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Lunchbox's Disaster Round-Up, 11-20
The beloved star of our in-book feature "The Predicament," Lunchbox the Cadaver Sniffing Dog, brings you a round-up of this week's outdoor predicaments, disasters, and near-misses
Lunchbox here: I've just finished a roll in a pile of Colorado's week-old snow—part of my preparation to get winterized for the coldest season's rescues. Let's take a look at this week's outdoor predicaments and see if we can't glean some wisdom fromt hsi week's wilderness triumphs and tragedies: Read Full Story...
Friday, November 20, 2009 in: Lunchbox Disaster Roundup, Survival
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Lunchbox's Disaster Round-Up, 11-13
The beloved star of our in-book feature "The Predicament," Lunchbox the Cadaver Sniffing Dog, brings you a round-up of this week's outdoor predicaments, disasters, and near-misses
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 in: Lunchbox Disaster Roundup, Survival
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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
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Lunchbox's Disaster Roundup
The beloved star of our in-book feature "The Predicament," Lunchbox the Cadaver Sniffing Dog, brings you a round-up of this week's outdoor predicaments, disasters, and near-misses
Ahoy-hoy, Lunchbox here: People can't seem to go a week without getting hurt in the backcountry. It means I'll get to stay up to my ears in kibble, but it also means that some of you could be a little more careful when you head into the wild. Class is in session—let's take a look at this week's wilderness woes:Read Full Story...
Friday, November 06, 2009 in: News and Events, Survival, Lunchbox Disaster Roundup
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Der Yodelblog
A photo preview from our latest Editor's Choice testing junket to Switzerland
Dusk near the top of Hannamoospass
Well, I'm still tired. All my stinky gear is STILL in the duffle it was hastily crammed into whilst leaving Grindelwald. I've got a wicked chest cold (again). And I've barely left the couch -or set down the remote control - since returning to Rancho Elvis. Sounds like my typical post-trip chaos and sloth...
Friday, November 06, 2009 in: Survival
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Lunchbox's Disaster Roundup
The beloved star of our in-book feature "The Predicament," Lunchbox the Cadaver Sniffing Dog, rounds up this week's outdoor mishaps, disasters, and near-misses
Lunchbox here: Cooling weather might keep a few of us indoors, but plenty of people still get into outdoor scraps even as fall comes on. All of which means I'm still out there, hopefully getting told to "stay" rather than play "fetch the femur." Let's check out our wilderness blotter and see if we can't learn a few things from other people's mistakes. Read Full Story...
Friday, October 30, 2009 in: Survival, News and Events, Lunchbox Disaster Roundup
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Coyotes Kill Folk Singer
Up-and-coming Canadian folk singer killed by coyotes while on tour
This seems like a sad first: Coyotes apparently killed a 19-year-old Canadian folk singer while she was on break from tour in Canada's Cape Breton National Park. Taylor Mitchell, an up-and-coming Toronto musician touring Canada's Maritime provinces, was hiking along that park's popular Skyline Trail when two coyotes ganged up and attacked her. Other hikers chased the animals away, but Mitchell later died of her injuries in a Halifax hospital.Coyote attacks are exceedingly rare, with most incidents involving young children. Injuries rarely surpass a few bites. Officials aren't sure what provoked this attack, though they don't suspect rabies.
"They may have snuck up on her and knocked her over before she even knew what happened," (park biologist Bob Bancroft) said. "They may have been youngsters. They just may not have had a lot of experience, or they may have just capitalized on a situation where a young person was acting vulnerable and very frightened by their presence."Read Full Story...
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in: Nature and Wildlife, News and Events, Survival
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Off to the Alps
A few Alaska photos, an expedition website, and a quick update on Editor's Choice 2010
Sorry I'm late again teacher. No unique excuse, just got big-time busy turning around a bunch of article re-writes, editing all my Alaska slides, and getting ready to jet off in about five minutes on our annual Editor's Choice testing trip.
This time it's the Alps. The location's still kinda secret, but let's just say it's a place with lots of chocolate, discreet bankers, and cute little pocket knives
So, for eight days your tireless Backpacker testing crew is going into full yodel, splitting into two groups that will each backpack half of a long-distance alpine trek, meeting in the middle. Enroute we'll be shooting photos and video while lab-hamstering new standout gear that testers and staffers have nominated for 2010 E.C. .
Now, conventional wisdom might dictate that we'll just be junketing from beer hall to beer hall, waiting for payola to dictate our award choices. But the sad reality is that we'll just be humping too-large loads of superfluous consumer goods on a magnificent high Alpine trek, and then arguing into the wee hours about our choices. Read Full Story...
Sunday, October 25, 2009 in: Survival
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Lunchbox's Disaster Roundup
The beloved star of our in-book feature "The Predicament," Lunchbox the Cadaver Sniffing Dog, brings you a round-up of this week's outdoor predicaments, disasters, and near-misses
[Ed. note: This is the first post from Lunchbox—impressive for an animal without opposable thumbs, so be kind.]Lunchbox here—you may remember me from "The Predicament" in BACKPACKER's magazine. I'm pretty cute, in an ugly-dog sort of way, but you don't want to meet me out on the trail. They call me out when things go wrong and everyone suspects the worse. But there's a lot you can do to avoid that: Let's take a look at this week's predicaments to sniff out what we can learn. Read Full Story...
Friday, October 23, 2009 in: Skills, Weird and Funny, Survival, Lunchbox Disaster Roundup
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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
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