Monthly Archives: March 2015

Are Bivies Obsolete?

Backpacking Gear

THE BIVY

Bivies were, and still are, mostly used as emergency shelters by mountaineers. However, some backpackers see them as a viable (and lighter) alternative to a tent or tarp. I was one of those folks.

Bivies have been around for a long time. Basically they are a waterproof envelope or a big bag you put your sleeping bag inside, eliminating the need for a shelter. I bought my first bivy some 30 odd years ago. Designs haven’t changed much since then. Years ago you could get a basic bivy that weighed around a pound. And you could, just like today, get a bivy with an elaborate setup at the “head” end using poles or a hoop to provide a little more room at the top of this most minimal of shelters – you could lean on your elbow and move around a bit. These fancy bivies, just as they do today, generally weighed at least twice as much as the basic bag.

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Rabid, the book

Backpacking, Book Review, General Talk,

Rabid the book cover

In 2013, during a 5 month period, Libby Zangle hiked all 2,663 miles of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail. In 2014 she published Rabid: The Pacific Crest Tail. ‘Cause Therapy Ain’t Working. There was no endorsement from Oprah; Rabid is not on any best seller list. Libby isn’t famous. She isn’t a hero.

If this paragraph sounds familiar to you, then you read my post Wild, the book, where I wrote:

In 1995, during a 3 month period, Cheryl Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail. In 2012 she published Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. After an endorsement from Oprah, Wild topped the best seller lists. Cheryl became famous. She is a hero to many people.

There is no similarity between either women or either book.

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Bucket List

General Talk

bucket

In the 2007 movie, The Bucket List, the main characters, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, meet when they are both in the hospital and are diagnosed with terminal cancer. Together they compile a “bucket list” of things to do before they die; a list of things to be accomplished before they “kick the bucket.”

bucket kickI, like many people who reach their 60’s, occasionally contemplate the fact I will not live forever. It isn’t something healthy to dwell on or fear, but just to be cognizant of the fact we are on the downward slope of living. Today, after that 2007 movie, the term Bucket List has become part of our language.

As you get older, friends and family begin to pass away at a progressive frequency, confirming that time is limited and fleeting.

So, in today’s culture, a bucket list is becoming increasingly popular.

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Backpacking 500 miles in the Mojave Desert (part 4)

Backpack Trip Report

In November and December of 2000 I backpacked from my house in Palm Springs to Lake Mead and back.

Part 3 can be viewed here.

Mohave 500 mile map

Rest day in Stateline, Nevada.

I checked into Whiskey Pete’s Hotel. Rooms were cheap. Buffets were cheap and all you can eat. Besides cleaning up and doing laundry, I spent a day and a half eating pizzas, steaks, ice cream and just about anything that didn’t move on its own. That is part of long distance hiking – the appetite begins to overwhelm your brain.

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Flower Power

Camping
1968. I don't remember the occasion, but it was an assembly at high school when I was student body president.
1968. I don’t remember the occasion, but it was an assembly at high school when I was student body president.

In the 60’s there was something called “Flower Power.” No one knew what it meant or where it came from. It wasn’t a movement, it wasn’t a sect, and it wasn’t anything. It just was. People drew flowers, wore flowers, and pasted flower pictures on walls.

Flowers are wonderful things. We don’t have to celebrate flowers; we should just go outside and enjoy them. Flowers don’t give us power, nor do they heal. We don’t need “Flower Power.”

However, we do need flowers.

In a recent post I talked about flowers, or the general lack of a Spring full of flowers. What I didn’t relate was the rest of the story.

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It’s Time to Take Action Against the BLM

General Talk

Update: on January 27, 2018, I updated this story with what looks to be the final outcome. Click this link to read the post.

A while back I wrote about the proposed land swap in Palm Springs by the BLM and the Agua Cliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. You can read it here.

This is a horrible deal for the public. Time is running out. Public input is due by March 29, 2015.

Here is my letter to the BLM.

If you think this is a bad deal, please email the BLM at: [email protected]

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spring forward camping trip

Camping

Two of my business associates live near Boston, MA. Boston is going through what might end up being the coldest winter and the highest snow year in history. They are still dealing with sub-zero temperatures and continuing snow.

Many bloggers who live in the Northeast seem to be writing quite often about the anticipation of spring. They can’t wait for spring.

This past weekend, here in our deserts, temperatures were forecasted to be in the 80’s in the low deserts and the 70’s in the high deserts. So we hooked up the trailer and headed for the later. We are enjoying spring weather, although spring doesn’t officially start until March 20th. Mother Nature could care less when we say spring starts. The reason we say spring starts on the 20th, is because for an instant the day will be exactly 12 hours long and the night 12 hours long. We often consider spring to be the months of March, April, and May. Tell my acquaintances in Massachusetts that!

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Although we are in the midst of spring, there were few wildflowers on the weekend excursion to the desert. Mother Nature provides bountiful flowers when and if she wants. There needs to be a certain amount of rain over a certain interval, followed by a certain amount of temperature and sunlight. Those ingredients were not in perfect balance this weekend. That was okay, the view out our door was wonderful, expansive and devoid of people. But somehow we ran into a problem with time.

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Is Making A Profit Moral?

General Talk

This post is mainly for my children.

I don’t spend much time “surfing” the Internet. I use the Internet mostly as a research tool. There was a time, before the Internet, where research required copious amounts of time in libraries searching through microfiche, magazines, newspapers, and books. The Internet allows me do research quicker, freeing time to pursue activities that are my passion; mostly camping, hiking, and backpacking.

As I have written many times, I do enjoy reading a few outdoor blogs. In order to save time, I don’t bookmark these blogs and go to each one. Instead, I use a website that collects new posts from my favorite blogs. A single click pulls up all the new posts in chronological order. This way I can skim through them, pick the ones that interest me, and read them. This saves me time. As you know, I view time as something to save up and use on important things, which is mostly my outdoor endeavors. Time is a commodity; something tangible that can be saved and used in the future. I can bank time, just as one can save money for the future.

Picture from andrewskurka.com
Picture from andrewskurka.com

Over the past month I haven’t had time to read any of my favorite blogs. This evening I checked the list and found one post that was somewhat disturbing. The post was authored by Andrew Skurka, a well-known adventure hiker. I don’t know Andrew, and have never met him. I know who he is, have read his book, and read his blog. I am not an Andrew “fanboy” – that is, I don’t view him as some sort of personal hero. He does provide some honest and extremely useful information when it comes to lightweight backpacking.

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Walking Among Giants

Hiking

There are few places as diversified as California. We have dozens of mountain ranges, the crown jewel being the Sierra Nevada. Our deserts are seemingly endless, offering grand vistas and dapple-colored skies. There is the siren call of hundreds of miles of ocean beaches. Rivers and streams round out the enticement to visit.

IMG_0975

Having spent considerable time in Arizona, there are two things California does not have: The Grand Canyon and Saguaros.

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