| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Share your tales of travel & adventure with our step-by-step guide. Upload trail descriptions, photos, video, and more.
Searching for "skills & tips"
More Articles
Next >>
The Leonids Return
Heads up night owls! Killer meteor shower on Monday night!
Meteors over Capitol Reef. The small streaks are shooting stars; the red streak is Mars. pic: Howe
Start napping now, so you can stay awake on Monday night, when this old, well-used Earth is getting ready to hurtle at 147,000 miles per hour through the thickest section of tail debris left by comet Tempel-Tuttle. The collision could generate one of the best meteor showers in recent history - or maybe even a disaster of blockbuster proportions, kind of a lead-up to 2012 or whatever Nostradumus catastrophe is currently fashionable for cable TV 'history' channels.
But it'll probably just be a great sky show. And even if it does presage the end of the world by explosion, invasion, or alien viruses showering from the heavens, wouldn't you rather watch it all from atop some scenic ridgetop, wrapped in a blanket with your honey and a few bottles, instead of chewing your nails on the couch and listening to talking newsheads screech about stock market implications of the apocalypse?
Yes! Obviously! So here's your field-trip assignment campers: Read Full Story...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips, Wierd/funny
View Comments (0)
Grand Canyon Summer
The Big Ditch had its share of rescues and deaths this season
As of press time, at least six actual hiker/backpackers had died in the canyon. Here's a brief recap of the more interesting incidents. Common themes were solo travel, and/or lack of advance preparation - such as obtaining current information, carrying enough water, leaving a route itinerary, or getting a required permit. I hope these brief sketches will help others avoid similar mayhem, but I'm buried with magazine work right now, so visit the Grand Canyon National Park's Hike Smart page for specific tips.April 30th: Three young men, Mark Merril (16), Joey Merrill (22), and Saif Savaya (16), jumped into the spring-swollen Colorado River at Boat Beach near Phantom Ranch, where the main corridor trails cross on the Silver Bridge at River Mile 88, and attempted to swim across the swift current that runs through Granite Gorge. The trio were visiting the park in a 30-person Baptist church group on their annual Grand Canyon hiking retreat. All three were swept into Bright Angel Rapids, a swiftwater section that runs beneath the Bridge. Mark Merrill's body was found a mile downstream on May 1st. The other two weren't located until May 15th, below Boucher Rapids, over ten miles downriver from where they jumped in. Read Full Story...
Thursday, October 15, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips
View Comments (8)
Smarten up
A smarmy checklist of 8 steps that would prevent most searches, rescues and deaths in the woods
Hey campers, I've been reviewing the summer's more interesting and/or instructional rescue incidents and basically yawning over 95% of them. Not to minimize the pain, suffering and pathos of the several dozen unfortunates who died or were injured by falls, heat stroke, hypothermia, or kayaking accidents this summer, but the vast majority of mayhem was caused by what park rangers call 'vacation brain', and what outdoor writers call 'the naturalist's trance.'Basically, you're in the glorious outdoors, ecstatic to get away from urban or career hell, and you relax, watching the clouds, listening to bird calls, rippling water, and wind blowing through the pines. And then suddenly it's dusk, you're not sure where you are, the temperature's dropping, and it's started to rain. All of a sudden nature's not so fun.
This does not just occur to urban refugees btw; The modern ski-town crop of lycra-sheathed hardbodies has had their share of 'training mishaps' this summer, setting off on hammer trail runs without map, compass or awareness, and scrambling peaks in ultralight, ultra-clueless style.
Since survival is all about avoiding survival scenarios, not perservering through them, it's fairly easy to stay out of trouble (most of the time) using a few simple measures. This is not rocket science: Read Full Story...
Tuesday, October 06, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips
View Comments (1)
The Guiding Life: Part III
Thoughts on leading a dozen guests through big, bad wilderness
Yo Campers. I've returned from guiding and am back in magazine mode (i.e. stuffed in a closet, pounding keyboard). But here's a a quick recap of my last foray through Zion and Bryce before I dive into assignment catch-up lest the editor's spank me.
Leading a 12-person group was awesome, and demanding, even with a solid assistant guide and a full compliment of upstanding, understanding hikers. For one, with any large group there will be differences in athleticism, pace, temperament and desire. Some people want to hammer. Some want to contemplate. Some are curious about geology and natural history, while others just want to ogle pink rock and blue skies. More people equals more variation in said parameters, but you've got to keep everyone reasonably together, happy, interested, involved, and last but definitely not least, safe.
This can be a balancing act, and it requires reading each person subtly, especially when high temperatures and sun suddenly make a straightforward hike rather trying, as they did in Bryce. Taken as a whole, the week reminded me forcefully that leading groups is all about fun, but it's no simple walk in the park. Read Full Story...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips
View Comments (0)
The Big Trip
Thoughts on adventure organization from the depths of packing hell
Trekking the Bagley Icefield, Wrangell-St. Elias, AKFor a feral outdoor writer like myself, big wilderness assignments are the juice of the job, the what-gets-you-off part. Sure, it's rewarding seeing your words and photos in print, but nothing compares to a month in big, brawling wilderness. I bring this up because I'm frantically finishing up biz and packing to leave for a four-week recreational survey of Alaska.
Hey, nice work if you can get it, but the logistics are daunting; stringing together multiple hikes, overnights and five-day trips in rapid-fire style. There's not much leeway for rain, bugs, unexpected swamps or 'gee this is bigger than I thought'. Right now it's less than a week till blast-off, but I've also got the Outdoor Retailer Show to drop by, two feature drafts to submit, and a lot of gear to sort and pack. Amid the chaos of finding my 'old reliable' stuff, reading maps, and prepping kits of various types, I've come up with some tips for fellow hike-a-holics who might be prepping for an annual summer expedition.
[] Keep a master calendar that includes the lead-up to your trip: You can print custom pdf calendars free off the internet. Pencil and count off days, write down airline times, allow for travel and shuttles, record important details like the time and place of a rendezvous, possible route delays, numbers of motels or outfitters. The visual layout of a calendar helps you accurately budget days and avoid list-induced mistakes. Read Full Story...
Monday, July 20, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips
View Comments (0)
Really Lost Hikers and Slow Evacuations
Striking case histories from Australia and the slopes of Mount Terror
Ruined Castle Overlook, Blue Mountains, AustraliaWell, the summer vacation season is well underway and my news feeds are bulging with mostly boring hiker-takes-off-with-zero-preparation-and-gets-lost–overnight stories. But a couple cases stand out.
Climber Spends Four Nights on
On
According to party member Steph Abegg’s first-hand trip report on SummitPost.org, they were about a third of the way up the route, climbing as two rope teams of two each, when the lead climber, Steve Trent, pulled a huge block loose, took a 60-foot fall, and ended up with head injuries, a shattered heel, and a broken femur. Only the fact that they were climbing on twin 8mm ropes saved him, since one of the ropes was cut to the core by rockfall.
The remaining trio managed to get the unconscious
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & tips
View Comments (1)
Thor Crashes the Barbecue
Close encounters of the electrical kind highlight this Fourth of July - and lightning safety
Photo: NOAA Well, I sure got my fireworks show on the Fourth!. Little Torrey town had their classic morning parade, then I grabbed the iPod, hydration pack, a couple apples, and took off for a three-hour run atop Meeks Mesa, a high sandstone plateau northeast of town. Since it was Saturday morning, I didn't get moving very early, so it was nearly 4p.m. by the time I turned around to begin dropping off the mesa edge, jogging back toward home, shower and the annual mega-barbecue at Duane and Donna's.
As my northern wanderings went south, the scenery changed as well - from bright sun to really dark clouds pouring over Boulder Mountain. Angry lightning pulsed between cloud and cliff rims, lighting up the cumulonimbus like japanese lanterns.
Now frankly, lightning scares the crap out of me, thanks to past brushes. Thor, the hot-tempered Norse god of thunder, and I don't play well together. Perhaps it's because he's always throwing that Mjolnir hammer, the one 'that smashes.' As Longfellow wrote:
"Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake."
So I ran hard, knowing it was a race to reach my truck before I ended up re-enacting Tom Cruise's run from the alien death-rays in Spielberg's War of the Worlds. I've been there before. No thanks.
By the time I dove into the 'Yota, drops were splattering off the hardpan and bolts were already slamming into the flats a mile off. I arrived home in a hurricane deluge of rain and blowing leaves, just in time to turn off all the computers and cower in the living room until the gunshot cracking finally died. An hour later all was clear and it was time for barbecue.
I wasn't alone in having a dramatic, electrical Fourth. That same day...
Read Full Story...
Monday, July 06, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & Tips
View Comments (1)
The Frying Game
This is your brain. This is your brain on heat stroke. Any questions?
Cholla cactus in 107F, Mojave desert south of Yuma, Arizona. Infrared slide. Well, now that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has totally ruined my life as a married solo thru-hiker type, I'll try to ignore my current troubles by diving into trail-level survival cautions - namely hot weather, it's perils, and how to exercise in it.
Yes, I know, it's been a long wet, spring in many parts of the U.S.. But trust me, that's over. Welcome to the dog days of summer, the annual hot, dry, stagnant weather period that, for most of North America, falls between early July and late September. Despite what your Girls Gone Wild video collection might imply, high summer ain't all bikinis and Hawaiian Tropic, it's a committing season. In winter, you can layer on the down and Gore-Tex, but in summer, you can only strip so naked, and survival becomes more about smarts than gear.
If you're going to be outside exercising, and especially backpacking and camping where you're out 24/7, you need to understand what heat does to your body, and how to control that.
Exercise increases your metabolic rate, which increases you body temperature - especially when combined with hot air temperatures and solar heating. The human body does not like running too hot, above say 102 degrees Fahrenheit, because proteins start changing, and cellular reactions get funky. In order to prevent organ damage from high body temperatures, your brain triggers arteries and veins to expand, shunting blood flow to the skin like a car's radiator. This puts less blood, and considerably more stress, through your heart and lungs.
To adapt, the body increases its sweat rate, becoming more efficient at cooling. On a cellular level, your body also develops 'heat shock proteins' which allow cellular functions to continue at somewhat higher temperatures. Adaptation speed and total heat adaptation are limited, even with training. You can only push so hard in hot weather.
In healthy situations, your blood vessel expansion and evaporative cooling from perspiration can adjust to the heat. But if you push too hard, or too long, or it's just too damn hot (as in air temperatures above 100 degrees F), the body's cooling mechanisms get overwhelmed, leading to hyperthermia - meaning dangerously high body core temperatures. Read Full Story...
Sunday, June 28, 2009 in: Survival, Skills & Tips
View Comments (2)
Bad News Triple Header from Yosemite and Great Basin
Two deaths and a close call illustrate the perils of unroped scrambling, crowded routes, and summit separations
Image via FlickrLessons from Half Dome
On Saturday, June 13th, hiker Manoj Kumar, 40, fell to his death off the Half Dome cables in Yosemite Valley. His fall occurred one week after another hiker fell 300 feet but survived. Rangers had to evacuate 41 gripped hikers from the route. You can read more on this earlier Daily Dirt post, and in this Backpacker forum. Both include first-hand eye-witness accounts. Here's my take:
[] Many people underestimate exposed scramble climbs. While weather, heavy traffic, and often-unqualified hikers make the phenomenon worse on Half Dome, the same sort of accident occurs routinely on less famous or traveled scramble peaks. Climbing any Class III or IV route requires thousands of individual moves. It only takes one miss. You can't expect a perfect record, but that's what soloing requires - even when you've got a hand line. It's strictly for very high-mileage, well-trained climbers, and they die by the dozens too. Half Dome averages about three deaths a year, but relative to the visitor numbers, that's not a particularly high figure. Read Full Story...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 in: Survival, News & Events, Skills & Tips
View Comments (5)
Things Not to Do With Bears
Yeah, and this too
Yellowstone circa 1950. Photo: Sarah Howe, Howe family archives.Well, there's not much out there in the way of instructive backcountry accidents, other than lots of lost hikers, several drowned kayakers and canoeists, and mountaineering tragedies on Denali and Minya Gongga in China that illustrate how mountains are bigger and badder than any human being, no matter how gnarly and experienced we are. Noted alpinist/ice climber/paraglider Will Gadd has an excellent post on the often-understated risks of high-adventure sport. It's well worth a read.
What has been notable, however, is a trio of bear versus human smackdowns, none of which proved fatal for either species, fortunately. Read Full Story...
Friday, June 12, 2009 in: Survival, News & Events, Skills & Tips
View Comments (0)
Find the Outdoor Equipment You Need
BACKPACKER Food & Recipe Center
The ultimate trail-ready archive 
for all your recipe needs.
GearFinder
Find all the outdoor equipment you need. 
Fix-It Center
Make your gear last forever 
with this ultimate DIY guide.
Backpacker's Gadget Guide 2009
The latest gadgets for technophobes, technogeeks,
and everyone in between.
YES! Please send me my 2 FREE trial issues of BACKPACKER
and my FREE digital Survival Skills 101
