A fanny-sized Therm-a-Rest pad called the Lite Seat was my constant companion for my first few years on Bay Area trails. Small, durable, not too expensive (sub $30), a passable backpacking pillow — it was one of my favorite pieces…
Media (books, DVDs, etc)
“Stranded”: My latest must-see movie
by tom • May 25, 2009 • 0 Comments
I remember as a child hearing about these guys whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972 and who survived on the flesh of their deceased fellow passengers. “Stranded” is their story, remembered in stomach-knotting detail more than three decades…
Henry Coe State Park
Latest hike: Henry W. Coe State Park from Dowdy Ranch Visitors Center
by tom • May 25, 2009 • 4 Comments
I had crazy-great weather — sunny and clear with cool breezes — for Sunday’s hike at Henry Coe State Park’s Dowdy Ranch Visitors Center. The trails near Dowdy Ranch, which opened two years ago, are classic Coe: straight up and…
Tom's travels
E-commerce update
by tom • May 25, 2009 • 2 Comments
Your friends and fellow hikers bought 10 items from Amazon.com in the past week. Interestingly, only three were things I thought folks might be interested in buying; the rest were all other stuff folks decided they liked better after they…
Hiking
Where did you go this weekend?
by tom • May 25, 2009 • 11 Comments
I did six miles from Henry Coe’s Dowdy Ranch visitor center yesterday (post to come this morning). What about the rest of you? This would be a good time for those of you who visit via my rss feed to…
Big Basin State Park
Props to Andrew P. Hill, the guy who saved Big Basin
by tom • May 23, 2009 • 1 Comment
Thumbing though my copy of the The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Book this morning, I stopped on a page devoted to Andrew P. Hill, a San Jose painter and photographer responsible for securing protection of the stand of old-growth redwoods…
Hiking
Etiquette for group hikes: how to behave in the presence of other humans
by tom • May 22, 2009 • 3 Comments
Before you take the first step: Take a stand and stick with it. If you contact a group and tell ’em you’re coming, do it. If you change your mind at the last minute, tell the leader so nobody waits…
Media (books, DVDs, etc)
Review: Bay Area Ridge Trail by Jean Rusmore
by tom • May 21, 2009 • 1 Comment
The little blue Bay Area Ridge Trail markers are all over the hills we hike around these parts. Typically they mark high, wind-swept lengths of trail where you rest up and enjoy the view before seeking out shade and shelter…
Mangan's memoirs
The vision thing
by tom • May 20, 2009 • 4 Comments
Those of you who’ve met me in person have noted an oddity in my facial expressions. The deal is: I was born with nerve damage that paralyzes most of the right side of my face, so I look somewhat like…