I can’t get Patagonia out of my mind. Last night I was lying there thinking of all the places I really wanted to go
this winter, and my mind kept coming back to Patagonia. And so in the dead of night, I flipped open my laptop and did
some looking around. REI Adventures provides several great trips down there to both the
Lakes Region and down to
Torres Del Paine, one of the most beautiful places in
the world. Think Yosemite without the tourist hordes. Of course, you could just go down there yourself, rent a car in
Punta Arenas, and have the time of your life camping throughout Torres del
Paine National Park. The choice is yours.
All We Are Saying, Is Give Peas A Chance!
One of the drawbacks of long trips in the back-country is that you often have to pack in your own food. Sure, you
can Rambo it, bring along your compound bow and hope to drop Bambi from 50 yards, but most of us end up just firing up
the Whisperlite, boiling up some water and pouring it into a bag of freeze dried gruel. I’ve done this my share of
times and while it’s never quite as satisfying as a Chateaubriand, the taste of pre-made food in the wild is
surprisingly pleasing, especially if you’ve been on the trail for a few days. So where is the best place to get this
kind of food? Well, why not directly from the source? Mountain House makes
some of the most popular pre-made camping meals available and you can buy right off their site. They have provided to
the US Military and to the Boy Scouts, not to mention to REI and other major outdoors stores. The pouches stand up
nicely when water is added and open easily…all key features of this type of grub. Anyway, I ate the
beef stew way
back when and was pretty surprised at how beef stewy it tasted. And try the
peas, they’re
good for you.
Fantastic New Weight-loss Plan!
Forget the hare-brained schemes of Dr. Atkins. Forget the Oprah diet and that stack of
exercise/Yoga DVDs in your living room. I have got the ideal weight-loss plan for you. Guaranteed to shave off those
unwanted pounds in just a few days. My plan is simple, but effective, and you will be very pleased with the results.
The only catch? You’re going to have to work at it. There will be no short-cuts and no surgery. It all comes down to
one word: walking. That’s right, the bain of monopeds everywhere. A
simple walk in the woods — and you must carry nothing more food-wise than a bag of gorp and a full water bottle —
will melt away those pounds almost instantly.
So here is a site dedicated to the art of walking. There are trail
reviews, info on National and State parks, and some really superb how-to articles like
this one on how to pack for a walk in the
rain. So put down that cheeseburger and get outside. Now.
Machu Zap You
The god’s weren’t too crazy about a
Russian
hiker in Machu Pichhu Peru who, sadly, was struck by lightening. The Peruvian police identified the victim as
Ahato Denis Pankiin. Poor guy was 35 years old and just snapping a picture of the well-known South American
landmark when fate struck him down. Of course this is completely sad, but one does have to wonder why
anyone would stand on top of a 12,000 foot peak holding a peice of metal as a thunderstorm is going
by. Back luck or Darwin award?
Right to Roam
My guess is that most people don’t know that Englad is a phenomenal place to
hike around. First of all, the countryside is actually amazingly beautiful, with certain areas lush and green and
gorgeous. But also, there are property laws in England quite different than ours that lawfully allow people the
“right to roam” essentially
hike and trespass, on other people’s
property for the sake of the public good. So, keeping that in mind,
now click here and take a look at as
fine a guide to wandering in England as is available anywhere. The interactive map here lets you browse through all the
major counties of the country and get a wonderfully detailed iconographic guide to what’s where.