Catching up on a few links I’ve been fixing to get ready to post (please ignore the ones you’ve seen already because you cruise all the same sites I do):

LittlePo reassures us she didn’t always trot up mountainsides with three days’ rations and gear strapped to her back without breaking a sweat. It was damn hard the first few times.

Ryan Jordan sees the outdoor gadgetry of the future (at which time he’ll write a long, intricately detailed post telling you why you never need such trinkets on the trail.)

Gadling tells of representatives of the world’s major religions climbing Everest in the name of peace, harmony and goodwill toward mankind. Oughta go well, as long as nobody brings up the subject of religion.

Trailcast interviews the guy who builds ULA backpacks in his garage.

More amazing scenery at In the Footsteps of Joseph Rock.

Calipidder raves over a minus-20 sleeping bag she’s field testing (included, of course, is the intense mental concentration required to get out of a nice toasty sleeping bag on sub-zero mornings).

Yosemite Blog links to tips on avoiding bears (question of the day for people who remember the ’70s: do truck drivers still call the highway patrol “bears”?).

Cutter cautions that GPS devices can weaken your innate navigation skills (of course if you had innate navigation skills you’d never need a GPS right?)

The Dude recounts how he overcame his fear of plunging down impossibly steep ski slopes (I asked him to and he was real nice about it).

The Our HIke gals are almost to West Virginia. Them hills oughta be real fun to hike over.

Jonathan Claxton went night fishing (which looks to be the only thing on earth colder than snow camping).

HikerDeals points to a big snowshoe sale at REI.