Search Results

This one's for Jacko: youtube.com/watch?v=RK8N6DjJccc

Quote from hikerboy: “a sober response: actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com/2015/02/17/recreation/” Good article, that one. Balanced and sober, neither praising an adventurous spirit nor damning a reckless one.

Me, I'm a classic victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I'm pretty confident, hiking where I do, despite the fact that I have hundreds of km to your thousands.

Quote from Grinder: “ Who the hell else is there to blame here? It's not like we're talking about a rape where blaming the victim is sheer lunacy, or a woman who for reasons unknown stays with a man who beats her. Those are situations where there IS someone else to blame. Okay sure, in this case we could thump her husband on the head for dropping her off, but when all is said and done, SHE CHOSE TO GO OUT IN THE CONDITIONS SHE DID.” 'Blame' is perhaps the wrong word. 'Pillory' might be closer. S…

Quote from OzJacko: “The only reason to take a PLB is for the function it eventually performed - body recovery. It is a form of "entitlement" to expect others to come and save you.” I originally posted this at a Certain Other Site that will remain nameless, but I found it worthwhile to copy the post over to my blog. I carry a PLB for one reason - the safety of searchers. I'd rather they not risk their lives on my account at all, but I don't get to make that choice. The choice that I can make is …

Quote from hikerboy: “ and so theres nothing to be learned here? again, i'd like to find out what her and her husbands thoughts were before she ventured out. was she testing her limits, fully aware of the dangers? or was she just naive and overconfidant, something most of us have been guilty of.” Until more details emerge, I think there is very little to be learnt from this misadventure. I think everyone on this thread already knew that venturing above treeline in a blizzard is recklessness that…

Quote from Rasty: “Kevin Would you go with 80 mph wind forecasts? A reasonable rational person does not do that.” No, I wouldn't. But there's still a continuum here. If I had met with an accident on any of my last few trips, I'm sure that others - perhaps even most of the people I know - would be saying that a reasonable, rational person doesn't sleep rough in subzero temperatures, climb Northeast high peaks in winter, hike solo in the Adirondacks, and so on. She was far to the 'foolish' side. B…

Quote from Rasty: “What legitimate reason did she have to be up there yesterday?” I''m sorry. In this remark, I hear a big segment of the American public - the ones who gleefully write letters to the editor after every SAR activation makes the news, complaining about the cost to the taxpayer. She made a mistake. A bad one, a lethal one. And yes, her mistake endangered the lives of others. Who among us hasn't made a mistake? I'd bet that most of us who have been hiking for any length of time have…

When I started walking to work this morning, it was -8F ambient, -40 with the wind chill. I wore sock liners and wool socks, glove liners and mittens, baselayer, fleece jacket and pants, down sweater, rainsuit, balaclava, goggles, pac boots, microspikes. With all that gear I managed to stay toasty, but -40 is very near the limit of what I can cope with. Only good news is that we have just a couple feet of snow, not like Boston. Oh, by the way, if you're heading to the Adirondacks, bear in mind t…

Quote from CoachLou: “Quote from WiseOldOwl: “Quote from CoachLou: “Kevin.....I discovered that my gadgit has a compass! I'm not sure if it is actually reading the magnetism or a satelite!?” How a bout a model or name brand - I can find it for you... some do - others get the compass by using an algorithm of the satellites.” I have a brandy new (3mnth) I6” Yeah, recent iPhones all have fluxgate magnetometer and six-axis accelerometer. I don't remember whether they have a barometric altimeter on b…

Quote from OzJacko: “And I will end with a plug for your side of the argument. LEARN THE PROPER USE OF A MAP AND COMPASS. There is a wealth of information in a good map. You should know what everything marked on your map is (this includes the one in the phone). Learn how to best use a compass to achieve a bushwhacking goal, i.e. how to take a bearing on a feature and then follow it while out of sight of the feature, then take a bearing on another feature etc. You don't take a sleeping bag that y…

Quote from hikerboy: “10 degrees here in island park with 25-30mph wind. feels like the middle of winter” Send some of that nice weather up here, willya? Just checked the station, and it's -7F here with the same sort of winds. Definitely facemask and goggles for the walk to work.

It begins with an 'S', and it ends with a 'T'. It comes out of you and it comes out of me. I know what you're thinking, but don't say that, To be less scatological, call it 'scat.'

Quote from hikerboy: “ still most of the trashing is done by locals and weekenders.this is a fact up north. you do have your fair share of jerks on the trail as well, but most that ive met are just good people.” As a local weekender in the North, was I supposed to be trashing the place? Who knew? I was clueless enough to be following the kindergarten advice of "don't leave messes for other people." I guess I'm doing it all wrong, again! Or, did you mean that I'm supposed to be trashing out? Not …

Quote from hikerboy: “mission statement- its all good.” Alternative mission statement: You're doing it all wrong.

Quote from max.patch: “i'm in the minority here; i tried some of that jack daniels with the honey in it and i thot the honey was nasty.” It's Jack trying to be Drambuie - and failing.

Quote from OzJacko: “Lots but mostly Coors Light. I described it as the MacDonalds of beers. Nobody's favorite but nobody objected. I did find I could drink fairly large quantities without ill effect.” That's because it's like sex in a canoe. Hmm, what did I have with my supper last night? Oh that's right. Adirondack Beaver Tail Brown Ale.

Quote from CoachLou: “No more.....we fixed that this summer and fall!” Well, I wanted to make it clear that I hadn't suggested the bailout because I was too lazy to climb West Mountain - since I climbed it anyway. I had to bail out on the second day with the stomach crud, but I hear that this year's Harriman trip had major trouble with ice. I'm sure your new trail work is wonderful, but bad ice happens on the best of trails. (And thanks for all the work! The trail maintainers who do technical ro…

I wasn't having any trouble staying warm. I was hiking up West Mountain with Mrs. LIhikers to tell Moose and Scotty and whoever else was up there that we were bailing. Not that bad a climb - it's just 600 feet of vertical - but the ice was treacherous at the top. I was good - I was wearing spikes, but Moose fell a time or two on the way down.

Anyone who thinks I spend my time staring at my phone ... hasn't been hiking with me. The phone is sitting in a pocket, with the GPS recording tracks. Most of the time, it's in airplane mode, because phone service where I hike ranges from sketchy (you might get a text through, don't try to keep a voice connection up) to nonexistent. But I use Backcountry Navigator, PeakFinder, TxtPad (for journaling), and I might even read a novel in bed. Oh, and sometimes I don't trouble to bring a separate cam…