Camping Candy

It usually happens that you'll stop at a gas station/convenient store en route to wherever it is you're going. And whether or not you need it, it's probable that you'll pick up some snacks (candy) for the trail. I can't remember the last time that I went on a camping trip without some black licorice. (Though, yes, I usually get the individual sticks of Panda, which, no, you can't usually pick up at a gas station.)What do y'all buy? And I ain't talking some Green Macriobiotic Seaweed Stevia snack. More like...candy necklaces or another Cold Splinters favorite, Boston Baked Beans.

Juniper Ridge

Most of my best memories from 2012 are from times spent with the folks from Juniper Ridge. Too many to list here, but I've written about a few of them on CS in the past few months. They're some of the kindest people I know and I'm so glad I got to see them a few times last week while bouncing around San Francisco, Oakland and Marin.Everything those fellers make is damn near perfect, but their new Trail Crew Soap is just about my favorite thing yet to come out of their California travels. I'm partial to the Desert Southwest, but there's seven different scents, so pick one that makes the most sense for you. It's worth it, I promise.

Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Monument, located just east of California's Salinas Valley, about a two hour drive from San Francisco, is about to come a National Park. The bill passed through the Senate last Sunday and now awaits President Obama's signature.From Gadling.com:

Located in California's Gabilan Mountains, just east of the Salinas Valley, Pinnacles National Monument is the site of an ancient volcanic field. The volcano has long since eroded and moved further north along the San Andreas Fault, but its remnants remain throughout the area today. The landscape features towering rock spires, large boulders, narrow canyons, talus caves and other amazing geological formations, all of which have made it a popular destination for climbers.The 26,000-acre site has also been instrumental to the comeback of the California condor, giving the birds a place to roost amongst its rocky cliffs. The National Park Service has released 32 free-flying condors into the park since 2003, and it has proved to be a safe home for the extremely endangered birds. Elevating the monument into a national park will provide further protections to the condor's habitat, improving their chance for continued recovery in the future.

Keeper Of The Mountains

Keeper of the Mountains:

In a post-World War II era during which few women lived and traveled independently, American journalist Elizabeth Hawley settled alone in Kathmandu, Nepal. There, despite having never climbed a mountain, Miss Hawley carved out a niche for herself as the foremost Himalayan mountaineering historian in the world.Now 89, she has recorded more than 80,000 Himalayan expedition ascents, her reports are trusted by news organizations and publications around the globe, and she maintains the world's largest and most treasured Himalayan mountaineering archive.Keeper of the Mountains is a portrait of a woman who played an unlikely key role in the Golden Age of Himalayan mountaineering while living life on her own terms at the edge of the troposphere and defying the traditional gender roles of her day. It chronicles the challenges she currently faces as she tries to maintain the mountaineering archives and her independence while dealing with advancing age and a rapidly changing world.

Thanks James.