Trail Mix Volume VIII

This week's Trail Mix comes from Tom of Eugene, OR's Archival Clothing, a guy who I met about a year ago at a diner in the neighborhood we both - for the time being - call home. We've been to many more since, before and after countless days of hiking, thrifting, and being pissed on by hobos in Appalachian Trail shelters. The usual stuff....Archival Clothingis a hell of a brand (and Tom a hell of a guy) and I always look forward to hearing what they have in the works. It's all very exciting, believe you me. (UPSTATE x ARCHIVAL CLOTHING!!!!!)Thanks for all the damn good times this last year, Tom. And more importantly, thanks for teaching me how to sew.Download: Trail Mix Volume VIII: AC x CS

Custom Chacos

For better or worse, springtime is the start of Chaco season, which inevitably means having that wicked 13 year old summer camp "Chaco Tan." After a day of walking around in these behemoths, it almost feels like an accomplishment when you pull them off to reveal those hideous/amazing white lines.For a little flair on your spring/summer jaunts to the river, Chaco is now offering custom Made in The USA pairs that you can design yourself on their website. No, you can't submit your own patterns for the webbing, but there are lots of options to impress even the most stubborn of camp counselors. Nice work, Chacos. Hats off.Design your own at MyChacos.comMP3: Robyn Hitchcock - The Man Who Invented Himself

TRAIL FOOD: AAA SANDWICH

Wednesday is "Trail Food Day" here at Cold Splinters...This post might seem lazy, but like the food we eat for breakfast before taking down a tent, it's more about efficiency. Sure.The Triple A Sandwich. Easy as pie. Ideal if you're camping with one other person:1. Cut the avocado, take out the pit, and use a spoon to get the meat out in one swoop. Place each piece on a pita and smoosh.2. Cut the apple in half. Slice lengthwise. Place on top of avocado.3. Sprinkle generously with sliced almonds.4. Top with a small amount of maple syrup/honey (optional) MP3: Paul Westerberg - AAA

Hunting Bald Eagles

The Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming has won the right to hunt two bald eagles for religious purposes. Before the permits were issued, which is a first for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (though permits have been given in the past for other types of eagles), Native Americans received their eagle parts from the National Eagle Repository in Denver. The repository chopped up and defeathered dead eagles for those tribes who wrote in and requested them. Not surprisingly, the folks in Denver couldn't keep up with demand.It's an interesting story, so go hear and read more at NPR.

TWELVE LESSONS OF THE DESERT

A few weeks back, I was held up in southwest Texas - Big Bend National Park, to be exact - with Mikael Kennedy, writing a story for the wonderful Garden and Gun. (It'll be out later this summer, so stay tuned.) With work and travel and bla bla bla, this last Thursday was the first time that Mikael and I were able to get together since our little adventure. A winning combination of Guinness and Ful Medames.We both had books for one another, each one slightly commemorative of the Great Big Dry Nothing that was home for a few nights. I gave him a copy of The Desert Is Theirs and he gave me Twelve Lessons Of The Desert. Mikeal met Sam Richardson, the book's author, while down in Taos, NM two weeks ago, and after telling him about our time in Terlingua, Richardson directed him to the local book store.Twelve Lessons is a "collection of aphorisms, nature notes and essays written over a period of 17 years by river guide, artist, writer and storyteller Sam Richardson." I haven't started it yet, but when I do, I'll make sure to do a full report. In the meantime, learn more about Sam here.Thanks Mikael.

CS Premier: Eric Aldrich

Eric Alrich, the man behind MOCS 1986, is a desert poet of sorts, living in Arizona by way of Massachusetts while working on his dissertation and teaching literature at Arizona State . He asked if Cold Splinters would post a few of his new works in lieu of sending them to various literary magazines, and after a quick read through, it was an easy choice.This is the first two of four, and we couldn't be happier that he wanted "monsoon" and "monsoon #2" to find a home here. The others will be posted in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.Enjoy.

SETI

If you've ever spent a night under the stars, it's likely that, if only for a single moment, you've thought about Life Out There. Whether you're a believer or not, it's hard to go camping without being surrounded by the idea as soon as those big balls of light start showing their pretty faces. My feelings towards extraterrestrial beings are clearly augmented after a few sips of blackberry brandy around the campfire, but I suppose that's to be expected.Stuff You Should Know, a favorite around these parts, posted a new podcast earlier this month that explores the origin, aims and challenges of  SETI (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence), the institute and the term that explains the general search for alien life. It also starts off explaining the wonderful photo above, known as the Wow! Signal.Listen to the podcast here.Watch the 1997 trailer for Contact, written by Carl Sagan and starring Jodi Foster as a SETI scientist, right here.

Trail Food: No Cook Chocolate Pudding

Seems like Wednesday has turned  into "Trail Food Day" here on Cold Splinters. I apologize in advance..Sure, dessert in the backcountry is usually a Snickers, but if you want something a tad more fancy (though this is probably less fancy than some of those crazy expensive chocolate bars out there these days), then try some no-cook chocolate pudding.- 1 block of Mori-Nu Firm Tofu (Not the last time you'll see this on the menu)- 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder (put some in a bag before you leave)- Grade B Maple Syrup (empty out your hotel shampoo bottles for maple syrup)- Bag of salty pretzelsMix up the first three ingredients until it develops into a puddin'-like consistency, divvy it up with your hiking partner-in-crime, then top with crumbled pretzels. Sweet and salty round the campfire.

Most Visited Parks in 2011

The Smokys win again. That is one beautiful park, but man, places like Gatlinburg, TN are not high on the ol' priority list. In any case, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, comes in at just over 9 million, and the runner up, Grand Canyon National Park clocks in at 4. Wild. The reason? Well, Rocky points out that GSMNP "doesn’t charge people do drive through on the highway that transits the park, but they do count them all as visitors." That and Gatlinburg, I suppose.More info at National Parks Traveler.

  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park...............9,008,830
  • Grand Canyon National Park...........................4,298,178
  • Yosemite National Park.................................3,951,393
  • Yellowstone National Park..............................3,394,326
  • Rocky Mountain National Park.........................3,176,941
  • Olympic National Park...................................2,966,502
  • Zion National Park........................................2,825,505
  • Grand Teton National Park..............................2,587,437
  • Acadia National Park.....................................2,374,645
  • Cuyahoga Valley National Park.........................2,161,185

MP3: Bobby Charles - Tennessee Blues

TRAIL FOOD: UPSTATE TOFU BREAKFAST BURRITO

Whether you eat meat or not, Mori-Nu Silken Tofu is pretty great for the trail. Protein that comes in a tetra pak and doesn't need refrigeration is always a plus. Next time you're Out There, try using the stuff to make a breakfast burrito in the morning. (The "Upstate" part of the recipe comes from Kalen. It's one of her favorites.) And yes, the tofu is taking the place of eggs, so you can leave your Coghlan's at home.What you'll need to feed two:

- 1 pack of Mori Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu- 1 Apple- 1 small onion- A few cloves of garlic- Turmeric (It's mostly just to make the tofu yellow like eggs, so it's not imperative.)- Cinnamon (I put lots of cinnamon on everything, savory or sweet, so I usually have a bottle of the good stuff on every trip. Whenever I'm in Boulder, I stock up at Savory Spice.)- 2 wraps (I use the Tumaro's pumpernickel wraps pictured above. Yeah, yeah, they're low carbs or whatever, but pumpernickel is the best kind of bread and you can't put a loaf of the stuff in your backpack. Plus, they're cheap and the grocery store around the corner from me has them right by the checkout line.)-  Small can of green chile (Not the best use of weight, but it's hard not to buy green chiles with a pop-top when I'm out shopping for food. Hatch brand if you can find it.)

Cook the onions and garlic with a little oil in a pan, and when they're softening up, cut up the apple into small slices and throw that in. Add a heavy shake of cinnamon and one of the packets of salt you took from the gas station when you stopped for coffee while the apples get a little brown. Cut open the pack of tofu and squeeze it in your hands over the pan to get it to a scrambled egg consistency. If your little heart desires, now would be the time to add a few shakes of turmeric. When everything seems like it's ready to go, add the green chile, mix it around for a few seconds and pour half over each tortilla. Wrap it up, eat it down and get hiking.

Boot Care

Thank you to the folks at Best Made and for Eli Romer, who works in the quality department at Danner (who, yes, is a client of mine), for putting together a little list of of boot care tips. It's mighty helpful as spring approaches. (Above are some views of the hikers I used around my last couple of weeks in Texas. The Danner Light IIs with Real Tree Cordura - called the Cabela Light II Camo Hikers - are exclusively sold here.)