National Parks Traveler on that battery-powered Miox gadget: The beauty of this pen-shaped unit is that it’s so lightweight you won’t know your carrying its 3.5 ounces. The downfalls? Well, for starters it doesn’t filter your water, so if you’re…
Hiking
Solar battery chargers: anybody use them?
by tmangan • May 23, 2006 • 3 Comments
I happened across this post on a UK blog about a folding-panel solar recharging kit and it made me wonder if anybody actually uses such a thing on the trail. It sounds like one of those “great ideas” that people…
Gourmet hiking?
by tmangan • May 15, 2006 • 1 Comment
From a story on hikers who don’t mind ponying up big bucks for a fancy meal after a hard day’s slog. At trail’s end, chefs in white aprons gave them braised lamb with artichokes, mushroom penne pasta cooked on the…
Daddy’s got some new brand new shoes
by tmangan • May 11, 2006 • 0 Comments
I’m breaking in a new pair of the Salomon XA Pro 3D trail runners I picked up over the weekend. My feet don’t really enjoy hiking in running shoes, whether they’re made for the trail or not. They simply adore…
Rugged digicams
by tmangan • May 9, 2006 • 3 Comments
Gear Guy suggests a few that might survive a mild beating. My el-cheapo Canon A510 is tougher than I figured it’d be: I dropped it on a rock in a dry riverbed a few weeks back and it’s still shooting…
Does a tent need a footprint?
by tmangan • May 8, 2006 • 2 Comments
Since I dumped on Outside Magazine’s Gear Guy last week, I may as well make up for it in response to a consumer-friendly response to a reader who wonders if there’s really any need to buy one of those special…
Trail temperatures
by tmangan • April 28, 2006 • 2 Comments
My hikes typically start in a valley in the morning, where cold air has settled all night, and head uphill. If the valley’s fogged in I’ll hike from cool, moist valley air into sun-warmed hilltop air. I think the experts…
A few days in the wilds of Cameroon
by tmangan • April 26, 2006 • 0 Comments
From an article at allafrica.com: The hiking continued the next day. But instead of finding elephants, the team bumped into five poachers who had killed an elephant and were feasting on its flesh. The poachers, one Bantu and five Bakas,…
Sgt. Rock’s been redeployed
by tmangan • April 21, 2006 • 1 Comment
He’s back in Baghdad. From his homepage at hikinghq.net I am alive and working hard here at Camp Justice Iraq. Things here are going as well as they can. Hope everything is going fine for you back in the land…