Repair it Right

Do you have the stuff in your pack to make a field repair to your tent, boots, or other gear?  Having something fail miles from the trail head can really ruin a trip, but having a well stocked repair kit can save the day and the trip.  Here are some things to consider having in your kit.

• Duct Tape – This is a must! keep about 10 feet or so wrapped around your hiking pole. If you don’t use poles wrap it around a cut down ball point pen.  Check the tape one a year or so to make sure it is still usable… Duct tape is a good quick fix for almost everything but remember to remove the tape as soon as you get home and make a true repair the longer the tape is stuck the more damage you might do trying to remove it.
• Multi-Tool with Scissors – Scissors make all the difference, it is the hardest tool to improvise.  Cutting moleskin is so much easier with scissors. Pack a quality multi-tool its worth the weight!
• Floss and a Needle -  Sew anything! Floss is super strong and makes a great repair thread.
• Zip Ties – The plastic version of duct tape. Zip ties are cheap and can be used in many repairs.
• Tent Pole Repair Sleeves – These can save the trip if you break a pole, chances are slim but if it happens you will be glad you have repair sleeves.
• Paracord – Another must have, paracord can be cobra stitched or wrapped around lost of items you are already bringing.
• Safety Pins – Pin a rip shut, They weight nothing so bring them!
• Super Glue – Glue cuts shut, fix boots, small holes in anything, ect.  Super glue is great to have.

Please share what you carry in your kit in the comments below or better yet tell a story of failed gear on the trail and how you saved the day! 

Enjoy the Outdoors!

Saturday September 24 2011, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, along with 31 other trail clubs will be launching Family Hiking Day. In part, supported by REI, Family Hiking Day is a great opportunity to get families to enjoy the outdoors together. The event will be held on National Public Lands Day and coordinating with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative.

So I urge you to grab your family and head outside. Whether it be a short stroll with the grandparents or an all day hike with the super fit family spend some time together in the best place of all… in the woods!

The ATC has a few links to help your family plan a hike:

• A list of family friendly hikes – including some guided hikes led by Appalachian Trail Clubs
• Guidelines for planning a family hike
• Games and activities that you can bring with while you’re out on the Trail.
• A place to submit your family hike story and for a chance to win prizes.

If you are looking to plan a hike in Western, MA I can help pick a hike for your family, just contact me.
If you do participate I would love to have you share your family hike story here at huskyhiker.com… contact me!

I spent a good chunk of last summer hiking the hills of the Berkshires, exploring some great places and even some not so great places… I hiked, I camped, I hiked some more and I wrote and wrote and wrote.  I spent way to much time at the library! In the end I had compiled 20 of the nicest easy hikes the Berkshires has to offer… If anyone has purchased the book I  would love to hear your feedback.

Photo by Gerry Gosselin

The Map, Compass and Survival Course is one of the “advanced skills” courses offered by the MA Hunter Education Program. Courses are traditionally held once/month on a Saturday from April – October, Visit MassWildlife for more info on Compass & Survival Course offerings. All Courses are free of charge.

Gerry attended the class last year and shared his story in a guest post titled “The ‘L’ Word – You Should Never Get “Lost””

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From the Big MOE website:

A Brief History:
The Massachusetts Outdoor Expo, fondly referred to as The Big M.O.E., started out with a group of sportsmen and women who wanted to create an opportunity for kids of all ages to learn more about outdoor skills, wildlife and conservation. They approached the Hamilton Rod and Gun Club in Sturbridge to host the Mass. Outdoor Expo, due to its central location, facilities and the connections the group had to the club. An annual event was born!

A couple years later, members of the Mass. Outdoor Expo group approached FAWNS, (Facts About Wildlife & Nature Society) a non-profit group founded in 1998 to promote the connection of people to the outdoors. FAWNS was interested in promoting educational experiences focusing on the outdoors. A “natural” connection between the Expo group and FAWNS was obvious.  A partnership was formed and FAWNS became the organizing entity supporting the Big MOE.

Hope to see you there!
The Mass. Outdoor Expo is September 26, 2010 from 9am to 4pm at the Hamilton Rod & Gun Club in Sturbridge, MA (directions)

Just Roughin' It

Just Roughin’ It is based out of Chandler, AZ and offers fully equipped backpacking tours or day hikes for all abilities and skill levels. They are the premier provider of adventure tour vacations in the southwest offering trips throughout Arizona, Yosemite  and the Grand Canyon. You really get the opportunity to  make your own trip with these guys, want a bare bones trip they can do that, want a personal chef and a mule to carry your gear they can arrange that… Their biggest specialty is matching a person to a trip that is right for them based on hiking experience and level of fitness

All the info you need to plan and book a trip can be found at their website www.justroughinit.com. They also have a YouTube Channel, a Flicker stream with some amazing trip photos, or you can follow them on Twitter or Facebook for the latest news…

They supply top quality gear (like: Osprey Backpacks, Big Agnes sleeping bags and pads, Big Agnes Tents, and even top of the line gear for kids too!), experienced guides for your trek and  three tasty gourmet fully cooked on site meals a day.  Look forward to munching on Southwest Breakfast Burritos, Chicken Xanadu, or Pesto Pasta with Pine Nuts before or after a day of hiking the beautiful southwest. All guides have at least 80 hours of Wilderness First Responder of equivalent (this means we are trained to handle all kinds of emergencies in remote settings), First aid and CPR training, and are Food Handlers Certified most of all they are knowledgeable and friendly. Safety is their number one concern!

Arizona trips include: Grand Canyon, Phoenix/ Scottsdale, Tucson/ Sky Islands, and Superstition Mountains. Utah trips include: Paria Canyon/ Buckskin Gulch. Other locations and custom trip info can be found on http://justroughinit.com.
Here is a sample itinerary for the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim 4 Day, North to South tour:

• Day 1 – We pick you up from your hotel and drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Once we arrive at the trailhead, we begin our 7-mile hike with a 4,000-foot elevation change to the Cottonwood Campground.

• Day 2 – We pack up and hike along Bright Angel Creek another 7 miles and 1,500 feet down to Bright Angel Camp. On the way, we drop our packs and do a side hike to Ribbon Falls, one of the most scenic areas along the North Kaibab Trail.

• Day 3 – We pack up and hike along Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden. This is a 5-mile hike, ascending 1,200 feet. After we set up camp, we can take a side hike to Plateau Point for some beautiful views of the inner canyon and the Colorado River.

• Day 4 – We hike out of the canyon along Bright Angel Trail. This is a 4.5-mile hike with a 3,000 foot increase in elevation.

So Find Them On: - Twitter - Facebook - YouTube - Flickr - Better Business Bereau – and have a great trip!!!

Photo by Gerry Gosselin

Guest post by Gerry Gosselin
Want to be a guest poster on HuskyHiker.com?  E-mail me

Every hiker should have a compass right? Eventually I got around to picking one out, not because I felt I needed it, but because I’m a gadget whore and that itch needed to be scratched. A Suunto A-10 found it’s way into my possession for about $15 US. Then it sat in my bag for 2 years barely getting any use. I’m a novice day trip hiker who usually sticks to marked trails. Every now and then I get turned around but the areas I hike in Western MA don’t usually extend more than 10 miles in any direction before hitting a road. Getting truly lost was never a concern, only a minor nuisance.

This last Saturday June 12, 2010 I took a Compass, Map, Survival Course offered free by the State of Massachusetts. It’s a 10 hour course, half classroom and half in the field. The course was light on survival but very detailed on the map and compass work. If I took anything away from the course it’s that you will never ever use the ‘L’ word (lost) again as long as you have your trusty compass and map. The course really changed the way I think about hiking in the woods. Here are a few benefits I can see to truly knowing and practicing map and compass navigation.

1. Who needs it when everyone has a GPS? The obvious answer is GPS batteries die, GPS units die, and GPS reception will probably be flaky when you need it the most. A compass is a non-electronic analog device powered by the Earth itself. You can submerge it in water and it will likely outlive you. No one is saying throw out your GPS in favor of a compass. Having a backup for a critical tool is good survival planning. Backup your GPS with a solid compass and detailed map and you’ll never be lost again.

2. GPS units point you in a straight line to your destination. But a good 1/24,000 scale contour map will show you the terrain. Observe the contour of the land. Perhaps you’d rather go around a mountain, or avoid scrambling up a cliff, or cross a river at a bridge. Good map skills can get you where you need to go safer and easier. That is, until Google starts mapping major hiking trails with traffic data, routing based on elevation, weather patterns, average pace, and Calorie efficiency. You know it’s coming.
3. The biggest danger to you when you are turned around in the woods is your own head. You need to keep cool, come up with a plan, and execute it. A map and a compass in hand will instantly reduce your stress level because you aren’t really lost! Your first job is to find where you are on the map. In heavily wooded areas this can be a challenge. But once you hike that peak or find that vista where you can get a good idea of the layout of the land you should be able to find your location. Now you plot your course and make for it. Constantly checking up on your progress with your map and compass is a reassuring thing that will keep you cool and levelheaded. It’s easy for your head to make you believe you need to go in a certain direction. Some may call it intuition, direction sense, or a dangerously over-inflated ego. It can be unnerving when the compass tells you the opposite. After a quick check of your compass to ensure it’s not pointing at your cell phone or wind-up flashlight, you need to put your flawless direction sense aside and trust the compass. Your head can be in a weird place when you’re lost, trust your tools instead.

4. How did you get lost in the first place? Another important thing I learned from the course. Didn’t you plot out where you started and where you were going before you headed into the woods? Did you check your compass and map all along the way? If you fail to use your map and compass from the get-go, your job is much harder. Before you head out study the map, mark it up, plot your course and return trip. If you do these things, use your map, and compass along the way you’ll never get lost in the first place. Everyone likes to be told periodically that they are doing a good job when they are engaged in a difficult task. Your map and compass will be that calm and confident nod of approval every step of the way.

5. Know your pace and keep track of it. I had never thought about this unexpected gem. In the course, we measured how many paces it took to walk 100 feet. A pace is every time your left foot hits the ground. I believe mine was about 21. If the map tells us we need to travel 1500 feet to our next destination, and I’m counting my paces, I will know roughly when I’m in the right area. If I go 2000 feet and still haven’t found my destination then I know perhaps I was too far left or right and went by it, time to backtrack. Smart map and compass users carry rangers beads or pace count beads to keep track of how far they’ve gone. My instructor was nice enough to give me his to keep after the course. It’s some shoe lace and beads but it meant a lot and I’ll never go into the woods without it.

In closing, I’ve read a bit more about this subject in the last two days and there seems to be a bitter distaste for GPS users in this community. I’m an all inclusive kind of guy so if I have a GPS unit AS WELL AS a map and compass I’m going to be a lot happier than having only one or none. I can see the point that a GPS can make you lazy in that you never practice your map and compass skills, and that’s a valid concern. Hell I’ve been hiking for decades and this is the first time I’ve seriously respected the old map and compass combo. I strongly encourage you to get a Sylva style compass (with that transparent internal dial), read a good book or take a course on map and compass use, then practice. Not only can it save your life, it’s pretty fun and rewarding as well. And when the zombie apocalypse comes, you’ll be a survivor!

By the way, I like my Suunto A-10 but the class gave me an appreciation for compasses with a sighting mirror. This Brunton 15TDCL appears to be the bee’s knees. Reviewers have suggested that there are cheap knock-offs of this compass but this model is the original and maintains a high standard of quality. It’s definitely on my list to become my primary compass with my A-10 as a backup.

With spring comes ticks… It seems to be worse and worse every year. On an average hike I can pick at least 3-4 ticks off me and if I have the dog with me double that off him. Ticks carry lyme disease and rocky mountain spotted fever. The risk of contacting lyme disease increases after 24-72 hours after the tick attaches. It can take 1-4 months for lyme symptoms to show up, symptoms are flu like. If you find an attached tick watch the site after removal for a few weeks for a rash, if a rash appears see your doctor.  At least with pets you have the availability of Revolution, Advantage, Advantix, and the like. For us two legged folks we are not so lucky… We don’t have any magic topical drops to repel ticks. In this post I will go over some ways to help keep you tick free.

The most important thing is keeping the ticks off you to start with.

Here are some simple things you can do to keep ticks from biting:

• Wear long pants, long sleeve shirt, socks, and a hat when you can. Also it helps to keep your shirt tucked in to your pants.
• Stay on groomed trails, avoid bushwhacking.
• Spray exposed skin and areas like bottom of pants with a replant containing deet. The more deet % the better.

Always check yourself very carefully when coming in from an adventure in the woods or other tick hot spots. Ticks like to make a home in warm moist areas on your body like armpits, back of the knees, and the groin area. Check everywhere and check well, just taking a shower when you get home is not enough.

If you find a tick on you don’t panic if you take the right steps to remove it you will be on your way worry free. You can find a tool in just about every shape and color for tick removal. If you are lucky the tick will not have had a chance to bite and embed its head yet. If that is the case you can just pick it off… If the little bugger has got a chance to embed then removal is a bit trickier.

How to remove an embedded tick:

• If you have a tool follow the instructions that came with the tool.
• If not you can use tweezers the finer the point the better.
• Grasp the tick as close to the skin as you can.
• Pull the tick out by slowly pulling straight up. Do not twist or rock the tick out.
• Flush the tick down the toilet or place the tick in a cup of rubbing alcohol to kill it.
• Clean the area the tick was attached with rubbing alcohol.
• Never try to remove a tick with a hot match, peanut butter, or petroleum jelly. It just won’t work…

If you take some simple steps to protect yourself ticks are nothing to worry about…

This Weeks Gain: 0.2lbs
Total Loss:             7.8lbs

4 gym days
4.5 miles hiked

Then I was thinking about what I was like back then…  I had just lost about 70lbs and was full of confidence.  I lost a good deal of weight in a little over a year,  and ten years later it is all back plus some.  It is time to get serious about this.  I am starting all over Wednesday Weigh-in Week 1 this week!   Its time to get fit and meet the goals I have had for years!!!

Start Weight: 298 lbs
Current Weight: 296.6 lbs
Weeks Change: -.8 lbs
Last Weight: 297.4 lbs
Total Change: – 1 lbs

Overweight Hikers

I saw this cartooon from thingsbearslove.com on Jeff”s blog “Transcripts of my Internal Monologue” and just had to repost it…

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 291lbs
Last weight – 278lbs
Weight change – +13lbs
Total lost – 7lbs

So this is my reintroduction…  I’m back to try again…

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 271lbs
Last weight – 272.5lbs
Lost this week – 1.5lbs
Total lost – 27lbs

Slim Cache – Slim Cache is run by Jereme Gray, He like me is overweight and is devoted to shedding the pounds.  He has also chosen to loose weight by doing something he loves, geocaching.  He has lost more than 60 pounds to date.  Swing by and show him some support…

Love in a Tent - Michelle Waitzman author of “Sex in a Tent” runs this blog.  She is living abroad in New Zealand and shares her hiking and camping trips with the world.  You can also find tips, reviews and much more.

Camping Blogger – A wonderful family camping blog run by Roy Scribner.  Roy and his family are campers and share tons of awesome info and insight on camping with the family as well as getting the kids out of the house and in to the woods… Web 2.0 meet Earth 2000.0!

The habit of cooking at home has been broken. It is just so easy to pick something up. Working 10 hour days doesn’t help much either. Still have been avoiding fast food. So that is good. I’m getting back on track so expect a nice loss next week…

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 272.5lbs
Last weight – 273lbs
Lost this week – .5lbs
Total lost – 25.5lbs

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 273lbs
Last weight – 274lbs
Lost this week – 1lbs
Total lost – 25lbs

SportTracks

I was recently turned on to a program SportTracks.  SportTracks is a GPS-enabled exercise logbook. When you import your GPS log to SportTracks it automatically track the time, distance, and pace of your hike run or other workout…  They even have a plugin catalog with options to add like Polar HRM manager, geotaging, ect. If you are in to tracking your exercise and want to do this with your GPS than this is the program for you…  This program is a keeper for me.

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 274lbs
Last weight – 275lbs
Lost this week – 1lbs
Total lost – 24lbs

So not bad, a loss is a loss…
It is starting to get cold here in New England. The day time high has not been reaching 40. I think I am going to get a membership at the gym for the winter and maybe start the couch to 5K program

Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 275lbs
Last weight – 277.5lbs
Lost this week – 2.5lbs
Total lost – 23lbs

I wasn’t myself.  I was tired, so tired.  Because I really enjoy hiking, geocaching, biking, kayaking, camping and outdoor adventures, I didn’t want my weight to be an issue any more.  I am inviting all of those who enjoy the outdoors or/and are overweight to follow my adventures.  Who knows where we’ll end up!

My adventures, here on these pages I will be sharing all my adventures in this journey.  Hikes I go on, awesome food I cook, camping trips, gear I buy, reviews, pictures, rants and raves, you know the usual.