CELEBRATE THE OUTDOORS
40 years outdoors experience, extensive info on Mt. Rainier’s Wonderland Trail, original music, equipment reviews, off trail videos, other peaks in Mt. Rainier NP
Suluk 46 T.E.A system in use on the PCTSuluk 46 is a cottage gear company based out of Canada that displays the innovation, customer experience and quality that typifies so many of these innovative shops. I was looking for an update to the simple alcohol stove I've been using for some years and discovered the Suluk 46 website.
ONP: upper Cameron basinWith August vacation and a graduating daughter, we had two weeks to experience some of the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Our original plans involved an Olympic National Park loop, the Wonderland Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park, and a Glacier Peak circumnavigation. This was an ambitious schedule based on everything falling into place, including the weather. Such was not to be, but we did manage to get to all three areas. In the process I have been testing some new UL gear which I will write about later.
Gossamer Gear Minimalist on the roadA buddy of mine and I did the Seattle To Portland (STP) bike ride recently, an organized event that takes place every year covering the 200 plus miles between the two cities. We did not have a chase car for support, so I needed a way to store my jacket, supplements, pump, food, tools, spare tubes, sunscreen etc. I've been using the Gossamer Gear Minimalistfor both training hikes and bikes so it was a natural to bring along. The simple design has no waist strap to contend with and the sternum strap keeps the pack hugging the back with no movement. I literally didn't notice it for 204 miles of riding. The simplicity of this pack means I grab it for any number of activities outside of hiking, and I've had no problems with durability in its second year of use. Weather was pristine for this ride but rain might have been a problem with the draw cord top, whose little hole will be an entrance point for moisture. Of course, the pack itself is not waterproof so were I to anticipate using this in the rain I would have to use a pack liner bag. The rear mesh pocket was perfect for attaching my number so I didn't have to pin it to my clothing. I saw lots of bike front packs and saddle bags during this event but I prefer to wear a backpack as long as the weight is light. This is a link to a blog from last year on the hiking/running aspect of use for this pack.
(caveat: I am a trail ambassador for Gossamer Gear and received this pack at a discount)
Hydration stopToday I'm not referencing fun times with Timothy Leary, but the training concept of Long Slow Distance. I've kept up base fitness with runs and bikes, but this was to be my first "quad-burner" where I'm out for some vert. I decided to keep it interesting by throwing in a bike (doing the STP this year so need some seat time), so I parked at Longmire. As I was contemplating what shoes to wear, as they had to do for both the biking and the hiking, a ranger came by and, after some chit chat, said I should just go for the light trail runners (I also had some low cut crampon compatibles and some Merrill trail gloves).
50 plus pounds in 1986I thought I'd share some thoughts on ultralight backpacking as the season is upon us. One could argue that with available products today, carrying a 40 lb+ load on just about any hike is unnecessary. But whether to "ultralight" or not really depends on two things: experience and type of trip. 
running the West Side road for pickupBy now anyone reading my blogs knows that I use the gym to prepare myself for strenuous hiking, especially in these months leading up to summer. However, a recent question from a cohort of mine brings to light a specific component of working out, that question being "how can you run on a treadmill without music or watching something?" Well, the answer lies in the title.After months of working on serious affairs, I had to get back to my roots. In college I wrote a comic opera and conducted a brass choir in white gloves, also using my feet. Humor is part of my makeup and some things never change. This short is exerpted from a film festival entry that never made it into any film festival, but required weeks of work to animate, with no animation software. At a minute and a half, I hope it provides some entertainment.
Yes, this year it took me 15 days to hike the Wonderland. Of course if you've read the complete account, you know why. But I just want to touch on the experience itself, beyond the technical aspects of filming the trail or the logistical parts, and get to it's core....this was one amazing season of hiking. In truth, probably one of the reasons I did this film project was that it gave me an excuse to go to the park. I got to tell my wife, "Oh, I have to cover A and then do B and I have to get up to C before the snow levels drop." My ever patient spouse went along with these flimsy excuses and indulged me, and I got to skip some days of potentially working on the house to do fair weather hiking. And was it ever fair weather. Not once did I don a pair of gloves, very unusual for me as I tend to get cold hands. Only once did I don a poncho due to brief minutes of squall activity very early as I trotted my way out to the start film point. Only on my last foray, on October 4th, did I wear a jacket through most of the day. As I review the stills and video I amassed, it was unusual to have any clouds in the frames, and I came to welcome this "anomaly" and the variety it bestowed on the usually clear skies.
the rare clouds over Silver Forest on Sep 13, 2012
For complete background on this project, please reference the section on Filming the Wonderland. There you'll find a complete chronicle of every day that I was on the trail and the sections covered. Over the course of filming I spent 15 days (including filming the West Side road on bike), hiked 238 miles and amassed over 316,000 still photos and 19 hours of video from 3 cameras. However, I want to cover the equipment I used in this labor of love.
3 camera setup on custom mountCAMERAS
Panasonic GH2: for my first two outings I carried my GH2, along with a tripod, to specifically film the water sources and take photos of interesting features. However, I soon pared my system and equipment down to leave the bulky GH2 and the tripod at home as I found that the other 3 cameras could get the job done.
GOPRO Helmet Hero2: this was my primary camera, mounted facing forward. I took advantage of the cameras myriad time lapse functions and ended up using the 2 per second setting for recording the entire trail. Once stitched into video, the viewer will essentially see motion about 5 times faster than my hiking pace, or the equivalent of running about 8 miles per hour.