It’s happening Friday, April 4, at Oakland Museum of California. It’s a bunch of short films about the planet. The plug: EarthDance is not your average film festival. Our 20 short films (30 seconds to 30 minutes each) are a…
In the news
User fees rising on federal lands
by tom • March 8, 2008 • 2 Comments
Fire-fighting costs are the culprit, the New York Times reports. “As fire costs increase, I’ve got less and less money for other programs,” said Dave Bull, superintendent of the Bitterroot National Forest here in Hamilton. The charge for access to…
Gear
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.…
Hiking
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…
Media (books, DVDs, etc)
Please buy Barb Egbert’s book
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 4 Comments
Barb is the author of Zero Days, her account of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with her husband and 10-year-old daughter. As of a couple minutes ago, Barb is essentially unemployed — she’s one of the folks getting their walking…
Hiking
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…
Hiking
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…
Gear
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…
Travel
Sutter Buttes: a way in
by tom • March 5, 2008 • 7 Comments
We’d been driving all day — up to I80 to Highway 89 and Sierraville near Tahoe, looping over to Quincy on Highway 70 and returning on the same road to Oroville and back down out of the mountains into the…