ajtestbed In June 2022, I set off on a 10,650-mile, six-week motorcycle trip from Tennessee to Alaska and back again, carrying not too much more than my GPS and phone. The ride kickstarted a year of travel for research – and despite the horror stories of delayed and canceled flights, I couldn’t be happier. Just about … Read more
We’re not normally all that interested in races here at AJ, but the Western States is something else. The 100-mile race has a cool history (was originally a horse race), a gorgeous route (through the Sierra foothills), and the world’s best masochists. This short film shows everything that goes into the race for three women … Read more
Remember eBussy? The German start-up created van? Well now it’s called the Xbus, probably because eBussy is, let’s just say an awkward name. Name aside, and besides it being absolutely darling, the little electric van had, and has, a very cool trick up its sleeve—modularity. The vehicle rides around on an chassis powered by an … Read more
The Washburn Fire is burning through areas of Yosemite National Park, just south of Yosemite Valley. As of Tuesday evening, the fire had consumed roughly 3,500 acres. The Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, trees more than 3,000 years old, has areas within the footprint of the fire, causing many ecologists and lovers of those massive, … Read more
Adventures and exploration on earth are of course wonderful, and our bread and butter. But really, anything you can possibly do on this planet is the tiniest of baby steps compared to the real frontier: Space. The “final frontier,” some might even say. Okay, fine, have said, and probably copyrighted. It can feel at times … Read more
I forgot about this little essay until a few days ago when, on the last morning of a camp trip, I was stooping to fill a 6-liter bladder with water from a high Sierra creek to water my Japanese maple trees back home. The trees are freshly planted and I wanted them to have a … Read more
In 2021, two parents, their one-year-old-daughter, and their dog perished hiking Hites Cove, just outside Yosemite Valley, when they ran out of water on a blazing hot day. The case drew international attention when at first authorities couldn’t pinpoint a cause of death. Some suspected toxic gases from old abandoned mines, or river water contaminated … Read more
Dave Marston is the publisher/editor of Writers on the Range, a great site that furnishes some of the pieces we publish. This time he took it upon himself to both educate and maybe poke a little fun at life in rural mountain towns. As a relative newcomer to a rural-ish area myself, lots of this … Read more
“Life is either a daring experience or nothing at all.” — Helen Keller “The word experience has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong—that’s when experience starts.” — Yvon Chouinard Those famous quotes don’t have quite the same ring when you replace “adventure” with “experience,” do they? This sounds like a joke, but it … Read more
Well this is unexpected. Apparently, in the early postwar years, the U.S. military packed sleeping bags in giant sardine cans, opened with a key and everything, for use in emergency situations in cold weather areas. This Youtuber found one on ebay and opens it some 65 years after it was packed. It looks serviceable, believe … Read more