Category Archives: Hiking

Seventy

Some Thoughts on Aging and Petroglyphs

Last Sunday I turned 70 years old.

My son, Joe, called the day before and suggested we go for a hike together, which was an excellent idea. No better way to celebrate any milestone of holiday than going for a walk out into the desert.

Joyce’s ankle is healing. Although she can’t walk on it, she has a scooter and a wheeled walker enabling her to get around without any assistance. So no problem for me to take off from home for a day. Continue reading Seventy

Repairing Gear with Tenacious Tape

Two holes in one of my down jackets.

Overall I am pretty careful with my gear. Most of my repairs are due to age — things that have just plain worn out — such as my Chouinard Pyramid Tent. Once in a great while, I do damage something due to carelessness or unavoidable situations, such as traveling cross country in deserts through area lush in such wonderful environments that can be packed full of cacti or catclaw. Continue reading Repairing Gear with Tenacious Tape

The “Top Ten Lists” – Can You Trust Them?

It sounds counter intuitive, but I spend much less time on the Internet since I retired, even though all my time is free time, that is, I can do whatever I like, as long as Joyce is happy. I keep myself busy around the house with many tasks, plus we camp more often, not to mention my time spent backpacking.

One thing I am seeing more and more on the Internet are Top Ten Lists for all kinds of consumer goods. Given a good portion of my readers are backpackers, this begs the question, “Can you trust these reviews?” The short, quick answer is, “No.” If it is, “No,” then where can one find good quality trusted reviews?

Continue reading The “Top Ten Lists” – Can You Trust Them?

Preventing Blisters with Leukotape: a 10+ year review

A common ailment for hikers are foot blisters, and I would imagine more backpacking trips are cut short due to blisters than any other cause. 

Typically I want to use a product for at least 10 years before recommending it. Leukotape not only meets this standard but it is an amazing product – the best I have ever used for preventing and treating blisters.

Continue reading Preventing Blisters with Leukotape: a 10+ year review

How to Orient Your Map Quickly With a Compass

For most people, myself included, the primary function of a compass is a simple “field check,” which is orienting the map to North using your compass and then visually associating the terrain to the map. Basically you know where you are, but you need to check details for such things as deciding if is best to hike to the left of a large rock outcropping or right when you are off trail or the trail has become too faint to follow.

Continue reading How to Orient Your Map Quickly With a Compass

Mt. San Jacinto Cheat Sheet

View of Mt. San Jacinto from our house

Confession Time

I’ve been cheating. Actually I’ve been cheating for a long time. You see, for decades I’ve been taking the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to the mountains; mostly in the summer and winter. I do it so often; I have an annual pass, which currently costs $160 per year.

San Jacinto Mountains

This mountain range is about 30 miles long and is in close proximity to the San Bernardino Mountains and Santa Rosa Mountains (a.k.a. you can walk to either range from the San Jacinto’s). Much of the area is designated State and Federal Wilderness Areas.

Mt. San Jacinto escarpment

The crown jewel of this range is Mt. San Jacinto, which rises more than 10,000 feet from the desert floor making it one of (if not the most) steepest escarpments in the continental United States.

Continue reading Mt. San Jacinto Cheat Sheet

Furoshiki Shoes

This isn’t a review…

My kids gave these to me as a gift. My son, Joe, is a runner so he picked them out knowing I have a preference for minimal shoes. I think they’ve been around for a couple of years, but I don’t spend my time reading about shoes.

Furoshiki is a type of wrapping cloth used in Japan for centuries to carry stuff, sort of like a poor man’s duffle bag.

 

But obviously more elegant

By katorisi – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3201706

Continue reading Furoshiki Shoes