Caption This Photo! Week 5

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's a tourist?

So last week's photo didn't fare as well as earlier weeks, with only ten captions. But all ten were different and funny, so be sure to check them out. Here's our favorite caption from last week plus this week's jaw-dropping photo. Read Full Story...

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in: Caption This Photo
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Hike of the Day: Hadley Mountain in the Adirondacks

This family-friendly hike climbs to Hadley Mountain Fire Tower and showcases expansive views of the Adirondack High Peaks and Great Sacandaga Lake.

Ascend 1.5 miles to Hadley Mountain, an Adirondack peak with wide-open views of Great Sacandaga Lake, the High Peaks, and Lake Champlain. A fire tower stands on the southern end of this broad mountaintop. Climb six sets of stairs to reach.... Read Full Story...

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in: Destinations, Hike of the Day, Maps
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Ask A Bear: Can Boat Horns Scare Bears?

Got a burning ursine question? Ask our resident bruin expert in our weekly feature, 'Ask A Bear.'

Q: I think a small boat horn would be as effective in dealing with bears as would say bear spray, also
it could be used if you get lost to call for help, and it also can be used to a limited degree to defend
yourself. I'm not sure but I believe Alaskan salmon fisherman use them for protection against you (bears). —James McCandless, via email
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 in: Ask A Bear, Nature And Wildlife
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Hike of the Day: Trail of Ten Falls in Oregon

A classic waterfall hike in Silver Falls State Park, the Trail of Ten Falls visits 11 cascades and tours lush forests sprinkled with vibrant wildflowers.

Map contributor Eli Boschetto of Portland, Oregon calls this 7.7-mile loop in Silver Falls State Park one of his favorite dayhikes. It's a waterfall lover's--and photographer's--nirvana, featuring spectacular views above, below, and behind cascades of all shapes and sizes. See more photos and turn-by-turn trail beta at backpacker.com/hikes/448668. Read Full Story...

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 in: Destinations, Hike of the Day, Maps
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Fact Or Fiction: Survival Hunter, New Zealand Bans #2, Montana Ends Wolf Hunt

This week's weird outdoor news—plus one faker.

When it comes to generating amazing stories, outdoor reality can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood's latest craziness. But not all of the following outdoor news is true—can you figure our fibs? Read on to find out—and remember, no using the Google to cheat!
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009 in: Fact Or Fiction, News and Events
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Backpacker Photo School: Light Direction

The way light illuminates a subject can make or break a photo. Learn to use the direction of light to your advantage.

Photography is all about light. The subject is important, sure—but a photo always captures a subject in one particular lighting situation.

Light has two properties: quality and direction. We already talked about one quality of light in our cloudy day lesson. But when it’s not cloudy, direction of light becomes even more important.

Direction of light is defined by its direction in relation to the subject. Light can hit any subject in three basic ways: from the front, side, or behind. Read Full Story...

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Friday, November 13, 2009 in: Backpacker Photo School
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Environmental Groups Ask For Stop To Yellowstone Bison Slaughter

A coalition of environmental and American Indian groups are suing two federal agencies to stop the killing of Yellowstone bison.

Each winter the bison that leave Yellowstone in search of food are rounded up and shipped to slaughter. The reason? To keep the parks bison from passing disease on to cattle in near by ranch lands. Nine environmental groups in all have joined together to sue the National Parks Service and the Forest Service. Read Full Story...

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Friday, November 13, 2009 in: News and Events
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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

Today is particularly inauspicious—it's Friday the 13th. Hopefully everyone is being careful out there on their wild adventures, because the dangers of Mother Nature are far more real than any hockey-mask-wearing serial killer. Let's take a look at this week's outdoor predicaments and see if we can't learn a little something (you too, Jason—remember the lake?): Read Full Story...

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 in: Lunchbox Disaster Roundup, Survival
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Trail Chef: Dinner & Dessert to Warm a Chilly Evening

What to scarf when the weather turns nasty

Winter camping. I'll be honest: Those two words strike a (ha!) chill in my heart. All that snow ... all those fingers and toes to freeze. But ever since we produced our winter camping opus in the Fall Gear Guide, I've been inspired to give it a try. One very convincing reason: You have to eat—a lot, and often—if you want to make it back unpopsicled.

When you're exercising in the cold, your body needs calories, stat. The colder it is, the more this is true. And when you break for the night... well, you'd better start shoveling in some nutrients to keep your metabolic fires stoked. So I asked someone who knows—Buck Tilton, our Medicine Man and coauthor of NOLS Winter Camping—about his favorite cold-camping dinner and dessert combo. Here's what he shared: Read Full Story...

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Thursday, November 12, 2009 in: Trail Chef
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Gear Test: Patagonia Boaris Limited Edition!

We assess the (fairly crazy) performance claims of this skate-inspired boar hunting shoe (Part 1 of a two-part gear testing smack-down)

In Salt Lake City last July, at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, I met with the fun ladies of Patagonia Footwear to get a peek at their Fall 09 and Spring 10 lines. What caught my eye were the Drifter AC, a sturdy low-top light hiker with a meshy upper and the Nine Trails, a super-light trailrunner. I’ve been wearing both through the fall (the Drifter AC in particular is awesome—it’s my go-to dayhiker right now).

But that’s all pretty straight-edge compared to the story behind the Boaris, a shoe made from pigskin and designed for—no joke—hunting boars. Here’s the story, as told to me by said fun Patagonia ladies and then liberally paraphrased and embellished by me: Fletcher Chouinard, son of the much-ballyhooed Patagonia founder Yvon, stumbled into a shoe design meeting (likely fresh from catching tubes) and said, “Hey guys, I need a boar-hunting shoe! Yes! It needs to handle the rigors of hunting shirtless in the backcountry with a spear. I need to be able to get feces, blood, and urine on it, but to come home clean because I can’t be shuffling around Ventura with all that on my shoes, and there’s no way I’m changing shoes.” So...surfer shoe? No. Feral pig hunting shoe? Ah, yes.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 in: Gear, Gear Test
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