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Archive for 'November 2011'

Spending Thanksgiving in the Backcountry? What's on Your Menu?

One of my better Thanksgivings was spent years ago on the slopes of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park, a gorgeous, 800,000-acre confluence of desert, mountain and riparian environments in a far-flung corner of southwest Texas. It was warm, sunny and dry my entire 2-week stay in the park in late November. My only misstep the whole trip: On Thanksgiving night, surrounded by sotol stalks and serenaded by (I'm guessing) a handful of coyotes, dinner was a pot of spaghetti. Nothing wrong ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on November 23, 2011 5:29 PM & Tagged Thanksgiving, Turkey, dried fruit, food and freeze-dried meals | permalink | Comments



Jimmy Chin Talks about Climbing, Photography and Living Life on the Go

Jimmy Chin is one busy guy. Between working as a professional athlete and photographer, and running the Camp 4 Collective production company, he doesn't get a whole lot of downtime. Since September, Jimmy has crossed the globe, climbed a 20,000-foot peak, given presentations to hundreds of people, but spent only a handful of days at his own home in Victor, Idaho. Earlier this year, Jimmy achieved one of his longtime goals: landing a photograph on the cover of National Geographic. He ...

Posted by Joe P. on November 22, 2011 4:29 PM & Tagged Camp 4 Collective, Climbing, Jimmy Chin, Photography, Renan Ozturk, Revo, The North Face, Yosemite and conrad anker | permalink | Comments



Sleep-Warm Tricks for Cold-Weather Camping

Want to be a happier winter camper? Consider this. On a recent hiking adventure in the mountains of New Zealand, I woke up, sat in my sleeping bag, took in the view and thought about the beautiful hike I had in store for that day. I felt great. My camping companion then sat up. "Oh, what an awful night!" he grumbled. "I was freezing to death, then I kept waking up, and I couldn't ever get comfortable. It was the worst." He looked pathetic with dark circles under bloodshot eyes. The worst part? ...

Posted by Hovey WMI on November 21, 2011 3:21 PM & Tagged NOLS, WMI, Wilderness Medicine Institute, camping, sleeping and winter camping | permalink | Comments



In Honor of World Toilet Day, Tell Us: What Backcountry Outhouse Has the Best View?

Folks, lots of holidays are lining up on the calendar, but don't sit this one out: Saturday (Nov. 19) is World Toilet Day. Let me guess; some of you feel relieved to hear this news. Actually, as this entertaining post from tech news provider CNET tells it, World Toilet Day (which comes complete with an official song) also has a serious side: Clean sanitation facilities are not a given in several parts of the planet. But CNET also points out, this is a fine time to "praise the privy," so we have ...

Posted by T.D. Wood on November 18, 2011 8:14 PM & Tagged World Toilet Day, backpacking and privy | permalink | Comments



Popular New Apps for Ski, Snowboard and Snowshoe Adventures

Round 6 of our smartphone apps review: This time around, rockin' apps for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and other snowbound adventures. Winter weather can be rough. So it's no wonder why many of the best apps focus on real-time ski slope status and weather reports. Even better, there are also snow apps that are just downright fun. Take your pick from the roundup below you get out on the snow. (Safety reminder: When traveling through the winter backcountry, your only sure navigation tools ...

Posted by Francesca K on November 17, 2011 2:30 PM & Tagged Android, Apple, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing, Winter, apps, skiing and smartphone | permalink | Comments