Month: September 2010

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is located east of the Cascade crest, over by the town of Leavenworth. A small section of the area, called The Enchantments, became a popular tourist destination a few decades ago, resulting in much overuse. To address the damage the Forest Service instituted a restrictive permit system. To access a normal wilderness area, you generally just fill out a free permit at the trailhead. For the Enchantments, similar free permits are available at trailheads for day use only. To sleep there, you must apply for a permit the previous winter, send in a little cash to grease the wheels, and then hope for the best. Permits are rewarded on a lottery system.

Continue reading »

• Neo-Minimalism and the Rise of the Technomads: http://j.mp/brYDkM #
• It's funny because it's true: http://xkcd.com/792/ Don't reuse your passwords, please. #
• The Casting Stick: http://j.mp/bQouQj I am certainly making one of these. #
• Today I learned that the lower left side of Sylvester Stallone's face is paralyzed. Thank you, Wikipedia. http://j.mp/cuV8KR #
• William Gibson on Dangerous Minds: http://j.mp/bsXOgo #
• Currently watching Living in the Future: http://j.mp/9qj2aJ #
• > @dangerroom: ‘Batman’ Prepares To Join The Air Force http://bit.ly/9U0ZYj #
• > @BFELabs: Anatomy of Shell Garments: The Components - Part Two of our series with Unleashed Tactical Equipment - http://wp.me/pO9RX-aD #
• Apparently, this was the worst summer in three decades: http://j.mp/a365vW #
• Winter will be colder and wetter than usual, too: http://j.mp/bgvhLc #

“Anyhow, let’s get down to it, Hig,” Mack went on. “I don’t understand. What is it that really tempts you? What’s the trouble with there?”

“There? Well, I figure this way. There is there all right, until a man gets to it. Then it ain’t there. It’s here, and here is what you wanted to get away from in the first place.”

Mack shook his head. “The only way out that I can see for you is for you to shoot yourself.”

“Not as long as there’s trails I never took. Not while there be yonders and yonders.”

• A.B. Guthrie, Jr., Fair Land, Fair Land

Cleaning my pot in the wilderness has always proved a challenge. I’m not hugely concerned with completely sanitizing it — that would not be realistic — but I do like to get all the food remnants out of the pot after every meal. A few extra ants in my ramen? No problem. Fungi and bacteria in the oatmeal? I’d rather avoid that.

Getting every last bit of food out of the pot with a spork doesn’t work. If I’m in a desert or on the beach, sand can be used to scrub the pot. The Equisetum family (Horsetails) are also good scrapers, due to their high silica content. But neither sand nor Horsetails are available frequently enough on my trips to make them realistic solutions. As well, cleaning the pot with those means that I’m dumping food remnants onto the ground, rather than into my belly. If I’ve humped it, I’d rather eat it.

I used to carry a piece of a green scouring pad. Those work great when the sun is available to dry them out after use. Here in Cascadia that means they work about 3 months of the year. The other 9 months — especially in winter — it proves a challenge and a hassle to dry them fully. I don’t like storing the pad with any moisture in it. Doing so would create the perfect incubator for bacteria.

Continue reading »

I carried the Spec-Ops THE Wallet Jr for four or five years. It’s certainly well made and, other than the tags I cut off of it, looks the same as the day I bought it. But it’s bulky, heavy, and carries more than I need. Primarily because of the bulk, I went looking for a slimmer wallet, settling on the Eagle Creek Slim Wallet (which now seems to be a discontinued product). In another couple months it will have seen a year of use.

Continue reading »