So you wanna go snowshoeing, huh? Outdoor Magazine has some
tips on gear to help you get the most
out of your soon to be snowy hike. The main thing you need? You guessed it – a “good set of all purpose snowshoes”.
Forget the ultra expensive ones and put the money instead towards other goodies like hiking boots and some telescoping
poles. Maybe a flask with some whisky also to keep you warm as you trudge through all that white stuff.
Hiker Bags Yo-yo of Pacific Coast Trail
Hiking 5,300 miles for a cause is an impressive and admirable feat. Doing it just for
the hell of it, well, I guess that’s pretty damn impressive too. On Saturday, thirty-two year old
Scott
Williamson reached the California/Mexico border and walked off the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) , completing
the first ever continuous “yo-yo,” or round trip of the 2,560-mile trail from the Mexican to the Canadian border
through California, Oregon, and Washington.
What did he eat during the trip? Alas with so few In-n-Outs along the trail?
Williamson consumed mostly protein shakes, dried fruits, crackers, and re-fried beans, eating two
to three pounds of food each day.
Crossing the Arctic
I had not seen this
site until now, but it had apparently garnered all sorts of awards and accolades. And for good reason. The
Arctic Transect site is filled with stunning imagery,
videos, fascinating information and even
QTVRs of the vast and bewildering Arctic
region. The site has been designed as a sort of online classroom to help kids and adults better understand Arctic
issues, including the matter of drilling at ANWR, and creating an awareness of global climate change and indigenous
cultures of the Arctic. This is, excuse the pun, a cool site.
Crossing Divides
If you have not explored Tom Haines’
Crossing Divides series in the Boston Globe yet,
I suggest you do so. Haines is traveling around the world with photographer Essdras Suarez to show us the hard divides
that exist between nations and peoples. I linked earlier to his segment on South America, and now he is in Cambodia and
Laos, where he ha ventured into generally unraveled areas to tell the story of the people who live there. There is an
accompanying photo gallery and an audio slide show that add a terrific dimension to the stories being told.
Gift Idea: Strider
As the rain patters hard outside my window, I’m wondering how I’m
going to keep in shape this winter. Runnng in the cold rain is the pits. I’ll do it, but grudgingly.
So I’ve been on the lookout for items to add to my Amazon wishlist that might make fitness sense. Here’s one
idea: the Sharper Image Foldaway
Elliptical Strider
is a compact, and relatively inexpensive solution that will get your heart going in the confines of your living room.
The LCD shows elapsed time, steps taken, estimated calories burned, steps per minute and heart rate and runs on two AAA
batteries.