Posts tagged history
I am always interested in the history of rock climbing. Lately, I tried to collect data about male and female first ascents to visualize progression in rock climbing over time (I have a small blog ...
In the United States, there are a couple of excise taxes on outdoor gear that goes towards conservation, Pittman–Robertson Act which taxes firearms, ammunition and archery equipment and the Dingell...
I found this abandoned building with what looked like some sort of radio gear while hiking near Mono Lake California. The shed on skids Close up of inside Does anyone know what this was or...
Some forests in the Western United States will have been logged at different times and by different methods i.e. clearcut vs selective logging. As time goes by, the trees will grow back but this r...
This is going out primarily to those who have been climbing for 20yrs + Back in the day, helmet use was optional and not particularly popular. These days, things seemed to have taken a dramatic cha...
RIMO III is one the 6 peaks of the Rimo mountain massif, situated in Indian Kashmir. First ascent: 1985, by an Indian/ British expedition led by Harish Kapadia. Can't find the exact date of this ...
During an internet search for fun places to go in the Western United States, I came across a number of articles about an unusual rock formation in Oregon called Duckbill. It was called iconic, trea...
On Amundsen's polar expedition they had, Of instruments and apparatus for the sledge journeys we carried two sextants, three artificial horizons, of which two were glass horizons with dark glas...
Having read about the recent foot traverse of Antarctica by Colin O'Brady I was wondering which means the polar explorers of former, pre-GPS times used to determine that they had reached the North ...
One summer evening we drove to Race Point, the farthest tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. We were told there was a lighthouse at that spot, and wanted to see the light shine through the darkness...
This summer I did the Toiyabe Crest Trail and noticed that there are three different kinds of trail signs: Cheap plastic triangular ones that say Toiyabe Crest National Recreation Trail Square po...
I am trying to learn some history about rock climbing. I know initially rock climbing was purely an outdoor activity, and according to this article in the 1990s indoor climbing gyms started to spri...
The common House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, is one of the few birds not protected under federal law in North America, because it's considered a non-native species. However, it currently lives in v...
Someone was telling me that elk were solely plains animals before they were driven to the Rocky Mountains. They mentioned the account of Lewis and Clark and that they said there were no elk in the ...
In some of the Horatio Hornblower novels, when they want to get the last bit of speed out of a sailing ship, the crew will wet the sails down in order to go faster. For a real example consider, ...
One of my more memorable hiking experiences came on the Wonderland Trail in the summer of 1994. The trail is about 93 miles (150 kilometers) long. It's in the Mount Rainier State Park which is loca...
I'm particularly curious about their footwear.
My understanding (possibly wrong) is that the use of semiautomatic hunting rifles is fairly recent. I recently encountered someone online who claimed that in the United States even in the 1970s it...
I'm interested in how Viking era1) hikers carried their gear and provisions while out and about on foot. My focus here would be longer walks in civilian life, e.g. to get from farm A to farm B. I.e...
I am looking for a book or digital database of rock climbing pictures from before 1950. I tried to search online, but, except for a few pictures, I didn't have much luck. Also, the name of the ph...
A comment: One little thing that I understand differently: Sport climbing did not evolve from trad climbing (at least not in the modern sense), but more of artificial climbing. Using gear f...
According to Wikipedia (German Wikipedia - Truthuhn), there were several attempts to domicile turkeys in Europe since 1732. All of them were not successful at all. Still they kept on trying until 1...
Is it feasible to tie the rope and bucket to the well and therefore keep it outside or do the rope and bucket have to be kept inside to protect them from harmful weather? Or does the well, bucket ...
I found this arrowhead-shaped rock on the Toiyabe Crest trail in Nevada, USA. I'm wondering if it actually is an arrowhead. It's about 1.5 inches long. The reasons that I think it could be is th...
Edward Whymper is most known for his sweeping ascent of the Matterhorn 150 years ago. You can read about the competition with J.A. Carrel and the struggle to find a path to the top in the famous bo...
I have eagerly consumed many accounts of early mountaineering expeditions in which the mountaineers always eagerly consumed Kendal Mint Cake (KMC). I got the impression that they would have found i...
Carabiners like this one, Image Source are called HMS carabiners. Why are they called that and what does HMS stand for?
What gear did John Muir actually take on long trips? I live in California these days, and around here we revere John Muir as a legend of the outdoors. But the legend seems larger than is possible....
I was down at high rock lake N.C. and I was making a little map of the shore lines in my kayak, or at least going to. I ran into a problem, I could not judge the distance from the last mark I made ...
From what I understand of the history, Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) grades came about when class 5 in the preexisting system was subdivided into 5.0 through 5.9. This was done by Chuck Wilts, Roya...
Would it have been possible to sail a small boat from The Wash, Norfolk, UK to Dunkirk in WWII? Could it be done in one go? If not, where would you stop en route?
