ajtestbed Spend enough time in the world of fisheries science, and you’re likely to hear an adage, coined by a researcher named John Shepherd, that neatly encapsulates the field’s uncertainty. Counting fish, the saying goes, is not unlike counting trees — if the trees constantly moved around the forest, and also you had to somehow tally them … Read more
Entropy is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Thanks to entropy, despite my best efforts, the inside of my truck becomes “road-tripped” within the first hour or two of an actual road trip. Scattered about are water bottles, maps, coffee mugs, charges, hats, field guides…you name it. But that doesn’t mean we … Read more
Mine, in use. It really only takes using this thing once to realize disposable propane canisters are hilariously wasteful. It’s easy, cheap, and just plain feels better to use. It threads right into your camp stove just like the little green ones do, but it’s easier because it attached with a four-foot hose, so you … Read more
Then I wandered closer to the cash register and saw salvation in a plastic tub: Red Vines. The shopkeep had marked “5 cents each” with a sharpie on the top of the tub. Bingo. Climbed gradually on pavement then steeply on dirt/plowed snow for another 2-plus hours. Hadn’t eaten anything as was my habit those … Read more
They also clearly liked the idea of giving something back to land that would never be developed. On this land protected by a conservation easement, cows would no longer drink, pee and poop while trampling the spring’s vegetation. The spring could recover while the cattle drank clean water elsewhere. My students had spent the day … Read more
Well it’s just about spring so here’s our primer on storing your fave snow gear for the sunny months. – Ed. Whether you’re mourning the snowmelt and plotting how to ski through August or you’re already gleefully breaking out sandals and shorty wetsuits, warmer weather is undeniably upon us. I’m somewhere in between, eager for ocean … Read more
Last August, after a long day at work, Karen Linnell tossed a couple of coolers and a bag full of dried moose meat into the back of her pickup truck. Her friend had caught a haul of chinook and sockeye salmon earlier in the day, and she and Linnell had decided to trade the moose … Read more
I grew up surfing in a place where it was pretty much standard to have the lineup all to yourself. Or, if you were lucky, you might have a couple of friends to trade waves with. (This was in California, by the way— South of San Francisco, if you can believe it). Granted, you were … Read more
John Mowat on Symmetry Spire’s Durrance Ridge with Jenny Lake below. Photo: George Mowat. John Mowat remembers the day 71 years ago when he and three others became the first to climb the Grand Teton’s Second Tower, a pyramid on the mountain’s skyline that partially crumbled last fall. He recalls how partner Leigh Ortenburger … Read more
Everest was first climbed 70 years ago this week, cementing Edmund Hillary’s and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s place in world history. Hillary has left behind a treasure trove of bon mots about mountaineering and a life generally well-lived. Humble, filled with perspective from being among the (likely) first two people to reach the summit of Everest and after … Read more