Helambu-Langtang

On my recent trip to northern New Hampshire last week, after a climb and a few IPAs and a black bean pizza at The Moat, Mark and I stopped in at the basement consignment shop at IME. North Conway's not so bad, huh?Unfortunately I didn't find anything that fit (if i were a little bit larger, I would have been broke after 20 minutes) but I did grab this old map from the used book section up front. IME leads guided trips to this region and has brought many back over the years. It is a real beauty, and although I wish my scanner was big enough to scan the entire thing, these images of the front of back give you a pretty good idea.Helambu is a region of highland villages in Nepal, close to Kathmandu and Langtang, a region that borders Tibet just north of Kathmandu, is protected as Langtang National Park, the first Himalayan National Park.  And Gosaikund? Well, that's an alpine freshwater lake in the park, located at 14,370 ft above sea level. Pretty useless information if you're at your computer, but the map sure is nice...

Lake Clark National Park

I have a couple friends who last year up and moved to Kenai, Alaska (just southwest of Anchorage, north of Kodiak Island).  Since their move, I've been living vicariously through their amazing photos and am hoping to make it there by summer's end. Kenai is just across a Gulf of Alaska inlet and less than 50 miles from Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. The best way to access Lake Clark is by small plane, on wheels, floats, or skis. There is no highway access to the park, from anywhere.When Dick Proenneke passed away in 2003 (after living alone in the wilderness for over 30 years), he entrusted his handbuilt cabin and cache to the NPS, in the Twin Lakes region of Lake Clark. The cabin now stands and serves as a museum of Prokenneke and his legacy, maintained by the park service year round. I'm most of the way through More Readings from One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1980 and it's making me more itchy footed by the day to get up there.Anyone ever been?

The Tidal Wave Mixtape

If y'all aren't daily readers of Aquarium Drunkard, then that means you probably missed the Mondo Boys' Tidal Wave Mixtape last summer. We listened to the mix while driving to the AT two weekends ago (hugging tree part of hike pictured above), and despite the awful (awesome) sound system of my 1999 Subaru, the tunes were just about perfect. Download it here. Comes with the S.E. Rogie jam below.MP3: - S.E. Rogie - Please Go Easy With Me

Cathedral Ledge

I spent a few hours yesterday climbing Funhouse to Upper Refuse on Cathedral Ledge in North Conway, NH, pictured above. Was a great climb with an even better view, and after 5 pitches, 600 vertical feet and a nice applause from the group of people at the top, I was interviewed for a documentary being made about Dean Potter. Obviously not what was I expecting to do after my first climb in a few months. We hiked back down to the car, stopped for a couple of beers at The Moat, drove to a roadside waterfall off the Kancamagus and then hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls with Mr. Jason McKenzie of The Tannery's Wilderness Workshop. A great day in New Hampshire, to say the least.Happy summer, y'all.MP3: David Vandervelde - Hit The Road

Back to the Wild

Outside Online ran a short article last week prefacing a book of Christopher McCandless' previously unseen (publicly) photos, postcards, letters and journal entries titled Back to the Wild. The book, slated to be released in July, will also be released as a DVD with scans of photos found exposed with McCandless in the bus and interviews with those he met along the way. Say what you will about McCandless and his mystique, but these photos are amazing and haunting.Keep an eye out on Amazon and the Back to the Wild site for release and availability.Check out a trailer for the DVD after the jump!

COLD SPRING APOTHECARY

Cold Spring, NY is located about an hour or so up the Hudson River from New York City. Friends from Brooklyn moved up there a couple of years ago, and after extended time in their CS apartment's second (!) kitchen mixing up natural body products, the Cold Spring Apothecary was born. The store, located right on Main Street, is steps away from the Cold Spring Metro North stop, opened a couple of months ago, and for their first summer in retail, the CSA has made a line of camping products that I was fortunate enough to use while out on the Appalachian Trail last weekend. Choose from Bug Spray, Campers Soap, Hiker's Tea, Citronella Candles and Juniper and Cypress Foot Powder. It's good stuff. I promise.

Campers Soap Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Juice, Cocos nucifera (Organic Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Olea europaea (Organic Olive) Oil, Vegetable Glycerin (Kosher), Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Citronella, Eucalyptus, Cedarwood, Lemongrass, Lavender, Litsea, Tea Tree, Patchouli, Catnip

Stop by the store en route to Breakneck Ridge this summer or, if you're not in the Hudson Highlands, shop online here.

Upstate and Levi's

My girlfriend, Kalen, and her/our neighbor/friend, Astrid, own a company called UPSTATE that makes all things shibori. It's just about the most beautiful stuff you ever saw and I have the world's best job of being able to look at it all day, whether it's a raw silk scarf hanging from the tub, waiting to be dried so it can be sent to one of the 1,000 stores that carry Upstate, or the Upstate curtains (we have the only Upstate curtains around) that keep the sun from waking me up in the morning. One of these days, maybe we'll make an Upstate/Cold Splinters tent or something. Or maybe we won't.A couple of months ago, Jay Carroll came over to our apartment in Brooklyn, NY and we drank whiskey and Pacificos while listening to Mirage on repeat with our friends. In between all that mayhem, he managed to film Kalen and Astrid doing what they do best, dyeing those beautiful textiles in our tub. I have watched this video a million times and I hope you do too.Have yourself the best weekend, alright?

Off the Grid

In 2006 Survivorman Les Stroud documented his family's move from their urban home in Ontario, CA (very much on-the-grid) to renovating a century-old farmhouse and outbuildings in the Canadian backcountry, miles and miles away from any wired utilities or even year round road access. The documentary ran on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) and is archived to watch online here.After you watch this, watch Snowshoes & Solitude, Stroud's 1994 year-long jaunt into the Canadian wilderness, living for a year in a handmade shelter with his wife and by their wits.

George Sheehan

The late George Sheehan (November 5, 1918 - November 1, 1993) was a runner, doctor and author of many books, most notably one of my new favorites, Running and Being: The Total Experience, which was published in 1978. (You can buy it here on Amazon, or, if you're like me and obsessed with the local Salvation Army, find it at the neighborhood thrift store with a far better cover.) The guy is a philosopher, not a trainer, overusing quotes from people like Thoreau and Nietzsche and relating it to the power you feel after spending a Sunday afternoon running in circles. Sounds cheesy, sure, but it's more meditation than motivation. If you've read and enjoyed Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, then you'll love Running and Being. Sheehan was the oldest of 14 children, and while he was a track star at Manhattan College, he didn't renew his interest in running until age 45 while living in New Jersey. He began running in his back yard (26 loops to a mile) and five years later, he ran a 4:47 mile, which was the world's first sub-five-minute time by a 50-year-old.Read the book if you haven't already, and make sure you watch this video, THOUGHTS ON THE RUN, about Sheehan and running the Boston Marathon. It's a wonderful Youtube gem.

Southbounders

I spent a little time on the Appalachian Trail this last weekend, hiking a section around Dutchess County, NY. At one of the shelters was a Southbounder (a thru-hiker going from Katahdin to Springer instead of the more popular route, Springer to Katahdin) who, quite literally, didn't stop talking from the second I arrived until the second he left the following morning at 9 am. And dude was up at 5 am, shouting to his trail buddies about the point system at REI that allowed him to get all of his awesome equipment. It was painful. But that is neither here nor there..Cracker Jack, the chatter box's trail name, reminded me Southbounders, a 2005 film about Olivia, a gal wandering down the 2,000+ miles of the AT, finding herself along the way. It's, well, not the greatest form of entertainment you'll ever come across (see the trailer after the jump) but it's streaming on Netflix and you don't exactly see a fictionalized version of something like this everyday. Do whatever you'd like with this information, but if you're at home and need a little motivation to get outdoors this summer, attempt to watch it. Although I'm not sure what's harder, hiking the entire length of the trail or watching Olivia romantically explain her self-given trail name for the first time, Next Step, right before she kisses Rollin, her love interest that she's fallen in love with after reading his journal entries at each lean-to.Rough.

Round the Gitch

Northern Michiganders Lindsay Bean and Jess Laxo left this past Sunday to paddle the perimeter of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. They pushed off from Marquette, MI in their 17-foot canoe with homemade cover and spray-skirts. The 1400-mile trip is on somewhat of a schedule due to the obvious necessary food drops, hoping to wrap up the paddle around the middle of September. For those who have never been, Lake Superior is beautiful, hostile and cold. There are long stretches of uninhabited shoreline, with rugged cliffs interrupted by seemingly forgotten coves.Check out their Facebook page to follow the trip, and to catch some gear flicks and parting photos. Check some press on their sendoff from the local paper, The Mining Journal.

Rick Wilcox and IME

International Mountain Equipment (IME) in Conway, New Hampshire, is home to one of the greatest basements in all of New England, a large consignment section of cheap outdoor equipment and apparel. The entire shop, which has three levels total, is owned by Rick Wilcox, an extremely experienced mountaineer, who, among many other accomplishments, reached Everest's summit in 1991 at the age of 43. He was the 200th person to stand on the top of the world. Wilcox reminisces about the adventure in the Conway Daily Sun here, and as you'll see, he's a little bitter about all the technology that is available to climbers today.Whether or not you read the interview, make sure if you stop by IME if you're in the Whites this summer/fall/winter/spring.

Fully Loaded

Check out this site (no longer active, but archived) for hundreds of images of fully loaded touring bicycles from around the world. I love the look of these, packed to the gills with stuff bungeed down with old tubes all over the bike, piled half way up the riders back. Literally a home on two wheels. From crisp off-the-shelf Rivendell's and Surly LHT's to re-appropriated garage sale scores, sure to please. Love it.

Western States 100

Above is Anton Krupicka, ultra-marathon runner, two-time winner of the Leadville  Trail 100, and graduate student in Boulder, CO, my home away from home. Along with Hal Koerner, Geoff Roes and Kilian Jornet, Krupicka is the subject of a new film that documents the events leading up to and following the 2010 Western States 100. I won't give away what happened, so you'll have to watch the film (or look on the internet), but it was an exciting race. The 2011 race is on June 25th, and although Krupicka, who reminds me of Fred Rohe, author of Zen of Running, usually running with nothing but a pair of short shorts and his New Balance shoes, won't be racing this year, the Western States is always an interesting event to follow, even if you're not a closet fan of the so-called "Grand Slam of Ultrarunning" like Cold Splinters is. And in case you don't know what the Western States 100 is:

The Western States 100 is a 100-mile ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains annually on the last full weekend of June. The race starts at the base of the Squaw Valley ski resort and finishes at the Placer High School track in Auburn. Runners climb a cumulative total of 18,090 feet and descend a total of 22,970 feet on mountain trails before reaching the finish. Because of the length of the race, the race begins at 5:00 AM and continues through the day and into the night. Runners finishing before the 30-hour overall time limit for the race receive a bronze belt buckle, while runners finishing in under 24 hours receive a silver belt buckle.

Watch the trailer for Unbreakable: The Western States 100 here.