BACKPACKER Photo School: A Walk in the Redwoods

Our photo editor clears her mind with selections from BACKPACKER contributing photographers

Most mornings while sipping my coffee, I cruise through the myriad of blogs I have bookmarked from our contributing photographers to see what they have been up to. 

Gregg Bleakney, an adventure photographer based out of Seattle, has a 46-second video, A Walk in the Redwoods, on his blog using both video and stills.  The sound of the rain is so visceral that I feel like I am there.

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Monday, February 08, 2010 in: BACKPACKER Photo School
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The Not-So-Swiss Army Knife

In which we take a short break for some archeology

photo: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Whoa! Paradigm shift here! Usually archeology is rather, well, stuffy - just ultra-repetitive History Channel shows about mummies and flint spearheads, dressed up with flashier graphics year after year. Yeah, we get it. The ancients didn't have steel and they wanted to preserve dead bodies. Yawn. But occasionally these tidbits have relevancy to modern life - and in this case, backpacking.

You all know the Swiss Army Knife, that iconic piece of little red cutlery, precursor to the much vaunted multi-tool. It's been around since 1897. Genius before it's time, no doubt. But it turns out the Romans had the same idea at least 18 centuries earlier.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010 in: Survival, Funny/humor
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Telluride's Gondolas

a new take on public transportation

The town of Telluride Colorado has taken an interesting approach to the conundrum of public transportation to connect the town of Telluride with Telluride Mountain Village, the base of the resort, and home to many restaurants and shops. It built a public gondola connecting the two villages (actually there are three gondolas, including one that stops at a free public parking garage) that run from 7AM to midnight, and that anyone can take for free. The gondola is open 275 days each year during peak seasons. When the Gondola is not in operation, public buses transport people between the town and the village. They provide noise and air pollution-free travel with a view. Gondola towers are low profile, which keep them operational on windy days, and which keeps them out of sight and doesn't interfere with mountain views.

On the Gondola it takes about 12 minutes (with one no-wait transfer) to get from Telluride Mountain Village to the town of Telluride and visa versa--significantly faster than taking the bus. The gondola s funded by the Town of Mountain Village tax payers, and the Town of Mountain Village manages its daily operations. Check it out next time you are in Telluride. The skiing is worth the drive from Denver, or take a direct flight to Montrose, CO.

The long term plan: to connect Telluride with neighboring Silverton Mountain via gondola, though right now it seems more a dream than an imminent possibility

-Berne Broudy

Telluride. CO free public transportation is a gondola

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Monday, February 08, 2010 in: News and Events, Environment and Green Living
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