If you are human and have stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon, you have to have been overwhelmed by its immensity and beauty.
If you have ventured down to the bottom via one of the popular trails, you must have been absorbed its charm.
If you are lucky enough to travel down to the bottom on a little known and rarely used trail, you are probably addicted to the Grand Canyon. It is a heroin drip.
Click Here to view new gallery pictures of 2006 Niagara and Backpacking Gear.
Just uploaded some mini-reviews. Some are old and were originally posted on Backpackinglight.com
New posts include:
Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men to match my plains,
Men with empires in their purpose,
And new eras in their brains.
Bring me men to match my prairies,
Men to match my inland seas,
Men whose thoughts shall pave a highway
Up to ampler destinies,
Pioneers to cleanse thought’s marshlands,
And to cleanse old error’s fen;
Bring me men to match my mountains –
Bring me men!
Is this a contradiction? Is this an oxymoron? Read further for my thoughts.
This site is supposed to be about hiking and camping, but it is my site so I can post anything I want 🙂
The other day I was doing some research on the Internet and came across a website that was raffling off some backpacking gear. Now, I don’t know why the owner was giving away gear, it was a personal website, not a business. And curiously, it you went to the owner’s Facebook page and clicked the “Like” button; you would get an extra 4 chances to win the raffle.
Right now I am in Tustin, California for a couple days. Like I do on most business trips, I went for a little hike late Thursday afternoon; actually almost evening. I had to use the Photon II micro-light on my key chain for part of the route. Tustin is in Orange County, a heavily populated area. On my way to the client’s location this morning, I noticed a hilly area without any homes. When my work was finished, I drove to this area, parked on a residential street where I saw a trail at the end of a cul-de-sac, and went for a hike. As it turns out, the area is a regional park with about 350 acres of open space and lots of trails.
There is a somewhat lengthy thread over at Backpackinglight.com debating whether mountain bikes should be allowed on back country trails. This is a complicated issue. For the few folks who have hiked with me, they know my preferred routes are cross-country, ancient Native American Trails, and unmaintained trails. These areas get very little traffic, and there is almost nil human impact from hiking. I avoid trails that see a lot of use.
Instead of posting this rather long essay on BPL, I decided to gather my thoughts here. In my opinion, folks should review their philosophy about public lands to make sure it aligns with their opinion on mountain bikes. That is; are you an environmentalist, a conservationist, or something else?
