Camp Robber Jay

The Gray Jay:

Gray Jays readily capitalize on novel food sources, including food sources introduced by humans living on or passing through their territories. To the frustration of trappers using baits to catch fur-bearing animals or early travelers trying to protect their winter food supplies, and to the delight of modern campers, many individual Gray Jays quickly learn that we can be an excellent source of food, even coming to the hand for bread, raisins, or cheese. Such familiarity has inspired a long list of colloquial names for the Gray Jay. In addition to the once official ‘Canada Jay,’ there are, meat-bird, camp robber, venison-hawk, moose-bird, gorby and, most notable of all, ‘whiskeyjack’. This a corruption of an aboriginal name, variously written as wiskedjak, whiskachon, wisakadjak, and many other variants, of a mischievous prankster prominent in Algonquian mythology.

MP3: Whiskeytown - Ballad of Carol Lynn

Merrell Wilderness Boot

• 3mm Waterproof Full Grain Leather• Leather Bellows Tongue• Tesivel™ 3-Bar Knit Lining Treated with Aegis™ Antimicrobial Technology• Italian Hardware• Dual Density Footbed• Microporous Rubber/Rubber Midsole• 5mm Leather/TPR Insole• Norwegian Welt Construction• Crampon-Compatible (Strap-on Only)• Vibram® Roccia Block™ Sole/Trek Rubber• Men’s Weight: 3 lbs. 8 ozs.• Women’s Weight: 3 lbs. 3 ozs.That is one fine looking hiking boot.

Louis L'Amour

I was at thrift store yesterday where I bought a 25 cent copy of Louis L'Amour's The Ferguson Rifle, a story about a guy on horseback moving out west from Boston after his wife and son burned in a fire. I imagine that's what most of them are about in one way or another, but it's a damn good read on the subway. Guns, prairie grass, "injuns", cowboy coffee, camping under the stars and fearing for you life every second you're awake and asleep. Frightening.Y'all read Louis L'Amour books?

Hiker Hell

You'd like to think you could never get lost while hiking. And chances are you probably won't if you're prepared with a compass and a map. People do get lost in the woods though and Hiker Hell documents those mishaps for our reading enjoyment. From spiritual quests in North Dakota to illegal hiking in China, it's a great resource to learn from other people's mistakes.Read: How To Use A Compass

Rare Bison Bloodline

Blood tests indicate that the buffalo roaming Wind Cave National Park and Yellowstone National Park are the only two public herds in the U.S. that lack evidence of cattle genes. “It’s the closest thing to what used to wander the prairies for thousands of years,” said Tom Farrell, chief of interpretation for Wind Cave National Park. “This is the closest in going back in time and seeing what the Great American Desert was like.”(via Oh Ranger)

Citizens For Conservation

I was back in the burbs of Chicago this weekend, taking a driving tour of the enormous houses, farms, and prairie preserves that I grew up around. As a kid, it's a bit of challenge to be real interested in your natural surroundings when all you have is flat land and tall grasses, but seeing bits and pieces of the prairie again for the first time in five years sure made me regret not spending more time getting burrs stuck in my sweatpants. The fact that there are still places in Barrington like the Flint Creek Savanna or Bigsby Prairie is largely because of theCitizens For Conservation:

Since about 1987, Citizens for Conservation volunteers have worked with developers and others to locate sites where impending construction activity will bring about the destruction of native, spring woodland wildflowers. Once located, CFC seeks the owner's permission to rescue the plants. If permission is received, volunteers carefully dig out and move these previous, evermore scarce spring gems to the protected sanctuary of preserves such as Grigsby Prairie or Flint Creek Savanna.Today, thousands of spring widlflowers thrive as a result of the efforts of CFC volunteers. Not only do these wildflowers brighten the spring woods, their seed is then available for still other restorations.

The photos of the CFC are from Barrington Area Library's Flickr Page. Many more after the jump..cfc6cfc20cfc16cfc15cfc14cfc13cfc12cfc11cfc10cfc7cfc4cfc2cfc1

Kurt Vile

I went to Mercury Lounge last night to watch Kurt Vile warble his way through songs from his latest collection of THC Talking Blues, Childish Prodigy. War On Drugs were playing behind him with the perfect Memory Man wooziness that makes them all the perfect tape to play in your car if only you had one.Listen to the Childish Prodigy here, watch a live version of "He's Alright" here, and then buy music here.

New Belgium and Devendra Banhart

If you've ever spent some time out west, specifically in Colorado, chances are pretty high that you've had a bottle of New Belgium's Fat Tire before. I'm not sure if it's the Phish parking lot vibe obsession with Fat Tire or the actual taste I don't like, but I've never been a fan. New Belgium does some good things to help protect the environment in Colorado though, so if you are a fan, keep buying them. Your money is going to a good place and an a eco-conscious company.But that ain't the point of this post. I saw Devendra Banhart play last Friday night and it reminded me of two New Belgium/Fat Tire commercials that feature "Noah" and "At The Hop". They both look more like music videos than commercials - a guy fixes up a vintage bike that resembles the one that adorns the Fat Tire label and takes it for a nighttime ride through the mountains of Colorado. Nothing to do with beer.The videos are probably over three or four years old, but beautiful and well worth watching if you haven't already done so. Doesn't make the beer taste any better unfortunately.MP3: Devendra Banhart - Baby Watch them after the jump...

Aether Apparel

While highly functional, outdoor apparel is not always the most stylish stuff in the world. If you're living in a town in Colorado where everyone wears to work what they'll be going hiking or kayaking in later that day, then a Patagonia fleece and a pair of Chacos works just fine. For better or worse, that's not where most of us live, so finding a functional, good looking coat isn't always easy.Started by two filmmakers in Los Angeles, Aether is trying to bridge that gap so we don't have to look like "teenagers on the ski slopes" anymore. When I was a teenager on the great hills of Wilmot in Wisconsin, people were wearing Starter jackets and jeans to ski, so I suppose that's a good look to avoid. Aether's line of clothing is a little on the expensive side, but if it's as functional as they say it is, then there's going to be a lot of people who'll want this stuff. As you can see in the Barrier Eclipse jacket pictured above, they make a handsome coat.What else do y'all wear that's stylish and functional for camping? Fjallraven's clothes always catch my eyes.

Repost: Peter Parnall

Peter Parnall has illustrated a lot of children's book over the years, most notably for the stories of Byrd Baylor. His style is real easy to spot - bright colors, lots of empty space, and usually some type of cactus, bird, or desert cliff. His work might be a little "Southwest Trading Post" at times, but his illustrations have always stuck with us since reading Everybody Needs A Rock when we were younger. Turns out Parnall illustrated the original cover of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire as well, so that makes him okay with in these parts. The books he and Baylor did in the 70s and 80s might not be much of a read anymore, but the pictures are still great.More Parnall book covers

Foxfire

I got a birthday package in the mail last week that had an old copy of Foxfire 4 and a box of Douglas Fir tea inside. Damn fine gift. Foxfire Magazine (The term "foxfire" is a name commonly applied to several species of bioluminescent fungi that grow on rotting wood in damp forests) was started in 1966 by a teacher named Eliot Wiggington and his students. Wiggington asked his students what would make them interested in English and they decided to write a magazine containing stories and interviews gathered from elders in their rural southern Appalachian community. It's still in production, still written entirely by high schoolers and the articles can focus on a specific person’s life or stories, the lore of a specific town or community, details or how-to information on traditional crafts and skills, or any number of other things. The Foxfire books (there are 12 in total) are collections of the magazine's articles. The volume that was sent to me, Foxfire 4, has articles on fiddle making, springhouses, horse trading, sassafras tea, berry buckets, knife making, wood carving, logging, cheese making, and gardening.Thanks Heidi.

Ardi

Scientists discover a very important fossil:

The fossil puts to rest the notion, popular since Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—resembling something between humans and today's apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree. Indeed, the new evidence suggests that the study of chimpanzee anatomy and behavior—long used to infer the nature of the earliest human ancestors—is largely irrelevant to understanding our beginnings.

Cypress Kayaks

After emailing back and forth the last few days trying to coordinate a trip to Bahia Honda with friends from college, I've started to get excited about spending some time in a kayak again. I found Cypress Kayaks on All Plaid Out's Tumblr today and now I just can't wait. Watch the video of Aaron Wells making his custom boats here and then cruise around his site. Hell of a craft:

Aaron Wells started Cypress Kayaks in 2007 to provide kayak aficionados a technically and aesthetically superior boat. Born and raised in Suwannee County, Aaron was fortunate to grow up with the beautiful Suwannee River right in his own backyard. Spending countless hours in and around the river with his friends and family, Aaron quickly grew to appreciate this natural work of art and the fascinating boats that navigated up and down its stream.After graduating Florida State University with a degree in Environmental Science, Aaron moved back to Suwannee County to pursue a career in wetland management. In his spare time, he began working on a wooden strip kayak, and soon realized his love for building these types of boats. The joy and challenge of constructing unique, one-of-a-kind vessels gave him the incentive to quit his job, and pursue his passion full-time. Aaron began to study the expertise of building wooden strip kayaks, and soon thereafter opened Cypress Kayaks’ doors to the public.Aaron’s workshop is located in Suwannee County near the Suwannee River State Park, where he builds custom-made vessels for retail and produces instructional videos on constructing kayak boats.