Monthly Archive for March, 2007

Good For What Ails Ya

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 14, 2007
in hiking and motivations
. 2 Comments

Bryan over at WildrLog posted a little inspirational pamphlet he picked up about how hiking and backpacking will basically take care of whatever problems you’ve got — from being overweight to back pain to colds and flu and even insomnia:

Do you suffer from insomnia? Try getting up at dawn, pack your pack, strike camp, cook breakfast, then head out on the trail. Carry a 45 pound backpack up and down the mountains for 8-10 hours. Then set up camp again, walk a half mile to get water and spend 20 minutes filtering the water. Walk another half mile each time you need to go to the outhouse. Then try ambling around at night trying to find a place 100 yards from camp to hang the bear bag. When you finally lie down to rest, think about doing it all again the next day. You’ll get a good night’s sleep.

Check out the full list of benefits over here. While I have still had trouble falling asleep on the trail, I blame that on a cheap sleeping pad.

WildrLog looks like a great site to explore, while you’re there. Not only does Bryan have some Google Earth GPS support, but he’s also got great taste in tv and books. The Modern Hiker is a big fan of both David McCullough and Teddy Roosevelt biographies, for the record.

Urban Hiking

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 13, 2007
in City Life, Web Sites and Apps, hiking and in the media
. 0 Comments

When I first started up this site, some of my more urban-environment-loving friends suggested, probably only partially jokingly, that I take a few days off to embark on hikes inside the city of Los Angeles. Decked out in hiking gear and with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I concede that it would probably be pretty funny. I might still do it someday, but I’d have to keep time for an actual hike or my system gets all thrown off balance for the week.

Lucky for me, though, there’s already someone who’s doing it. I stumbled upon Walking in LA while I was putting off doing work, and was pleasantly surprised. The unnamed site-runner takes walks through sections of the LA sprawl and accompanies them with some great pictures.

While I’d like to get a bit more writing out of it, it’s a fun site to poke around. And for those of us who can’t even stand to look at pictures of cities, there are some great road trip albums of handsome western states and some explorations of the L.A. River.

Hiking Bear Canyon and Switzer Falls

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 12, 2007
in Angeles National Forest, Trail Write-Ups and hiking
. 0 Comments

A short hike to one of the most popular and easily-accessible waterfalls in the Angeles National Forest. Includes a trip further down the canyon to Bear Canyon Campground, an easy way to get away from the crowds at Switzer and find some swimming holes you can keep to yourself.

Continue reading ‘Hiking Bear Canyon and Switzer Falls’

Grand Canyon Double-Standards

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 9, 2007
in Grand Canyon National Park and Politics
. 1 Comment

I’ve been trying to think of a way to talk about the Grand Canyon Skywalk project that’s very close to opening up.

While my gut reaction was to think of it as an abomination on the landscape, Ranger X reminds us not to be so quick to judge. He describes the official National Park grounds as

anything but pristine with houses and pay phones at Phantom Ranch, a water pipeline across the canyon, a bank, an ATM, 11 restaurants, an auto mechanic shop, Internet access, a kennel, a medical clinic, a post office, gas stations, gift shops, six lodges with almost 1000 rooms. There are 228 miles of roads and 1143 buildings. This isn’t “necessary”. It’s excessive and it’s impossible to find solitude on the South Rim.

… and he’s right. I went there over the Thanksgiving weekend with my roommates a few years ago. While we had a great time and found the Canyon unbelievably inspiring and beautiful, X is correct in noting it’s pretty impossible to find solitude there. On the actual day of Thanksgiving, we almost had the park to ourselves. The day after, it felt like we were at a mall.

Of course, on the flip side, just because we’ve screwed up part of the Canyon already doesn’t mean we should keep screwing it up. I guess, when it comes down to the Skywalk:

- I don’t mind that it’s there.
- But I won’t be going to visit it.
- And I very sincerely hope it doesn’t inspire copycat construction.

Convenient Truths

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 9, 2007
in Environmentalism, Web Sites and Apps and in the media
. 0 Comments

Treehugger and Seventh Generation have been running an online video contest called “Convenient Truths.”

Participants were asked to create original 2 minute movies aimed at inspiring, raising awareness, or showing how us Average Joes can make a difference in the climate crisis. The videos are up and waiting to voted on by us, the environmentally-leaning internet audience.

I’ve been scanning the site for a little while now, and the entries run the gamut from MySpace-quality video blogs to documentary teasers to surprisingly effective public relations pieces.

Many of the entries are, unfortunately, aimed at the sort of people who are probably already doing everything they can to reduce their carbon footprint. It’s great to see people converting their cars to biodiesel or installing composting toilets in their yards, but the biggest change is probably going to be from masses of people making small changes in their habits. That’s why these two videos, encouraging the switch to CFL bulbs and biking to work, are probably my favorites of the nearly 100 candidates:


Click To Play


Click To Play

I also really, really like this one. But that’s mainly because I have a not so secret love affair with the Prelinger Archives:


Click To Play

Disagree? Go vote, why don’tcha?

Hear No, See No, Speak No …

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 8, 2007
in Environmentalism and Politics
. 0 Comments

The New York Times is reporting a government memo sent to the Alaskan Federal Fish and Wildlife Service, basically telling them they’re not allowed to speak to the media about global warming, ice levels, or polar bears.

The government’s not saying no one’s allowed to speak about these things, they just want to know who the designated media spokesman is. And to make sure they know what the Official Government Position on those issues is. And presumably, that they parrot that position.

Hardcore Hikers and Dry Spells

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 6, 2007
in Environmentalism, Geek Stuff, Technology and Web Sites and Apps
. 0 Comments

A quick bit of link-lovin’:

- A pair of sure-footed explorers who are determined to walk the length of the Andes, courtesy of BestHike.

- The world’s most comprehensive PCT trail journal, courtesy Two-Heel Drive. I thought I had a data obsession. Bearcan’t has graphs on top of other graphs, along with some great commentary and inspiring pictures. He did the trail in 2005, when most of my native San Gabriels were covered in much more snow than they are now …

- … which is a worry Robert at End Pavement shares, along with the L.A. Times. This has been one of the driest winters on record in Southern California, which has the potential to make for a nasty fire season later on in the year … not to mention me needing lots more chap stick.

Name That Mountain

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 6, 2007
in Geek Stuff, Web Sites and Apps and maps
. 2 Comments

I love taking friends on hikes to mountain peaks. Partially because I’m a legitimate peak-junkie, but also because I like to look smart and outdoorsy by pointing out the other named peaks in the area.

Hey, we all like to look knowledgeable.

And now there’s a better way to learn the peaks than diligent map-studying (which I’m not opposed to, either) — it’s called Hey, What’s That?

It’s one of the most comprehensive Google Maps mashups I’ve seen. You can choose from a preselected number of peaks and views, or take the time to enter your own location on Google Maps. After doing a little calculating, the site will give you a 3-D panorama of the view from that location, with all the named peaks marked and labeled. It’ll also give you your latitude and longitude, elevation, and a horizontal profile of your line of sight.

The site will also show you your line of sight on a Google satellite map, along with all the info on nearby summits, like their bearings, distance from you, and elevation.

If that’s not enough, you can download all this information in a GPX waypoint file for your GPS, see it in full 3-D in Google Earth, print it out, or get the lists sent to your email or phone.

And if you’re really particular about planning your outings, you can turn on a “Visibility Cloak” that will shade all of the areas of the map you’ll be able to see from your location. Just note that it doesn’t take smog into its calculations.

Via GPS Tracklog.

Sierra Podcast

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 6, 2007
in in the media
. 0 Comments

I got an email from the fine folks at the Sierra Club, pimping out their latest edition of their Sierra Club Radio podcast.

I’ve never listened before, but it’s actually a neat, concise little piece of audio. This week’s episode features a great interview with Arlene Blum, who’s known primarily as a climber (and scientist), but has some great hiking tales, too. Like many folks I know, she was inspired to hike by the scenery of the West Coast, and she’s got a great story about forcing her way to the summit of Denali back when women were only allowed to trek to base camp to help cook and clean.

Crazy.

The rest of the podcast is divided into smaller news stories, green living tips, and some great in-depth coverage of the TXU coal power plant struggles in Texas.

Check out some past episodes and learn how to subscribe at the Sierra Club Radio site. I’ll be signing up as soon as my iPod gets back from the shop…

Hiking Mount Lukens via Stone Canyon

Published
by
Modern Hiker
on March 6, 2007
in Angeles National Forest, Trail Write-Ups and hiking
. 6 Comments

A leg-buster from Big Tujunga Canyon to the highest point in the Los Angeles City Limits. A river crossing, stony trails, and long winding switchbacks lead up to a fantastic view of the city and the surrounding landscape.

Continue reading ‘Hiking Mount Lukens via Stone Canyon’