As in all of life, hiking and backpacking have their conundrums and ironies.

We as hikers and backpackers love the outdoors and we want to preserve the environment, but there are aspects of hiking and backpacking that are detrimental to the very environment we seek to preserve.

A problem that we as green and responsible wilderness visitors run up against is harmful chemicals in hiking equipment and clothing. To wit: PFOA, and that stands for perfluorooctanic acid.

Used for waterproofing of both leather and fabric clothing (source), this chemical is carcinogenic and non-biodegradable. It is used widely by manufacturers of outdoor clothing as a water repellant.

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Here’s a great way to keep your food safe from bears. Watch the video, learn the method, buy the equipment and stay safe.

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Lost? S-T-O-P

Backpacking Lite

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Mountain Hardware Sleeping Bags

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Mud, mud, mud!

It’s spring. The March Equinox has passed and days are getting longer. Temperatures are rising. You’ve been cooped up for months and you’re itching to get outdoors and hike!

SPRING MELT HIKING TIPS

Here are some safety tips for the sloppy spring-melt season.

Tip #1: Be prepared for changes in the trails. Ones you have been in used to hiking may not be the same as they were during the summer.

Tip #2: Be prepared to turn back if you run into unsafe conditions due to extreme snowmelt and runoff. Here are some of those dangerous conditions that you may encounter:

A. Swollen streams,

B. Loose and unstable rocks due to a freeze/thaw cycle,

C. Trails cut off by rockslides,

D. Muddy trail sections,

E. Slippery slopes, rocks, roots etc.,

F. Mudslides,

G. Washed out trails.

Tip #3: Strongly consider hiking on flatter and safer trails at lower elevations.

Tip #4: Be especially careful when hiking beneath or near steep cliffs or overhangs where loosened rocks may fall.

Tip #5: Watch carefully for portions of the trail that could slough away after being saturated by ice and water.

Tip #6: Be especially attuned to environmental issues like increased risks of damaging the trail and the sides of the trail.

Tip #7: Dress for the weather. Wear jeans or long pants. Wear hiking footwear with good traction and thick socks. Take rain gear for the possibility of a downpour.

Tip #8: Consider taking trekking poles or even crampons to give you the best traction in steep and slippery conditions.

Tip #9: Make sure you have your regular essentials such as a fully stocked first aid kit, plenty of food and water etc.

Be prepared. Be safe. Come back alive and happy.

by Richard Davidian, Ph.D.

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Environmental Issue: Shipping Trash Overseas

Hiking Tips: Safety First and Last and Always

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Have you been on any really scary trails? For me the Inca Trail leading to Machu Pichu took the cake with one really scary spot.

Here’s one that claims to be the mama of scary trails. Could be. Who knows?

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)

Winter hiking can be fun. But, staying warm must be on your list of top priorities. Here are some stay-warm rules to follow when hiking in the winter time.

Rule #1: Be proactive and stay warm. Don’t let your body get cold in the first place. It is much easier to stay warm than it is to get warm.

Rule #2: Layer your clothing so that you can modify your heat retention incrementally. You don’t want to have your only options to be a heavy down jacket or a T-shirt.

Rule #3: If you stop moving, put on more clothing to retain the heat that you have generated by your hiking activity. Don immediately a jacket or a hat or gloves to conserve your hard-earned body heat.

Rule #4: Don’t get too warm. This may sound ironic. But if you start sweating, you may end up with damp clothing that can really chill you. When you start moving again, to avoid getting hot and sweaty, take layers off or open vents.

Rule #5: Avoid cotton. They say that cotton kills. This fiber retains moisture next year body and thus brings down your temperature, sometimes to the point of hypothermia. This condition can kill.

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The debate over global warming and its causes rages on. Here are some articles that chronicle this debate.

Global Warming Dogma Melts in Glaciergate | FrontPage Magazine

Pew Poll: global warming dead last, down from last year « Watts Up …

Since 2007, when the item was first included on the priorities list, dealing with global warming has consistently ranked at or near the bottom. Even so, the percentage that now says addressing global warming should be a top priority has …

Publish Date: 01/25/2010 22:46

http://wattsupwiththat.com/

The latest in scientific malpractice from climate change alarmists.

Publish Date: 01/26/2010 21:06

http://frontpagemag.com/

Global Warming Hysteria: UK Science Czar Admits Hype, Urges More …

There is no country more in the global warming tank than the UK. Thus, it is notable that the government’s lead adviser on science issues admits that climate scientists have hyped global warming, and further, urges that they open the …

Publish Date: 01/26/2010 17:36

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/

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• Global Warming Opens Up Arctic For Undersea Cable (huffingtonpost.com)
• Climate sceptics distract us from the scientific realities of global warming | John Cook (guardian.co.uk)
• Himalayan flows (news.bbc.co.uk)

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Wear Hydrophobic Fibers next to Your Skin

Don’t Invite the Bears to Supper

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