Tuesday, December 27, 2011

What goodies did you get for Christmas?

I was fortunate enough to find a Black Rock Gear original Down hat, and a Cold Avenger Pro softshell mask under the tree. I even ordered myself a Hennessey Hammock Expedition Asym  (no, really, you shouldn't have, but I love it, lol). But even with all this cool gear, my favorite item came from my daughter Ashley and my son Kevin:





This little guy was based on my 2011 Christmas video (see below), and is made from clay. The Christmas lights on the backpack are based on the original idea for the video that involved lights magically appearing on the tent. It was a great idea conceptually that failed in practice.

I'm blessed to have such thoughtful and loving children (they get it from their mother, my wonderful wife Patti).

What did you get that put your Christmas over the top?

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Living Vicariously Through Dave

If nothing else I must say 2011 has been a year of non trips. Because of my schedule and family life, any trips I wanted to take this year had to be rigidly planned. Anything that interfered with that schedule effectively cancelled the outing. A breakdown, a hurricane named Irene, and a couple of illnesses all have one thing in common - zero miles of backpacking. That's not to say I haven't gotten out. It's just that the ratio is tipped the wrong way. That's where Dave comes in.

Dave and I attend the same church, and until recently we both were involved in the same ministry. We also share a common love of the outdoors (especially all things involving hiking in Maine) and I think of him as a brother and friend.  I haven't been to Maine in about 5 years (I will get back soon I hope) but Dave manages to get there two or three times a season. Each time he gets out, Dave sends me a photo of the latest peak he has climbed. Unfortunately I'm somewhat technically challenged, so I haven't figured how to get the first few off my phone, but here are some of the latest offerings from Arcadia:








One day we'll share a peak together, and I'll get to pass the pics on to someone else in need of an "outdoors fix".


Sunday, October 2, 2011

And the winner is.......

Brian Swain! Congratulations to Brian, and thanks to all (91 of you) who entered.

Monday, September 5, 2011

What to do, what to do.....

Yikes! It's Labor Day already, and while I have many things to post about, video to edit, etc., I seem to be in a bit of a disorganized funk. Sometimes it seems I can overwhelm myself with self imposed deadlines, and on top of all that my big trip to the Adirondacks last week was squashed due to Hurricane Irene bashing the east coast, sigh. There is something quite rejuvenating about living out of a pack that brings me back around when I get like this. No worries, I'll get out soon enough and be back to my codgety, but organized old self :).

 In the meantime I thought I'd do another stove giveaway. I have big plans for the next few contests, but this one will suffice for now.

 The rules are very simple:

 1) The contest is open to all.
 2) All you have to do to enter is send me your full name (no trail names or nicknames please) and email address with the subject line "Trail Ready Giveaway". Your info is used for purposes of this contest only, and will not be sold or used for any other purpose.
 3) One entry per person. Multiple entries aren't fair to those who play nice, so if I suspect cheating your entry will be deleted (told you I was a codger).
 4) The contest will end on October 2nd, 2011.
 5) The contest is open to all countries, and the prize will be shipped free to the winner, regardless of location.
 6) I will draw the winner at 10pm EST using the random number generator at Random.org.
 7) All contest emails should be sent to End2EndTrailSupply@verizon.net .

 So your asking, what do I win? Nothing less than my favorite backpacking stove, the Gram Weenie PRO, along with a windscreen(3.5" or 5.5") and fuel bottle (4oz). All items are brand new, fresh from the workshop and the stove will be the second generation version with the roll crimp top.
Well, what are you waiting for? Times short - go tell all your friends!

Yes, I know, I changed the date! For those just looking, you get an extra day to enter my little contest. I got an opportunity to have dinner and a show with my teenage daughter (all you dads know what a rare thing that is), so I will not be available at 10 pm tonight. Rather than end it early I decided to let this go one more day. Thanks to all for your understanding!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Trail Ready Episode 4

Here it is, hot off the presses! A hike on Pennsylvania's West Rim Trail, and a review of the Granite Gear Escape AC 60. (And I finally got the HD thing figured out, YAY!)

Saturday, June 11, 2011

And the winner is.....

Sorry about posting a little late(not really to build suspense, just engrossed in what I was doing). So with out further delay.....

the winner is......

Ok, first I want to say, WOW! 96 entries - who woulda thunk. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Now, the real deal..the winner is Ken Thompson! Please contact me Ken via the email you entered with, and I'll get your prize out pronto!

That was fun. I'll have to do that again soon :).

Monday, May 30, 2011

Great stuff from mrbabelfish5!

As I type this I am enjoying a recipe from Mrbabelfish5 of youtube fame. I'm planning to get a dehydrator very (VERY) soon, and thought I'd try some recipes I found online. Today I gave Aztec Chicken Stew a whirl. I'll include the video at the end of the post, but I just wanted to highlight a change I made to the recipe.

I don't like squash, so I substituted the squash with Knorr's Buffalo Chicken side dish.
I made half of what the recipe called for, and one package of Knorrs was perfect for that amount. Just be sure to add a little extra chicken broth so your stew doesn't dry out, and add the rice about 7 minutes before you're done cooking.




Just a note a day later....loved the meal. If you like it spicy this one's for you!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

First Ever Trail Ready Giveaway!!!!!!

For some folks the motto is "go big or go home", but the unofficial motto here at Trail Ready is "go small and go hiking". That being said, I've decided to do our first ever giveaway. I'm going to make this contest easy.

The rules are very simple:

1) The contest is open to all.
2) All you have to do to enter is send me your name and email address with the subject line "Trail Ready Giveaway". Your info is used for purposes of this contest only, and will not be sold or used for any other purpose.
3) One entry per person.
4) The contest will end on June 11th, 2011.
5) The contest is open to all countries, and the prize will be shipped free to the winner, regardless of location.
6) I will draw the winner at 10pm EST using the random number generator at Random.org.
7) All contest emails should be sent to End2EndTrailSupply@verizon.net .

So your asking, what do I win? Nothing less than my favorite backpacking stove, the Gram Weenie PRO, along with a windscreen(3.5" or 5.5") and fuel bottle( 2oz or 4oz).
All items are brand new, and the stove will be the second generation version with the roll crimp top.

Well, what are you waiting for? Times short - go tell all your friends!

Good luck to all!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Trail Ready Episode 3

A review of some Sea2Summit products, and a modified way to pitch a tarp in the lean-to configuration.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Disappointing "non trip"

How many times have you planned for every contingency, only to have your trip disintegrate before it even begins? Last weekend my buddy Dean and I were heading to the Adirondacks to snowshoe the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. About 4 hours into the drive, just below Albany, NY, we stopped for a bathroom break only to discover my truck had developed a leaky water pump. Obviously I'd rather break down on the way home than another hour further along so we turned around. We babied the truck home, adding water along the way, and I replaced the faulty water pump the next day. It's such a frustrating waste to drive 450 miles and not walk a single step. Oh well, we're going to try it again next week. At least I've eliminated one more "trip killer" from the long list of possibilities...............

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Winter fun

I looks like old man winter just isn't going to let go early this year. Usually I'm not too thrilled, but this year I've decided to embrace (or re-embrace) the challenges that the winter landscape has in store.

I have always been a 4 season backpacker, but after a nasty fall in the White Mountains in 2006 (which left me with a bum shoulder for about a year) I called it quits on winter sports. As fate would have it we've had so much snow here in the Northeast this year that it was either get back into the swing of things or suffer a fate worse than death (proverbial or literal - take your pick): the never ending winter honey-do-list. So with that in mind I jumped in with both snowshoes, if you will.

A little over a week ago I snowshoed in the Delaware Water Gap, enjoying unbroken trail all the way to the summit of Mt. Tammany. Not epic by any proportion, but a good test of where I stood physically, as well as a great opportunity to polish some of the rust off. That trip will be shown in Trail Ready episode 2 if I can get my lazy tail in gear and get it edited.

I'm also in the process of building a pulk. I plan to use it on a 2-3 day trip to the Adirondacks in the next month or two. I have already acquired the sled (a Paris Expedition Sled),




and I am now waiting on parts from Ed's Wilderness Systems . As soon as I get the parts in I will detail the build here.

Also, in my search for the ultimate winter footwear I'm in a bit of a quandary. Years ago the first backpacking footwear I ever purchased (23+ years ago!) was a pair of Merrell Wilderness hiking boots. I used them 4 seasons and they served me well. I still have them even after many resoles, but they just don't fit well anymore and cause me a great deal of grief chafing my achilles heel. I've tried pac boots, which are warm but a little sloppy in the fit department. I tried Neos, but crampons don't fit on them (hence my nasty, albeit unprotected fall). This last trip I used my summer trail runners with smartwool socks and a vapor barrier sock over them, and they worked admirably well under the conditions that day, but I have my concerns under colder and more prolonged winter outings. I am now looking at mukluks . They seem to fit my requirements, but I guess I'll have to try them and see.

Anybody interested in a used pair of Neos? They're in great shape, only fell - I mean used once.........

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

First Episode of Trail Ready

Well, here it is, the 1st episode of Trail Ready. I'm still trying to figure out why the intro is blurry so I can fix that on episode 2. It might have to do with the cartoon effect I used.