Welcome to Trail Days!!!

Here I am at either my 10th or 12th Trail Days...I cannot remember which.  I've been coming to this festival for many years.  Trail Days is an Appalachian Trail hiker Fest held every year on the 3rd weekend in May.  It's a lot of fun.  Usually I have very little documentation of the actual event because its too much fun and I forget to take photos....I'll upload a few from years past.

Five or six of us remain as participants and gather every year of what was once a group of about 15.  We miss those that do not come anymore and we talk about them behind their back's saying things like, "I can't believe they didn't come" or "Do you even know if they are still alive" or "Are they still in TX?".  Long time friends don't ever really leave you but are ghosts living in a closet whose door you open every once in a while to peek in at.  You just want to see if they are still there hoping that they come out of the darkness fully fleshed to visit. 

The streets of Damascus, Virginia, a lovely mountain town where the AT runs down main street, are filled with the hellos, sounds of hands slapping backs in hugs and wahoos of congratulations for finished AT thru hikes and questions of "So what are you doing now after the hike and where are you living?"

People who are not involved in the Trail community or ever stood on top of a mountain looking back with nostalgia at where you've walked from, purple-blue mountains stretching on in front of you to the horizon line, have a hard time understanding why my friends and I find this particular weekend inviolate.  Its a you do not miss weekend.  The miles, the smiles, the trials and the tears and laughter echo over, around, within, out from the mountains that surround this lovely little town.  Their welcoming warmth is an image of how we, the hiking community feel about our time on trail and the friendships made there. 

Through rain, wind, lightening strikes and hurricanes, snow, drought and injury, there are our trail peeps walking beside us, with us, kicking our butts, holding our heads/hands/hearts....you make friends out here with names like Buzz, Sherry, Creaky Sticks, Keystone (just met!), Marta & Liteshoe, Judy and Amy, DeLee, Bronco and Wingheart, Krewzer, Sue and Rabbit, Hutch and Sparrow, Suzanne, Lone Wolf and Gypsy, Razor and Red Hat, Bahlpack, Sherlock & Circuit Rider, Journey, Hopeful,  ....friends who even though you see only a few times a year hold similar memories of what it means to walk miles with your home on your back and reflect in their eyes the same understanding of the strength it takes to to walk the AT.  They understand that it is not the things in your life that make you who you are but what you chose to do and who you chose to do it with.

Cheers to you all, my lovely hiking friends....may the miles be kind and limitless...

What's Goin' On?

A friend asked me the other day if I had abandoned my blog....I told her, no, I had not but I do admit that I am busy.  It's late spring here in NE Ohio and it is just a busy time.  The trees are out, the soil is dry, the weeds are growing.  There are gardens to plant and acres to mow, trails to walk and pictures to take.  Birds are migrating in and out and this year, the first in a several years, I've actually been able to take the time to participate in one of my favorite hobbies, birdwatching.  Last week, I snagged a sighting of a Baltimore Oriole, one of the first sightings in my area. 

In my effort to gain marketable skills, I've also taken on some extra writing projects and am managing the Portage Park District's Facebook page.  That takes time.  Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I'll lead some hikes, right now I'm busy. 

Then there are the trips...one very soon sends me to Indiana to my daughter's college graduation ceremony then another right after to an annual get together in Virginia for AT hikers.  This is an event where I see long time friends, friends I see only at this event...there is a lot of talking and rocking on the front porch of the Hiker's Inn, laughing, wine drinking and walking...that's Trail Days.  I can't wait.  I am busy.

No one really ever thinks of time until there isn't enough of it or if you face an event that reminds you that there REALLY never is enough.  Recently, I bought something that has a 20 year warranty ....standing there I did the math and realized that wow...20 years...I'll be an age that I never even thought I would get to when I was young and now, gosh it is only 20 years away.  An age where my health may not be so good, where I will no longer be a great gardener or able to walk very far in pursuit of that great bird, when no longer will I enjoy riding the lawn tractor over the bumps in my yard nor ride my bike on the Tow Path.  These thoughts make me vow that starting now, I'll enjoy each moment and do the things I need to do to stay able to do those things I love for a very, long time.

Earth Day 2012

I started birding because of my crazy Zoology teacher.  It was in 10th grade that I made the fateful decision to take this course, a sort of next step to my Biology class I'd taken the year before.  I wanted to be a Vet and the more science I took the better.  In Biology, we'd had a lot of fun dissecting things, goofing off with the animals kept in the lab (reptiles) and scaring people with these same reptiles...you know fun stuff.  I expected more of the same in Zoology.

                                                    

I ended up with the less stuffy teacher.  He was a lot of fun, a little crazy, there wasn't much structure in the class except somehow during all the dissecting we learned things like phylum and species and how to put paper hats on Ascaris worms and diaper ,cats.  Science was fun because our teacher, despite his best efforts to make it boring, couldn't.  He loved it too and allowed us to explore, ask questions, discover.  The other class was much more structured and was taught by a very strict guy. Not that they didn't learn but we got the impression that there was no high jinx or cat diapering going on in his class.

 

In the spring, we all looked forward to two very special field trips, both were supposed to expose us to the scientific observation of the avian species. Extra credit points were up for grabs aside from the very real opportunity to get credit for playing outside for 2 Saturdays. That was what I expected...instead I found it exciting when I found a Scarlet Tanager in a tree down by Sugar Creek singing in a tree.  It was like a giant scavenger hunt with the one finding the most birds the winner. Most people just walked the trails, some guys took risks and ended up sliding down muddy cliffs and are 40 years later still be ribbed about it, others were stuck with the serious teacher and had to look for birds all day.  My group found ourselves doing a little of wandering and exploring and looking for birds.  That was the foundation which my love for birding was built upon. Wandering around, observing, exploring nature in its glory.

So, today, I have a life list which I relish adding to. I lust for high powered, expensive binoculars and have my eye on the new Crosley birding book and a book on feathers.  I keep my naturalist's bag ready in my car at all times loaded with my Sibley's guide, wildflower book and bug jars.  In fact, I think this class actually was the beginning of my life as an official nature watcher. I had always been curious but never knew that I could actually write, observe and keep track of what I saw and that this lifelong obsession would then lead to deep knowledge and understanding about how life itself works.  So, on this Earth Day 2012...get out, ask questions and have fun!  Nature is addicting. lets love it and do what needs to be done to save it!

Technology?!

My world, like yours most probably, is run by technology and the items of equipment thereby related.  Laptop computers, digital cameras, IPods, IPads, TV's, DVD/BluRay players, I & Android phones, microwave ovens and other such high tech electronic gadgets pretty much run our world and our lives.  Last week proved to be challenging because my laptop which is my lifeline decided it had had enough.  Suddenly, I was getting error messages saying that it had no more room for my stuff in it, refused to hold my precious photos or to even work at all...which meant that it took HOURS to convince it to open up a web page!  Gad, it was very frustrating.

My computer told me to get rid of some of the junk in its memory.  Evidently, at 7 years of age it cannot remember things anymore. And you expect ME to remember how to add. So, I deleted a few meaningless programs I'd collected...after all that was what it told me to do.  Then it yelled at me some more..."NOO, I am STILL overloaded with stuff..please remove these programs!", it said to me.  So, I did...ok I don't really need to be hoarding all of them anyway.  I swear it told me to delete my printer driver. Gack.

So, when the computer expert finally looked at it, he said to me with a small, rueful smile..."Ahhh, do you think 10 million kilobytes of photos are enough?!"  (small exaggeration). I said, "Of course, not!" 

I was forced to remove alllll my photos to a giant, external drive that holds my PRECIOUS...hence the reason why this blog has no photos. I have yet to reroute them to Picassa because I am sure it will take days to load the 10 million kilobytes of photos back into it.  Funny, I didn't realize that Picassa used my files on the C drive, I thought they were safe out there floating in the cloud o' electrons. 

Its really hard pretending I'm not an old fart and I wish the world would stop for a minute and let me catch up with all this technology stuff. But I'm NOT giving up!  I refuse to acknowledge that this computer stuff isn't conquerable and I will press forward.  More posts with photos, I promise, coming soon.

Backpacking Stoves #2

 When I think of what equipment was like when I first started backpacking...well, it makes me chuckle.  Some of my first backpacking experiences happened on Girl Scout trips or at camp.  We carried BSA external frame canvas packs.  We made cooking stoves from #10 cans and called them gosh...buddy burners maybe but somehow I think that was the tuna can full of paraffin and cardboard which was placed under and provided the heat for cooking.  These little items were carried on the outside of our packs making us literally a clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caligenous junk!  We wore clodhoppers for boots which were heavy leather things with white cotton socks which caused massive blisters.  They were neither waterproof nor breathable.  Blue jeans were standard hiking wear with cotton tee shirts.  I have a mental picture of a 15 year old Vera on a backpacking trip which will always live in my memory and make me laugh. 

So, stoves today have come a long way.  I promised you a glimpse of some other types of high tech stoves which have come upon the scene in the last 10 years.  All small and fairly fuel efficient and can boil water in 6 minutes or less. 

Probably the first stove that people used before the alcohol stove became popular was the Esbit stove.  Developed by the military, I believe, as a lightweight cooking option it uses a solid lump of fuel either Esbit fuel or Hexamine/Trioxane.  I have to admit that in the beginning of my bping career, I did try this stove but quickly realized that the fuel smelled bad, was marginally, if not terribly, toxic and took a long time to heat water.  Many people still use this fuel and actually love it.  I do not, so I am not an expert.  Sgt Rock has some good information on this stove on his website.  http://tinyurl.com/725mb4n

Esbit fuel burns well in the cold but is, I think, difficult to light.  Putting it out is, I think, challenging and is hard to figure out how much fuel you will actually use at each meal.  You will have to bag or double bag the fuel to keep it from stinking everything up.  For more info, go to Sgt Rock's website, he has some great charts there with burning times and info.  Good stuff.  Oh and of course, carry a windscreen.

The Trangia alcohol stove was probably the earliest alcohol stove.  The original, as I recall, was heavy but now one version weighs 7 oz and comes with a 3 piece aluminum pot stand which comes apart for travel.  Made of brass it comes with a simmer ring which adjusts the flame and a lid which works great when you need to put the stove out and allows any unused fuel to remain in the stove thus reducing spillage.  A great stove and not at all expensive.  A good beginning alcohol stove.

Another stove which was used by many (still used by many) is the Sierra Zip stove.  Burning pine cones, bark, twigs, etc and accompanied by its forced air ventilation fan it will burn hot and efficiently.  Its 1 lb weight is heavier than most but it makes up for this in boiling water with available material in four minutes.  That means no carrying fuel, fuel canisters, worrying about finding fuel, spilling fuel or drinking fuel accidentally if you forget to label your fuel bottle. (it has happened)  The fan is powered by AA batteries or an optional D cell power supply will work for 35 hours.  A new stove in their line replaces the steel in the original stove with titanium reducing the weight of said stove to 10 oz.  WOW..now that makes a big difference!  You can check this stove out at http://www.zzstove.com/

Now on to some crazy stuff...which I will disclaimer with, I have no idea how these things work if at all, in no way recommend that you buy them but include them because they are interesting options.  I found many while doing my own due diligence preparing to buy gear.  Some may even be out of business.  Bottom line is I just love gear and think I need to join some 12 step gearhead group.

Photo from ThermoJet website

http://tinyurl.com/7eqg3lj - The ThermoJet stove is an alcohol stove supposedly on steroids. I liked its compact design but think that the Caldera Cone might work using the same kind of principle.

http://www.biolitestove.com/Contact.html - The Biolite stove is a high tech wood burning unit which I am pretty excited about.  It is new tech which has applications not only as a backpacking/camping stove but also may be used in homes in developing countries.  Built to charge electrical gadgets while cooking, it truly may revolutionize the developing world and does provide a green fuel option.  Now I know wood in some people's eyes is not really a renewable resource BUT I maintain that it is not a fossil fuel based product.  That is a good thing in my little green mind.  Stated information from their website says that the packed size is 8.25" x 5" and weighs 2 lbs 1 oz (935 g) Ok, I agree that is one heavy stove BUT think about what it will replace....solar charger, batteries etc.  It is due out this spring so there are no reviews but all you techweenies out there need to take a look at this puppy.

Make sure that while you are looking at this wood stove you check out the oldie but goodie...Nimblewell Nomad's wood burning stove.  This website will explain how to build your very own:  http://tinyurl.com/89c6qgt

The following website will review a Vargo wood burner.  I met the owner/designer of Vargo stoves when he was not well known.  He is another example of someone who had a great idea, used modern materials and is making a living following his dreams.  

http://tinyurl.com/83cax27 

Photo from Biolerwerks website

The last new stove, is a little beauty from a company called Boilerwerks.  Their stove is called the Backcountry Boiler TM and is billed as the first lightweight chimney kettle.  It is a nifty looking piece of gear which resembles a metal water bottle and evidently can double as a water bottle.  Once you boil your non-potable water keep it in the kettle, put the lid on and walk on.  Pretty cool, eh?! When you see it for the first time, you might think to yourself, how can this be a stove?  Well, I am excited, this thing looks like a rocket and may even boil water like one.  The designer states that, "Once this thing gets going , its like the bellows of Hades."  He works from a green and sustainable manufacturing ethic...I love it.   http://www.theboilerwerks.com/

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to learn about and compare gear options.  Just take some time to google the item you want to learn about then read, read, read, talk to gearheads/read their blogs and reviews.  Join a yahoo interest list, go to events, talk to gear manufacturers, read Backpacker magazine reviews.  ACK!!!, those of you who are purists say, but I used to sleep with my Backpacker mag when just a newbie.  Most of all it is important to go out into nature as often as possible even if its just to wander around a park or a yard...you can test your rain suit while walking in your yard in winter.  Wandering in nature acclimatizes you to the non-nonsense attitude nature has ....it is what it is and the trail is the trail...no matter how much you complain you just have to walk.  And that attitude is what will get you up the trail not how good your gear is.

Spring is Sprung

 I heard a Woodcock's call twice this week, once at Tallmadge Meadows MetroPark as I was pulling out of the parking lot and then again as I pulled the mail from my mailbox.  Barely, I heard the "peeent" from across the field that for me hallmarks the beginning of spring.  Some people count the skunks lined up dead on the side of the road as spring's beginning, for other's its the first crocus. I know spring has arrived when I first hear that plaintive "peent" coming from across the field. 

Woodcock's Field

Each of the past 2 springs at dusk, I'd walk to the end of the driveway starting in mid-April through mid-May and listen to that call, night after night for hours that one lone Woodcock would send his mating call into the air hoping to attract a lovely female.  Why he picked that field I have no idea.  Living at the edge of a highly used golf course, sitting next to the party tent, in my mind, is not a good place to set up housekeeping.  But non-the-less that is where his instincts drew him and he has stayed there.  I have no reason to believe that he has been successful there raising a family yet I have hope because he keeps coming back.  The cool thing about nature is that if something doesn't work, it will send an animal seeking a better situation.  There is none of this craziness of doing the same thing over and over again in hopes that the results will change.

And in my yard there are other signs of spring.  The Magnolia tree, crocus, daffodils, hyacinth AND even the Azalea bush are blooming.  Tiny, green Hosta buds are peeking out through their leaf mulch months quicker and I have no time to pull out the old stems and pull off the mulch.  Generally, in between the rain and cold, in a normal Ohio March, I have lots of time to do yard chores S-L-O-W-L-Y and get my winter drugged body up and running, so to speak.  This year, in one day I had to pull millions of those irritating white-flowered Bittercress weeds before they go to seed and send their billions of seeds into the air spreading more weed pulling misery for me.  Also, that day, I planted lettuce, peas, arugula, spinach and radish seeds.  Which meant I got to play in the dirt!!  Although, the surrounding yard was a waterlogged swamp, all but one of the raised beds were workable.  That initial foray into my spring garden is a time for celebration.  It means like the Woodcock that spring is here. 

Possible Swamp Sparrow

Wednesday, I spent the day birding with a friend.  Traveling south about an hour to flooded field area which has been set aside as a permanent wetlands area for migrating waterfowl on this beautiful, sunny, 80 degreed day was my first opportunity to bird in a long time.  I was carrying my camera, tripod and borrowed, better binoculars.  Still they were not enough to identify any of the hundreds of birds floating amongst the abandoned corn stalks at Funk Bottoms.  My camera worked well at capturing images of floating ducks, revealing the magnitude of life which depends upon the beautiful spot for either a stopover snack or as their yearly nesting area.  I found when I downloaded them at home that I'd gotten a clear picture of a Northern Pintail duck and mate which was a "'life bird" for me.  Also, we bagged a Swamp Sparrow. I can't wait to blow up a few more to see if I can identify others. 



Toad Singing His Love Song!



Despite our collective lack of preparedness for this realllly early spring, Mother Nature moves us irrevocably forward into a new season bringing new life and the hope that renewal brings.  I am grabbing onto this energy and moving forward into the unknown with Ben-Gay and heating pad firmly in hand!

Happy Spring, everyone!





Backpacking Stoves, Part 1

My friend Judy Gross & I at a Backpacking Feed.
Photo Credit:  Shelly Huskey

FOOD! It's always on the mind of any self-respecting backpacker.  Food is what fuels you, it's what you have to keep in balance, weight vs calories to keep you going and eventually it becomes a piece of gear just like your sleeping bag.  Thus, anything that has to do with food or food prep becomes extremely important.  Take stoves, for instance, the different types, fuels available, shaving minuscule ounces of a stove's weight, which one burns, faster, more efficiently, all these things become part of the debate which circulates around what stove is the best one for backpacking. 



MiniBullDesign M4 Alcohol Stove by Tinny
http://tinyurl.com/7p7eox5
Photo Credit:  H. Dean Clark



In this blog post and a couple more, I'll talk some about the pros and cons of a few of my favorite stoves and also, bring into the mix some of the newer stoves that have come on the market lately.  These stoves may be old news to you but they are new to me.  Like the gearhead that I am they must be examined. 

All opinions are mine and mine alone and only you can determine after hours of your own research and trials in the field which stove is best for you.  Everything I know, btw, I've found on the Internet or by personal time spent at gear stores, reading Backpacking magazine or talking to people.  When you have hiked many miles, you, too, will come up with what works the best for you and possibly your own mantra for judging gear like me, mine being, NO TWEEKING.  I want, especially my food system, to be fast and easy.  When I get into camp I want food, bata-bing, bata-boom, hot, fast, no tweeking.  You will have to find your own style and thus a cooking system that works for you.  Hopefully, some of what I write in these gear blogs will help you along your journey to more enjoyment and greater heights. 


Stoves fall into a couple of basic categories based on what kind of fuel they use.  I'll write today about the 3 stove types I am most familiar with which are white gas, canister gas and alcohol stoves.  There are some new up and coming stoves which I will mention that use wood and other material, later.  

First, there are white gas stoves which use a liquid petroleum product,called by many  "Coleman" fuel.  It comes in a metal container and has to be poured into a fuel container. After the stove is primed, it is then pressurized by pumping.  This fuel burns hot and fast and is at the least easily ignitable and at the worst explosive.  The clear liquid, if spilled while filling a canister, can ignite and engulf the stove in a fireball so care should be used during the filling process. However, this long-standing favorite has fueled many a campstove in the past, works well in the cold and is a dependable fuel.  Stoves which use this fuel like the MSR Whisperlite, Dragonfly, Coleman PEAK stoves are bottom line, "go to" stoves due to the international availability of this kind of fuel.  Stoves which use this fuel, if regularly maintained and cleaned will last for years, giving you hot water when you need it, quickly.  They do need parts which need replacing periodically so if planning for a societal collapse....find parts now and hoard them.

  

Optimus Crux Stove
http://tinyurl.com/7cllkr6



The second type of stove, which has become extremely popular due to its ease of use, portability, "safer" operation and small size , uses a canister containing either butane, propane or more often a mixture of the two.  Canisters are available in backpacking or outdoor stores thus are not as readily available as white gas which often can be found at gas stations or truck stops.  However, depending upon the size of canister most will last for 4 days to a week depending upon how often you cook, will heat a pot of hot water in 2 to 4 minutes, do not have to be primed and are easy to attach to a stove.  The metal closed canister is less likely to catch fire since there is no need to pour liquid fuel from one container to another. These stoves are ideal for short trips where resupply is easily available.  Due to the greater weight of the fuel canister and their size most backpackers only want to carry one at a time.  Canister stoves are small, light, extremely portable (will often fit into a cup) and can come in titanium versions which make them weigh even less. 

Some disadvantages are that you have to place the canister on an even surface otherwise they will tip over and are inefficient unless used with a wind screen to block the breeze.  The fuel canisters are not as reliable in cold weather often needing to be "warmed" to get them to light.  (do NOT heat them with fire..put them in your shirt next to your skin!) If, in an effort to keep the canister warm you overheat it, it can explode, although I have not experienced this occurring.  Again, MSR, Primus, Snow Peak, Jetboil to name just a few manufactures, have produced efficient, quality stoves for many years which will, when used correctly and under the right circumstances give you hot water quickly and I think easier than white gas stoves. 

 

AGG Coke can stove
http://tinyurl.com/86ebo6d

The last type of stove I will talk about are alcohol stoves.  These tiny, denizens of efficient cooking were born from the minds of ultralight backpackers who wanted a stove that used easily attainable fuel, were easily replaceable, made from materials which one could find on the side of the road and burned hot, boiling water quickly.  The stoves themselves are made in many different shapes and sizes, made from beer cans to high tech materials.  Their inventors spend hours testing them to make them more efficient and have secrets which make their stove the hottest burning and use the least amount of fuel and will bring water to boil in the least amount of time.  How these inventors came up with the ideas and designs I don't know ...all I know is that they work and work well.  Using a fuel called, HEET (use the YELLOW bottle only, which is available at even the most out of the way gas station or convenience store, these high tech babies can boil water in under 5 minutes with 2 oz of fuel.  HEET (use YELLOW bottle only) is clear which makes filling your stove and possibly lighting yourself and others on fire a possible issue because you cannot see the fuel if you spill it.  Also, putting out the stove, letting it cool down before refilling is an absolute rule.    

Caldera Cone

http://tinyurl.com/7sa6k56



There are many designs, makers, directions and already built for you alcohol stove out there on the Internet.  My friend and 2012 thru hiker wannabe, Dean Clark has kindly taken pictures for me of the stove contraption he is going to use on trail this year.  I'll post them if I can figure out how to insert a slide show!!  He is going to use a Tinny stove.  I like AntiGravity gear's set up which comes with a pot and cozy and stove.  One thing to remember about alcohol stoves is that it is very important to be efficient so a windscreen will save you fuel and add to burn time.  AntiGravity sells a Caldera Cone which is well worth checking out as a windscreen and supercharged heat distributor and addition to any alcohol stove.

Some of the links to websites and things are in my favorites here on the blog...I'll add some more to the backpacking page in the future.