Trail Mix Volume XII

Anton Krupicka. Ultra-Runner, two time winner of the Leadville 100, fellow CU graduate and keeper of all things Riding The Wind. There's a whole laundry list of other accomplishments, but for now, he can add another feather to that cap by joining the wonderful folks who have contributed to the Cold Splinters Trail Mix series. Small feather.So yes, this week's music comes from Mr. Krupicka out in Colorado, home to Mt. Elbert, whose summit view is featured in the image above. Download the mix and then watch this short video of Anton made by New Balance. Tracklist is after the jump.Download: Trail Mix Volume XII1 - Satellite, TV On The Radio2 - The Great Tide, Tyler Keene3 - In The New Year, The Walkmen4 - 10 Gallon Ascots, Tapes 'n Tapes5 - Hang Me Up To Dry, Cold War Kids6 - So Bored, Wavves7 - Down Boy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs8 - The Wave, Miike Snow9 - Lost In Boston, The Walkmen10 - Pan, The Veils11 - Don't Move, Phantogram12 - Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks, The Rapture13 - DLZ, TV On The Radio14 - Headlights Look Like Diamonds, Arcade Fire15 - Runnin, Heartless Bastards16 - Last Day Of Magic, The Kills17 - The Infinite Pet, Spoon18 - Crown On The Ground, Sleigh Bells19 - The Plot, White Rabbits20 - Thinking Of A Dream I Had, The Walkmen

Poler and Foster

Foster Huntington of The Burning House (whose book, which features a Cold Splinters section, comes out soon) teamed up with the almighty Poler for a surfing trip down to Nicaragua. The pictures are wonderful and you can see more here.Benji, who I was lucky enough to have a beer with while in Portland a few weeks back, and the Poler team have just released a whole mess of new "stuff," so head on over to Poler's website to check it all out.

The First 70

The First 70:

Last May California announced plans to close one quarter of their 278 parks, a devastating move that is intended to save the state a mere $22 million per year. The closure list includes thousands of acres of park land, recreation areas, wildlife reserves, and 50% of the state's historic parks. By July 2012 Californians will be bereft of 70 magnificent natural parks. The media has done little to disclose the ongoing closures or emphasize their impact.Not wanting to miss the chance to see these places before they were gone forever, we decided to make our way across California in a converted airport shuttle bus, shooting as many parks and people as possible. Individuals we met along the way were concerned about the closing of their local parks, but no one had a collective firsthand experience of the overall picture. As we connected dots on a map, a pattern emerged. No one knew exactly what the conditions of closure would be, nor could they see how the state would ultimately benefit.
(Hat Tip: Geoff Holstad)

Have A Good Weekend

After getting home late last night, I was greeted by an enormous brown package carefully leaning against the metal gate of my apartment. I brought it inside, grabbed the ol' box cutters and ripped it open to find this painting by Obi Kaufmann. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever received, and a few weeks back, after spending an afternoon with Obi watching three California Condors whizzing by my head in the mountains of Big Sur, it couldn't be more fitting. Thank you, Obi. Thank you, thank you.No Trail Mix today, but check back next week for something special. CS and friends are off to the Hudson Valley in a few hours for a little camping and some well-deserved swimming. We're hoping and wishing and praying for that hour-long rainstorm tonight that the weather fairies are predicting. COOL IT DOWN.See you soon. And for goodness sake, HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.MP3: QOTSA - How To Handle A Rope (A Lesson In The Lariat)

The Campster

If you didn't know by now, Cold Splinters has a column on New York Times' blog, The Moment, called "The Campster." The newest article went up yesterday and it details some of the best "outdoorsy websites" on the Internet. Cause clearly these guys couldn't have gone camping without dial up modems, right?Read it here. We're real proud of this one.

Portland, Oregon

A couple weeks back, I went out to Portland, OR to see the folks from Danner (a client of Cold Splinters). I was lucky enough to be able to invite Well Spent, Wend, Best Made, Secret Forts and The Gear Junkie along for the ride, and we all had one hell of a time touring the factory (above is a photo of a 20D last!), seeing the Recrafting process and getting out on some hiking adventures in and around Hood River.Everyone else was way more responsible and took lots of photos throughout the trip, so for a much better recap than I could ever do, head here, here, here and here.

Trail Mix XI

A few years ago, I was sitting at the counter of Eisenberg's in New York City, waiting to meet a guy from Portland, ME who I had emailed with a few times after starting this rag. Jay walked in wearing striped overalls and a big smile, ordered a corned beef sandwich and told me about some project he had worked on where he drove around the desert picking up vintage clothes. If I remember correctly, I think he was in town that day to meet some folks from this little no name denim company...Many moons later, after a few beers here and there, countless "HOLY SHIT, CHECK THIS OUT" emails and a fun afternoon spent making a video in my old apartment, Jay texted me while I walking down W San Antonio in Marfa, Texas. I'd only been in that middle of nowhere town an hour when he mentioned he was about to take a tour of Donald Judd's house, located just a few short blocks from where I was standing. So I walked on over to meet him, took the tour and spent the first evening of a month long stay in Marfa at a party that Jay had organized, filling my belly with Shiner and making a few new friends with 10 gallon hats. The perfect start to a perfect couple of weeks.Jay, he of One Trip Pass, is a good friend, a hell of a guy and the creator of one fucking awesome (yep, those are the words I'm picking) Trail Mix. Y'all can play it this weekend on your way to wherever it is you're going, but I'll be saving it for a Labor Day excursion with Jay and the Juniper Ridge gang.See you guys in Yosemite. Download: CS Trail Mix XI - One Trip Pass Keeps It On The Road

The Dipsea and Jack Kirk

Northern California's Dipsea is the oldest trail race in these United of States. It started in 1905 and now falls on the second Sunday in June each year, which means the 2012 version happened just a few days ago. The Dipsea is a 7.4 mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Not a bad place for a jog...Jack Kirk, known as the "Dipsea Demon," ran that race 67 consecutive times before passing away in 2007 at the age of 100. He won the thing twice and ran his last race when he was 95 years young. And the kicker no pun intended) was that he would show up in long pants, a long sleeve collared shirt (see photo above) and boat shoes. Genius.Watch a short documentary about Jack here.

Sleeping Pads

A few people have written in and asked about sleeping pads over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd ask everyone else out in the cosmos what y'all sleep on when under the stars. For many years I used a blow up version of a pad and would always hate getting the air out while groggy in the morning. It wasn't comfortable enough for all that trouble. So for the past couple of years, I trade off between a Ridge Rest and a Z-Lite (both of which are Made In The USA if you care about that kind of thang), depending on which one is the last to be snagged out of my trunk while friends put their packs together. Comfortable, light, easy. Perfect for spring and summer. And sometimes beyond.

**So, what do you use for a sleeping pad?**

MP3: The dB's - Moving in Your Sleep

A VISIT WITH PETER PARNALL

I don't know why it's taken so long to post these photos, but last summer I found my way up to southern Maine to visit one of my favorite artists in the history of artists, Peter Parnall. He showed us around his house, talked our heads off about working with Byrd Baylor and told us a few stories about the little people that live in the woods behind his house. More to come, but for now, check out the photos (taken by Kalen) after the jump. 

Merit Badge Series

**Words by Bennet Bergman

Last month I made the trip up to the famed Elkhorn Flea Market in Wisconsin, where I picked up a dozen of these Merit Badge booklets from the 60’s. Similar to the Foxfire books or the American Boy’s Handy Book, these babies are chock full of information on good American pastimes. They’ll tell you everything you need to know to earn your Merit Badge in basketry or, say, Indian lore. You know, in case you're a Boy Scout or something. Chapter one of the camping pamphlet starts right in with the big question, “Why go camping?” And those scouts lay it out for us like no big deal:
“Every Scout probably has his own reasons for going camping. If you asked him what they were, he might not be able to tell you. It may be something he can’t put his finger on—like the smell of last year’s pine needles or the sound of bacon sizzling over a crackling campfire. He just likes the outdoors and everything about it—he likes to live on his own in the open, whether in the desert, prairie, or woodland—he likes to be a part of the great outdoors.”

Sounds about right to me.MP3: Talking Heads - And She Was

McCARTNEY IN THE WOODS

Pitchfork interviews Paul McCartney about the making of Ram:

Pitchfork: What are some of your early memories of loving nature?PM: I lived on the edge of Liverpool in a new housing estate, 'cause my mother was a midwife. I could walk for about half an hour and suddenly I would be in deep countryside. I used to take a lot of walks on my own and I had a little pocket book called The Observer's Book of Birds. I still have a copy, actually. I would walk around and, if I saw a bird, I'd look it up: "Oh wow, it's a skylark!" I loved that. I realized marvelling at nature was a deep pleasure of mine.The funny thing is, when I first bought the house in Scotland, that pleasure didn't occur to me. But when I met Linda, she said, "I heard you got a place in Scotland, can we go there?" And I said, "Yeah, sure." So we just went up and she said, "Ah, I love it." That's when I reconnected with it.

MP3: Thrillington - Monkberry Moon Delight

RIDING THE WIND

While driving around Hood River this last week, talking about a friend's past life working at New Balance, we got on the subject of Anton Krupicka's blog, Riding The Wind. (Krupicka is an ultra runner sponsored by NB.) Anton - his friends call him "Tony" - posts loads of photos recounting his running conquests around the parts of Colorado that CS would frequent while attending college (Mt. Elbert, Chautauqua, Green Summit etc.).The photos/musings of his training are a real treat, so head on over to RTW and get your ass out running.Enjoy it.MP3: Fruit Bats - Tony the Tripper