Welcome to The Pulse

Dear Readers,
Welcome to The Pulse. For those of you - like me - who are new to this site, let me introduce myself, and give some clues as to what I’ll be writing about in the coming dispatches.

My name is Steve Howe. I’m 53 years old. (Which is what happens when you keep surviving your weekends). I’m Backpacker’s Rocky Mountain Editor, and have been a field editor for 14 years. For six years before that I edited a regional magazine called Sports Guide, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to that I worked 13 years in outdoor retail, doing everything from ski and bike mechanic work to becoming an assistant manager and equipment buyer. Which is another way of saying I was a ski/climbing/kayak bum. Some people went to college, but after two years of that, I went to Aspen. When working in outdoor stores, I spent most of my time guiding, teaching avalanche classes, and adventuring. For a brief time in the mid 1980’s I had my 5 minutes of fame doing cutting-edge telemark ski descents of high Peruvian peaks. I’ve done 60-day solo trips in arctic Alaska, and numerous two-week off-trail bashes through Canada, Alaska, the Sierra, Wind Rivers and….well I usually feel more comfortable and at home in the woods than I do in civilization.

I’ve been a photographer since age 18, and backpacker and wilderness junkie since age 12, which is about the time my twin brother Mike and I began taking backpack trips on our own into the Elk Range of Western Colorado. My major qualification for writing about outdoor survival, preparedness and logistics is that I’ve already made most of the mistakes one human possibly could, and somehow come through relatively unscathed except for a few broken bones, and about 100 stitches. I’ve been an EMT, but the rating lapsed long ago. I haven’t been the subject of a search and rescue yet, but I’m not smug about it. The odds could catch up any time. Accidents do not only happen to the inexperienced or naïve. Sooner or later we all run into that one slick step, loose handhold, or swift river crossing that has our name on it.

Despite The Pulse being described as a survival blog, we’ll range wider than that. My own personal opinion is that backpacking and wilderness adventure isn’t rocket science, it’s just common sense. After all, Neanderthals did this stuff for eons with way worse gear than we have, and they pulled it off just fine. (Apologies to any Neanderthal-Americans who may be offended by this patronizing characterization). I think the key to survival isn’t in knowing how to throw an atlatl or build a solar still from moss, it’s about carrying a few critical items – and recognizing survival situations as they develop, not once they’ve gone off. In backpacking, or most any wilderness adventure, ‘sudden’ accidents don’t happen suddenly. And as most Search & Rescue (SAR) authorities will happily tell you, accidents are just ‘new people making the same old half-dozen mistakes.’ Avoidance is the first line of defense.

So, we’ll be covering survival incidents and analysis, but we’ll also highlight related subjects like outdoor preparedness and logistics, navigation and routefinding, differing strategies for varied environments, along with camping, photography, and comfort tips. And just to keep things lively, we’ll also report on behind the scenes vignettes from story assignments and trip scouts, and some of the more interesting tales from my 40 years of wilderness misadventure. I’ll try to keep it all fun, informative, light-hearted, and brief. Occasionally I may inject some serious attitude and snark, but only when I’m off my lithium.

Expect at least two posts a week, unless I’m on remote backcountry assignment where wireless services are out of the question. Hopefully during those periods, I can submit satellite phone dispatches. Stay tuned. You’ll know more once we know more.
So again, welcome readers.

Now lace ‘em up and let’s get moving.

And remember: Friends don’t let friends sleep indoors.

--Steve Howe

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Heading to Arizona.. Tonto Nat'l Forest/Sups/GET in April for a short backpack trip..I want to be able to collect rain water if/when it falls...suggestion on method to do this?. Thanks.
Posted: Jan 17, 2010 Kathy from Maine

hello steve........just a note inquiring of your friend (ceesu?.....is it?) and his whereabouts and your life as you know it........somehow misplaced the article you wrote describing our friendly encounter on the parks highway when you and he got down off the mountain.......that meeting was all about it......what humans are supposed to be doing with other humans.....laughing, talking, interacting in every possible way.......kyle and i still marvel and wonder, had we more time that day, what could have happened.......all our best to you and say hello to (is it?) sabu ceezu?
life is good here .......(no bugs to speak of this year....too hot......beauty summer.....lot of fires.....)..send women!.........ric and kyle martin

Posted: Jul 30, 2009 ric and kyle in alaska

im ur follower of solo trekking,kudos to u sir steve howe
Posted: Mar 21, 2009 vincent obcemea

I agree I would love to hear more about PLB- Personal Locator Beacon's though I think with the affordability of the SPOT Satellite Messenger now why would anyone rent them? You can get them at http://www.thewaytogps.com for $149. to me compared to others thats cheap, more expensive in the long run to rent by far. Great article keep it up.
Posted: Oct 07, 2008 Benjamin Navon

Hey Steve,

I've recently read some back issues and found a nice article you wrote about Glacier NP. I am going to Glacier next summer with 3 or 4 other guys, and was hoping you could recommend a nice spot to set up a base camp. We like to hike in, set up a base camp and then shed the big pack for a day pack so that we can explore the area. If you only had 3 to 5 days to explore Glacier, where would you set up camp, and what would be your must-see?

Thanks!

Steve in KY.
Posted: Aug 16, 2008 Steve Webb

Hi from one Steve to another. I am also 53 and a former EMT. I love backpacking and outdoors. I will look forward to your future blogs. I lived in Boulder,Colorado for a few years and any day in the Rockies is a good day. I lead a youth group and we go on hikes so I am interested in any survival/safety issues. Thanks
Steve B.
Tullahoma, TN
Posted: Aug 13, 2008 Steve B.

I have a strange urge to put on my pack. Start hiking. And keep going, kind of like Forest Gump on his run. could you suggest a good location?
Posted: Jul 05, 2008 tpmcman

Hi Steve:

Glad to learn of your blog and looking forward to the sharing. Thank you for the initiative.

Sincerely,
A.K.
Posted: Jun 26, 2008 A.K. Zebdi

Hi, Steve...

I'm super pleased to see you have a blog and predict it will be the top-visited one on the new backpacker.com!

Since you mentioned you'd touch on "...outdoor preparedness..." from time to time, I'd like you to cover in one of your future blogs the differences between PLB's and their new competitor, namely the Spot Satellite Messenger and Tracker (SSMT). http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/spot/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC

I understand this may be covered somewhat in the April issue of BACKPACKER, but perhaps you could expand on the two devices. What you think of them would be very, very worthwhile to your readers, Steve...myself, included!

Also, I'd like to see you include in one of your posts a reminder that PLB's can be rented very reasonably from PLB Rentals, LLC www.plbrentals.com/! As far as I'm concerned, a PLB is by far the better of the two devices, and renting one is truly the "way to go!" When Team-TarpMan had a rented PLB for use on BACKPACKER's CDT Map Project, last August, it arrived well in advance of the time we left for Wyoming, and returning it in the self-addressed mailer box was a "piece of cake!"

Glad to help. Leon Nelson
Posted: Mar 10, 2008 Leon Nelson, Redding, CA