The Monkey Wrench Gang: The Movie

Edward Abbey's eco-sabotage classic, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is coming to the silver screen. While the idea of an Abbey book becoming a movie is wonderful, I'm not so into the cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jack Nicholson, Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, and Elizabeth Shue.I assume that Goodman will play George Hayduke, a pissed off bearded ex-green beret who measures distances between two places by how many six packs he can drink while driving. Hayduke is out for the blood of those destroying his beloved desert and will for sure be the main character.My other guesses are Dreyfuss as Doc Sarvis (not horrible), Shue as Bonnie Abzug (Abzug is just 28 years old and her age plays an important role in her relationship with Abzug. Shue is 46) and McConaughey as Seldon Seen Smith. Whoever Jack Nicholson is, he'll fuck it up, guarantee it.The director? Catherine Hardwicke, of Twilight fame. Weiiiiiiiiird.Anyone know more than me?Look: The Monkey Wrench gang on Hollywood.com

Joe Seliga

file1816seliga-in-shopIn 1934, when Joe Seliga was 23 years old, his 18 foot Morris Canoe was badly damaged on an early spring fishing trip in the Quetico Superior Wilderness near his home in the then roadless, Ely, MN. Joe repaired the canoe's 21 broken ribs and when word spread about his success, he started a part-time business repairing wood and canvas canoes. In 1938, Joe designed his own form and sold the first canoe he ever built the same day he finished building it. Up until his death in December of 2005, Seliga built 621 canoes (237 of which were sold to the YMCA and church camps which used the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park) and is regarded as one of the best canoe makers to ever live.In Jerry Stelmok's book, The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga, Sam Cook's foreword reads in part:

They are tucked away all over the north country. Hung care fully in garages. Resting on beams in boathouses. Stowed away in sheds. Seliga canoes. Elegant, practical canoes crafted by the hands of Joe and Nora Seliga. Seligas, with their gleaming ribs the color of honey. Seligas, with their perfectly upswept bows. Seligas, built for the rigors of travel in the Minnesota-Ontario border country.I do not know how many canoes Joe Seliga has built. That doesn't matter. It was never a numbers thing with Joe. It was a matter of getting the right materials and taking the time to build a boat he was satisfied to put his nameplate on.

Read: Joe Seliga on Canoeing.comTons more great photos: Seliga Enthusiasts Look: Bell Canoes' Seliga TripperMP3: Clip From Solitudes Volume 6 - Night On A Wilderness Lake (Full Album)(thx Bryce)

Family Camping Through 48 States

I just ran across this video on Archive.org:

During five summers from 1957 to 1961, the five-member Barstow family of Wethersfield, Connecticut, set out to visit all 48 of the then United States of America on a series of month-long camping trips.

In 2000, Father Barstow added narration to the footage and put it all on VHS for our viewing bliss. Good lord, what a video and what a family. I haven't finished the whole thing (it's long) but the intro alone is worth your time.Watch the video after the jump...

Siamese Ponds Wilderness

3570487856_5247610226_bThe Siamese Ponds Wilderness consists of 112,524 acres in the southeast section of New York's Adirondacks. It's less frequented than the High Peaks area to the north, but it's just as wild with several lean-tos, including the East Branch Sacandaga lean-to (pictured above).  The hike to the lean-to is an easy four miles that mostly runs along the East Branch of the Sacandaga River, a "wild" river under the New York State Wild, Scenic, and Recreational River System Act. Mother Nature's quite a lady.Another two and a half miles will get you to the first of the two Siamese Ponds, which has a few designated campsites around it's perimeter. Cold Splinters was up there last weekend and the trail is muddy and full of bugs just waiting for you to stop for water or lunch, but the lean-to is in a beautiful location for an easy overnight. The picture above was taken on the suspension bridge over the river that connects the trail up to the Siamese Ponds.The trailhead is at the Eleventh Mountain parking lot on Route 8 between Speculator and Bakers Mill. Can't miss it.

Hirsch Weis

I bought this old canvas backpack on the side of a road in Chestertown, NY this weekend. The label says "Hirsch Weis" but I can't seem to find too much information about the company. Anybody want to help?Few more pictures after the jump..

Obama Pledges $279 Million To Everglades

everIt's a small fraction of the money that Bush promised The Glades, but it's better than nothing:

In 2000, Congress allocated $1.4 billion in federal funds as a down payment on the Everglades restoration project.  Under the Bush administration, funding was not forthcoming.  In fact, Bush vetoed a $21 billion federal water preservation bill which included almost $2 billion for Everglades restoration.  Furthermore, Bush’s U.S. Department of the Interior pressured the United Nations’ World Heritage Committee to remove the Everglades from the endangered list.Fortunately for the “River of Grass”, the Obama administration has not forgotten the Everglades.  $96 million of the $4.6 billion federal stimulus package earmarked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects will go towards Everglades restoration.  Additional funding of $183 million will come from the Congressional spending bill that passed last month.

MP3: Lonnie Mack - Florida

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

2944963843_be96fc445c_b"Keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve it." - Teddy Roosevelt to the people of Arizona after seeing the Grand Canyon for the first timeKen Burns' documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, will not air until late September, but most PBS stations will be airing a 30 minute preview on May 24th. In the meantime, the website for the six episode documentary is up and running. Lots of great video, images, interviews, and all that jazz. We're real real excited for this one.

Steep and Cheap

Y'all, I'm sure you don't need a reminder, but just in case you've been busy, don't forget about Steep and Cheap. It could be one of the best websites around. They have HIGHLY discounted camping and outdoor gear, one item at a time. You can even download an application that sits in the bottom right hand corner of Firefox and tells you what's on sale, how discounted it is, and how much it'll cost you. Ain't nothing wrong with that.(EMS has a 20% off sale that ends tonight too)MP3: Suckers - It Gets Your Body Movin' (Alternate Version) (thx WTD)

Edible Plants - Prospect Park, NY

Cold Splinters went on a tour of Prospect Park this weekend with Wildman Steve Brill, the undisputed king of walking through Central and Prospect Parks while making painfully bad jokes and fake trumpet sounds. Brill also shows you which plants are edible and how to prepare them, knowledge that we regretfully know little about. Despite the nausea that the wild mushroom (Dryad's Saddle) brought on at the end of our three and a half hour adventure, the walk was full of useful information and we came home with bags full of edible plants and a faint idea of how to prepare them. The highlight was the sassafras root, which you can use to make some great root beer flavored tea. Above is a picture of Wildman being interviewed by the Travel Network reporter that was along for the ride.More edible plants after the jump...Field OnionGarlic MustardPokeweedChickweed