A while back an acquaintance of an acquaintance, who is a friend of a friend, sent me an email inquiring whether I could recommend a backpacking gear App or did I think a spreadsheet could possibly suffice. I occasionally get these kinds of requests, but more often people ask me to review their gear list and then want to debate any recommendations I might make. Worse than that, they send me a link to some online gear program that won’t run on my iPad, forcing me to open my computer to look at it. I’m too busy to jump through hoops like this to help someone out. What is the world coming to?
campfires, drought & camping
CAMPFIRES
I am not big on campfires. I build a campfire on less than 5% of our camping trips. I haven’t built a fire on a backpacking trip since 1971.
But there is something special between our species and campfires…
Packrats and how my summer is going…
As you know, if you have read my posts here, I get out quite often every year for backpacking and camping. Usually over a hundred nights a year. Well, that hasn’t been the case this summer: so far. You see, there is one very important rule in life:
Happy Wife = Happy Life
Is my BIC empty?
My last post was about the wonderful Bic Lighter.
I touched on the fact you can hold a light to it and see how much fuel is left. I have never tried to check the level on a trip with a headlamp, because I am incredibly smart — I check it before I leave home with a flash light. Below is an example.
Best Piece of Backpacking Gear. Ever.
I often read gear reviews that are really just initial impressions. Some folks use gear for a year or two and call it a long term review. I think if gear is used for 10 or more years, it qualifies as a long term review. This way we can answer the question, “Does it stand the test of time?”
For the past 40 plus years there has been only one piece of gear I have taken on every backpacking trip. It has also accompanied me on most day hikes and camping trips too.
Fastest Known Time redux
Almost two years ago I wrote about the phenomenon known as the Fastest Known Time or FKT. At the time, I stated I wasn’t against the concept per se, but I did express several concerns.
Stuck at home this weekend, I spent some time catching up on a few of my favorite blogs. And my fears about the FKT negatively impacting wilderness areas were personified in this simple one line statement and picture on Tom Jamrog’s blog.
I don’t have anything to add.
You might want to read Paul Magnanti’s comments on the above subject. His thoughts mirror mine.
Prudence and Weather
PRUDENCE
The concept of prudence is a critical cornerstone in Western thought, philosophy, and theology; often considered to be a virtue. Prudence is the ability to make good decisions using reason.
It has been nearly a month since my last post. I have been away from home on several trips with little time for publishing anything here. That is how my summers seem to go. Perhaps I will put together a trip report or two, since I am at home this weekend: the result of a prudent decision.
California Wildfires
When you are in the forest and see a forest fire, it is disheartening. But wildfires are a natural phenomenon and normally healthy for forests. But there are times when wildfires are destructive and cause irreversible damage. Such is the state of affairs in California. For someone on a long distant backpacking trip of several weeks or months, forest fires are often considered by backpackers as a minor inconvenience. One has to re-route their trip, sometimes walking on roads, until they can get back on the trail. However on a short trip, a forest fire often ends the trip, which happened to me last week when I was forced to turn around and bail when a fire that broke out on Wednesday grew out of control and moved into the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Currently the fire, which is near Big Bear, has consumed 27 square miles and is about 20% contained. Already it is the largest fire in this area in over one hundred years. Smoke from this fire has traveled all the way to Arizona and reportedly is visible in the Grand Canyon.
Sony RX100 M1 Compact Camera
Taking a camera on a backpacking trip can be a heavy burden, as I discussed in Backpacking with a Camera. But nowadays I take a camera on some of my trips so I can share them with my family, since I usually hike alone.
In June of 2012 Sony released a compact camera named the RX100. In December of the same year, Joyce bought me one for Christmas.
Yosemite No Longer Sucks
Not Yosemite National Park
About seven months ago I wrote a post chastising Apple about their new Operating System named Yosemite. I am now running version 10.10.3 of Yosemite. After some upgrades to the original OS X software and many tweaks of my operating system and some programs that created conflicts with OS X, things are back to normal and the computer is lightening fast. Apple, you are vindicated, but it was a painful trip.
Lessons?
Don’t be an early adapter.
Windows updates are worse.