Without a doubt elevation gain can do some pretty nasty things to your body. Most outdoor adventures have heard of AMS – Acute Mountain Sickness. It can cause severe headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Fluids accumulating in tissue, known as edema, can make a bad situation worse, much worse. If fluid … Continue reading
The word backpacking means carrying all your belongings on your back. The word by itself, however, does not really tell the entire story. For example backpacking in the backcountry is very different than backpacking in the frontcountry. It could mean the difference between: hiking 20 miles and sleeping on the ground … Continue reading
Readily available technology, known as photo stitching, is allowing casual photographers to easily create amazing images. The technical terms used vary by vendor, but to the lay person they end up sounding pretty much like: Really cool 3D virtual reality things you can spin around in and look at everything … Continue reading
Let me start by saying that I am neither a caveman nor an expert in paleolithic food consumption. I have not published a PhD dissertation comparing The China Study with benefits of dino-dining. I leave dietary science research to the more qualified, or at least the more openly opinionated. I’m … Continue reading
In terms of wilderness safety, there is only so much you can do. And yet, there really is so much you can do. If doing so for yourself is not motivating enough, then do it for someone else. Do it for a loved one waiting at home, or a traveling … Continue reading
Removing harmful pathogens from questionable water sources is a challenge for any outdoor enthusiast. The most common methods are boiling, filtering, chemically treating, and exposing to UV light. When most of us think of UV light, we think of an expensive battery powered device, such as a Steripen™. The sun, … Continue reading
It seems during the biblical “wilderness of the wandering” six items could be found in the Sinaitic Tabernacle: an ark – a gold overlaid chest of acacia wood a table of shewbread – a gold overlaid bread board a lampstand – a seven branched light stand an alter of incense … Continue reading
Ambiguity is fun. Is Logan Bread the answer, or simply part of the question? Or perhaps, both? I was at a dinner party recently where a woman, after sampling a brownie-like item declared: This tastes healthy. There was immediate recognition, by all within ear shot, exactly what was meant. Needless … Continue reading
As with most griefs, there are five stages of wilderness laundry: Denial: I don’t smell anything. Why are you sitting way over there? Anger: Seriously, it is not that bad! Besides, you don’t exactly smell pine scented! Bargaining: Listen, I’ll take a quick dip in the lake when we get … Continue reading
The term flashpacker usually refers to an urban backpacker with an upscale budget. An urban backpacker, as opposed to a wilderness backpacker, is someone traveling in a low cost manner with the primary objective of extending the trip. Imagine a college student resting his weary head against a ragged old … Continue reading
Backpacking with small children is mental, and I mean that in every possible sense. To do so requires Olympic class mental gymnastics and probably some mandatory drug testing. Consider for a moment oil and vinegar. At first they don’t seem to go well together, but if you shake them really really hard … Continue reading
Permits? We don’t need no stinking permits! Or do we? Backpackers love to travel in spectacular remote wildernesses. These highly desirable lands however are not controlled by a single entity. Understanding the mountainous range of permit requirements can feel as wild as the wilderness you want to backpack. As an … Continue reading
There are a wide variety of tent shapes and sizes, each reflecting the personality and style of their owner. In spite of their apparent differences, most tents are designed to solve a common fundamental challenge – how to efficiently protect the tent occupant from the elements. A wilderness shelter can … Continue reading
I recently helped guide a 50 mile trip through Joshua Tree National Park. If you have not been to Joshua Tree, you may not know it as a national park made up of two distinct geographic terrains, both of which happen to be deserts – the Mojave and the Colorado. … Continue reading
When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go This is without doubt the number one or number two challenge in the wilderness. Many of us wish we could avoid the subject, but in the end, it’s not our call; it’s nature’s call. Try as we might, there is simply no avoiding … Continue reading
Although a strong urge to perform math is probably not what drove you to leave civilization, there are times when guess-ti-mating is an important skill: Your wilderness permit says your campsite must be at least 100 feet from water. You are wondering if that tree branch is really high enough … Continue reading
Leave No Trace, taken literally, would mean Leave No House. To have no impact on the wilderness would mean never to enter. Never hike the trails, never climb the cliffs, never paddle the waters, never fish the streams, and never camp out under the stars. Even the basic credo … Continue reading
Poor Bob Wallace, the 88 year old inventor of Polar Pure. Bob has been making, packaging and distributing Polar Pure, a crystal iodine based water purification solution, since 1983. I was first exposed to Polar Pure in 2000 when my son and I joined local boy scout troop 916. Polar … Continue reading
When I come upon a bird I don’t recognize, it flutters in and out of my consciousness with very little impact. I make no emotional connection other than to notice: a bird. However when I come upon an old friend, a bird I recognize and know, the reaction is completely … Continue reading
Analogies can be dangerous, especially mine. I love the simplicity and clarity they purportedly provide, but must confess when pressed they usually degrade into pretentious gibberish. Again, especially mine. At the risk of gibber-dome, I offer this example: Fishing is a religion, and there are atheists, agnostics, and believers. Fish … Continue reading
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