Island Lake is a great place for an easy overnighter, as Calipidder documented the other day. Here’s a pic from an overnighter I did near there a couple summers back: It’s just a mile and a half past the Carr…
In the news
Unspeakable tragedy on Mount Blanc
by tom • July 25, 2008 • 0 Comments
Hiker Hell points to an incident so tragic it’s difficult to type in: A family climbs a section of Mount Blanc together. Mom takes a break, while dad and three siblings continue up the hill, all roped together. Dad falls,…
Gear
Gear Junkie’s Outside Online gig
by tom • July 25, 2008 • 0 Comments
Stephen Regenold has added a new kingdom to his gear-review empire: Outside Online, which introduced The Gear Junkie Scoop this week. Stephen comes out of the gate swinging (er, napping) with an intro the ThermaRest Neo Air, an inflatable that’s…
Blogs
SoCal outdoors blog worth a read
by tom • July 25, 2008 • 0 Comments
Adventure16, a chain of Southern California outdoors outfitters, has a nice blog describing places to check out in that part of the state. Bonus for slacker types who need cash for upcoming adventures: it includes retail job openings. An upcoming…
Mangan's memoirs
Blogging will resume tomorrow, I promise
by tom • July 24, 2008 • 2 Comments
Got my new smartphone just in time for my computer to die so it had to be replaced. Getting everything back together has been occupying most of my spare time, but the grim task is mostly done now (just in…
Media (books, DVDs, etc)
John Muir’s tale of Stickeen, the glacier dog
by tom • July 22, 2008 • 1 Comment
Here’s a wonderful tale written by John Muir, recalling how he spent one terrific/terrible day on an Alaskan glacier. Stickeen was a little ragamuffin of a dog who accompanied Muir on one of his explorations of the Alaskan coast. He…
Gear
iPhone 3G: any good in the outdoors?
by tom • July 21, 2008 • 11 Comments
After 15 years of resistance I have finally acquired a mobile phone. Of course it could not be one of those el-cheapo throwaways sensible people own. It had to be an iPhone because, well, Steve Jobs sends secret messages to…
Pescadero Creek County Park
Final Hikes column: Pescadero Creek County Park
by tom • July 21, 2008 • 1 Comment
This’ll be the last one I do for the San Jose Mercury News. Tucked into a remote section of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of La Honda, the park is one of three grouped nearby. The other two – Sam…
Blogs
New must-see blog: Hiker Hell
by tom • July 18, 2008 • 4 Comments
B-Real down in Orange County created this running tab of hiker misfortune last month, thoughtfully saving me the trouble of doing the same. Just yesterday he scooped the pants off us Bay Area types with this update on a woman…