Wear it Out!

Meet my kind of people. Their clothes is their gear.

She hiked ten thousand miles with nothing but these clothes on her back. He wears his jacket to work on an organic farm every day. The ass end of his shorts blew out on Baja long ago; he replaced them with a fabric from a tired beach umbrella. Those fleece bibs have been worn by four of her kids on a maple sugar farm--and by half a dozen of her cousins across the country. And that National Geographic photographer can hardly wear out his clothes in African jungles.

They're all here in the thirty-minute documentary released today by Patagonia, WORN WEAR, giving thanks for who we are and where we've been in the clothes we already own. Yvon Chouinard shares a thought or two from half a century of being in the adventure business.

As for me, if somebody told me I could no longer wear my Senders, which are those irreplaceable lightweight Patagonia cotton trousers with the gusseted crotch, the harness friendly hips and and the soft wicking waist band, I would freak. In my household, the reason we end up being the poster family for Patagonia is...this stuff just doesn't fall apart!!

"Stuff that works. Stuff that holds up. Stuff that you don't just hang on the wall."

So get out there and wear it out! And enjoy the film.

From the North Country Fair

Here's what I'm thankful for. The pristine North Country and the folks at Boundary Waters Canoe Outfitters in Ely, Minnesota who keep it in their hearts and minds 24/7.

Fly to Duluth, bundle up and head north
to Ely, AKA Mukluk City

Here's their lovely Thanksgiving status report:

"As the ice grows thicker it expands.  When the pressure within the ice sheet has built up enough, it cracks at the pressure ridge, and water floods up through the crack.  The low, subtle booming, especially at night is an eerie sound ... and it drives our golden retriever nuts as he tries to figure out the unusual sound.

      Otters and mink will be fishing anywhere along the shoreline where water is kept open by some current flow. With the outflow of our lake being along one side of our outfitting base, we often have several mink living under our permanent docks.   In another couple of weeks deer will be crossing the lakes looking for spring holes to get some water.  And before too long, wolves will look for the deer."

Prose for the soul.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving. And spin a Dylan song or two for the girl from the north country fair. And some Gordon Lightfoot for my dad, who showed me the all beauty of those cold waters.

The First Hillbilly

What's a mountaineer?

Apparently, it's a hillbilly in tights and a doublet, out of control at the TSA checkpoint.

Yep, Shakespeare scores the first usage of this august word, describing redneck road rage!

The evil Cloten draws his sword against Guiderius in Cymbeline and insultingly demands his disguised enemy to surrender: "Yield, rustic mountaineer" (IV.ii.100). Guiderius triumphs, however, and beheads Cloten, "Who call'd me traitor, mountaineer" (IV.ii.120).

Thanks to 100-year flooding, big ice routes are already in nic in Colorado. I mean check this shit out! Here's Scott Bennett documenting early season ice climbing on Long's Peak last week. Holey moley!

Photo courtesy Scott Bennett for
Skyose Extreme Sports News

Dude, just a reminder when traveling for the holidays, please sheathe your bare bodkin!  Don't be That Guy:

The noun ‘Mountaineer’ adopts the French derivation, like buccaneer, cannoneer, charioteer, and musketeer. The term mountaineer provokes offence in Cymbeline, because the mountainous country of Wales was thought in Shakespeare's day to be inhabited by either outlaws, or illiterate rustics akin to the "hillbilly" stereotype of today [apologies to Wales!].

Many thanks to the Scottish Mountaineering Council for setting me straight on illiterate Welsh rustics.
 
Safe travels, fellow mountaineers, we happy few, we band of brothers.

Best Rain Suit for the Moto

BMW's ProRain 3
Stripped down wind and rain protection
that stashes anywhere.
Great for cool weather desert trips.

On a recent shoulder-season trip to the Nevada desert, I was traveling light. My trusty (but bulky) 'Stich wouldn't fit in a 50-liter dry duffel with my boots and all my camping gear. So I packed my lightweight Vanson mesh jacket instead, along with a pair of mesh jeans. 

For warmth and wind protection I brought along my BMW rain suit. Worked like a charm.

Get out there!

This is a great fall and spring layering system when you're flying towards your motorcycle touring. Packs light and small. Bright yellow keeps you visible on the choked highways leading in and out of the Big Smoke.

Best Romantic Glow

Until last week, all I knew about Portland-based Snow Peak was the popular ultra-light stove that I don’t carry. (I use the GSI Soloist instead.)

This micro lantern by Snow Peak
won the Travel + Leisure Design Award

Then I got wowed by a Mini Hozuki.

That’s the packable lantern by Snow Peak that really does light like a candle. No more harsh LED glare in your tent at night. The mini Hozuki hangs from a gear loop and fills your cozy nest with a soft, warm glow. 

Why shouldn’t the light on your table or inside your tent compare favorably with full moonlight?

I had the chance to bask in them both the other night in Death Valley, and there’ll always be a place in my pack for this nifty little 1.9-oz. lantern from now on. It packs a punch of 60 lumens and strobes when needed, then dials down for quiet conversation.

Never pack out without a headlamp, but for solo trips you might want to consider leaving your BD Apollo behind and taking this along instead.

Gone a-venturing

Been a while since I've loaded up the dry duffel, paid its extra freight on a business trip and carried my helmet aboard, dreaming of rolling through the Nevada desert.

EagleRider of Las Vegas can set you up with BMW rentals at reasonable rates. And my pal Jenny Lefferts, founder of Mad Maps, will show you the way. Tell her I sent you.

They just can't make your dreams come true.

Epilogue:

On the road to nowhere...

Had a total blast in the big wide open! Highly recommend! EagleRider's got it together with great equipment, courteous service, the real deal. It's equidistant from Death Valley and Zion. I'll be back in the spring.

If you're heading out there now, in November, expect gorgeous 60-degree days in Death Valley. Nights were balmy in the high forties, low fifties. It's a different story up in Bryce Canyon. The thermometer fell below well below freezing the other night. The roads are still clear, but it's winter camping up there. Bring the heated vest.

Escape L.A. traffic at Death Valley Junction