GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of July 30

by Adrienne Wilson on

What a week! Not that all weeks aren’t a little something special here at Gadling, but you know. Maybe you don’t know? Maybe you missed all of our goodies this week? Maybe you missed only a few? Tsk-tsk. Well here’s a few to review:

5. Builda Yurt:
Of all things seen on Gadling – why would I point to this Builda Yurt blurb? Because I agree with Erik. Because Yurts are cool. Besides it’s a fun plug on the Yurt craze and if you’ve been paying attention you’d know that the holidays are just around the corner. Is a Yurt on your wish list? Should be.

4. Balkan Odyssey Part 16: Ulcinj, Montenegro:
Gotta love how Neil keeps every detail coming from his last adventure to the Balkans. He started with Albania and has worked his way into Montenegro with this post. More specifically, he describes the waiting-to-be-discovered beach resort that is Ulcinj. If you have to ask why – then you need to check out this excellent piece. The pictures are phenomenal.

3. Top Haunted Hikes:
Reading about some of our National Park’s top haunted trails really spooked me out. I wouldn’t want to imagine what walking the path of one on a dark starry night (lost, without a map, and a coyote’s howl) in the distance would be like. Spine-tingling indeed. Yosemite, Big Bend and Grand Canyon are all there. See what other parks made the haunted list.

2. Transparent Kayak:
See-through canoe-kayak, yeah – insanely awesome. Erik points out a fine piece equipment in the gear world and though it ain’t too cheap makes you want to start saving for one. Seats two people and it is really transparent. Check it out.

1. Havasupai:
With this one you almost wish Neil didn’t go running his trap about how grand the Havasupai Canyon located about 40 miles from the Grand Canyon is, but at the same time you’ve somehow placed it high on your list of destinations to go. If it sounds too hot for you to trek to these days, then you obviously weren’t put onto the cool blue Havasu Creek. Miss this piece again and that’s just your loss pal.

Hiking the AT With Carrie and Derrick

by Erik Olsen on

The Appalachian Trail. It snakes and rises and falls and twists and rolls along the entire United States East coast. It is an epic thread of hiking trail, one of the best known, but also one of the more challenging, in the country. Not challenging in the Everest sense. No major altitudes to deal with the Appalachian Trail, no Hillary Step or frozen bodies lying alongside. But it is looooong. How long? Well just ask Carrie and Derrick, a pair of blaze seekers who are attempting to do the entire length of the trail and are posting daily photos and video along the way.

I was quite impressed by the site here and wondered how in the world they are managing to keep it so up to date. I suppose they wait until they get to a place with a decent connection and then write like mad and upload. Whatever the process, you have to salute these two intrepid young adventurers, especially given the gnarly heat wave headed this way (or is it here already?) this week.

National Parks Endangered

by Erik Olsen on

Let’s talk tragedy a moment. Let’s take a look at how hot things are getting, and how uncomfortable this makes us each day during the summer, and how much it costs to use the AC on full blast and all those things…sucks, huh? Now forget the ice caps melting and Manhattan going underwater and the Maldives disappearing. that likely won’t happen in our lifetime. Our kids will have to deal with that. But there is a very real tragedy due to global warming that, says Outside Magazine, might be happening right now. As they put it: “Imagine Glacier National Park with no glaciers, Joshua Tree barren of Joshua trees, Yellowstone absent of grizzlies, and Yosemite even more crowded than it already is.” Yosemite more crowded than it is!? We’ll have to call it Disney Yosemite.

But seriously, as a rabid fan of the National Parks, I shudder at the thought that they might have more problems than just poor administration. The Outside piece takes this bit of doomsday news from a new report issued Tuesday by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report is called “Losing Ground,” and it discusses a wide array of problems that could occur if these warming trends continue. The interactive here is actually quite well done.

Anyway, each park has its own problems from Glacier Park no longer having glaciers (will they rename it?) to an infestation of mountain bark beetles at Yellowstone which would devastate the forests.

We should take this stuff seriously. The parks are the crown jewels of our national natural heritage. It would suck to see them permanently harmed.

Tied in Knots

by Erik Olsen on

Chances are when you need to bind two thing together with rope, you simply do the old granny knot and leave it at that. The granny know works, but as a former Boy Scout, I can tell you that finding the right knot can save a lot of hassle and can often be of immense use depending on what you’re doing. That shouldn’t presuppose that I know a lot of knots, but at least I can tie a decent half hitch or can lash two pieces of rope together. I can also make a nice noose, should the occasion call for it (heh heh).

If you’re looking to improve your know tying prowess, you might be interested in netknots.com, which offers a wide array of different knots to learn that can make your camping, kayaking, hiking expedition a little better. You can also amaze your friends at apres-adventure bars and pubs with all the great new knots you know. And depending on how naughty you want to get, you might also find some uses for good, solid knots in your apres-apres adventure adventures with your significant other. If that lame joke makes any sense.

Climb Again Mt. St. Helens

by Erik Olsen on

Many of us have birth dates that correlate with big events. Myself, it has always been interesting to me that the date of the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption falls on my birthday, May 18. I was a wee lad, but I remember it, and of course having lived in Seattle for several years, it is a big part of that region’s history. Well since that time, there have been restrictions on climbing the mountain…restrictions that just changed. According to this piece over at Outside, permits to summit Mount St. Helen’s became available on July 21.

They will be in high demand and low supply at first with only 100 climbers allowed per day until Oct. 31, when the climbing season typically ends. But if you’re one of the lucky ones to get a pass, well, how cool would that be?

I climbed the Villarica volcano in Chile and fondly remember wearing a gas mask and looking down into the churning guts of the earth. It’s an experience I will never forget. If you want to learn more, or to purchase a pass ($22 on the Internet) go to this Web site and give it a go.