Wall Drug

If you've been to the Badlands/Mt. Rushmore, you know Wall Drug. If you've ever taken a road trip anywhere from Minnesota to Montana on Interstate 90, you know Wall Drug. (Wall Drug spends an estimated $400,000 on 500 miles of billboards a year.) And if you live in the Midwest and pay any attention to the backs of cars, you've probably seen one of the stickers above. Worth the stop, I promise. If only for the free cold water.

Coffee

How do y'all make your coffee in the morning when you get out of the tent? The NYT reviewed several products a few months back and decided this GSI espresso maker made the best cup. A few weeks ago, I tried Starbucks VIA for the first time up after waking up in a cold, wood-burning stove heated cabin on an island in Lake Winnipesaukee, and dare I say this, but it was pretty darn good. Way better than the instant Folgers I'm used to.MP3: Bruce Cockburn - Going To The Country

Dan Gibson + Solitudes

Throughout the 1940s, Dan Gibson (above, left) made nature films, including Audobon Wildlife Theatre, where he learned how to record wildlife sound. He helped design pioneering audio equipment, including the "Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone," which he used to record LPs in the 1950s and 60s. In 1981, Gibson started the Solitudes series, which is now run by his sons (Gibson passed away in 2006). Solitudes is more like New Age music with whale calls now, BUT, f you ever find one of the old LPs at the thrift store, buy it. The covers, descriptions of the environments they're recording in, and the actual recordings are just wonderful. From the first volume of Solitudes, By Canoe To Loon Lake:

"Our starting point is a waterfall at the end of a portage. We dip the paddle into the gently flowing river. We drift awhile. We are watched. The ruby-crowned kinglet notes our presence in its territory. The Kinglet is the first wildlife voice we hear. As we drift downwards a spruce lined shore one of nature's friendliest sounds keeps us company, the spruce forest rings with the song of the white-throated sparrow. ... Up ahead we can see the white waters of the rapids thrashing up above the surface level of the lake. The canoe is drawn forward. Our microphones are mounted on the on the gunwales, soon you are plunging into ever quickening rapids until they are thundering all around you as you surge through the channels ... then come at last to the placid reaches of Loon Lake. A slight evening breeze drifts us out into the secluded lake where the gray tree frogs and the spring peeper frogs provide their evening background chorus to the haunting calls of the loon."

In 1994, Dan was awarded The Order of Canada for his environmental works, and in 1997, Dan was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards.Download By Canoe To Loon Lake and Storm On A Wilderness Lake at Closet Of Curiosities.

Heimo's Arctic Refuge On VBS

In 1980, when Jimmy Carter created the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, only six families of white settlers were allowed to keep cabins there. Heimo Korth and his wife, Edna, are the only ones left. If you've ever read The Final Frontiersman, a book that chronicles author James Campbell's visits with Heimo in 2002, 130 miles above the Arctic Circle, 250 miles from the nearest road and another 300 miles to the nearest hospital, then you should be very excited right now. And if you haven't read the book, you should still be very excited.A few months ago, when the guys at VBS returned from their 10 day visit with Heimo and quickly told me some of the details, I couldn't wait to see the footage. Today, VBS is finally debuting the first of a five part series about Heimo, titled Heimo's Arctic Refuge. The first episode shows is about where and how Heimo lives, and after looking through the pictures that VBS was kind enough to just send me, one of them pictured above, there is some amazing/brutal stuff to come. Watch it here and make sure you go back everyday this week. I'll remind you, don't worry.

14 New National Monuments?

Obama's administration is considering 14 potential national monuments in 9 states, according to a leaked Department Of The Interior document. And whenever there's talk of turning a place into a federally protected national monument, there's going to be debate. Some are happy with the idea of federal protection, thus helping to save these beautiful places for our kids, but with national monument status comes more regulation as to what types of activities are allowed in the area.In addition, government officials in Utah are angry because they claim that no state or local officials were contacted about the proposal. Utah Governor Gary Herbert claims, "I will challenge federal officials to explain to me how they could possibly be in a better position to know what’s best for our rural lands than those of us here on the ground in this state.” Below are the areas being considered for national monument status.San Rafael Swell, UTMontana’s Northern Prairie, MTLesser Prairie Chicken Preserve, NMBerryessa Snow Mountains, CAHeart of the Great Basin, NVOtero Mesa, NMNorthwest Sonoran Desert, AZOwyhee Desert, OR/NVCascade-Siskiyou National Monument, CA (expansion)Vermillion Basin, CO (pictured above)Bodie Hills, CAThe Modoc Plateau, CACedar Mesa region, UTSan Juan Islands, WAMore info at The Adventure Life.

Bull Hill

We took a train up to Cold Spring on Saturday morning to meet some friends (thanks for the pictures) at their Main Street mansion of an apartment and hike up Bull Hill, also known as Mount Taurus. Part of the handsome Hudson Highlands, Bull Hill (1,620 ft) is taller than its more famous neighbor, Breakneck Ridge (1,260 feet).Before the hike, we stopped at the farmer's market for some jalapeño-cheddar bread and dijon, then carried onto Bull Hill's south base, home to the remnants of an old quarry. It's an easy hike to the top, and although I wished I hadn't dragged the snowshoes on the train only to leave them in the car, there was enough snow, quiet, and views of the Hudson to remind us not to wish winter away just yet.

Cold Splinters + The FADER

A few weeks ago, The FADER asked if I would write up a blog for them, doing the things I do here, but with more of an emphasis on fashion. To be perfectly honest, I don't know much of anything about fashion and/or style, but, as I mentioned at The FADER earlier today, I'll damn well do my best. You can read my entire first post here:

My first hike was a catastrophe. I was on a vacation with my family in Arizona, and after a morning of eggs, bacon and swimming, my father, my brother and I all went on what would be the first of many family hikes up Phoenix’s Camelback Mountain. Camelback is a prominent landmark in the area, impossible to miss unless you’re above 60 and have started to lose your sight and/or mind. The hike up the mountain is difficult and steep, enough so that rails have been put in several places along the trail to keep the college visor wearing hikers hydrated by Mountain Dew from falling to their premature deaths.

Thanks again to everyone who reads this rag. I can't tell you how much it means when someone writes and says they enjoy coming around these parts. And an obvious thanks to the staff at FADER (especially Chioma) for a) knowing what Cold Splinters is and b) writing the best music magazine around. Can't wait to see what JTK has in store for you.MP3: Electric Light Orchestra - Shine A Little Love

Clearwater

In 1966, Pete Seeger, his wife, Toshi Seeger, and a handful of Hudson Valley residents came together believing "by learning to care for one boat on one river, the public could come to care for all our threatened waterways." Three years later, in 1969, the Clearwater made her maiden voyage down the Atlantic Coast from the Harvey Gamage Shipyard in Maine to the South Street Seaport in New York City.To see a list of Clearwater events this coming spring, click here.MP3: Pete Seeger - River Of My People

Harney Peak + Valentine McGillycuddy

Harney Peak, located within Black Hills National Forest, is the highest mountain in South Dakota, and at 7,244 feet, the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The peak was named after Williams S. Harney, commander of the military in the Black Hills area in the late 1850s. An abandoned fire lookout tower is situated on the summit with a plaque that reads "Valentine McGillycuddy, Wasicu Wacan." The plaque marks the final resting place of Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy (pictured above). Harney Peak is also the place where Black Elk had his "great vision" when he was nine years old.Dr. Valentine (good timing, eh? get it now?) McGillycuddy is famous for being the doctor who treated Crazy Horse at the time of his death. While he is known to the Lakota of the modern-day Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as "Friend of Crazy Horse", he was not so much loved by some other Lakotas, including Red Cloud, a major Sioux chief. Red Cloud's accusations of mismanagement led to several investigations of Dr. McGillycuddy's administration. In the days leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre, Red Cloud conceded that McGillycuddy had been a "young man with an old man's head on his shoulders." Whatever that means.

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

If you haven't seen this one, you should. (If you're in New York, the MoMA is playing it this Friday afternoon along with a bunch of other old environmental documentaries throughout the month. Check the calendar here.) The Man Who Skied Down Everest is the 1975 Academy Award-winning documentary about Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese alpinist who skied down Mt. Everest in 1970. Miura skied 6,600 feet in 2 minutes and 20 seconds and fell 1,320 feet down the steep Lhotse face from the Yellow Band just below the South Col. He used a large parachute to slow his descent and came to a full stop just 250 feet from the edge of the crevasse. The movie's narration comes from Miura's personal diary and the awesome soundtrack from Nexus.Eight died during the expedition's ascent.Watch: Yuichiro Miura skies down 6600 feet of Mount Everest in 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

Video: 1976 Grand Canyon Hang Gliding Test

On May 9th, 1976, Grand Canyon National Park permitted a NPS approved Hang Gliding Feasibility Test that you can watch HERE. Amazing footage. There's no sound, so try using the song below. (Thx BTBN)Above are photos from the Arizona Hang Glider's Association's archive (not taken during the GCNP test). There are loads of old photos and newspaper clippings there, so go and take a peak.MP3: Black Mountain - Stay Free

A Solution To Bark Beetles

Scientists have discovered that by recording the sounds that bark beetles make, tweaking them, and then blasting the sounds back at the beetles, they can disrupt mating, tunneling, and reproduction, thus creating a virtual wall around the effected areas of the west.The scientists have developed a device that would be drilled into the outer layer of the lodgepole pines and other trees that beetles favor, pumping the sound waves under bark. Costing about $100 a tree, it’s cheaper, less environmentally disruptive, and far more effective than other methods.Read more over at The Adventure Life.