ajtestbed So is hiking. So is camping. So is skiing, surfing, rafting, catch and release fishing, trail running, mountain biking. And that’s what makes those things so worth doing. I’m not saying it’s okay they’re pointless, because they’re fun. I’m saying doing things without purpose is good. We get far too caught up in being productive and … Read more
Since 2000, the BLM and the Forest Service have proposed over 150 land exchanges in Colorado. Last year alone, the agencies proposed to trade more than 4,500 acres of public lands, worth over $9 million, in three major Colorado land exchanges. For decades, people had hiked and hunted on the Sopris land, yet the Bureau … Read more
Free entrance. Free camping. Now this is how a national park should be. Peel off a few billion by making a handful fewer stealth fighters we don’t need, and cover the national park funding it would take to eliminate fees at our own parks our taxes already go to. Whoa, hey, got off track there. … Read more
The first big trip I took was a thousand miles of river from Yukon Territory into the flat Alaskan interior above the Arctic Circle. It was when I was in my 20s, in the early 1990s. I did this with a college buddy; we’d been river guides in the Lower 48, and this seemed like … Read more
It’s been about six or so years since I swung a leg over the first mountain bike I’d ridden since I was a kid. Six years and, oh, roughly ten bikes ago. I started on a no-frills hardtail (a bright purple one at that), then moved up to a 27.5+ (shoulda kept that one), … Read more
Years ago, a long season of chemotherapy left me unable to hear high frequencies. How does one comprehend what one’s not hearing? I didn’t know. The recovery kept me out of the mountains for a long time. But finally a grand day came: My partner and I hiked up into the talus slopes of the … Read more
Who stops and points out all of the fine minutiae that you would like to have noticed: fault offsets, fossil replacements, first trip sightings of jasper, lignite, gypsum? But who also makes himself scarce relatively frequently so that you can gather your own sensory data? I call him Jeff. Jeff can go for days, possibly weeks, fueled … Read more
“These wildlife-vehicle collisions cause approximately 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries and at least $8 billion in property damage and other costs.” According to The Pew Trust. In Oregon alone, the Oregon Department of Transportation records approximately 7,000 large-animal vehicle deaths annually. Each one involving deer averages $6,617 for emergency response, towing, repairs and medical expenses. … Read more
I can’t remember exactly when but at some point in the past five or so years, I was packing the car for a camp trip with my wife and as I was tossing our down sleeping bags in the back, I realized: hey, wait, why not just bring actual blankets? We didn’t need to worry … Read more
In a blog post earlier this week, beloved cycling apparel brand Kitsbow announced they were closing their doors for good after 11 years and one cross-country move. The brand was unable to secure necessary financing to keep the business running. They’d recently hoped to raise $1 million to continue operations and to grow, but only … Read more