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Post image for The Best Pair of Running Shoes in the World Ever

The Best Pair of Running Shoes in the World Ever

by brendan leonard semi rad on May 2, 2012 · 14 comments

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I picked up these sweet-ass rigs after I finally wore out my last pair of trail running shoes after two and a half years (the tread was gone and one of the laces finally snapped). As you can see, there’s all sorts of technology in them – there’s some plastic stuff on the side, and [...]

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When Your Dog Is Obsessed With A Mountain Lion’s Deer Kill

by laura pritchett high country news on March 23, 2012 · 0 comments

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There’s a dead fawn outside my front door. It’s been completely and carefully covered in grass, which means that it is a mountain lion kill, which means that the mountain lion responsible is going to come back to finish eating. I would never have noticed it, except that my dog was sniffing and whining and [...]

Post image for Why It Hurts to Leave the West for the East

Why It Hurts to Leave the West for the East

by charles finn high country news on March 2, 2012 · 3 comments

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A few months ago, after 20 years, I moved from the West to the East, reluctantly, carting a truckload of artifacts and memories, literal stones and actual stories, each one a product of the forests, mountains or deserts of Bend, Oregon; Missoula, Montana; Argenta, British Columbia, and beyond. My little 4-cylinder truck labored under the [...]

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A Few Thoughts on Camping With Kids

by steve casimiro on February 29, 2012 · 16 comments

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Parental aspirations are all too often dashed on the shoals of reality, and mine were no different. We would be a camping family from the very beginning — two out of three of us swore on it. On that first trip to Sequoia National Park, however, the 13-month-old thought bears were giant doggies, the backpacking [...]

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Going Native in a Small Town? Good Luck

by craig childs high country news on February 24, 2012 · 4 comments

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The woman behind the counter asked where I lived. It turns out she grew up in the very same small town, population 300. She said she had to leave it to find a job, moving to the nearest place with a population nearer 10,000. “So you must be the new trash that’s moving in,” she [...]

Post image for The Pioneering Wolf that Reminds Us of Ourselves

The Pioneering Wolf that Reminds Us of Ourselves

by tim lydon high country news on February 15, 2012 · 4 comments

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As 2011 came to a close, a wolf that biologists call “OR-7” made history by loping across the Oregon border into Northern California, becoming the first wild wolf in that state since 1924. But that’s only one of OR-7’s milestones. Two months earlier, he became the first wolf in over 50 years to roam the [...]

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Grandma Would Go: Thoughts on Staying Young

by brendan leonard semi rad on January 26, 2012 · 8 comments

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It’s Christmas Eve, 2011, and I am going to throw up on a spin class bicycle. Sweat is raining off my temples and pooling on the floor beneath my bike. This is my first spin class ever. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is playing and is now the soundtrack in my [...]

The Daily Bike, January 23, 2012

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(A few words on committing to do a long ride with someone who’s way, way faster than you.) I don’t care who you are, you always get a little uneasy before doing a ride with that guy or girl who’s super-fit and super-fast. That morning, as you’re stretching just a bit more, having an extra [...]

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Opinion: How the Forest Service Discriminates Against Poor Kids

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The summer before last I took a four-day hike through the backcountry of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Washington Cascades. I’m accustomed to rugged terrain and steep slopes, so I was impressed when, after miles of travel off the trail, I heard the voices of teenagers wafting toward me. I met the intrepid boys [...]

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Are You That Guy Who Always Hikes Ahead of Your Friends?

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My friend Greg had hit the wall about four miles from the top of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and every time I looked back, he was a few more feet behind. Greg is a trail runner, but had been sitting at sea level for all but the last 21 hours and had [...]

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The Importance of Having a Friend Who’s Stoked

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“We’re going to take a little drive down Wall Street and check it out.” This is my friend Chris telling me that I am going to lead one more pitch today, no matter what level my motivation is at this point. It is late afternoon in Moab, and the wind has kicked up so much [...]

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The Mirage and Myth of Pristine Wilderness

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One summer day, I went with my father and daughter to Schmitz Park in West Seattle, famous for being among the only chunks of old-growth forest within city limits. A few urban noises penetrated the 50-acre park, mostly airplanes and boat horns. But it was markedly quiet — and beautiful. The turf was springy with [...]

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Nearly Drowning — And What It Teaches

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On the day I nearly drowned I distinctly remember the color of the sky (charcoal), the smell in the air (wood smoke), and the sound of a dog barking (mine, a shepherd-collie mix named Ranja, running up and down the shoreline). It was Halloween, 1980. What had been a long, glorious summer had faded into [...]

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I Steal Rocks

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A few months ago, I was making my way up Notchtop, a spire of rock in Rocky Mountain National Park. Just below the summit, I squatted over a thumb-sized piece of black and white rock and picked it up. I took a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching — besides my climbing [...]

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The Great Beaver Comeback

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“Nine degrees,” I called out, thigh-deep in the beaver pond. On the bank, foot propped on an aspen log, Sam Bixler recorded the temperature. My other partner, Dave Bolger, called out the water temperature some 60 feet upstream from the slack water of the beaver pond: “Five degrees.” The icy stream was Pennock Creek, elevation 8,500 [...]

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