide

  Emile

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:41 am

  Tripbase.com shared with us their Ultimate Flight and Hotel Upgrade Guide, and it is worth a gander, especially if you like to try and get some perks while traveling without paying the moolah. For flights: Check-in early/late. Use your title (Dr, Prof, anything VIP-ish). Ask. This is perhaps the most important thing to do and in reality, perhaps the only method that will elicit some sort of beneficial response. Sometimes you can pay for an upgrade; sometimes (if you’re worthy) you can get put on an upgrade list. Very rarely will you ever get offered one out of the blue and for free. Mention…

• 2009 Nashville Oyster Adventure Race Recap

  Wade

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:45 am

  Feral Merrell Squirrels Team Members prepare to find Me out on the Course On October 24th about 70 teams met at the Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville to begin an urban adventure race called the Oyster. My team, The Feral Merrell Squirrels, were on hand to try out luck at this 6 hour sprint through many of the cities landmarks. We knew we were in for a good time when we saw other team names on the roster like Dixie Kickers, Friday Doughnut, Smokin Spandex, Gas Passers, and Still Drunk. The early morning held ominous clouds for the Merrell Oyster Adventure Race. We all fixed our…

• It’s a Web Surfing Tuesday

  Wade

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am

  Today’s interesting asides from the world of outdoor sports, adventure travel, and oddities… Sleep in a Space Hotel… in 2012 Driving a Land Cruiser around the Earth Look it’s a Biner, No it’s a pulley, No it’s a Revolver! American wins the NY Marathon… for the first time in 27 years 100 Best Adventure Towns… Nashville? Valdosta? This cartoon is via The Piton… they only post something like once a month, but when they do it’s f’in awesome! Links on Outdoorzy.com: Join Outdoorzy.com Today! Similar Posts: Ventucky Top 10 Outdoor…

• Merrell Patina Athletic Pants

  Elizabeth

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  I would live in yoga clothes if I could, so I’m always on the look out for really good yoga pants; what I mean by good is pants which stretch and give easily, fit well around the waist, are breathable, and can double for running, biking, or going grocery shopping:) I found the Merrell Patina pants are perfect for all of the above! Merrell Patina Pants Three things really set the Merrell Patina pants apart for me: 1) a really wide waist band with extra fabric which is doubled up –I like this because some yoga pants will pull downward and I have found myself readjusting my pants…

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  Rock Climber Girl - blogging by Sara, a pacific northwest woman who rock climbs

• Guest Blogger Rebecca: Gore-Tex Summit - How The Stuff Works

  Tiffany

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pm

  From RCG HQ: Here's Day 2 of Rebecca's adventures at Gore-Tex Bloggers summit!One of the most interesting parts of the Gore-Tex Blogger Summit was learning about the core science behind what makes a garment waterproof and breathable. This actually is important information for the outdoor consumer. It’s not unique to Gore-Tex and the science applies to all kinds of outerwear, manufacturers, and sports.What exactly makes a jacket waterproof and breathable? What does breathable mean? Why do I get wet inside my Gore-Tex or eVent or other waterproof/breathable material jacket? In order to…

• Guest Blogger Rebecca: Gore-Tex Summit

  Tiffany

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:48 pm

  Hi Everyone, RCG HQ here. Rebecca from calipidder.com has posted her take on the recent gathering of outdoor bloggers at Gore-Tex. Enjoy!The Gore-Tex Blogger Summit was a short whirlwind of tours, education, entertainment, and fun with fourteen other outdoor bloggers and many Gore associates. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this event but it was clear from the beginning that it would be an interesting 48 hours with a great group of people. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that Gore provided the travel and expenses for this trip.Everyone arrived throughout the day on…

• Sara Post: Kala Patthar

  Tiffany

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:46 am

  From RCG HQ: Check new pictures from Sara on her Flickr site. Here's her latest post - Enjoy!Today has been a big day all the way around... the rest of the climbers overnighted at Advanced Base Camp last night, then pressed up to Camp 1 today. More information will come, on the official sites at www.climbwithus.com and Jamie's Twitter account. My day revolved around my first big acclimatization hike: to the summit of Kala Patthar at approximately 18,360 feet. We could have gone back toward Gorakshep and up the gentle main trail from there... but no... while Kami usually takes me "easy way"…

• Sara Post: Back at Pumori Base Camp

  Tiffany

  26 Oct 2009 | 11:08 am

  I can’t even remember the last time I wrote directly, although some updates have gone up on other websites… but today I have the luxury of a few minutes at a computer, so here’s an update on the last few days.The trek through the Nepali countryside has been blissful… comfortable accommodations, great friends, lots of laughter, and many steps forward through some of the most incredible scenery I’ve ever seen. I’m a fair to middling photographer, and even I can’t seem to take a bad photograph here… they just keep racking up on my camera, with only the blurry ones deleted. I’ve…

• Sara Posts Latest On Trek Toward Pumori

  Tiffany

  24 Oct 2009 | 9:53 pm

  Quick check in here... Sara posts at Expedition Hanesbrands site... Via @ClimbWithUs on Twitter: New update from @theclimbergirl Sara wrapping up days 5-11 on Mount Pumori. A great read! http://bit.ly/9PMiY

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  sectionhiker.com

• Black Diamond Orbit Camping Lantern

  Earlylite

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:09 pm

  When the weather starts getting a little colder and darkness falls before 6PM, I add a few luxury items to my pack on overnight backpacking trips, like a mini-lantern and a paperback book to pass the time at night. On my last backpacking trip, I tested a Black Diamond Orbit Lantern and really liked it. It weighs just 4.8 oz, including 4 AAA battiers, and retails for $29.95. I own other LED camping lanterns like the Brunton Lamplight, but the Orbit is a little better for reading at night because it has a built in dimmer switch and a frosted glass globe to diffuse light. Rings at the top of the…

• Camping Towels

  Earlylite

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:13 pm

  The main reason I bring a camping towel on a backpacking trips is to wipe down the outside of a wet tent or shelter before packing it away for the day.  It's a neat little trick to cut down on extra water weight and leaves you with a drier shelter when you set it up the following evening. I rarely use one on myself and just dry myself off with my clothes using my body heat to dry them out. Body heat is really good for that. I also don't bother with a commercial camping towel like ones from MSR or REI that cost $12 and up. Instead, I use a dish towel, like the ones you can buy at…

• The Mountain Wanderer Bookstore

  Earlylite

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:14 pm

  I stopped in at The Mountain Wanderer Bookstore on my way back from backpacking up Mt. Garfield and the AT last weekend. It's a neat little shop in Lincoln, NH that carries excellent maps and a unique selection of books that focus on the natural areas in New England, including the Catskills, Adirondacks, Vermont, and the White Mountains. For example, they have a bunch of books privately published by the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC.) This is the trail maintenance organization that maintains all of the Northern Presidentials including Mt Jefferson, Mt Adams and Mt Madison. The RMC has a lot…

• Thermarest NeoAir Sleeping Pad

  Earlylite

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:19 pm

  I finally got out backpacking this weekend and tried out the Thermarest NeoAir ($149.95) sleeping pad. This is an inflatable pad with an R-value of 2.5 weighing 14 oz in a size regular. The only other popular sleeping pad on the market with a comparable R-value is the Thermarest Ridgerest ($25) which also weighs 14 oz and has an R-value of 2.6. Beside cost, the main difference between these two sleeping pads is thickness. The NeoAir is 2.5 inches thick and the Ridgerest is slightly over one half inch thick. This difference matters most of you are a side sleeper and you need more cushioning…

• AT Section Hike: Mt Garfield to Gale River Trail

  Earlylite

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:24 pm

  I took Friday off from work this week and headed up to the Whites for some backpacking. It's been a few months since I had a chance to sleep outdoors and I was looking forward to tryng out some new gear in the late Autumn weather. My objective for the weekend was to bag Mt. Garfield (4,500 ft) and hike a few more miles of the Appalachian Trail. As usual, I did a careful job preparing for this hike, studying my maps and guides and carefully forecasting the weather. Proper preparation is important up here, especially this late in the season, since we only have 11 hours of daylight. This…

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  Two-Heel Drive, a Hiking Blog

• Need a new pair of snowshoes?

  tom

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:36 pm

  I just finished an article at my day job highlighting all the new ones out this year. You might be amazed that this is all I have to show for the several weeks since I started my new job. Well, writing about groovy new gear is a mere fraction of my responsibilities. Job No. 1 is maintaining Trailspace’s massive gear catalog so users looking for a new pair of gloves or boots can see prices, reviews and descriptions of stuff combined in a single Web page. Part of it is automated, but each of the more than 34,000 items in the DB had to be double-checked by a human to minimize garbage…

• Gore-Tex advertising enters 21st century

  tom

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Last week’s Gore-Tex blogger summit offers a compelling illustration of how advertising will happen in the years to come. Here’s what happened: GTX hosted 15 outdoor bloggers for a two-day pow wow designed to do two things: Burnish the company’s brand and build positive vibes online at very low cost. Of course the company had a cover story about wanting feedback from actual users, but please: 15 is a pretty scant sample size. Back of the napkin calculation: roundtrip airfare for 15 people: $7,500; two days food/lodging: $4,500. Gore-Tex would have to pay twice that for a…

• Latest hike: Moore’s Knob, Hanging Rock State Park

  tom

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:08 pm

  The great thing about getting lost on the way here three weeks ago and having to turn back: returning when fall colors are going full-blast. This is where your intrepid hiking blogger is forced to admit that he hasn’t done a fall-colors hike in a locale with actual fall colors since his college days at Giant City State Park in far southern Illinois, and he was very drunk at the time. The contrast in just three weeks is mind-boggling at first blush. Way back on the third of October we had a few trees doing a bit of orange and yellow, but green still ruled. By the 25th, the green was…

• Best Carolina hiking blogs

  tom

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:05 pm

  Basically there’s Danny Bernstein’s This Hiking Life and all the rest. Danny (short for Danielle) posts live from the Smokies most days. It isn’t all elk sex in front of God and everyone, but it’s almost always about great places to walk on dirt. More fine blogs: Smoky Scout — Owned by a Girl Scout leader who hiked over 1,000 miles of trail at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The other day she took her book club to Linville Gorge. “Fortunately they were too breathless to curse me before they saw the view, and then all was forgiven. “ Postcards…

• Fall colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway

  tom

  18 Oct 2009 | 7:24 pm

  No hikes to report this week, but we did get some miles in driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway — which has tons of nearby trails, so I did accomplish a bit of scouting for future treks. We’ve got a mere smattering of color around the Triad (had our first cold weather last week) but it’s already past peak leaf season at the highest elevations in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Colors were subtle rather than spectacular, which actually makes the big blasts of yellow, red and purple really stand out. Not a lot explaining needs to be done here: we just drove up Interstate 77 to U.S.

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  Trailspace Blog

• Finding the most remote spot on Earth

  Alicia MacLeay

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm

  Are you tired of all the connectedness around you? Want to get away from it all? Unfortunately, truly getting away from civilization can be tough, even with the will and time to head off to an otherwise inaccessible spot. An interesting map of connectedness published in New Scientist back in April factors in road, rail, river, and shipping networks, as well as terrain and access, to calculate how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water. Just how hard it is to find a relatively inaccessible spot? Less than 10 percent of all land* is more than…

• National Parks: historical commerce vs. wilderness

  Alicia MacLeay

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pm

  Are the national parks primarily for preserving untouched wilderness, or for preserving the historic human imprint on the land, too? A November 1st New York Times article examines this question in light of 70-year-old Drakes Bay oyster farm, which has been told by the National Park Service that it cannot renew its permit to farm oysters in a tidal estuary in California's Point Reyes National Seashore. The permit lapses in 2012. The NPS bought the land from the previous owners in 1962 as part of the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore and gave the owners the right to occupy and use…

• 2009 Banff Mountain Photography Competition

  Alicia MacLeay

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

  Photographer Cindy Goedde's image above, of a young alpha male wolf in Yellowstone howling for his pack after feeding on elk, won the mountain flora/fauna category in the 2009 Banff Mountain Photography Competition. Other winning mountain photographs, including the grand prize winner, can be viewed onlne. The Banff Centre also has competitions for mountain and adventure books (just announced) and films (festival happening now) and a mountain idol role model initiative. Workshops in adventure film and photography, as well as mountain writing are offered at the centre. For more info:…

• Your Annual Hunting Season Reminder: Wear Orange

  Alicia MacLeay

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:01 pm

  White-tailed deer, courtesy of Wikipedia. It’s time for your annual hunting season reminder. First, find your state’s hunting season dates, so you know the exact dates and locations for firearms, archery, and muzzleloader seasons for various game (for example, here are Maine’s dates). Next, break out the fluorescent orange vests and hats every time you take to the trails, woods, or even camp roads. Below are a few safety reminders for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, trail running, or any activity that gets you out in or around the woods this time of year. (I post these…

• New Sport Alert: cross-country snowboarding

  Alicia MacLeay

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:30 am

  Get ready to practice your skootchline blunt and frontside and backside skootches this winter for cross-country snowboarding, or as the insiders say, cross boarding. Adam and Dave, a Toronto comedy duo, have a whole series of Unreel Sports promo films made for Fuel TV. Crawbling is pretty funny too. “That’s the great thing about cross-country snowboarding. It’s impossible for it to sell out.” www.adamanddave.com

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  Trailspotting

• Las Trampas Rocky Ridge Loop

  Stuart Green

  18 Oct 2009 | 5:55 pm

  Rating: Area: East BayDistance: 4½ milesType: LoopDifficulty: Easy (some elevation gain)Elevation gain: 1,100ft (from 1,050 - 1,950ft)Wildflower lovers will love the springtime scenery of Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, but when the blooms have faded this East Bay park still has plenty to marvel at. Eagle-eyed hikers in autumn and winter will spot birds of prey amongst the gliding turkey vultures, and there's also the chance of a golden eagle sighting.You'll be immediately aware that there's some elevation gain to this trail, and in fact this clockwise route up the westerly slope gets all…

• Mt. Tamalpais East Peak & West Point Inn

  Stuart Green

  28 Aug 2009 | 1:58 pm

  Rating: Area: Marin CountyDistance: 9 milesType: LoopDifficulty: MediumElevation gain: 1,800ft (from 1,400 - 2,572ft)There's a way up Mt. Tamalpais for everyone whether you're a biker, hiker, driver or equestrian. Opt for the easy drive-up option and you'll be taking the third of a mile plank-walk to the rocky summit and some of the best views in the bay area, but you'd be missing out on the opportunity to experience some really great Marin hiking trails.Our nine mile tour around the south slope of Mount Tam begins at the Pan Toll ranger station, where you can ditch the car, grab a map and…

• Special Feature: Lassen Volcano Country

  Stuart Green

  8 Aug 2009 | 8:00 am

  Part of our Lassen Volcano Country special feature. Some Lassen hikes are often closed due to winter weather, so check out the conditions before you go by following links shown below.Four hours north east of San Francisco and an hour from the nearest interstate highway, the phrase "off the beaten track" could've been coined for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Overlooked by locals and visitors alike the place is something of a treasured secret to those in the know, and should you choose to visit you’ll find tranquil surroundings even on the busiest holiday weekends.The tranquility of the park…

• Lassen Volcano Country: Brokeoff Mountain

  Stuart Green

  7 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm

  Rating: Area: LassenDistance: 7 milesType: Out-and-backDifficulty: MediumElevation gain: 2,600ft (from 6,600 - 9,235ft)Part of our Lassen Volcano Country special feature. Some Lassen hikes are often closed due to winter weather, so check out the conditions before you go by following the above link.Heading up to Lassen Volcanic National Park with a mind to hiking a mountain, most people would choose Lassen Peak, and for good reason. Not only do you get the bragging rights of climbing the highest and most visible mountain in the park, but you also get bonus points for hiking to the top of an…

• Lassen Volcano Country: Cluster Lakes

  Stuart Green

  8 Jul 2009 | 12:19 pm

  Rating: Area: LassenDistance: 11 milesType: LoopDifficulty: MediumElevation gain: 1,100ft (from 6,600 - 7,200ft)Part of our Lassen Volcano Country special feature. Some Lassen hikes are often closed due to winter weather, so check out the conditions before you go by following the above link.Whether you measure by quality or quantity, this hike's a winner either way. Explore at least a dozen pristine lakes and pools on this loop trail in the heart of Lassen Volcanic National Park.Begin the hike at the north side of Summit Lake where you'll find kids from the nearby campground frolicking in the…

• 
  Ubertramp Backpacking

• In-Flight Air Travel Tips

  Ubertramp

  21 Oct 2009 | 4:59 am

  A recent study showed that a long haul flight will undoubtedly be the most unpleasant, distressing, uncomfortable and most horrific 12 hours of your entire life (unless you’ve tried to drive right across London.) Alright, the study bit was made up…but long haul flights are still a pain in the butt. Anyhow, here are a few tips to ease that pain quicker than you can say ‘Cheap Plane Thrombosis’. Watch your Step Airline toilets are gross at the best of times, but after a few hours of turbulence on a long haul they’re not a place you want to be in thin socks or bare feet. Always pop on…

• Pre-Flight Airline Travel Tips

  Ubertramp

  21 Oct 2009 | 4:47 am

  Before even setting foot on an aeroplane, there are plenty of things we can do to ensure a more pleasant flight. Here are some pre-flight airline travel tips to help you on your way. Pick your Plane Before booking your flight, if several airlines offer the journey at similar prices and on suitable days then compare the planes and services on offer with each flight. Airline consumer standards and in-flight services vary significantly from carrier to carrier. www.airlinequality.com is a good place to start. Find the Best Seats Once you’ve chosen your airline, check out where the best seats on…

• How to Find Cheap Deals on the Best Hotels

  Ubertramp

  21 Oct 2009 | 4:38 am

  Cheap deals on swanky hotels do exist in real life. Honest. There are some excellent deals to be had and, with a bit of digging, you can bag yourself a bargain. Here are some tips on how to go about finding them cheap deals on the best hotels.   Search for Unique Offers Newly opened hotels are inclined to offer bargain room rates to get bums on beds. 50% discounts and ‘3 for 2’ style deals are not uncommon. Here, Google News is your best friend and a good place to start. Search for your city + hotel + opening soon /recently opened etc. (you get the picture) and track down a bargain.

• Tips to Avoid Traveller’s Diarrhoea

  Ubertramp

  21 Oct 2009 | 4:14 am

  Nobody wants to get hit with traveller’s diarrhoea, whether it be their own or somebody else’s. Really, it ain’t a laughing matter. Fortunately,  there are several steps we can take to avoid doing the most unwelcome step of all:  The Colorado Quickstep. Right, I’ve run out of diarrhoea gags. Here are some travel tips to help you stay road-fit and avoid the squits. Pick your Beverage Carefully As a rule, the following should generally be safe to drink: Commercially bottled water with an unbroken seal, hot drinks made with vigorously boiled water, wine and beer in their original…

• Laptop Travel Tips

  Ubertramp

  21 Oct 2009 | 3:44 am

  When Travel Laptops became so small and powerful, the negative buzz regarding size and weight subsided. Laptops swiftly became practical for some, and now receive growing recognition as a nifty piece of travel kit. Toss in internet connection and it becomes the traveller’s ultimate communication and research tool…and a shiny gadget to watch movies on over a banana milkshake Here are a few tips to make life easier and help you get the most from your travel laptop whilst abroad. Check the Voltage Since supplies vary from country to country, checking the voltage of both your power pack…

• 
  The Wilderness Backpacking Blog

• Why I am in love with Alcohol Stoves

  24 Oct 2009 | 2:16 am

  About a year or more ago I rediscovered my excitement for backpacking. I had loved the the lush pine forests, clear streams, abundant fish, and quiet

• Start to prepare your trip before you head for the trails!

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:24 pm

  Make sure you have the basic wilderness skills to safely enjoy your trip.

• Different types of backpacking stoves

  15 Sep 2009 | 1:30 pm

  Backpacking stoves. Backpacking stoves come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and designs.

• Best backpacks for wilderness backpacking

  15 Sep 2009 | 1:27 pm

  Best backpacks for your needs. The best backpacks are comfortable backpacks.

• The best sleeping bag for wilderness backpacking

  15 Sep 2009 | 1:20 pm

  How to choose the best sleeping bag. To find the best sleeping bag for your needs, you have to select it with care.

• 
  Off Grid Survival - Wilderness & Urban Survival Skills

• How people respond to an emergency situation.

  Robert

  1 Nov 2009 | 2:07 pm

  Emergency situations can cause extreme amounts of physical and emotional stress. Understanding how to deal with this stress will help to reduce it’s impact and can greatly increase your chance of survival. Your response to a Emergency situation: The worst thing that you can do is lose your will to survive. Statistics show that 95% of people who die with psychological trauma do so within the first three days. How you respond in a emergency situation will determine your chances of survival. Common Reactions to a disaster: ANXIETY: Anxiety & Panic are both a direct result of fearing…

• Carrying and Storing Water

  Robert

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  Water is the key to life — having a way to carry and store water is the key to your survival. Check out the following list of common water containers and find the ones that will fit your needs. Plastic Water Bottles Pros Strong & Durable Great for storing gear in while empty Comes in a wide variety of sizes Cheap and easy to find Cons Can leach dangerous chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates Not good for cooking or boiling water. Tips Look for opaque color bottles which may help to stop algae growth Look for Bottles that are 100% free of bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates…

• Could a flu pandemic Crash the internet?

  Robert

  27 Oct 2009 | 1:16 pm

  With last weeks news of h1n1 being declared a national emergency, new fears are arising about the potential crash of the internet. Experts are warning that Internet access during a pandemic could be severely restricted. During a pandemic emergency many organizations and government offices plan to a keep their operations going  with teleworking using the Internet. If this happens it could cause massive amounts of network congestion and has the potential to put a major strain on our critical telecommunications infrastructure. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report  that…

• Obama declares H1N1 swine flu a national emergency

  Robert

  24 Oct 2009 | 4:31 pm

  Even though officials are reporting that the H1N1 pandemic appears to have peaked, President Obama has just signed a proclamation that declares the H1N1 swine flu a national emergency. This proclamation gives Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius extraordinary powers to bypass federal rules and open off site hospitals in schools or community centers. This move has raised fears of a government quarantines, and has a number of people very alarmed. So what does this actually mean? What is means is not yet clear but here are some of the reports that have come out so far. There are…

• Defending yourself from multiple attackers

  Robert

  16 Oct 2009 | 1:45 pm

  The world has gone crazy! Turn on the evening news and you will be bombarded with stories of innocent people being attacked, robbed, and killed on a daily basis. Now throw in an emergency situation or natural disaster and the lunatics of the world will swarm the streets like roaches  looking for innocent victims to target. One of the biggest dangers that you will face in an urban survival situation is an attack from multiple people. Anyone who is serious about survival needs to be able to defend themselves and their loved ones from a violent attack. So what can you do when attacked by…

• 
  Modern Hiker

• The Backbone Festival is Back

  Modern Hiker

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:16 am

  Starting this weekend and continuing through December, the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club will celebrate the annual Backbone Festival by leading free group hikes along sections of the Backbone Trail – that *almost* finished 68-mile trail through the Santa Monica Mountains from the Pacific Palisades to the Pacific Ocean. Each section will highlight a different area of the trail system, and range from easy 7-mile strolls with car shuttles to strenuous 14 mile loops. This Saturday’s hike is a moderate 10 mile trek in Zuma and Trancas Canyons with a total elevation gain of 2000…

• Gore-Tex Experience More Blogger Summit Behind the Scenes

  Modern Hiker

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  The second day of the Blogger Summit started off nice ‘n’ early, with a behind the scenes tour of some of the Gore-Tex testing facilities in Maryland. The first stop was a small conference room, where we were given a quick rundown of some of the properties of Gore-Tex products from Brad Hill and John Reaney. They went over some of the fundamentals of the brand, like what “breathability” actually means (it’s the ability to transfer moisture out – not the ability to vent air through), and how the Gore-Tex membrane works (it’s got microscopic holes that…

• Gore-Tex Experience More Blogger Summit – Intro to Gore

  Modern Hiker

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:54 am

  Last week, I was invited to the Philadelphia area to be a part of the Gore-Tex Experience More Blogger Summit, a meetup of several outdoor bloggers from around the country. We were invited to learn a bit more about Gore-Tex and the company behind it, as well as get some behind-the-scenes factory tours and opportunities to ask tons of questions along the way. I’ll admit, before heading east, I didn’t know that much about Gore-Tex, other than it’s a breathable yet waterproof fabric that seems to be in most of my hiking boots and a few of my colder-weather jackets. You’ve…

• Off to the Experience More Blogger Summit

  Modern Hiker

  27 Oct 2009 | 7:07 pm

  I’ll be out for a few days, joining a handful of other hiking / outdoorsy bloggers on the east coast for GoreTex’s Experience More Blogger Summit. It sounds pretty exciting – I’ll be learning a lot about new GoreTex tech, getting my nerd on at their factory testing facilities, having some myths get busted and – finally – doing something called the “Ultimate Gore-Tex Brand Adventure and Scavenger Hunt” in Philadelphia. If that scavenger hunt relies on knowing colonial history, my team is totally winning. Anyway, I’ll be out of town for a…

• Thriv Performance Shirts

  Modern Hiker

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:29 am

  The guys at Thriv sent me an email a few weeks back, asking me if I’d be interested in testing out a sample of one of their new athletic shirts. Unlike most athletic wear, which is either made of synthetic fiber (or, sometimes, very old and sweatsoaked cotton), the Thriv line is mostly bamboo fiber, with a little bit of organic cotton and a tiny bit of synthetic stretch fabric called Eslastane. Bamboo fiber is a relatively new mass-market product, but hopefully it will become more popular – it has natural antibiotic and wicking properties, is surprisingly soft, and much more…

• 
  Divas Blog | outdoor DIVAS

• outdoor DIVAS featured on the examiner.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:46 am

  friend of outdoor DIVAS, Spice Jones had many nice things to say about us"When it comes to looking great while playing hard women in Boulder get all the luck.  Outdoor Divas, located at the heart of the Pearl Street Mall has become a favorite for active women in Colorado.  Living according to the motto “Women are not small men!” they have mastered the perfect mix of the best fashions with the latest innovations in active apparel and equipment to give women a chance to express some individuality while performing at their best..."See Alsoclick here to read the…

• Deb Benson of Girlz on Edge talks stance balancing, alignment and women's gear with us.

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:52 pm

  Get balanced, buy good women's ski gear and smile more!Outdoor DIVAS: In your own words how do you describe Biostance and stance balancing? DEB: A couple of season’s back I was introduced to Biostance at outdoor Divas. A great product/procedure that really points out & corrects the obvious and not so obvious alignment,canting and ramp issues. There are many things available to correct alignment issues but Biostance is absolutely the icing on the alignment cake! The goal: We want our boots, bindings, skis & skeleton to allow us to stand in a balanced athletic stance with our skis…

• Free Lift Tickets

  23 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

  Burton Get LiftedGet a Free Lift Ticket with the purchase of ANY Burton Snowboard. Get Lifted Terms & Conditions The GET LIFTED lift ticket (the "Offer") is open to Burton customers who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of redemption of the Offer. Customers under the age of 18 must get permission from a parent or guardian to participate. Offer valid only with the purchase of the following Burton snowboards: Method, Vapor, Custom X, Custom, Custom V-Rocker, The Hero, Joystick, Jussi, The Operator, Deuce, Mayhem, X8, Jeremy Jones, Fix, Twin, Dominant, Con-dom,…

• Women's Ski Camps for 2010, Rippin Chix with Alison Gannett

  21 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pm

  join in and learn to SKI LIKE A GIRLThis camp is for real skiers wishing to improve their skills and confidence in a life-changing weekend. Open to alpine and tele chix wishing to improve their skills and confidence on black runs, with 5 exciting levels: B level - Those who wish to start skiing double blacks C level - Those who can ski double blacks but need confidence and tricks to negotiate rocks and stumps D level - Those who can ski double blacks all the time and wish to learn to jump off rocks and ski faster. E level - Those looking jump bigger cliffs, straightline and compete in extreme…

• Join the Outdoor Industry Women's Coalition Panel Discussion.

  16 Oct 2009 | 10:39 am

  Learn more about women's specfic leadership styes and business tacticsDiscovering your leadership style Join OIWC and REI on November 5th in Boulder, Colorado for a regional event featuring a Discovering your Leadership Style panel presentation, plus an open house for networking with other OIWC members. Space is limited; pre-registration is encouraged! 4:30-5:00pm: Sign in for panel presentation 5:00-6:00pm: Panel presentation with local industry leaders discussing how they discovered their own personal leadership style and how it has evolved over the course of their career. They will…

• 
  Heidi's Blog

• Biking Culture:

  heidia

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:40 pm

  It is easy to say that biking is enjoyable when you live in a town that is friendly to cyclists; it is entirely different if you don’t have a good bike culture in your town.

• Part 2 of tips for teaching bike riding: Tip 7 to 11

  heidia

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:38 pm

  If you follow these suggestions on how to introduce your child to cycling, then you are sure to have a great time and spend some quality time with your child outdoors. Read my how to teach children to bike blog.

• Tips for teaching bike riding, Part 1:

  heidia

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:17 am

  If you follow these suggestions on how to introduce your child to cycling, then you are sure to have a great time and spend some quality time with your child outdoors. Read my how to teach children to bike blog.

• Second get a two wheeler:

  heidia

  30 Oct 2009 | 10:04 am

  Part of my series on how to teach your toddler how to ride a bike. Read the previous blog for the first steps.

• How to ride a bike:

  heidia

  28 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pm

  Here is my series on teaching your child to ride a bike. It is inspired by my daughter’s achievements and her friends’ attempts to start bicycling on a two wheeler. At the end of each blog there is a link to the other how to bike blogs, with great tips and ideas to keep in mind.

• 
  Montana Outdoors

• A little tree beside the road

  montucky

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:24 pm

  Years ago (who knows how many?) someone threw a pear core out beside the road and from its seeds a small tree has grown there, attended only by nature and her seasons. I pass that place often and the other day as I passed, the gold of its autumn leaves seemed especially attractive. I remembered then how much I liked its spring dress in April too and found in my archives a photo I had taken then. The little tree has had a good year and has quietly brought a little more beauty to the world.

• Dog Lake

  montucky

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:41 am

  The lake was pretty today.

• Standing tall

  montucky

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Western Larch in Buffalo Bill Canyon (1130)

• A little of everything

  montucky

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:42 pm

  Another photo from Wednesday’s hike on trail 340. (1122)

• Autumn light show

  montucky

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:12 pm

• 
  10,000 Birds

• Local Names for the Birds of Jamaica

  Mike

  7 Nov 2009 | 3:31 am

  Preparing for a birding excursion can be tremendous fun if one actually enjoys studying field guides, trip reports, and various and sundry other resources. I personally love the process. Not only does the preliminary research heighten anticipation of an already exciting trip, but the payoff in the field when I have no problem recognizing a bird I’ve never seen before in life cannot be beat! Of all the foreign destinations I’ve ever done birding research for, Jamaica has to be the most fun. You can’t beat the hilarious, evocative nicknames Jamaican birds have acquired over…

• IBA’s making a world of difference

  Charlie

  7 Nov 2009 | 12:26 am

  BirdLife International’s Important Bird Area (IBA) programme is a worldwide initiative aimed at identifying and protecting a network of critical sites for the conservation of the world’s birds. Around 11,000 sites in some 200 countries and territories have already been identified as IBAs, and the list continued to grow last month… Copyright 2009 - For more of the same, visit 10,000 Birds

• And this is what they give awards for?

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm

  A Scottish government campaign to get Scots to eat more fish because of the ‘health benefits’ of fish oil wins an award from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) - but a Harvard study links excessive fish and omega-3 oil consumption to type 2 diabetes - a recent study warns that “the negative impact on blood pressure caused by the high amounts of mercury in marine fish can annul the effects of…nutrients like Omega-3″ - and just this week the IUCN announces that “more than 1,000 freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction”,…

• Albatross chicks on Midway Atoll

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am

  They have been doing the rounds of the net lately so apologies if we’re posting ‘old news’, but these unique images of albatross chicks taken - as the photographer, Chris Jordan, says - in “one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries” have to be seen to be believed. (Thanks to Monica Engebretson at Born Free USA for the heads-up). Copyright 2009 - For more of the same, visit 10,000 Birds

• Book Review: Petrels night and day

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  Back in mid-September I reviewed Anthony McGeehan’s “Birding From the Hip“, the third book published by the innovative and highly talented ‘Sound Approach’ team in as many years (the first was 2006’s superb and highly-recommended “Sound Approach to Birding“). At the end of the review (which was positive throughout but not for reasons that the next statement might suggest), I rather cheekily wrote that if the publishers would like to send me a copy of ‘Petrels night and day’ - the second book in the series - to review “I promise…

• 
  10,000 Birds

• Local Names for the Birds of Jamaica

  Mike

  7 Nov 2009 | 3:31 am

  Preparing for a birding excursion can be tremendous fun if one actually enjoys studying field guides, trip reports, and various and sundry other resources. I personally love the process. Not only does the preliminary research heighten anticipation of an already exciting trip, but the payoff in the field when I have no problem recognizing a bird I’ve never seen before in life cannot be beat! Of all the foreign destinations I’ve ever done birding research for, Jamaica has to be the most fun. You can’t beat the hilarious, evocative nicknames Jamaican birds have acquired over…

• IBA’s making a world of difference

  Charlie

  7 Nov 2009 | 12:26 am

  BirdLife International’s Important Bird Area (IBA) programme is a worldwide initiative aimed at identifying and protecting a network of critical sites for the conservation of the world’s birds. Around 11,000 sites in some 200 countries and territories have already been identified as IBAs, and the list continued to grow last month… Copyright 2009 - For more of the same, visit 10,000 Birds

• And this is what they give awards for?

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm

  A Scottish government campaign to get Scots to eat more fish because of the ‘health benefits’ of fish oil wins an award from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) - but a Harvard study links excessive fish and omega-3 oil consumption to type 2 diabetes - a recent study warns that “the negative impact on blood pressure caused by the high amounts of mercury in marine fish can annul the effects of…nutrients like Omega-3″ - and just this week the IUCN announces that “more than 1,000 freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction”,…

• Albatross chicks on Midway Atoll

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am

  They have been doing the rounds of the net lately so apologies if we’re posting ‘old news’, but these unique images of albatross chicks taken - as the photographer, Chris Jordan, says - in “one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries” have to be seen to be believed. (Thanks to Monica Engebretson at Born Free USA for the heads-up). Copyright 2009 - For more of the same, visit 10,000 Birds

• Book Review: Petrels night and day

  Charlie

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  Back in mid-September I reviewed Anthony McGeehan’s “Birding From the Hip“, the third book published by the innovative and highly talented ‘Sound Approach’ team in as many years (the first was 2006’s superb and highly-recommended “Sound Approach to Birding“). At the end of the review (which was positive throughout but not for reasons that the next statement might suggest), I rather cheekily wrote that if the publishers would like to send me a copy of ‘Petrels night and day’ - the second book in the series - to review “I promise…

• 
  zeitcam.com

• Mont Blanc Web Cam

  Zeitcam.com

  <img src=http://zeitcam.com/data/mont-blanc/latest.jpg><br>Time-lapse animation of the Mont Blanc Web Cam.

• First Beach Web Cam

  Zeitcam.com

  <img src=http://zeitcam.com/data/first-beach/latest.jpg><br>Time-lapse animation of the First Beach Web Cam.

• Mer de Glace Web Cam

  Zeitcam.com

  <img src=http://zeitcam.com/data/mer-de-glace/latest.jpg><br>Time-lapse animation of the Mer de Glace Web Cam.

• Canadian Rockies Web Cam

  Zeitcam.com

  <img src=http://zeitcam.com/data/canmore/latest.jpg><br>Time-lapse animation of the Canadian Rockies Web Cam.

• Enchantments Web Cam

  Zeitcam.com

  <img src=http://zeitcam.com/data/enchantments/latest.jpg><br>Time-lapse animation of the Enchantments Web Cam.

• 
  CANOEING.COM NEWS

• Paddler Discovers Mastodon Tusks

  Charlie

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:56 am

  You never can tell what you might discover on a canoe outing.  Mastodon tusks, however, rank fairly low on the list likely finds. But for paddler Glen Keeton of Mount Hope, New York, tusks of the extinct mammal were exactly what he found one year ago on a canoe outing with a friend down New York’s Wallkill River.  Keeton spotted what looked like a stump protruding from the earth.  When he stopped to investigate, he was confident he was looking as mastodon tusks. Keeton, an archaeologist, quickly brought experts to his find.  While the tusk he spotted — and a second one…

• Maori Artist Restores 1822 Canoe

  Charlie

  28 Oct 2009 | 1:35 pm

  Maori artist George Nuku is restoring an early 19th century war canoe known as a “waka” at the National Museum of Scotland. As the BBC reports, HERE, Nuku, a carver and sculptor from New Zealand who is tattooed with traditional Maori facial markings, is restoring the boat with a blend of traditional and contemporary designs — including a thistle to denote its Scottish residence. The boat in question is believed to date to 1822. It is thought to have belonged to Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor of New South Wales in Australia and for whom an Australian city is named. The…

• Canoe-Builder Walter Walker Dead at 101

  Charlie

  20 Oct 2009 | 12:20 pm

  Renowned Canadian canoe-builder Walter Walker of Lakefield, Ontario died on Monday.  He was two weeks shy of his 102nd birthday. Walker was inducted as the first “Canoe Builder Emeritus” in the Canoe Builders Hall of Fame established by the Canadian Canoe Museum. He received numerous awards and certificates for his work in the canoe industry. Walker’s death marks the end of an era; he was the last orginal link to the heyday of wooden canoe-building. Walker, who was born in Ancaster, Ontario on November 4, 1907 and who began his career as a furniture-maker, worked for boat and…

• Paddling Season Ending … Even in Hawaii

  Charlie

  14 Oct 2009 | 1:06 pm

  We expect the paddling season to wind down when winter-like conditions come early to the Midwest, but we were surprised to see it’s also wrapping up in far-off Hawaii.  For the inter-island racers who paddle outrigger canoes at least, the season climaxed last weekend with the Super Bowl of outrigger racing: the Moloka’i Hoe.  The 41.7 mile paddle between Moloka’i and Oahu brings the best outrigger teams together for a race across an gnarly stretch of water. The Denver Post ran THIS story about the event, won for the fourth-straight year by Shell Va’a, a Tahitian…

• Canoes Suggest Hawaiians Settled New Zealand

  Charlie

  6 Oct 2009 | 11:15 am

  Was New Zealand originally settled by canoeists from Hawaii? It’s a possibility seen in a study of traditional Pacific Ocean canoe designs undertaken by Stanford University researchers Marcus Feldman, Paul Ehrlich, and Deborah Rogers. The trio examined a 1930s-era study of traditional canoe designs by A.C. Haddon and James Hornell in order to track the evolution of boat design across the Pacific. The Stanford team’s findings led them to resuscitate an out-of-fashion idea that New Zealand, located south of Australia, was originally populated by canoed-borne seafarers from Hawaii.

• 
  Wend Blog

• Outhouses ‘Round the World

  Kyle Cassidy

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Nunavut, Canadian Arctic Last week we scoured the internet to find you the coolest photos of Cemeteries ‘Round the World. The post was so popular (and fun to put together) that we decided to do it again. So this week we ask you to join us on another visual journey, this time to see Outhouses ‘Round the World. If you’d like to see more work by any of the photographers featured in this post then click on the corresponding photo and it will take you to their Flickr! page. Enjoy. Aspen, Colorado Switzerland Over a dozen more cool outhouse photos after the jump: Lassen County,…

• Man-Eating Lions Ate Less Man Meat Than Reported

  Kyle Cassidy

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm

  Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz have published a report in the National Academy of Sciences that sheds new light on an old, gruesome story. If you’ve never read the 1907 nonfiction thriller The Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo by J. H. Patterson then you are missing out. And no, just watching the 1996 movie The Ghost in the Darkness starring Val Kilmer doesn’t count. Here’s a brief synopsis, stolen verbatim from the Daily Telegraph: Lt Col Patterson was hired by the British East Africa Company to run the building of a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in…

• The Coolest Bike Locker In The World: Tokyo Is On It.

  Stiv Wilson

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:37 pm

  Click here to view the embedded video. Sometimes parking your bike can be a blood sport in urban areas and often you find the only place to lock a bike is to a chain link fence, causing a whole day’s worth of worrying. In densely populated urban places, bikes are often stacked like crazy, blocking doors, sidewalks etc. Well, welcome to the Bike Tree. In Tokyo, for about $12 a month US, you can get an electronic tag fitted to your bike that allows you to use the service. Simply pull up to the Bike Tree entrance and the Bike Tree does the rest. Reminiscent of a crazy dry cleaner cloth…

• Point-of-View Video: Kayaking the Congo

  Kyle Cassidy

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Click here to view the embedded video. Andy Maser of Rivers in Demand is the man. Not only is he a National Geographic Young Explorer, but he’s the one who organized Portland’s 350.org kayak event on the Willamette River a few weeks ago. He’s also one of Wend’s Global iWend Ambassadors. In fact, he has an article about Bolivia’s melting glaciers coming out in our next issue (look for it at a retailer near you at the end of the month). Keep your eyes peeled on this guy. He’s going to continue accomplishing great things for rivers around the world. Andy shot…

• Cyclocross Diaries Spooky Mayhem Halloween Version!

  heidi

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am

  Click here to view the embedded video. Omygod! It’s alivvvvvvvve! No jibber jabber from the peanut gallery this time, just click it and enjoy. (If we get one more tardy slip we’re gonna have to go do detention, huh? We’ll try to avoid that.) Related posts:Cyclocross Racing from Hell (The Halloween Race): The Heidi Swift Cyclocross DiariesThe Cyclocross Diaries Webisode #1: Throwdown at the DairyCyclocross Diaries #4: Mud, Mud and more Glorious Mud

• 
  sassy two socks

• If you think *YOU* got too drunk...

  SassyTwoSocks

  16 Oct 2009 | 10:52 am

  Watch this guy...Worst Shopping Run Ever - Watch more Funny Videos

• All the single ladies! You're prayers are answered!

  SassyTwoSocks

  3 Oct 2009 | 7:31 am

• Parkour! done wrong

  SassyTwoSocks

  2 Oct 2009 | 7:27 am

  I nearly pissed myself when I saw this.Do any of you know the movie House of 1,000 Corposes, directed by Rob Zombie? It was his first movie (and unfortunately, his worst) and the kid who played Fishboy was Dwight! Who knew that Rob Zombie discovered Dwight...

• Where's Sassy???

  SassyTwoSocks

  1 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  Honestly, I have no idea.Mr. T says I don't *write* anything on my blog anymore. That I merely post obscene pictures and cat videos. To that I say, eff off. You try and work a bazillion hours a week, keep your fat ass in shape, be a wife, a good cat-mommy, AND blog about cool shit!!!!Ok, it *IS* possible. I think.So the real question is: Where *IS* Sassy??? (I'm picturing Where's Waldo? from when I was a kid).So the answer is... I'm trying to find some sense of balance in my life and not doing a great job at it. My work life is insane, though I do love my job and coworkers, almost to the…

• As a Masshole and Red Sox fan, this could be the best thing I've seen in months

  SassyTwoSocks

  25 Sep 2009 | 6:25 am

  MA Men from Joey McIntyre

• 
  The Everything About RVing RVers Blog

• Where Can I Get A Heater Control Valve For My Motorhome?

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:49 pm

  We have a 2003 National Sea Breeze. We have no air conditioning. The mechanic told us that the heater control valve is bad. Our RV is powered by a 8.1

• The Check Light On The Dometic Refrigerator In My RV Keeps Coming On.

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:07 pm

  My check light on my Dometic Refrigerator keeps coming on. It will run on gas for 2-4 hours then the light will come on, then I can switch over to

• I Think I Have A Small Leak In The Roof Of My 5th Wheel RV

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:41 pm

  How does one stop small, almost insignificant leaks that show up as tiny discolorations on the ceiling inside my closet? It's the front closest

• I Am Building An Outside Entertainment Center For My RV What Type Of TV Should I Use?

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:35 pm

  Must I purchase a specific style or brand of TV to install in the bay of my RV? ANSWER: Greetings thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An

• A Campground I Don't Want to Share

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:44 am

  Hello, I am from Upstate New York. My husband and I have camped for years. We moved to New York in 1991 from California. Our kids were young then and

• 
  Simplifatico

• Monkeyin' Around at Window Rock Cabin

  backpackinglight

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  We spent last weekend with our Boy Scout Troop at the Window Rock Cabin, another one of the rentals on the Gallatin National Forest.It rained, it snowed, it blew, it was generally sort of a cold and pleasant misery.This was our weekend to work on the Pioneering Merit Badge, so it seemed pretty appropriate to do other pioneer things, like sleep in an old log cabin, cook in cast iron pots in a wood stove, and realize that the pioneers didn't really take off bad weather days to work.So we set out to build a monkey bridge* on the morning of our second day, and finally completed it after dark,…

• Welcome Home 143rd MP Battalion

  backpackinglight

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:06 pm

  Chase is greeted by Spc. Welch (Above). Michael's excitement of being greeted by a General cannot be contained! (Brigadier General Stanley R. Putnam, Commander of the Montana Army National Guard). Welcome home, 143rd, and thank you.

• Simple Pleasures

  backpackinglight

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:13 pm

   Photo: Ricoh GRDI am challenged by the complexity of solving neat problems, and get a lot of satisfaction out of it, but some days, I love to do really simple things.Like tying flies.I used to be a commercial fly tyer. In part, that's how I put myself through graduate school. I recall one Montana winter, a particularly cold one with temperatures outside diving to 40 degrees F below zero - and that was without the wind chill. We lived in a 395 square foot apartment, but we had heat!Stephanie and I would tie flies together, she would bead hooks, I'd tie on one of my soft…

• A Different View of the Same Thing

  backpackinglight

  28 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

  Grotto Falls, Hyalite Backcountry. Panasonic GF1, Lumix 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6, 14mm, 1/5 sec f/22, ISO 100, on a tripod.I suffered (sic) to get this photo. So did my camera. We got soaked. It was cold. It was worth it.I've been to this waterfall dozens of times. I've swam in the pool below it in the summer and I've climbed its ice in the winter.But this time, during the transition season, something was different. The waterfall still flowed, but winter's edge was starting to form.I was climbing up to the base of the falls to get a photo of a side view when I slipped in the small…

• Inside the Tipi (Titanium Box Stove)

  backpackinglight

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:00 am

  Olympus E-P1, m.Zuiko 17mm, 5 sec f/2.8.Inside the Tipi (see last post) is the little titanium box stove (size small Vortex from Titanium Goat is shown in the photo, 2.5 lbs with titanium stovepipe), and its chimney, roaring under a pretty good blaze with the damper at its wide open aperture.A box full of dry pine burning hot like this warms up the Titanium Goat Vertex 6.5UL tipi to temperatures comfortable enough to hang out in long johns, from an outside temperature of zero degrees F, in about eight minutes. If I have the kettle on the stove when I start the fire, I have 800 ml of hot…

• 
  the adventure life

• An Adventure Life Essay – The Elements of Skiing: Temperature

  steve casimiro

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:42 am

  We exist in an almost infinitesimally small slice of all possible temperatures. On a scale that ranges from -949 degrees Fahrenheit at absolute zero to 27 million degrees at the core of the sun, we live within just 100 degrees, give or take. And yet, as skiers and snowboarders and winter hedonists, we are as attuned to the subtleties of heat and cold as the finest calibrated thermometer...CONTINUE>

• An Adventure Life Essay – The Elements of Skiing: Waiting for the Weather

  steve casimiro

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:31 am

  I want it to snow and never stop. I want big black storm clouds—not those wimpy gray ones—to cover the land from here to the horizon and beyond. I want flakes the size of dinner plates, blizzards that last for weeks, and powder so deep you need spelunking gear if you lose a ski. I’m only satisfied by “storms of the century”—and I’d be even happier with storms of the millennium...CONTINUE>

• An Adventure Life Essay – The Elements of Skiing: Shade

  steve casimiro

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Slip away from the light, away from the east- and west-facing slopes, and slide into the deep dark pitches that angle north, where the sun is a cold and distant orb, its influence as weak as gravity on the moon. The shadowed lands are the hallowed lands, chilly and dim, where night comes sooner and the snow is preserved as frosty and light as the day it fell...CONTINUE>

• An Adventure Life Essay – The Elements of Skiing: Wind

  steve casimiro

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am

  Winter storms don’t glide in gently on puffy white cumulous clouds, they barrel across the mountains like runaway freight trains, full of noise and bluster, prodded by the restless wind. Ski resorts don’t like to talk about wind--or storms in general—because it scares away the tourists, who somehow forget that winter is messy, cold, and wild, as if snow were laid down softly each night like a blanket over a sleeping baby. But wind is a fact of life in the mountains, as much a part of the weather as snow itself...CONTINUE>

• From Lo-Fi to Head High, This Surf Photography is Sweet

  steve casimiro

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:51 am

  Living analog in a digital world has its own rewards. Jack Brull shoots surfing with all manner of reductionist methods, the most lyrical of which might be the pinhole. His simple, seemingly timeless images are a reminder that a big lens and fancy camera might help capture surfing action, but all it takes to share stoke is vision and something that will gather light...CONTINUE>

• 
  CheapTents Blog

• Climber and Urbex Legend Stepping Lightly : Exclusive Interview

  Daniel

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am

  Stepping Lightly on his climb up Blackpool Tower, August 2009. In August this year, climber and urbex legend “Stepping Lightly” hit the headlines in the national press following his covert ascent of Blackpool Tower. Stepping Lightly has climbed many structures including one of Battersea Power Station’s iconic chimneys, Willington Power Station cooling towers and the famous Angel of the North in Gateshead. He also likes bridge climbing and has climbed the Forth Rail Bridge, and the Humber and Severn Bridges. But its not just climbing structures…Stepping Lightly is also…

• RSPB Birds of Prey Campaign Interview

  Gareth

  19 Oct 2009 | 3:59 am

  A red kite By Sue Trantor, courtesy of rspbimages.com Being out in the countryside hiking, camping and climbing often gives us the opportunity to see wildlife. A most impressive sight is that of a bird of prey circling high above, in the clear blue sky, sightings such as this have at times been rare, but thanks to the hard work of individuals and societies such as the RSPB something is being done to conserve an important factor in our ecology. The RSPB is currently running a campaign to protect birds of prey by creating more awareness and hopefully more respect for these creatures.

• Mobile Roaming for 999 Calls

  Ryan

  16 Oct 2009 | 8:56 am

  Ofcom, the Government body that oversees communications in the UK, has agreed to ‘roaming’ for emergency calls. This means that when a caller has no signal from their provider, the mobile phone system will switch them to any other provider’s emergency signal if there is one available. This move will hopefully lead to increased safety on the mountains as it should increase the chances of being able to dial 112 or 999 from your mobile in an emergency.  The move of course does not guarantee that you will get a signal as there are areas which are not covered by any operator. Mountain…

• Wild Camping – A Personal Opinion

  Ryan

  16 Oct 2009 | 4:13 am

  We always encourage our readers to get in touch and share their views when they feel strongly about something. Freddy Phillips did just that and got in touch to respond to our article on wild camping. You can read Freddy’s response below. Wild Camping On the matter of wild camping, I do this routinely on multi-day walks and now that I have disengaged myself from the restrictions of a working life I have time to tackle the many long distance walks that excite the imagination and itch the footfall. Freddy Phillips High Street summit - Freddy Phillips © Personally, I quickly worked out…

• Smelly Boots – Causes and Cures

  Ryan

  7 Oct 2009 | 8:29 am

  There is nothing worse than having a pair of smelly hiking boots or climbing shoes, but what causes this and what can you do about it? Smelly walking boots in the bin - source: °Florian - Flickr What causes smelly boots? The reason for boots and feet smelling is that feet sweat a lot, they have more sweat glands per cm of skin than anywhere else on the body. This causes them to sweat an awful lot and as your feet are normally encased inside boots and socks the sweat can’t evaporate and has nowhere to go. The sweat is then fed on by bacteria on our skin, which thrive on the dark and…

• 
  Ocean and Fishing Kayaks

• Floatation Vest

  admin

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:35 am

  Teaching children to swim, Getting Past with a "vest float '? I am teaching 2 ½ years old boy swimming. We are going almost every week at the pool and he did very well wear a flotation vest. In the vest, he kick around in the deep water will jump (assisted) in the pool. However, I am not sure how to cross using the jacket. I feel it has become depending on the jacket and May are the promotion of some bad habits (for example, he made a 'coup' walk 'to move through deep water, rather that a butterfly kick). I am having a difficult time teaching him the things he needs to…

• 
  Outdoors With Othmar Vohringer

• Two new states are added to the concealed handgun reciprocity list

  Othmar Vohringer

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am

  © By Othmar VohringerThe Sunday Gazette Mail reports that two more American states, Delaware and North Dakota, have added West Virginia to the concealed handgun reciprocity list. According to Managing Deputy Attorney General Tom Smith the signed agreement with Delaware should be back any day now. Once the deal with Delaware is final, West Virginians with valid concealed weapons permits will be able to legally carry a hidden gun in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,…

• Wings over Canada – How ducks became a prominent feature of Canada

  Othmar Vohringer

  22 Oct 2009 | 9:38 am

  (Originally published in the Merritt News)By Othmar VohringerWe take it for granted when we see large numbers of ducks of all shapes and sizes congregating in city ponds, marshes, wetlands, and lakes or geese flying overhead in their characteristic “V” formation on their journey south.So much so that it may be hard to imagine for the younger generation that this has not always been the case. About 60 years ago waterfowl were on the brink of extinction due to rapid urban expansion, pollution and the creation of agricultural croplands, which contributed to the disappearance of much of our…

• Zing Outdoors Productions Introduces New DVD

  Othmar Vohringer

  20 Oct 2009 | 4:54 pm

  By Othmar VohringerI had the opportunity to watch volume I and II of Zing Outdoors new DVD releases. Follow the Zing Outdoor Production team as they pursue wild game in Montana, Alberta, British Columbia and many other places. Witness the success and frustration of real hunting, filmed as it happened in some of the most stunning landscapes North America has to offer.Here are just some of the hunts that stand out for me. Jason Matzinger scouted hard and long to find a particular Big Horn Ram he named the “Copper King”. Watch as the hunt unfolds. First Jason tries to hunt the “Copper…

• Website Update

  Othmar Vohringer

  4 Oct 2009 | 9:41 pm

  © By Othmar VohringerIn case you all have been wondering what caused my absence from this blog. As usual I have been busy with earning a living and then there is the hunting season too. In the spare time we did some renovations on the house get the garden ready for next year, laid a new wooden floor in the living room and hallway.After all that I still had a little time on my hand and used it up by completely redesigning my website. While I was at it I added a few new features to it, like “Ask Othmar”. This came about because I get a lot of questions from hunters by email or on my…

• Othmar Vohringer Joins ASAT Camo® Pro-Staff Team

  Othmar Vohringer

  25 Sep 2009 | 5:41 pm

  - For immediate release -Merritt, September 24, 2009Merritt, British Columbia, Canada – Othmar Vohringer announced today that he joined the Pro-Staff team of ASAT Camo®. Othmar said “I have been a ASAT camouflage user for many years. What convinced me about ASAT is the fact that it is one of the few camouflage patterns designed using animal vision science. After researching many different camouflage patterns in my own field tests I came to the researched conclusion that ASAT indeed is the choice of smart hunters.”Highly respected by his peers, Othmar’s accomplishments as an outdoor…

• 
  Nessmuking

• Free Cedar Canoe Plan: Modern Malecite St. John River Canoe

  Bryan Hansel

  31 Oct 2009 | 7:17 pm

  This cedar canoe drawing is taken from Edwin Adney and Howard Chapelle’s The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America–it appears on page 79. Adney surveyed the original in 1895. He notes that the boat shows moderate sheer and low ends. For this set of free plans, I left the station shape and stem shape alone, and I modified the rocker and sheer. The original drawing shows the canoe with little to no rocker–I prefer a canoe that has some rocker–so I added a similar amount of rocker as seen in Prospector canoes. When I changed the rocker, I changed the sheerline,…

• Paddle to Seattle Kayaking Film

  Bryan Hansel

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:58 pm

  J.J. Kelley and Josh Thomas built a couple of plywood kayaks. Then they paddled from Alaska to Seattle via the Inside Passage in the plywood kayaks that they built. During the trip, they filmed everything. After the trip, they whittled all the footage down to an 80-minute movie. Everyone from Paddler Magazine to Outside Online is raving about this new movie. You’ll see why after watching the trailer. Paddle to Seattle What intrigues me is that they took the time to build their own kayaks, invested the extra work into filming the movie, they got sponsorships, but they come across as just…

• Great Gift Ideas for Paddlers 2009

  Bryan Hansel

  16 Oct 2009 | 1:57 pm

  The end of 2009 approaches and the holidays are almost upon us. This means it’s time to start thinking about holiday gift ideas for the canoeist and kayakers in the family. This year, I’ve used and fell in love with a bunch of gear. Some of the gear I’ve fallen in love with appears on this year’s list. I think most paddlers would enjoy seeing these items under their Christmas or holiday tree, and I expect they’d fall in love with the gifts too. Sea Kayak With Gordon Brown DVD: Two years ago I got Gordon Brown’s book, Sea Kayak: A Manual for Intermediate and…

• Canoe and Kayak Building Resources

  Bryan Hansel

  5 Oct 2009 | 4:41 pm

  Nessmuking.com began as a place to distribute my wilderness philosophy, show off my kayak and canoe building logs, provide boat information, and get my free canoe and kayak plans online. Since it’s inception, Nessmuking.com grew far bigger than I expected, and the most popular articles on the site have consistently been about boat building. For new visitors there are a daunting number of articles on canoe and kayak building, so this post is written with you in mind. Builders and paddlers who’ve visited before may find many of these resources new and interesting as well. If you…

• IKEA Tote Bags for Kayakers

  Bryan Hansel

  1 Oct 2009 | 9:41 am

  IKEA tote bags revolutionized (if revolution is simply change) the way I carry gear to and from my kayak. In the past, I’d grab a couple or three dry bags, carry them up the beach to the tent, drop, and repeat, but since my trip to Norway last year, where I discovered IKEA tote bags being used by the folks we kayaked with, I’ve been using these lightweight and compact bags to store my gear, carry my gear from the car to the beach, and to carry from the kayak to camp. At IKEA stores, they cost $0.59, but without a nearby IKEA, Amazon is the only option. About the Bags These bags…

• 
  CampingBlogger

• The Gore-Tex Experience

  Roy Scribner

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:41 am

  Last week, I had the opportunity to tour several of the W.L. Gore & Associates facilities that produce the company’s venerable Gore-Tex® brand of breathable, waterproof fabric. If you didn’t know that Gore-Tex was a brand and not a company, don’t feel bad – I didn’t know, either, until a few days before my trip when someone at work mentioned that they used to use Gore cables in their radar systems. Gore cables? Turns out, Gore is into a lot of interesting areas, from emerging energy to medicine. Cross section microphotograph of an EPTFE membrane showing the small voids that…

• Beer Sausage: A Camping Staple

  Roy Scribner

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:26 am

  Hamburgers and hotdogs are a regular camping meal for most people, including our family. Sometimes, though, the regular meals get a bit boring and we like to spice it up with beer sausage, which is equally simple to prepare and tastes a lot better than a hotdog. The biggest problem with cooking a decent beer sausage is actually finding good sausage. For this meal, we tried “Hofbrau Brats” from Trader Joe’s® and they were just okay. Like almost all sausage that you can buy in a grocery store, they were a bit greasy. You are much better off sampling the sausages from local…

• Ultimate Birthday Camping Party

  Roy Scribner

  25 Oct 2009 | 10:07 am

  Even a camping birthday requires cake When we began camping as a family, some years ago, we camped at a few private campgrounds to see how the kids would react and to test all of our gear. Private campgrounds, such as KOA® or Jellystone Parks™, are good places to get some camping experience because they have stores with food and camping gear and activities to keep everyone busy. Of course, nowadays we camp in county, state and federal parks or just go find a suitable backcountry spot on Forest Service land to camp on. Recently, however, my oldest daughter decided that for her ninth…

• Camping Mistakes I’ve Made

  Roy Scribner

  15 Oct 2009 | 1:17 am

  This looks like a good spot! When it comes to camping there is no substitute for experience, and the best way to gain knowledge is to get out there and make some mistakes. Fortunately, there is a lot of good, common sense, information out there, like learning to setup your tent before you go camping and using checklists to reduce your chances of forgetting something important. I thought I’d share some of the mistakes that are permanently engraved in my memory, so that you can hopefully spare your family from a frustrating camping experience. Arriving in the dark I’ve done this once and it…

• Basic Camp Kitchen Gear

  Roy Scribner

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:05 am

  There are few things more traditional about camping than the camp kitchen. Whether you are baking beans over a campfire, grilling steaks, or cooking up a perfect Saturday morning breakfast in the backcountry, equipping yourself with the right camp cooking tools is an essential part of whole camping experience. These camp kitchen accessories will go a long way toward helping you ensure that your next camping menu is a success. Camp Chef® Yukon Stove The foundation of any good camp kitchen is the stove itself and nothing tops the venerable Camp Chef brand and their dual 30,000 BTU burner Yukon…

• 
  Steel Valley Outdoors

• PA Bear Hunting Forecast

  admin

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm

  Image via Wikipedia Last year’s black bear harvest was the second highest on record, and weather permitting, the Pennsylvania Game Commission expects hunters to have similar opportunities afield in the upcoming bear seasons. “Pennsylvania’s black bear population has numbered near 15,000 for almost a decade,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “Because our bear population now covers more than three-quarters of the state – and includes a number of world-class trophy bears – Pennsylvania is recognized as one of the top states for bear hunters. Every year, we have…

• Ohio Youth Deer Season Nov.21-22

  admin

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:26 pm

  Image via Wikipedia COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio’s youth deer-gun hunting season will be held Saturday and Sunday, November 21-22, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. “The youth deer-gun hunting season provides young hunters the chance to experience the challenge of hunting and enjoy the outdoors with their families,” said David M. Graham, chief of the division. Young hunters killed 9,852 deer during last year’s two-day season. The Division of Wildlife anticipates more than 40,000 young hunters will participate in the…

• Ohio Trapping Season Begins Nov.10th

  admin

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:23 pm

  Image via Wikipedia COLUMBUS OH – Ohio hunters and trappers preparing to pursue furbearers will find good populations of these animals during the 2009-2010 season, which begins November 10. “Food sources and habitat conditions for furbearers have been good this year across Ohio,” said Suzie Prange, wildlife biologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. “Fur takers can expect a good season.” For the fifth year, 43 counties will be open for river otter trapping from December 26 to February 28. River otters were reintroduced…

• Ohio Fall Wildfire Season Continues

  admin

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pm

  Image via Wikipedia CHILLICOTHE, OH – Beautiful hardwood leaves are currently at peak color, yet soon they will be on the ground as potential fuel for wildfires that occur each autumn in Ohio. People planning to burn debris outdoors this fall are urged to take extra precautions and follow the state’s outdoor burning regulations, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry. Ohio law states that outdoor debris burning is prohibited from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during October and November. Burning is limited during the fall because of the abundance of dry…

• Ohio Paddlecraft Fees Go Up March 1st

  admin

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:47 pm

  COLUMBUS, OH – An updated registration fee schedule is in effect for non-motorized watercraft with registrations set to expire March 1, 2010. It will provide additional funding for the maintenance and upgrade of non-motorized boat access and enhance recreational opportunities for paddlesports enthusiasts. Implementation of the Waterway Conservation Assessment Fee increases the non-motorized watercraft registration by $5. No changes were made to the registration fee schedule for motorized watercraft. The revenue generated by the registration of canoes, kayaks, non-motorized sail boats,…

• 
  The Great Skirt Hike

• All shook up: Talk About Epilepsy!

  Beth

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  Up until about 16 months ago, I probably would not have been so enthusiastic about climbing Machu Picchu. I would have been terrified that at some point during the journey, I would have a seizure on... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Totally Tuber: Eating in Peru

  Beth

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:39 am

  Lucky for Jill, we will be carbo-loading for most of the time we are in Peru. With 2,000 varieties of potatoes (one of her favorite foods), it’s only natural that Lima is home to the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• My scale is stuck – an uneasy plateau.

  Beth

  22 Oct 2009 | 10:31 am

  We made some noble claims about cardiovascular health and shaping up for hiking that big hill in Peru, but I think it would be rather dishonest if we didn’t talk a bit about weight loss here.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• After the Flood: hiking the Hooch

  Beth

  18 Oct 2009 | 1:40 pm

  Just a short update to let you know that the Chattahoochee River Trails are, for the most part, back open. This press release is the most up to date information I have found about specific parks and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• (PLAYLIST) Burning calories with Run DMC.

  Beth

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:47 am

  I lost my iPod last week. It was tired –  4 years old and required the occasional nuclear reboot where everything must be destroyed and rebuilt through the magic of the little geniuses inside... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 
  The Mighty Sparrow

• Tomorrow is Family Day at Los Vaqueros Reservoir. Yay! Families!

  Patrick

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:18 pm

  Los Vaqueros Reservoir in mid-summer form. As the St. Helena Star reports, tomorrow is Family Fishing Day from 7 a.m. until noon. Since they succinctly describe the event in a way that I could not improve on, I’ll just paste it below. As the online paper reports… Prizes will be awarded for the top 10 best trout caught by kids and welcome bags given to all anglers under 16. Call (925) 371-2628 for reservations. One note on access to the lake - the north entrance on Vasco Road will be closed for repairs this weekend. Use the Marina or South entrances from the Brentwood side. Go to…

• Site News: Check Out That New Logo

  Patrick

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:34 am

  That is right! How do you like us now- with our new, spiffy logo and all? Well, it’s now official: The Mighty Sparrow is all growns up, from a boy to a man, in one swift motion. Like a caterpillar to an eagle. Or, more appropriately, like a moth to a sparrow. Those can’t be right. Regardless, it’s time to celebrate! Because the Mighty Sparrow is 4 months and 160 posts old- an impressive feat in this crazy dog-eat-dog world of blogs and bloggers. We’ve covered national, state and local parks around California. We’ve covered Lassen Volcanic National Park, Redwood…

• A Mighty Photo- November 6

  Patrick

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:45 am

  A father and son fish in Freshwater Lagoon in Redwood National Park. A father and son fish in Freshwater Lagoon in Redwood National Park.

• My New Favorite Site: Mappery.com

  Patrick

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:55 pm

  I’ve wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I’ve wanted to stand on the Golden Gate Bridge’s famed walkway and tell every passerby. I’ve wanted to head up to the Redwoods to scream it at the Marbled Murrelets. Now I feel as if I can finally let it all out: I LOVE MAPS!!! Ahhhhhh. There we go. That feels a lot better. If you wondering ” Why now?” it’s because I now know that I have backers, a group that has provided me with the strength and confidence to come forward to tell the world about my love for accurate, detailed descriptions of places. I have…

• A Mighty Photo- November 5

  Patrick

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am

  A visitor to Big Basin Redwood State Park gets personal with a one of the old-growth giants on the Redwood Trail. A visitor to Big Basin Redwood State Park gets personal with a one of the old-growth giants on the Redwood Trail.

• 
  Diving List

• App Store, Free Seminar, and 7 Prizes.

  DT Admin

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Dive Junkie Contest Triple Post… It’s been a while to make an entry as we gather overwhelming information, but you get triple post today. Free Seminar MDA Guam is holding the Free Intro to Tech Academic Seminar on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8pm. Only 12 more seats available as of this Monday. For more information, visit: http://www.mdaguam.com/ and contact them directly. App Store? We had overwhelming hits on our previous post, There’s an App for That (Scuba Version) on the Blog Action Day. We thought it was great way to share what we gathered in one place. Up and coming website,…

• Blog Action Day: There's an app for that. (Scuba Version) [Digg]

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:49 pm

  You might wonder why the title of today's post is There's an app for that. Well, we're sharing some app ideas and how scuba divers can utilize them to protect our environment.

• Win a Liveaboard for 2 by Fourth Element [Digg]

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Fourth Element did it again. Yes, they did. Not only did they release a new website for Fourth Element Adventure, but they are giving away a Liveaboard trip for 2 to Red Sea! This promotion is run in conjunction with Scuba Travel.

• Win a Liveaboard for 2 by Fourth Element

  DT Admin

  20 Oct 2009 | 6:54 pm

  Fourth Element Adventure From Reader Tips: Fourth Element did it again. Yes, they did. Not only did they release a new website for Fourth Element Adventure, but they are giving away a Liveaboard trip for 2 to Red Sea! This promotion is run in conjunction with Scuba Travel (http://www.scubatravel.com). A lucky winner will receive a line of Fourth Element product in addition to this luxeury trip, which includes a 5mm Proteus wetsuit, thermocline vest and shorts and hydroskin rash guard for two people. Awesome! To enter, go to: http://www.fourthelement.com/adventures/ and enter your e-mail on…

• Blog Action Day: There’s an app for that. (Scuba Version)

  DT Admin

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:56 pm

  From Blog Action Day Action: This year’s Blog Action Day topic is… Climate Change. You as a scuba diver may not think that it may directly affect you. But there are a lot of small factors involved, and as a whole, it may come to affect all of us in a big way. We did some researches. We also borrowed ideas from this website, Center for American Progress. (Actual Article HERE) Based on the ideas, we put some thoughts out there. You might wonder why the title of today’s post is “There’s an app for that.” Well, we’re sharing some “app” ideas and how scuba divers can utilize them…

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  the GearCaster

• Lippi Outdoor Selkbag Way Cooler Than A Snuggie

  Amy Jurries

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  If your significant other is begging you to get them a Snuggie for the holidays, consider the Selkbag from Lippi Outdoor instead. Chilean company Lippi Outdoor is getting ready to launch two new versions of the infamous Selkbag- the Selkbag...

• MEC Launches Own Brand Bike Line

  Amy Jurries

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Canadian outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) announced yesterday the launch of their own brand bike line. A couple of years ago, MEC commissioned a bike study from their members and found that almost 90% owned a bike, 30% planned...

• Implus Buys Outdoor Instruments Company Highgear

  Amy Jurries

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Looking to build on its current outdoor and sporting goods product offering, North Carolina company Implus has gone on a spending spree the past few years. Their most recent acquisition is neighboring company Highgear, maker of a variety of outdoor...

• Nike And PopTech Labs Take On Closed Loop Materials

  Amy Jurries

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Nike has partnered with innovation think tank PopTech to help foster breakthroughs in green materials and create closed loop material systems. PopTech is a non-profit organization working at the forefront of thought-leadership and social innovation. The group is known for...

• GearSlash.com Gear Deals For Winter Sports Season

  Amy Jurries

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Just in time for the winter sports season, Bend, OR company GearSlash.com launched their new website for outdoor gear deals. Focused mainly on snowboarding gear at the moment, GearSlash.com is working closely with hand selected core brands to offer big...

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  Winded Bowhunter

• 4TH Annual Georgetown Bighorn Sheep Festival Promises Fall Family Fun

  windedbowhunter

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pm

  GEORGETOWN, Colo. – Few animals evoke Colorado’s rugged and unforgiving mountains like the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Yet the vertical terrain that keeps sheep safe from predators also limits opportunities for Coloradans to view and appreciate Colorado’s state animal. A happy exception for wildlife watchers is Georgetown, where the Colorado Division of Wildlife is finalizing preparations [...]

• Late Season Cow Elk Hunt Opportunity

  windedbowhunter

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:37 am

  MEEKER, Colo- The Colorado Division of Wildlife and a private landowner in the Meeker area are teaming up to offer a special late season cow elk hunting opportunity in late November and December. Six hunters will be selected for this unguided elk hunt on the 2,900 acre Berryman property. Selected hunters must have a valid [...]

• Signs Still Available For Landowners & Hunters

  windedbowhunter

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:51 am

  Project POLITE (Permission Of Landowner In order To Enter) is Whitetails Unlimited’s long-running program to encourage cooperation and respect between hunters and landowners. The popular program supplies bright green Hunting With Permission signs to landowners, providing potential hunters with a name and phone number to contact for permission to hunt on posted land. The second [...]

• Tennessee Elk Huntress Hopes to Inspire More Women

  windedbowhunter

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:13 am

  MISSOULA, Mont. She used to cry when her father came home with a dead deer. Now she’s the first woman hunter to bag an elk in Tennessee in at least 144 years. Tami Miller of Franklin, Tenn., hopes her story will inspire other women to take up hunting. It’s hard to get a babysitter at 4:30 [...]

• 6th Annual NASC Sportsmen-Legislator Summit

  windedbowhunter

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:54 pm

  (McCall, ID) -The National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) held its sixth annual Sportsman-Legislator Summit in McCall, Idaho last week. The three-day meeting, hosted by the Idaho Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and Idaho Sportsmen’s Caucus Advisory Council, is the largest gathering of state sportsmen legislators in the United States and provides them with a unique forum [...]

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  Canoeing Tips - Canoe Camping Gear and Equipment - Wilderness Canoeing Techniques

• LED Flashlight, LED Headlamp - A Christmas Gift for the Outdoors

  PennPaddler

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:11 pm

  Perfect for around the camp, on the hiking trail or around the house, a high quality flashlight or headlamp makes an excellent gift for not just the outdoor enthusiast but for nearly anyone. For around the camp use or on the trail, a camper or hiker will generally prefer a smaller LED flashlight with adjustable beam and a clip-on [...]

• A Camping First Aid Kit as a Holiday Gift

  PennPaddler

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:46 am

  How about a camping first aid kit for your outdoor enthusiast? The first aid kit is one of the most important items to take with you on your camping trip but is often one of the most overlooked or neglected items, and campers often don’t realize how essential they are until it’s too late. A good first [...]

• Bear Pepper Spray for the Outdoor Enthusiast

  PennPaddler

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:01 am

  Here’s a very practical survival gift for the extreme wilderness hiker, camper or anyone who spends time in the outdoors. It’s the bear repellent spray. The reason to purchase this as a gift for your outdoor enthusiasts is obvious as there are plenty of dangers for wilderness enthusiasts and wildlife is one of the greatest [...]

• A Quality Camping Knife is a Great Holiday Gift for Your Outdoor Enthusiast

  PennPaddler

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:45 am

  Whether camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, canoeing or even kayaking, a good knife is a favorite gear of  just about  any outdoor enthusiasts. So why are knives such a favorite? Because for some people wearing a sharp knife in the outdoors just feels like the right thing to do and for others there is a genuine purpose, [...]

• Canoecopia Coming March 12 - 14 2010

  PennPaddler

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:36 am

  Canoecopia 2010 - Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin Canoecopia is the world’s largest paddlesport exposition, and it didn’t get that way by accident. This is one great event for the the paddling community. We love what we do, we love providing these services to the paddling community, and we love the family reunion atmosphere of Canoecopia. [...]