Happy Holidays

I'm taking off early tomorrow morning (I hope) for a long vacation that includes stops in Colorado (Boulder/Nederland/Summit County), Arizona (Organ Pipes? Coronado? Haven't totally made up my mind.) and San Francisco. All that traveling, camping and scraping my knees means I won't be able to update this old lady of a blog until after New Years, which bums me out as much as it does excite me.If you're going to be in any of the places above in the coming weeks, shoot me an email (coldsplinters@gmail.com). And for those of you that I've already made plans to see, I can't wait. Happy Holidaze and see you in 2010.MP3: Johnny Cash - Flesh and Blood

Josiah Whitney

Josiah Dwight Whitney was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University and chief of the California Geological Survey from 1860–1874. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States at 14,505 feet and pictured above, was named after him by members of his survey. Whitney strongly believed that Yosemite Valley was created by a cataclysmic sinking of the valley floor. John Muir, who was exploring the Yosemite area during the same time, argued that the valley was carved by glacial action. (Whitney described Muir as an “ignoramus” and a “mere sheepherder.”) Whitney's survey reports suppressed evidence of glaciers, and he never abandoned his viewpoint. Most scientists eventually dismissed Whitney's hypothesis and accepted Muir’s.

Hacky Sack

I was at EMS yesterday, along with a billion other people, and was pleasantly surprised to see a pile of Guatemalean hacky sacks in the bins next to the checkout line. It's been a while since I was a freshman hanging out on Farrand Field in Boulder, Colorado, but at 4 bucks, it was a damn fine purchase. Fun thing to do around the fire.

Cabeza Prieta

At 803,418 acres, the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness is Arizona's largest Wilderness Area, encompassing nearly 93 percent of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Designated by the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1990, Edward Abbey called the area "the best desert wilderness left in the USA" and Wilderness.net refers to it as "the most isolated, rugged, and pristine desert landscapes in the Southwest." Bordering Organ Pipe National Monument, the area is located just north of Sonora, Mexico and west of Ajo, in southwestern Arizona.I haven't been, have you?MP3: Family Band - Hatred

James Hetfield

On top of an earlier gift of 400 acres for open space, James Hetfield is now donating 330 acres of land surround his property in California's Lucas Valley for preservation as farmland. In addition, county officials say they are close to a deal with Hetfield that would reroute a hiking trail that crosses his property. He recently constructed a fence to block the trail, and if the deal goes through, it will cost the county $200,000. (via)MP3: Metallica - Orion (thx JTK)

Wolverine 1,000 Mile

photo by Daniel Arnold There are a lot of things I'm thankful for this year, but if I had to rank them all in a big old list, I'd probably put my Wolverine 1,000 Mile Boots right there at the top, along with that 66 key piano that they're resting on in the photo above. (The truth is, I got that piano two years ago as a gift to myself after being in the hospital for a few days with meningitis, but every time I play it, it feels like I bought it yesterday.) Wolverine was nice enough to send me these boots several months ago, and while the outdoor jaunts force me to substitute something a little thicker, they have not left my feet since arriving in the mail. It was a little difficult at first to see something so handsome at the bottom of my jeans and t-shirt uniform, but I made do. They've been a constant reminder of what a damn shame it is that 99% of "outdoor" shoes look the way they do.Based on company founder G.A. Krause's original, 125-year-old design, the shoe was originally built to "give you 1,000 miles of wear." And that couldn't feel more like the truth. They'll be with you for a long time, forever maybe, getting better looking with every step.

The Adventure Life + Cold Splinters Interview

Steve Casimiro started Bike Magazine, ran Powder for a decade and was the West Coast editor of National Geographic Adventure from it's beginning until it's recent end. He also launched his own site, The Adventure Life, on January 1st, 2009. After a few minutes sifting through the site's news coverage, travel stories, photos and gear reviews, it's clear that TAL will soon be the online destination for all things outdoors and perhaps Steve's most important project to date. The guy is a professional - you trust him, you want advice from him, you listen when he's got something to say.About a month or two ago, when Steve asked if I would do an interview for The Adventure Life, I quickly accepted before he had a chance to change his mind. Was he drunk? Starting a charity? Whatever the reason, my answers to his questions were posted earlier today, along with some of the kindest and most flattering words I've ever read. I am truly honored, and while I never take this whole blogging thing too seriously, Steve's article makes it pretty tough to not want to keep going and going and going.To Steve and everyone else who has been reading this rag for the past year and a half, thanks.Read: "Cold Splinters Is A Wayback Machine for the Coolest Outdoor Era"MP3: Ron Wood - Mystifies Me

17-02 Shot and Killed

A seven-year-old Whooping Crane — the only successful breeding female from the eastern migratory population — was shot and killed in western Indiana, near the town of Cayuga. The crane, given the beautiful name of 17-02, and her mate, 11-02, hatched two chicks in summer 2006 and one in summer 2009 at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. One of the 2006 birds survived. The parents have been the only adults in the eastern population to raise a chick and lead it to wintering grounds in Florida.In late November, the two cranes had stopped at a marsh in Indiana, a place they typically stop at on their southbound migration. A tracking field manager observed the pair on November 28 during an aerial survey. On her return flight on Tuesday, December 1, 17-02 was missing. The bird was found dead near a ravine, not far from a rural county road. FWS is offering a minimum reward of $2,500 to the person or people who provide information leading to a conviction.

Arizona Highways

Arizona Highways is a monthly magazine published by the Arizona Department of Transportation since 1925. It began as an engineering journal dedicated to the state's road construction and maintenance, but was eventually taken over by Arizona travel tales, stories and photos. The covers of these magazines are some of the best I've ever seen, so start looking for them if you haven't already.American Highways is still around and has a damn good website full of scenic drive and hiking ideas - perfect, if like me, you're spending Christmas time in southern Arizona.MP3: Tony Joe White - I've Got A Thing About You Baby (thx)

White Mountain Art

White Mountain art refers to the 19th century body of work by over four hundred artists who painted landscapes of New Hampshire's White Mountains. One of the early artists to paint the area, and the artist widely known as the founder of the Hudson River School, was Thomas Cole, whose painting A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (top) is considered one of the most famous of the early era of White Mountain art. But it was Benjamin Champney (Moat Mountain From North Conway, bottom) who eventually defined the "White Mountain School" of painting. Champney, a New Hampshire native, moved to North Conway in 1858 and spent the rest of his life painting the area. He was influenced by the Hudson River School style, but eventually developed a unique style of his own that attracted artists to North Conway from all over the country.For more information and loads more paintings, visit WhiteMountainArt.com

That Ghost

Daniel, Hanly and I went out to Breezy Point a few weeks ago with our friend, Earthwalker, and made a music video for That Ghost. Earthwalker ate some bad sand and we followed him around singing "Let Go, Let Go, Let Go" at the top of our lungs until the sun went down. Stereogum premiered it yesterday and you can watch it on Vimeo after the jump."The Red Bow" by That Ghost from twosyllable records on Vimeo.

Penfield Summit Classic

When it comes to camping, everything in the pictures/videos/magazines of yesteryear seems bigger. The shoes were thicker, the packs were heavier, and the coats were puffier. The down jackets that grace the covers and ad sections of old camping magazines would never be considered "performance gear" anymore. Rightfully so. But they're sure as hell better looking (in most cases) and if you're not worried about a torrential downpour while you're going snowshoeing, then you really can't beat a good down jacket. The Penfield Summit Classic does it right. A great 60/40 outer and goose down filling (80% down, 20% feather) make this jacket toasty and lightweight. And for those people that want to look like the pictures on this website, then Hudson, MA's Penfield is probably just what you're looking for.

Crater Lake

Crater Lake is located in Southern Oregon on the crest of the Cascade Mountains. It lies inside a caldera (a large crater formed by volcanic explosion or by collapse of a volcanic cone) created when the 12,000 foot high Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption. The lake, supplied by an average of 533 inches of snow per year, is 1,943 feet deep, making it the deepest lake in the United States and the seventh deepest in the world.MP3: Liz Phair - Crater Lake

In Search Of L.L. Bean

I found this book at the thrift store the other day and there's little information about it on the Internets. I haven't finished it yet, but most of what Mr. Montgomery has done thus far is set out to expose Leon Leonwood Bean for the lies in his biography, My Story. For example, L.L. claims that when he first made his Maine Hunting Shoes, he sent out a catalog for the shoes to a hunting license registration list from Augusta. The year he claims to have done this was several years before Maine required hunting licenses. Oh well.Mr. Montgomery is also hell bent on letting the public know (over and over) that people from Maine would never in a million years wear L.L. Bean clothing. Perhaps, back in 1984 when the book was written, L.L. Bean sent him a package with the wrong size shoes and he never got over it. I know it's a journalist's job to let the public know the truth, but it seems as though the author's hate for L.L. runs deep. Anyone else read this book? Am I crazy for thinking that? I have never read L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon, so maybe some of the issues brought up in this book have already been addressed.From In Search Of L.L. Bean, here's an excerpt from an issue of the Saturday Evening Post, December, 1946. This was included to show how dry L.L.'s humor was:

During the war, a general leaving the Pentagon Building found himself sharing a taxicab to downtown Washington with a civilian. In the casual taxicab conversation that developed, the civilian named his home town as Freeport, Maine. The general's interest brightened at once."Freeport?" he said. "That's L.L. Bean's town.""Ay-yah," the man from Maine agreed. "'Tis.""There's a man I'd sure like to meet," said the general. "L.L. Bean. I discovered him four or five years ago, and I've been buying from him ever since. By George, it's wonderful the way the man figures out just what you need for hunting and fishing. You hunt or fish?""Ay-yah," said the Freeporter, "do a lot of it. Always use Bean's things too. Now, you take Bean's duck-hunting coat --"The conversation had hit high gear, and continued, an exchange of hunting and fishing experiences, well interlarded with tributes to the equipment and clothing sold by the mail-order house of L.L. Bean, all the way to the hotel where the civilian was getting out. As he stepped from the cab, he extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you, general," he said. "My name's L.L. Bean."