Herr Coomber is profiled yet again by the Chron. He got the nickname because he was regularly spotted pushing his wheelchair up mountains, down rocky gorges and along dusty trails in out-of-the-way places. He has been on virtually every hiking…
Monthly Archives: November 2008
Hiking gear gift ideas
by tom • November 28, 2008 • 2 Comments
In honor of Black Friday, here’s a bunch of cool hiking gear I’d give myself for Christmas if I had someplace to put it. I went searching among my favorite boutique gear retailers because I know the stuff is built…
Rare deals on Western Mountaineering gear?
by tom • November 26, 2008 • 3 Comments
The San Jose manufacturer of some of the world’s best sleeping bags sews its product right here in the South Bay rather than somewhere in China, commands Cadillac prices for its wares, and insists that dealers cut very few discounts.…
A few nice outdoors blogs
by tom • November 25, 2008 • 1 Comment
A few folks recommended these in the comments and they deserve front-page coverage (not local but cool enough to compensate): Camera Trap Codger: This is a guy who puts out camera traps in the wilderness and catches critters in the…
10 most-popular Two-Heel Drive posts
by tom • November 25, 2008 • 2 Comments
As of right now, these are the most popular Two-Heel Drive posts since I started counting in the summer of 2007. Since two-thirds of my visitors are Googlers, the results offer hints on how search engines match surfers with links.…
Castle Rock never gets old
by tom • November 23, 2008 • 3 Comments
I couldn’t wait to get in among the trees to test my new GPS unit. Castle Rock State Park has abundant tree cover, though nothing as thick as, say Big Basin Redwoods, which is back in the rotation again (though…
GPS for Mac hikers
by tom • November 21, 2008 • 14 Comments
I’ve finally gotten a GPS unit, and getting it to play nice with my iMac has been an education. The unit is a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx, which is being phased out in favor of the Vista HCX, which is…
Mercury News article on ranching history of nearby parks
by tom • November 20, 2008 • 0 Comments
Lisa Krieger’s latest Wanderlust report covers ground trodden many times over around here. She starts at Grant County Park and ranges over to the Skyline Boulevard open space preserves. While the pioneers who toiled on our old family farms are…
Mass link payback
by tom • November 17, 2008 • 13 Comments
Ever so often I get around to updating my list of “A-List Hiking Bloggers” over there on the right-hand side. I’ve added a bunch in the past few days — if yours isn’t there or you know of another hiker’s…