Posts

Posted on

the Ipsos-Reid Parks Canada $1000 prize muck-up

If you follow this blog, you know I have no confidence in Parks Canada.

Love the Parks, distrust management.

In fact, I recommend hikers go to the American National Parks instead if they want best value. (And I live next to the Canadian Rockies.)

Yet, I credit Parks Canada for at least making the appearance of listening to the taxpayers who pay their salaries. Ipsos-Reid was hired to do a survey.

angrygif.gifIt’s been a mess. I’ve been in the survey process for months, yet I have no idea when the thing will end. Is Ipsos-Reid simply milking Parks on this? What does this survey cost?

Worst of all, Ipsos-Reid managed to further disgruntle users of the Canadian National Parks when they decided to dangle a $1000 / month prize for those taking part in the survey.

Many who received an invitation to join the survey were confused when trying to log-in to the website.

I could go on-and-on … (Backtrack through earlier posts on this issue if you are interested.)

Finally today I got this email from Ipsos-Reid which clarifies some things. And leaves many other questions unanswered:

Dear Mr. McCharles,

Thank you again for bringing this issue to our attention. There are two separate links:
www.join.parkslistens.ca is the official website for individuals who have received an invitation card to join the Parks Listens panel

www.parkslistens.ca is the login webpage for individuals who have already registered with the Parks Listens panel.

In order to clarify eligibility to participate in the Parks Listens panel and the prize draw contest, we have added more information to both web pages.

If you receive any further communication from visitors who are having technical difficulties on the http://www.join.parkslistens.ca website, please direct them to our email address parkslistens-parcecoute@ipsos-reid.com and will assist them.

Sincerely,

The Parks Listens Panel Team

You cannot join the survey without an invitation. Those you can only get by visiting the Canadian Mountain National Parks and being randomly selected.

Posted on

another reason to love flickr … NOTES

Photo sharing site flickr popularized this feature called “NOTES”. And it is fantastic.

flickr-feature.jpg

(Left to Right) Paiju Peak (Trango II?), The Trango Monk, Trango Nameless Tower (6,239 m), and the mass of the Great Trango (6,286 m) on the northern lateral moraine of the Baltoro Glacier in the Baltoro Muztagh Range. …

K2 Basecamp Trek
Baltoro Glacier
Pakistan
Late July 2006

Rockclimbing Hell on Flickr

Ahmad A Karim has many wonderful photos on flickr, by the way. Here’s another:

508259051_da8b412308.jpg

larger original

Sunrise from the top of Gondogoro La (5620m) on a very cloudy morning.
Between West-Vigne and Gondogoro Glaciers
Baltistan District, Northern Areas
Pakistan
3 August 2006
LAS Summer Trek 2006

And if NOTES does not impress you, Alex on the photopreneur blog posted 36 more Reasons Flickr is a Photographer’s Ultimate Tool.

Posted on

scrambling Woodson Mountain, California

Have you tried the sport of geocaching?

Here’s a good trip report:

San Diego rocks!

Indians called it “Mountain of the Moonlit Rocks”, while early settlers dubbed it “Cobbleback Peak”, both names appropriately describes the rugged, boulder strewn slopes of Woodson Mountain.

However, this mountain for the past 100 years appeared on maps simply as “Woodson Mountain”, in honor of Dr. Woodson who homesteaded some property nearby over 100 years ago. …

Hiking Woodson Mountain- The Mountain of the Moonlit Rocks « Our Beautiful World at the Backroads

img_8542.JPG
cantilevered “potato chip rock” near the summit of Woodson Mountain

Posted on

by pack raft to Juneau, Alaska

I’ve been following The Journey on the Wild Coast blog since July. That’s the 9 month pack raft trip from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska by human power — Erin McKittrick and Bretwood (Hig) Higman.

I think this is their best post yet:

… After four months in the Inside Passage, we had come to wonder how much it had left to offer us: thinking of drizzly coastlines and thick forest brush, and turning our thoughts prematurely to the open Gulf of Alaska coast… But there are always suprises. The ocean between Petersburg and Juneau was one of the most alive chunks of coast we’ve seen the whole trip.

img_0140-300.jpg

Humpback whales sang for us the rest of that night, and a good part of the next one. During the day, white columns of whale breath were visible everywhere we looked, cruising Stephens Passage. We could hear the spouting, honking, and squeals of the closest whales, watching their rounded backs and the occasional graceful flash of a tail.

img_0292-300.jpg
Humpback whale tail

Just when we were wondering if we might get close enough for a picture, a humpback surfaced twenty feet from my packraft. Half of me was terrified it would flip me, while the other half marveled at the knobby texture of the whale’s skin, imagining that great big eye underwater, peering at my small yellow boat…

read more … – Journey on the Wild Coast: Trip Blog » Calm Oceans, Stormy Woods

Posted on

why besthike is not a wiki

Our list of the best hikes in the world should be a wiki.

Seriously.

But the wiki software available as of today still … sucks.

Those packages are unusable by normal hikers.

Internet Duct Tape explains why. And holds out a glimmer of hope for the near future:

…

Any day now Google will be opening up registration for it’s JotSpot wiki software. It’ll be interesting to see if they can get over their product schizophrenia and intelligently integrate wikis with wordprocessing, spreadsheets, slides, blogs, email, calendar, rss readers and build an intranet solution that far outclasses anything currently available. They have all the pieces, and the killer knowledge that everyone is missing — how to build an intranet search that works over all the formats.

Do You Make These Mistakes with Wikis? 9 Ways To Build a Wiki That Doesn’t Suck « Internet Duct Tape

jotspot.jpg

We will certainly put our database of best hikes into a wiki format once the software gets good enough.

Posted on

Jaccuzzi on Mont-Blanc summit

We love hikes to hot springs. But this is ridiculous …

After over six years of evolution, the concept of “jaccuzzi events” has led to the realization of a dream. …

For us, Jaccuzzi Events are parties that are thrown in unexpected and exceptional places. …

mont-blanc.jpg

more amazing photos – Jaccuzzi on mont-blanc summit – Jaccuzzi.ch

Jaccuzzi on Mont-Blanc summit 15771ft (4807m), September 13th 2007

(via GO blog)

Posted on

camping – where is the salt?

Oh … taped to the meal package. Of course!

Thanks Jason!

One thing I’ve tried to do over the years is to simplify my in-camp procedures by reducing the number of odds and ends I carry. Something that’s always bothered me is fumbling through my Ziplock of condiments to dig out that one specific spice I need for the meal at hand. Then, I had one of those “why didn’t I think of it before” moments last week.

goose-creek-029.jpgSimply put, I figured I could tape meal-specific condiments to their respective packages with masking tape, thus eliminating one more storage bag from my pack. Now, I plan ahead so when mealtime comes, I have exactly what I need all in one place.

… Here you can see salt packets taped to the top of dehydrated eggs.

Homemade Backpacking Gear | by Jason Klass

Jason posted a video of this so-simple-I-never-would-have-thought-of-it-on-my-own idea on his Gear Talk blog.