Our State Parks

The NYT takes a look at the state park dilemma and what some parks will be doing to stay open this season:

Here in Washington, one of only a handful of states that has not charged entrance fees to state parks, the revenue stream is about to change. Beginning July 1, the parks will no longer receive state money for their operating budgets. Instead, they will rely directly on new entrance fees — $30 for an annual pass, $10 for one day. It is far from clear that the new plan will compensate for the $70 million in state money that parks are losing each year.“We’re totally free of the tax system,” said Jack Hartt, the manager here at Deception Pass State Park. “If you support the park system, you’ll buy a pass. If not, you won’t.”“Customers,” Mr. Hartt said, “is the new buzzword.”

Dunbar's Number

What is Dunbar's number? Well, in short, it's the idea that human beings can only hold about 150 meaningful relationships in their heads. Read much more about it here. The number came about while British anthropologist, Robin Dunbar, was doing research about the business model of Bill Gore, one of the creators of Gore-Tex.While Gore-Tex was growing in the 1980s, Gore would visit his factory and realize he didn't know everyone working there. He came to the conclusion that once a company had more than 150 people, things no longer ran smoothly. So he made a decision to cap the factory at 150 employees, and when the company needed to expand, he would build another factory.Read more about Gore's business model and listen to the All Thing Considered episode about Dunbar's number here.MP3: George Harrison - Devil's Radio

New Balance Rainier

I found this pair of B+ condition New Balance Rainiers over Memorial Day Weekend. The Rainier and the Allagash were NB's lightweight hiking boots made in the 80s that touted themselves as the lightweight hiker that you can "actually hike in" because of their generous support on the ankles. Perhaps that's true, and with the Vibrams on mine in such good shape, I suppose I'll find out, won't I? Mmmhmmmm.Excuse the poor phone pictures.

The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky

Surfing the "westerns" section on Netflix yesterday, I stumbled across the 1995 film The Ranger, the Cook & a Hole in the Sky. Starring Sam Elliot and a young Jerry O'Connell as cocky, over-confident Forest Service Ranger in 1919 in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho, this film is pretty corny and screams made-for-tv (even though it wasn't). But watch it anyways. In researching the film a little more, I saw that the film was adapted from a semi-autobiographical collection of stories by Norman Maclean titled A River Runs Through It. From what I hear, the book is leagues better, as is often the case, telling the tale of Maclean's own stint as a seventeen-year-old Forest Service Ranger in Idaho. Aside from "The Ranger, the Cook & a Hole in the Sky", the book includes two other stories, "Logging and Pimping and Your Old Pal Jim" and the title story "A River Runs Through It". A River Runs Through It was, as I'm sure most of you know, also made into a film in 1992 (by Robert Redford), starring a young Brad Pitt. Who's seen these films? And more importantly, read this book? Just grabbed the book on ebay this morning.Watch the trailer for A River Runs Through It here.

Great Lakes Surfing

I (Geoff) grew up 40 minutes from Lake Michigan, and that's where I remain today (Grand Rapids, MI). Last fall I bought my first surfboard, a 6'1" made-for-the-lakes shortboard and stumbled into the 14+ foot swells that the cooling lake offers as winter's winds approach. It's tough, lake waves are choppy, inconsistent, usually mushy, and for that reason, require unprecedented attention to conditions to get that real good day. A "swell" (see: storm) can mean driving 8 hours north to Lake Superior to catch a 3 hour window of clean, surfable waves, some of the same that snapped a 730 ft. freighter in two. That said, I've paddled out into waves that were far too big and blown out for me to surf, without fear of being pounded into the hard-packed sand bottom (beats a reef I guess) or into the concrete pier. I've seen onlookers swept off said pier with recorded 20 foot waves, the wind tearing at your board as you trudge head-down from each iron support to the next to pull your way towards the lighthouse.Surfing the Great Lakes is still an oddity. People will see you walking in from surfing, wrestling out of your sandy 6/5/4 wetsuit (with hood, mitts, and booties), shivering in the parking lot at the state park and kindly inform you "you can't surf on a lake". Lucky for them, conditions are best in the fall and winter of the year, which require surfing in snowstorms, and searching for breaks in the ice shelf along the shore to paddle out to open, slushy water. The oddity of surfing the lakes is one of it's pulls for me, all egos aside.I'm not good. Watch the documentary Unsalted (2006) to see people who are, surfing some of the cleanest, biggest waves filmed on the lakes. You can catch the trailer here. Cruise the local lake surf forum, watch this, this, and this.

FIRE SEASON

Fire Season: Field Notes From A Wilderness Lookout has been out for a few months now, but I haven't had a chance to dive in quite yet. Free books on stoops (see below) are cutting in line.After a career at the Wall Street Journal, Philip Connors quit, moved to New Mexico and started watching for fires over the beautiful Gila National Forest. That was in 2002 and he's done that job for the National Forest Service every summer since. Fire Season recounts his stay in 2009, from April to August, with one chapter devoted to each month.A little bit more to the story, of course, so read the NYT review here, watch a video preview of the book here, and read an excerpt of the book here.  90% of lookout towers in the United States have been decommissioned and only few hundred remain.MP3: Bruce Springsteen - Fire (GO!)

In the Shadow Of A Rainbow

I don't know too much about art, but I recognize a Peter Parnall when I see it. Spotted this cover on a lonely stoop this morning while riding past on my bicycle. Haven't read this one yet, but so far, so good. And it was free, of course. Anyone out there finished it?In The Shadow Of A Rainbow:

First published in 1974, this classic tale of friendship, courage, and the wild has captured hearts of all ages. In 1970, a young Indian who introduced himself as Gregory Tah-Kloma beached his canoe near the author's Babine Lake campsite in the backwoods of British Columbia. Night after night by the campfire, the young Indian told the remarkable story of his devotion to a pack of timber wolves and their legendary female leader: Náhani, "the one who shines." This extraordinary tale has touched many readers over the years with its moving portrayal of the friendship between Greg and Náhani. Certain names and locations have been altered, but the facts of Gregory Tah-Kloma's adventures with Náhani are as he told them to Robert Leslie.

More Parnall here.

Campsuds

Sierra Dawn's Campsuds is a staple in backpacks around the country. In the 1960's Campsuds became the first biodegradable, multi-purpose cleaner created specifically to meet the needs of the camper and backpacker. Use it on your pots and pans, then take it down to the river and wash your hair. (No matter how biodegradable any camp soap is, try to avoid using it in water if you don't have to. And use it sparingly. You'll only need a few drops.)Campsuds comes in a few different forms, including one with peppermint, lavender, and citronella to help keep the bugs away. And after spending the weekend in upstate New York after a week of rain, you'll need it.

Nemo Letters

Everett Ruess (NEMO) (1914-1934?) was a young artist and poet that explored, wrote about the high desert, and captured the lust of Utah and the High Sierra in linoleum block prints (with which he traded with Ansel Adams). Jon Krakauer likens Christopher McCandless to Everett Ruess in Into the Wild, in a gripping, harsh retelling of Ruess' escape to the wilderness and proposed fate, leaving only his pen-name "NEMO" scrawled on the stone walls in his wake. In 2009, it was thought that Ruess' remains were found, being believed by some that he was attacked and killed by Ute indians, an assumption that was taken back by a Utah archeologist after thorough DNA analysis. If you haven't read the book Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty, a book written in 1983 about Ruess' life, buy it this morning.Cruising eBay an hour ago I ran across these gems that an antique seller recently grabbed from a California estate sale: newspaper clippings about Ruess, 2 photos of Ruess (one with an American Indian mother and child), as well as handwritten letters/poems by Ruess (!), all found in a dusty leather case (included).More resources about Ruess and his life can be dug through here.

Deserts To Finally Die In When The Heart Fails

I've posted this before, but I spent the better portion of yesterday listening to Freedom and Wilderness from Moab's Back of Beyond Books. It's just so so good. Enjoy it.

We need wilderness because we are wild animals. Every man needs a place where he can go to go crazy in peace. Every Boy Scout troop deserves a forest to get lost, miserable, and starving in. Even the maddest murderer of the sweetest wife should get a chance for a run to the sanctuary of the hills. If only for the sport of it. For the terror, freedom, and delirium. Because we need brutality and raw adventure, because men and women first learned to love in, under, and all around trees, because we need for every pair of feet and legs about ten leagues of naked nature, crags to leap from, mountains to measure by, deserts to finally die in when the heart fails.

MP3: Ed Abbey - Excerpt from "Freedom and Wilderness, Wilderness and Freedom"

ON SALE NOW:Cold SplintersCampfire Shorts

Many years ago, while en route to a disastrous trip at Sand Dunes National Park, I was rummaging through the bins of a Colorado thrift store, looking for that special something. I found a handsome pair of hiking shorts, but after quickly trying them on, realized that they suffered from the same fate as most outdoor pants do: They were wide as can be and flared out to the point of no return. So, like any neurotic hiker, I bought them anyway, and a week later, upon returning home, I brought them to the tailor and had them taken in. But even after the sewing magic, the shorts were still flawed, and after a lot of time looking for the perfect pair, I told myself I should just make my own.Over the past couple of months, I finally sat down and went through the rigorous sport of designing and manufacturing a pair of shorts that I believe will meet all of our hiking and camping needs. They're MADE IN THE USA  out of a 65/35 poly/cotton blend and I hope you buy a pair and enjoy them as much as I do. Wear them all spring, summer, fall and winter. And if you have any questions, please email and ask.So, without further ado, just in time for your Memorial Day camping trip, I introduce to you...

COLD SPLINTERSCAMPFIRE SHORTS

Old Man of the Lake

The Old Man of the Lake is a 30-foot tall Hemlock stump that bobs and floats vertically in Crater Lake (Oregon), and has since at least 1896. Scientists have studied the stump for over 100 years, chalking it's longevity and oddity up to Crater Lake's ice cold, clear, clean water. During one month in 1938, it is noted, the Old Man traveled at least 62.1 miles with the ebb and flow of the lake.Learn more here, I did.