If you've ever been hiking through the woods and thought, "Ya know, I don't know much about the moss that's covering all these trees around me," then the newest installment of CS favorite, Stuff You Should Know, is going to be your huckleberry. And if you're normal and have never had those thoughts while out hiking, well, you'll still find "How Moss Works" pretty darn interesting. Download it for free here.MP3: Tomas Barfod - November Skies (ft. Nina_Kinert)
California Condor
According to an article in The Oregonian posted a few days ago, the California Condor has reached a new population milestone: More than 400 are alive today, 226 of them wild in California, Arizona and Baja, Mexico, and 179 living in zoos and four breeding centers. The Condor, which is largest bird in North America, was almost extinct just 30 years ago.A few weeks back, while spending a day hiking up to Tin House in Big Sur, CA, three (!) of these handsome birds flew over us for close to a half hour, soaring back and forth, getting so close that you could hear the flap of their wings. We had just gotten high enough above the redwoods that the coast was in full view, making it nearly impossible to lose sight of the birds in the thick of the woods. I was by myself during the entire thing - I had walked ahead - laying down on the trail, too happy to care that I had left my phone in the car to take pictures.Thank you Obi for bringing your camera.MP3: Little Joy - The Next Time Around
Black and White Sage
As mentioned below, Cold Splinters spent the last week in California with our friends/lovers/teachers/healers, Juniper Ridge, cleaning trail and learning about coastal plants and flowers. Long drives filled with endless discussions of power pop, the manager at a local Chevy's, and of course, coastal flowers and plants (I bet your grandma never started a sentence with, "If the Salvias were the Beatles, black sage would be..."), made for one of the most enjoyable adventures I've had in a long, long time.Next week is going to be the real recap (see: photos) of said trip, but for now, if you're going to be out in California camping, make sure you know your Salvia apiana and Salvia mellifera. Because I have truly found very few things in life better than rubbing a piece of black sage between your fingers on a hike to a backcountry sunset.MP3: The Beat - Rock N Roll GirlMP3: Brendan Benson - Tiny Spark