REI Novara Safari Touring Bike

Bike, ,

You may ask, “What do bikes have to do with backpacking or camping?” Well, we often take our bikes when we go camping. I have a lot of experience touring and camping with a motorcycle, and a bike can be used for that too.

REI Pic 1
Picture from REI website

For our 12th wedding anniversary I bought Joyce a bicycle. I have to admit, it was a truly romantic gift, if I don’t say so myself.

At the time, I decided to buy one for me too. Women like that kind if stuff. You know, matching his and her stuff. So this is our first matching his and her purchase. But I have to make this public. I am drawing the line at bikes. There will not be any matching his and her clothes, or any other kind of matching stuff.

Aside from my wonderful attentiveness to Joyce’s wants and needs, and my propensity to pick out the best and most unique gifts for birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries – I thought I might share a little about my bike research, selection, and the purchase itself. We bought two REI brand Novara Safari bikes.

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Packing Our Fears (and an apology)

Backpacking

florida clouds smaller

There is a term that I have heard other backpackers use which is, “Packing Our Fears.” I am not sure there is an exact definition to this statement. To me it infers that people have a fear of certain things in the wild because they don’t have good knowledge of what they fear. Perhaps it means we fear things that, in reality, have a very small chance of hurting us or even killing us. But the fear is there.

When people ask me about the dangers of sleeping in the desert, such as rattlesnakes or scorpions, I dismiss them as silly. Same goes for black bears or mountain lions. Today I realized that this is unfair and perhaps I am judgmental. The proper approach would to share as much knowledge about these things as I can and communicate why they should be of less concern. I should also reassure others that these fears are normal.

Today I decided not to take a trip because of a fear.

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You can’t play every weekend

General Talk

“You can’t play every weekend,” is something one would say to a child.

Children need to be assigned tasks, duties, and responsibilities. It is what parents should do – parent their children. Guide the children. The parents do this. The parents decide how children will allocate their time. Children can’t spend their entire childhood playing. Nor can children make the important decisions in their lives – they aren’t the parents.

If you have done a good job as a parent, your children will become self-sufficient and no longer need your help. They will leave home and not come back to live with you. This is the mark of good parenting – the children grow up, and leave the nest for good. Of course, a parent wants the children to come back to visit, but not come back to live.

My children are grown, self-sufficient and successful. I see no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to play every weekend.

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On the Buckeye Trail (again)

Backpack Trip Report, ,

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S24O

An s24o is a sub 24-hour overnight backpacking trip. I have been doing s24o trips for decades, but never knew they needed a special name or, more surprisingly, that someone had already gone through the trouble of identifying and cataloging this kind of hike, developing a name, and even creating an acronym for said name.

But here it is. It exists and it is important, because I read it on the Internet. A while back I mentioned the s24o, but am too lazy to go back and check it. As far as the acronym, I like it, have consciously added it to my vocabulary, and will use it when deemed appropriate – assuming I remember it and do not misplace it in one of those little used crevices in my brain.

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Anniversary Camping Trip

Camping, ,

Our wedding anniversary is September 7th and it was the 11th (out of 12) anniversary we spent camping. We would have been 12 out of 12, except last year we were sans camper after vandals destroyed it.

I am lucky (or I chose well) because Joyce loves to go camping. It doesn’t matter when or where we camp, camping almost always takes a priority. She doesn’t camp to make me happy, she does it for herself.

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This year we headed up to the mountains. After several trips the past couple months in the desert, the mountains would be a refreshing difference.

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The Music of Backpacking and other Musings

Backpack Trip Report, General Talk

August 27, 2014

No, this isn’t about iPods on the trail. I never take music on a backpacking trip.

I am in an airplane traveling at hundreds of miles per hour at an altitude above 30,000 feet. Once I get home I will have a quick turnaround to head out for a Labor Day camping trip with Joyce, so I won’t post this until that trip is done.

As is my preference, I have a window seat where I can see the earth below. Too far up to see any details, and often hidden by clouds. But clouds are good. Like a snowflake each cloud formation is unique and pleasurable to watch. Time passes, and I think of many things between my observations beyond my little window.

I am returning from a trip to Durham, North Carolina. As I am oft to do, I was able to throw together a quick trip. Like I did in the Cedars of Lebanon trip, my hike was a figure 8. Perhaps this is a new motif in my hiking — figure 8’s.

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45 Gallon Fresh Water Transfer Setup

Camper Upgrades,

One of the more popular articles here is the Fresh Water Transfer Methods; I posted over a year ago. These worked fine for our Starcraft and Fleetwood tent trailers, which had 20 and 26 gallon capacities (including the water heater).

Our Milan is a different animal. It has 100 gallons of fresh water capacity, plus the water heater. Not having to replenish the water has been a camping pleasure. We have gone up to two weeks without the need to add water.

But eventually on one of our long trips, we are going to run out of water. The small capacity solutions we have used in the past aren’t going to be convenient. So I went searching for a new solution.

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60 Minutes, Work, and the Quality of Life

General Talk,

WORK, BACKPACK, OR CAMP?

balanceIt is not usual to hear people complain that they don’t have enough free time to go backpacking or camping as often as they would like. I read about it all the time, usually under the guise of work/life balance.

Along with this complaint some seem to hate their jobs, give the impression they resent their spouse or significant other when commitments conflict with outdoor pursuits. Others feel trapped by family. Many feel a need to keep socially active or network with acquaintances on a regular basis. All of this at the cost of less recreation time in the outdoors. They say these responsibilities prevent them from doing what they enjoy.

Something is out of whack. They know it and everyone around them knows it. But nothing happens. Nothing changes. Deep down these are unhappy people going through the motions of living, dreaming about getting out into the wilderness.

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Backpacking the Cedars of Lebanon

Backpack Trip Report

 Last week I backpacked the Cedars of Lebanon

I have read that the mountains of Lebanon were once heavily forested with cedar trees. Over the course of thousands of years, the harvesting of timber by several civilizations over the centuries has decreased these forests. It is said the even King Solomon used Lebanese Cedar to build his temple.

photo-10 NOT LEBANON

After returning from our little trip to Lake Mead, the next morning I was on an airplane headed east. A last minute change in plans had me flying into Nashville for a meeting.

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