Odyssey 4000 Tongue Jack

Camper Upgrades,

Ultra-Fab Odyssey 4000 Tongue JackAre Americans getting too soft?

Are we too lazy to use a hand crank to level our trailers?

No. We are timesavers. The time it takes to level and stabilize a trailer, and reverse the procedure is better spent hiking when camping.

Like most trailers, ours came with a hand crank tongue jack. Based on past experience, I didn’t bother using it even once. Before we even purchased our Milan, I had bought an electric tongue jack – The Ultra-Fab Products, Odyssey 4000.

We had the same jack on our Niagara tent trailer, so I knew it was a great product. Once we got our newly purchased trailer home, I switched the jacks before I even unhitched the trailer.

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Palm Springs Leaves Citizens ‘Holding the Bag’

The Environment, What's Up With That?
sicle and sythe
The People’s Republic of California

 

 

 

What’s Up With That?

An ordinance went into effect on Jan 1, 2015 in Palm Springs that makes it illegal for stores to provide “single use” plastic bags to customers. Instead they must sell customers a plastic or paper bag at a minimum cost of 10 cents, or the customer must supply their own bag, which can be purchased at much higher price point. I can purchase large paper grocery bags with handles in bulk for a little over 3 cents each. A large grocery chain can get an even cheaper price. So where is all the extra money going?

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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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