June, 2008

The REI SubKilo Sleeping Bag gets it’s name from the weight of the bag. It only weighs .91 kilograms or about 2 lbs. As you can see from the picture below, this sleeping bag packs up to be about twice the size of a Nalgene bottle. It’s a little tight around my shoulders (I’m about 6 ft. with a 44” chest), but I expect that with a mummy bag. I got the long version so I have room to curl up in the bag. The standard version of the sleeping bag will fit heights up to 6 feet.

The High Sierra Access protects your notebook computer, while providing a comfortable, secure ride with ample storage and features. The pack holds up to a 17” screen size laptop computer with maximum dimensions of 15.5” X 10.75” X 1.8”. In addition to the padded computer sleeve, the Access has special pockets to securely carry your cell phone, iPod, GPS device, beverages and much more.

I tested the High Sierra Access backpack on a recent trip to the Alaskan bush. The weather, terrain and transportation methods put the pack to the test. This pack got the job done.

The device that clips into the cleat on your bike shoe resembles an Egg Beater. It’s basically a spring and two arms that extend from the axel of the pedal. Without a lot of mechanical parts, this pedal rarely has any problems. It sheds mud, like no other and allows you to clip onto the pedal with an inch of mud on your shoe. I’ve ridden on these pedals for five years and I’ve never had a problem. I’ve worn out a few sets of cleats, but that’s expected.

The Vasque Blur won Outside Magazine’s Trail Runner of the Year award in 2006. The design of the shoe has not changed and neither have the endorsements. I’ve found this to be a solid performing, comfortable and affordable all-round trail shoe. I use the term “trail shoe” because I wear it more for just trail running. It’s great for day hikes, overnight backpacking trips and for just kicking around.

The Can-Panion is a clip-on beverage holder that easily attaches to the side of your water craft, and a number of other objects. The beverage holder has a unique coil clip that allows you to stretch the holder over a variety of widths.

PROS

The Can-Panion holds very securely to the side of the boat. There are 4 prongs within the beverage holder that keep the beverage container from wiggling around in the holder. These prongs also allow for a variety of beverage container sizes.

Katmai Air offers flightseeing tours within Katmai National Park and the surrounding area. The daily tour from Brooks Camp is a one hour excursion where visitors have the opportunity for an aerial view of the "Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes", active volcanoes, Katmai Crater Lake and a variety of wildlife.

The drive out of Flagstaff was cloudy and cool. Unseasonably cool for Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. "Snow at the higher elevations, [of the San Francisco Mountains] up to a foot I hear" said the barista at the coffee shop. As we drove toward the canyon, Sam brought up the Death March, a hike he had dreamed of doing since moving to the southwestern desert 7 years ago. It involved hiking from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, to the North Rim, and back in 24 hours. 44 miles, 20,000 feet of elevation change, 24 hours. Sure, it has been done, but the question was could WE do it.

Chinook salmon have arrived at Riggins Idaho and along with the salmon so have the salmon anglers. As the salmon are staging at the mouth of the Little Salmon River waiting for the water temperatures to rise before beginning their migration up the Little Salmon anglers are making the most of this opportunity lining the bank and hoping to entice a chinook to their line.

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Copyright:

As we have continued to develop the look and feel of the National Outdoors website, we ran into a bit of a frustration with how the individual State pages looked.

So, after a bit of effort, we have a new design up and running for the California Outdoors and Oregon Outdoors pages. (Yes, we started on the West Coast and plan to move Eastward, but give us a little time.)

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument protects one of the longest and most continuous records of evolutionary change in North America. Scientists have unearthed countless fossils of land plants and animals dating back 6 to 54 million years as well as evidence of the dramatic climatic changes that have occurred.

Oregon Caves National Monument offers opportunities to explore a marble cave, as well as hike trails through ancient forests. Oregon Caves is located in Southern Oregon, near the California State border, in the Siskiyou Mountains. This region has among the country’s highest biodiversities per acre. The high rate of biodiversity is due to the diverse temperatures, moisture regimes, climates, and bedrock that make up the various habitats in the area.

As the rivers are running high and muddy salmon fishing is very tough. You may want to try and do some plunking for salmon under these conditions. I received several emails asking just how you would set up to do some plunking for salmon. This technique has been around for years and I thought that every one knew what I was talking about for those of you who didn’t let me explain a little about it.

I know that the river condition are not right for fly fishing for Salmon just yet but I thought that I would throw out some common tips to get you started on the right foot when the rivers do come in. I hope these help you in some way and that the rivers will straighten up soon until then here are the tips.

Tip #1: Fly Fishing for Salmon – Mood Matters