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General Talk

A friend of mine sent a note saying that John Abela over at HikeLighter.com had posted a nice note about my Trailstar article on his Facebook page, and there were some comments that it is unfortunate that I don’t allow comments on my website. I can’t verify these comments, since I don’t belong to Facebook. If this is the case, then thanks for the consideration and kind words.

There are few reasons I don’t allow comments on this site

  • I would have to monitor and manage them
  • I already have a job
  • I don’t need more work in my life
  • I am not trying to drive traffic to my site — I have nothing to sell
  • The site is primarily for my children and a very small circle of friends and they have my email address and phone number
  • The site might be useful for those who have similar interests

Trailstar Shelter by Mountain Laurel Designs

Backpacking Gear, Shelters, Tents, , , , , ,

ANOTHER SHELTER?

collage of tarps

In the spring and fall the wind in our local deserts can get somewhat severe (gusts of 70+ mph). Along with the wind, gritty sand gets into everything: eyes, nose, ears, hair, gear, food, etc. As you can imagine, lighting a stove isn’t a simple thing to light or operate in this kind of weather. Over the years, my main shelters have been tarps or variations of a tarp (pre-determined shape without a floor). Above: Top row (L to R) poncho tarp, flat tarp, Gossamer Gear Spinn Twin flat tarp with a catenary cut. Bottom row (L to R) Chouinard Pyramid, Six Moons Wild Oasis, zPacks Hexamid.

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Urban Hiking

General Talk, Hiking,

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I think people should hike or walk every day. Few do. One does not need a wilderness trail to enjoy a good walk. Hiking around town can be fun. Joyce and I like to walk to downtown Palm Springs and back home, which is an 8 mile round trip. Of course, a walk downtown usually means eating once we get there. Today was Palm Springs’ 75th Anniversary of incorporation, the there was a big birthday party going on. Since no taxpayer monies were spent on the gala affair, we decided to walk downtown and check things out. The picture above is our view as we leave the house. We would end up doing right around 12 miles today.

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