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Fuel prices seem to be rising again. I just filled my wife’s care at $2.99 per unleaded gallon. This is up a good 15 cents from what I was paying just days ago.

I checked the online news and, yes, fuel prices are rising around the globe (Fuel Prices Are Rising in Reno, Fuel Prices up in New Zealand) and the fuel supply is tightening.

But fuel isn’t the only ubiquitous commodity that we pay through the nose for.

How about bottled water? Last Sunday I enjoyed with my kids a day of roller coasters and similar thrill rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain. To slake my thirst, I bought a bottle of water and paid the gotcha-cuz-you-wouldn’t-dare-go-out-of-the-theme-park-to-buy-it price of $3.90 for 25 ounces of filtered city water. Of course, it would have been a lot cheaper at Costco by the case, but I was far from the nearest Costco.

Let’s see what a gallon of gas at the price of the bottled water would be. $3.90 for 25 ounces makes 15.6 cents per ounce or $2.50 per pound of gasoline. A gallon of gas weighs roughly 7 pounds.

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Meandering from Crown Point in eastern New York State through the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and ending in North Dakota at Lake Sakakawea is the North Country Trail.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the National Scenic Trail’s opening. Here are a couple of articles about the trail.

Happy 30th Birthday North Country National Scenic Trail!!!

Thanks go to Tom Gilbert of the National Park Service, all the trail partners across the 7-states, and all the current and former North Country Trail volunteers for making the last 30 years so memorable. Everybody sing “Happy Birthday” …

Publish Date: 03/05/2010 14:24

http://www.northcountrytrail.org/insight/

West Michigan News from the Grand Haven Tribune a Michigan Newspaper

North Country Trail Association helps to develop, maintain, preserve and promote the North Country National Scenic Trail through a national network of volunteers, chapters, partner organizations and government agencies. …

Publish Date: 03/08/2010 11:27

http://grandhaventribune.com/?q=Save+Us+From+Berlusconi

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Wear Hydrophobic Fibers next to Your Skin

Don’t Invite the Bears to Supper

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Wanting to make light backpacking more your style? It’s a solid idea that should be strongly considered. But, where should you start?

Should you trade in your tent for a lighter tarp? Maybe you should and maybe you shouldn’t.

Here’s an article that might be useful for helping you decide: Backpacking Gear Narratives.

Clunky backpacking, light backpacking or ultralight backpacking. It’s your choice, but I recommend taking incremental steps towards lighter.

Richard Davidian

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Rattlesnakes: Don’t Tread on Me

Mountain Sickness and Gingko Biloba

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Years ago, my dad and stepmom drove into a parking lot at a Grand Canyon overlook and exited their car to take in the view. At the same moment a large tour bus lumbered up and disgorged a crowd of Japanese tourists. These people crowded between my parents and the rim of the abyss.

My stepmom was a bit miffed by it all and vehemently expressed her displeasure. But my dad convinced her that if they just bided their time, the milling, photo shooting, jabbering crowd would dissipate in due time and allow them to approach the rim.

One Japanese man, trying to get the best picture in his view finder, began backing up – straight toward my dad. He continued his reverse waltz until he stepped on my dad’s toe. Using the only Japanese word my father knew, he said politely, “Arigato”, the Japanese word for “Thank you”.

An uproarious fit of laughter wracked the herd of sightseers when the guilty man shouted to them what could probably be loosely interpreted as, “This crazy American! I step on his toe and he says, “Thank you.”

by Richard Davidian, Ph.D.

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• Travelers flock to national parks (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• The Grand Canyon in winter offers views and peace (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Outdoors Information

The fun of backpacking can be ruined by ill-fitting backpacking equipment. Getting a backpack that fits comfortably takes a bit of science and careful measurement.

There is one crucial measurement for buying a backpack that really fits your body. Overall body height is not it.

Image via Wikipedia

Two people who are exactly the same height won’t necessarily be comfortable with the same backpack. That’s because people of the same height may vary on other dimensions. Some may have longer legs and shorter torsos. For others, the opposite may be true.

The most critical measurement for getting a comfortable backpack is torso length. I’ll show you how to measure it.

TORSO LENGTH

Here’s how to get an accurate measurement of the length of your torso:

Step 1: Ask a friend or family member to help. It’s very difficult to accurately do the measurement alone.

Step 2: Place your hands on your hips as if you were throwing an attitude. Make sure you place your hands on your iliac crest or ilium (see illustration). You can feel this part of your pelvis on both sides. What you will feel are bony protrusions just below your rib cage. Place your hands so that your thumbs point horizontally at each other around your back.

Step 3: Ask your helper to find your 7th cervical vertebra (C7) on your spine. It’s not that difficult. It’s that prominent bump where your shoulders slope up and meet your neck. Tilting your head forward will make this bony bump stick out even further.

Step 4: Ask your helper to measure with a flexible tape measure the distance from your C7 down to the imaginary line that connects your thumbs at the top of your iliac crest.

Voila! You now have your torso length. Take this measurement to your outfitter and try on backpacks that are marked with a torso length range that your torso measurement fits into.

by Richard Davidian, Ph.D.

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Lost? S-T-O-P

Backpacking Lite

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Last Used 9/24/09
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For Your Backpacking First Aid Kit

Among the World’s Most Prolific Wildlife Viewing – Close to Home

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Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir

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Hazards of Hiking

Hiking Tips for High Altitude Climbs

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The tug and push of climate change opinion can rattle us or re-energize us. It can make us apathetic or action directed.

Here’s another perspective that we may not readily think of: climate change from a military perspective:

Climate Patriots from Laura Lightbody on Vimeo.

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• Pentagon Calls Climate Change a Destabilizing Geopolitical Force (treehugger.com)

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For Your Backpacking First Aid Kit

Among the World’s Most Prolific Wildlife Viewing – Close to Home

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Why is the weatherman the only person (except for weatherwomen) who can be wrong so often and still keep his job? Well, the answer lies in the nature of weather. Despite all the technology and gadgetry that the weather people employ for their prognostications, the weather still manages to have the last word and the last laugh more often than not. Or so it appears.

From Copenhagen to Washington, D.C. to Vancouver to Wilmington, N.C., this planet’s weather and climate continue to confound us. What’s going on? Record snowfall in the southern states and no snow where it’s needed in Vancouver, B.C. for the Winter Games. What the?

If we can’t predict the weather with enough accuracy to keep or cancel a soccer game two days in advance, what we can predict, it seems, is fraud among climate scientists. Climategate marches on. Here is some of the latest on  climategate.

Climategate: the official cover-up continues – Telegraph Blogs

If there’s one thing that stinks even more than Climategate, it’s the attempts we’re seeing everywhere from the IPCC and Penn State University to the BBC to pretend that nothing seriously bad has happened, that “the science” is still …

Publish Date: 02/12/2010 8:28

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/

AP ClimateGate Apologist/Participant Borenstein Can’t Keep Global …

Since the AP science reporter wrote his December 12, 2009 defense of the alleged scientists who have promoted the alleged perils of human-caused global warming, the scandal known as ClimateGate has inexorably widened. …

Publish Date: 02/12/2010 20:54

http://newsbusters.org/

davidfgrove: American Thinker: Climategate’s Phil Jones Confesses …

skip to main | skip to sidebar. davidfgrove. was blog interesting? Video Bar. Loading… space traveler. space traveler. Search This Blog. Loading… Sunday, February 14, 2010. American Thinker: Climategate’s Phil Jones Confesses to …

Publish Date: 02/14/2010 3:14

http://davidfgrove.blogspot.com/

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Hiking Is Good for You, Mentally

Mountain Sickness and Gingko Biloba

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• Climate data ‘not well organised’ (news.bbc.co.uk)
• “Climategate” scientist says data disorganised (telegraph.co.uk)
• ‘Climategate’ inquiry shows scientist didn’t falsify data (calgaryherald.com)

Today is the day. This evening the opening ceremonies will kick off the winter games in Vancouver.

There hasn’t been much hype leading up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics in this year of 2010 A.D. The enthusiasm seems to have been rather luke war, much like the weather in British Columbia.

How ironic! I’ll bet Washington, D.C. and Texas would be more than happy to export a whole lot of the white stuff to Vancouver, Canada about now. I’m quite confident equally that Vancouver would welcome the offer and pay the asking price without more than a weak attempt at bargaining.

Well, today, things seem to have changed and the excitement is finally starting to heat up despite the negatives. And there are those as well: doping, disciplining. You know as well as I that some people never learn.

So, Canada hasn’t been spared the bad and the ugly along with the good. But, it’s mostly good. After all, it can’t be too bad with a prediction of all 1.6 million tickets will be sold.

And we can still hope and pray for more snow.

by Richard Davidian, Ph.D.

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• More than 30 drug cheats barred from Vancouver winter Olympics (guardian.co.uk)
• Why the United States should boycott the Winter Olympics. (slate.com)
• No Female Ski Jumpers After Supreme Court Of Canada Refuses To Hear Olympics Case (huffingtonpost.com)

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Choosing a Great Campsite

Choosing Hiking Footwear

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The Big Bend National Park in Texas is unique in many ways. Take a look at these charming photos to get a flavor of what’s in store at your next visit.

You can get there through this Big Bend link.

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Purify Your Water or Not?

Planet Earth Deserves Our Respect

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