Credit: Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hiking
Transit and Trails site up and running
by tom • June 19, 2009 • 4 Comments
Finally, you can leave your fossil-fuel-depleting, climate-change-causing automobile at home and travel to your favorite trail head with a clear conscience: Transit and Trails can get you to hiking destinations all over the San Francisco Bay Area. Ryan Branciforte, director…
What was your most awe-inspiring nature moment?
by tom • June 17, 2009 • 13 Comments
Think about your images Five-star camera bags at rei.com A thread at the Backpacker magazine board asks for folks to contribute the experiences that most filled them with slack-jawed amazement. Many mentioned such things as childbirth and awaking next to…
Is Half Dome safe? A cautious maybe
by tom • June 16, 2009 • 6 Comments
The summer hiking season of 2009 has barely begun and already Yosemite’s Half Dome has notched its first fatality. But keep in mind that 50,000 people a year climb the harrowing “cables” route to the summit and return home to…
A human-nature hike on the Guadalupe River Trail
by tom • June 15, 2009 • 2 Comments
If you live in San Jose you’ve no doubt heard about the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens downtown. The city has cleaned up the Guadalupe River to control flooding and create a pleasant place to jog, stroll or ride bikes…
Cool Bay Area mapping tool for iPhone owners
by tom • June 12, 2009 • 3 Comments
Armor for your iPod OtterBox Armor Series case at backcountry.com AccuTerra terrain maps for hikers, bikers, campers and outdoor travelers are coming soon to the iPhone (the big Version 3.0 upgrade is June 17). Free “lite” versions of the software…
National Trail Day events
by tom • June 5, 2009 • 0 Comments
American Hiking Society’s National Trail Day 2009 is tomorrow (June 6, anniversary of D-Day, one of the greatest hikes in history, except for the massive carnage). These are the Bay Area events: Trail Day at Coyote-Bear County Park. Del Valle…
Rare deal on a sightly used Western Mountaineering sleeping bag
by tom • June 5, 2009 • 2 Comments
Walt Underwood sent along this thread at BackpackingLight.com, where somebody’s selling a Western Mountaineering Ultralight for $250. Here’s the spec page on the bag, which normally sells for $370 to $400.