Cold Day @ Mohonk Mountain House
Was a chilly day at Mohonk which is a sure way to beat the crowd. Yeah, that’s a Brenig glove, that I had more distant plans for but works fine upstate. Single digits definitely kept things moving, all-in-all was dressed properly with hard to find Fjallraven Heater Hat, Marmot shell, and an old Montane Flux Jacket (Primaloft) and Montane Medusa Day Pack (love their stuff generally), Helly Hansen Odin Guide pants and Helly Baselayer, with Icebreaker wool long sleeve shirt under that. All good…
Calm Before the Kid Storm
This is camping before 50 or so kids arrive. My now 9 year-old and I head out on his annual school trip and get there a day early (Friday). Once in full swing the view changes a bit, mostly because he’s not yet ready to be fully on his own with his friends and suspect, city-bred decision making in the woods.
Fishing sans Fish
Busted out of NYC and got the not-so-little one out on a boat. Pretty fast boat at that (thanks to David). There are all to few days on the water and but we chalked this one up and it didn’t cost a single fish their existence. A live and let live kinda day. A good day.
Quick Car Camping
We went camping again. Quick trip with the now 8 year-old. A challenge is that this particular campground in New Jersey is somewhat poorly represented on the Internet.
Minnewaska SuperBowl Trails
Spent most of SuperBowl Sunday skiing (stumbling) around the trails of Lake Minnewaska outside of New Paltz. It’s a good and
Outward Bound National Dinner | 2014
The Outward Bound dinner (shaky cam shot by wife) was in some ways coming back home to a group that I was a part of a long time ago. I did my expedition back in 1981 (way back). In many ways those 21 days affected the rest of my life. There has always been this recognition of the planet, our place on the planet, and what it takes to live in closer step with the planet.
Car Camping + 7 year-old w/LREI
Getting out of the City is great. Grass is scarce where we live, but I think it’s important to see what’s buried underneath all this concrete.
Outward Bound (way back)
This showed up via Facebook from an old Outward Bound friend (thanks Brian). This was before Ultra Light, before pretty much everything we take for granted today when heading out (GPS, phone, anything light, etc). And even if it existed Outward Bound probably wouldn’t allow it. The point was to better understand how little was needed. Those 21 days changed the trajectory of my existence.
Outdoor Mktg Adds Layers w/ Video
Outdoor marketing seems to be turning a video corner. This one above from Backcountry. If you have 25 minutes to spend with another impressive and immersive video (w/ hunting): Searching for West.
Behind at the Mark
We’ re behind and I’m taking pictures. Relatively relaxed race at Oakcliff Sailing, in Oyster Bay aboard Clio. Took a sailing lesson (more…)
Everest
Friend Toby Storie-Pugh is climbing Everest. The expedition is slated for next year, and of course there is a Facebook page as well as a website. I won’t be going, but it’s still pretty exciting. And worth supporting. Just a quick post on a worthy endeavor. Anyone not chained to a desk gets significant kudos from me, and Toby is pretty emancipated. Worth supporting.
Back to Minnewaska
Made it back to Minnewaska in December. Last year there was virtually no snow so hope this is what the future looks like. Think
Not Light At All…camping
I considered a bunch of tents when my wife opted in for a quick camping trip. One of my favorite sites is Hiking in Finland which extols the virtues of Ultra-Light (UL) backpacking. I went in the opposite direction with a Kodiak canvas tent.
Back on the Bay
The Classic’s out at Oak Cliff in Oyster Bay are a great chance to get back out on the water. Definitely not the choice for anyone craving speed-induced adrenaline rush, but for a couple hours in the sun is a good shot to put day-to-day issues to rest and think about the wind/water for a while.
Not so far places…
Another quick trip out of NYC with Outdoor Bound. This one to Harriman State Park. Getting out of the City is like hitting the reset button, even if for a day.
Mt. Washington
Heading up Mt. Washington, in winter, has been a vague goal for a long time. Last week, something snapped, and on Monday I made plans to be there by Friday. (Pictured Above: Lake of the Clouds Hut as we descended).
Short Pyramid
Quick hike, got out of City with good friend (@nimanyc) to Pyramid Mountain (hill). Was looking for something fast and this fit. It’s sometimes a challenge to get good info on hikes though a stop at EMS, Tent Trails or REI can add helpful human perspective. I went with the Web.
Other Places
Some experiences seem to have happened in someone else’s life. Sailing across the Caribbean Sea was monotonous and I tried to put that to video with long slices of rolling waves across thirteen or so days.
Outside Update
Scored a Sunday with Outdoor Bound, a neighbor in the building where VoyageTV has office. I posted a somewhat uneventful hiking video here.
Wreck Dive/Bermuda
I had told myself that I wasn’t going to do any more deep dives or wreck dives. Mostly because I’m married with a four year-old, but also because the added risk did not equate to added enjoyment from my perspective.
Fishing Central Park
I’ve had fly fishing on my mind for a while. One more thing to do when I’m looking for something to do. And it’s one of those activities that takes something more than a casual amount of effort and somehow that has an appeal. Like sailing, fly fishing offers a lifetime of learning if you care to pay attention.
Motivational Gear
Sometimes it’s motivational just having the gear I might need to do something I want to do. The thing I want to do, in this case, is blue water/ocean sailing.
Been somewhat chained to the desk of VoyageTV as business at times will demand, but time to interject a little dose of diversity. Need to reacquaint myself with one of the reasons I’m working so hard in the first place. So sprung for a piece of gear, Crewsaver 190N, that one hopes to never use. But looking at my 3 year-old getting ready to be 4, I figure may as well dial-up the bad-day insurance with gear that is likely more than required, but I’d thank myself should I ever need it.
The 190 stands for Newtons and has to do with the force of buoyancy the vest has. It exceeds what most have (150 is common for off-shore), and that extra lift keeps one higher in the water. One aspect of the ocean that is mesmerizing to watch is the sheer power of weather. Seeing it firsthand my one focus is to simply stay in/on the boat. But the vest has an integrated harness which is important in that respect so you can tether yourself to boat when alone up top (on watch) or in weather. It has a spray-hood attached because that’s my other observation; if it’s raining and windy with seas even with a lifevest you’re spending a significant amount of time having water rolling across and over the top of you — that’s what it looks like would happen standing in the boat — I’ve fortunately never had to test this view.
Not sure that the vest is the whole answer but ordered it from the UK where it’s made and hope to be off-shore in the very near future. Here is the position to avoid at all costs.
Camping with the 3-year-old
Camping can be tricky. Many of us like the idea, but the execution is usually considerably more dusty and full of surprises. (more…)
No Life Vests on Gilt Groupe…
I used a Helley Hansen vest (buoyancy aid) sailing a couple of weeks ago and it worked on a couple of levels. For one, it was cold and the vest was more helpful in keeping me from freezing than an auto-inflate style that drapes around your neck. And second it looked better.