Category: health & safety

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Gear Junkie: Water Purification Products

Stephen Regenold updates the options in 2011:

In the woods, I use multiple water-purification products, from tablets to pumps. Product weight, speed of purification, and filtration type are criteria I assess to choose the right weapon against the bacteria, viruses and protozoa that may exist in a particular place.

Drop-and-dissolve tablets, including Potable Aqua iodine ($7, www.potableaqua.com) and Katadyn’s chlorine-dioxide Micropur product ($12.95, http://www.katadyn.com), are my most common defense. They are relatively inexpensive, light weight, and easy to use — just add a tablet into your water and let it fade away and do its stuff.

But tablets have a few limitations. You often have to wait 30 minutes or so for the chemicals to take effect. There is an aftertaste, too, especially with iodine. And for cryptosporidium, a nasty contaminant found in some areas, tablets will take four hours or more to neutralize, making them nearly unusable except for overnight application. …

read more on The Outside Blog

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smoking banned on hiking trails

I hate second hand smoke.

So this legislation sounds good to me.

The Recreation and Parks District board in Pleasant Hill, California is planning to ban smoking on hiking trails within the district, as well as other open spaces like parks. …

If the Pleasant Hill no-smoking ordinance is passed, it will not be the first in California of it’s kind. Districts like Hayward and Livermore already have similar ordinances in place. …

Daily Hiker – California district to ban smoking on hiking trails

It’s nice to see California politicians have enough free time to work on forward thinking proposals like this. 🙂

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hiking … B-E – S-A-F-E

My checklist for day hiking is the one posted by Tom Mangan. It’s a variation on the classic Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills list.

See both here – 10 essentials for day hiking

But DAVE ANDERSON posted an interesting alternative using this mnemonic: B-E – S-A-F-E

(B) Body temperature regulation and skin protection

(E) Emergency plan

(S) Sensibility – Probably the most important “essential” to pack for a day hike is something you already have with you – your brain.

(A) Active Route Finding – Don’t get lost in the first place.

(F) First-aid kit

(E) Extended Stay – What happens when the best laid plans go array? Carry some extra things to deal with adversity

Read the details on LittlePo Adventures – What are the 10 Essential Items to Pack on a Day Hike?

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Gear Junkie Video Show

I’m no Gear Junkie.

I’ve got Stephen Regenold for that.

GearJunkie.com, launched in 2006, is regarded as a top blog and online publication for product reviews and news in the outdoors world. The site contains thousands of pages of content — gear reviews, news, travel and adventure stories …

Stephen already got a lot of excellent video content. But new to me was his Gear Junkie Video Show.

Episode No. 1 … was shot … at Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Video: ‘What is Gear Junkie?’

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VIDEO – Yosemite day hikes

Tom Mangan linked to a terrific video posted by the National Park Service.

Trails covered: Mist Trail, Panorama Trail, Upper Yosemite Fall Trail.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

See more like this on the Yosemite National Park YouTube channel.

(via Two-Heel Drive – Must-see vid: strenuous Yosemite day hikes)

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7 day Grand Canyon hike

Scott Cundy from The Wildand Trekking Company recommends this guided adventure for experienced hikers:

The Kanab Creek Backpacking Tour is a 7-day, 6-night North Rim hike that takes us nearly 25 miles into the Grand Canyon before we turn around and hike out.

It features spring-fed creeks, ancient pictographs, slot canyon hiking, fantastic camps, and a chance to see the Colorado River at one of its most remote points.

The trip begins with a day of hiking through the Kanab Creek Wilderness and an amazing camp with pictographs and fantastic spring water. The next day we traverse Jump Up Canyon, a 4-mile slot canyon that narrows to just 15 feet wide while towering hundreds of feet above us, and enter the Kanab Creek drainage.

The next two days we’ll continue down the Kanab Creek Drainage toward the Colorado River, passing Showerbath Spring, Whisper Falls, and other amazing desert water features along the way. After a hike to the Colorado River on day 4, we turn around and begin hiking out, soaking up the views of the famous Red Wall and the North Rim the whole way!

A final night at our first night’s camp is an opportunity to reminisce about the trip and plan our next adventure in to the world’s most famous canyon.

Details – Kanab Creek Adventure ($1495)

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Samuel H Gardner All-out

Sam set out in January on a 12,500mi proposed route he called the “All-In Trek”.

Many were dubious he’d be able to complete such an ambitious project without much previous experience.

He even suffered scorn and abuse on White Blaze.

On March 6th, day 64:

Today I made a very hard decision. I have chosen to leave the trail to seek medical care.

He’s currently documenting his recovery and formulating a plan.

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Half Dome sells out in 23min

Yosemite, California.

If you were planning on climbing Half Dome this summer, you’ll have to wait until the next batch of permits (for July climbs) become available on April 1. This year, permits for climbing Half Dome are required on ALL days, not just weekends and holidays like last summer.

The first round of permits (for May and June climbs) went on sale on March 1 and sold out in twenty-three minutes. And that was just the permits for weekdays. Saturday and Sunday permits sold out in only ten minutes. …

Daily Hiker

original photo on flickr

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trekking the ice fields of Patagonia

Following Dan’s terrific 3 days at Fitz Roy, they immediately headed for the Ice Fields:

… At 16,800 square kilometers, the Ice Field is the second largest in the world and I’m completely awe-struck when we arrive at the high point of the ominously named Paso Del Viento (Pass of the wind). The view in every direction is pure ice, with amazing swirls and patterns …

Crossing a glacier-melt river was their biggest challenge.

read the blow-by-blow … Hiking to The Southern Patagonian Ice Field

Photos by SAULIUS DAMULEVICIUS.

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Everest Base Camp – the movie

If you’ve considered making the trip to Namche, Nepal and up to Base Camp, it’s well worth watching this new 1hr documentary produced and directed by Brian and Hank Leukart.

The boys had a fair bit of trouble with illness.

… “Need a helicopter ride to Lukla? For $250, I’ll take you right now,” he says quietly, in perfect English.

Brian and I are apprehensive. We consult Lonely Planet’s Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya, which tells us: “Be aware of the poor safety record of helicopter travel in Nepal — Everest Base Camp is strewn with the wreckage of lost aircraft.” But, then, we also discover a long sidebar in the same book detailing the numerous crashes of Twin Otter airplanes to Lukla, a flight for which we already have tickets. While we’re trying to decide what to do, we meet another waiting trekker, who also happens to be a helicopter pilot.

“Well, the helicopter is probably just as safe as the plane you’re planning to take — which is, to say, not very safe,” he tells us. “I’d probably do it if I had the money.” …

read more – Without Baggage – mission everest: a tale of two brothers.

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.