I’m fond of my Gregory G Pack — for the fit more than anything else. It’s reasonably light at just under 3 pounds, reasonably affordable, reasonably well built, and reasonably spacious. It has mesh around the exterior that holds oddly-shaped…
Hiking
Wanted: Hiker vigilantes
by tom • March 13, 2008 • 8 Comments
Rick at Hike Half Dome mentions getting a sticker on his window from the Fremont cops in the Mission Peak parking lot reminding him not to leave his windows open. He’d left a one-inch gap to let the heat escape.…
El Toro hike in Morgan Hill scheduled
by tom • March 12, 2008 • 9 Comments
HEADS UP: This post is for the 2008 El Toro hike … the 2009 hike already happened (March 28). Google has been sending people to the wrong year’s post. Morgan Hill Historical Society has one hike planned — at 8…
Bay Area gear brands
by tom • March 7, 2008 • 3 Comments
Yesterday’s post about Mountain Hardwear got me thinking about other name brands in the region. The North Face is the most obvious — they still have a marketing and distribution arm in San Leandro. Marmot is up in Santa Rosa.…
Four great spring hikes in the Bay Area
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 3 Comments
This was in Thursday’s Mercury News: quick looks at four great places to be in the springtime. I imposed my affection for Henry Coe State Park upon the Merc’s tender readers, but I was merciful and recommended the wonderful Ponderosa…
Geocaching: take the kids along
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 8 Comments
As I was walking with a rail-thin Army Reserve sergeant along the way to Murietta Falls awhile back, we got to talking about what his overweight preteen son thinks of hiking. In two words: hates it. Army Dad’s solution: give…
Great hikes around Sacramento
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 0 Comments
A writer from the Bee goes walking with Steve Evans, author of “Top Trails: Sacramento.” They’re checking out the Cosumnes River Preserve. “The preserve is a great example of what the pre- European Central Valley used to look like,” Evans…
Mountain Hardwear’s new digs
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 1 Comment
Mountain Hardwear’s moving into the old Ford Assembly Point at Ford Point in Richmond in a couple weeks. Because the company is just down the road from Berkeley, it’s all about the sustainability these days — and plans to use…
Terrain class rating system
by tom • March 5, 2008 • 0 Comments
Here’s a video describing those “class” ratings you may see on discussion boards like summitpost.com. It’s the Welzenbach System. Class 1 is basic hiking, on trail and off; class 5 is straight up the rock face with ropes, pitons and…