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The other answers have great information. I would add some specifics that I have learned from living and backpacking all over Arizona and the white mountains for most of my life. Don't have everyo...
Basically the answer to your question is no, unless you're in very specific areas doing very specific activities. US wilderness areas are much bigger, much less accessible, and much less populated ...
For the US national forests you can find most of what you will need on the US Forest Service website. Specifically for Uintah-Wasatch-Cache you can use this link and it will have the information a...
If you have the option, small boats give you the best feel for how sails work and how changes in trim affect the boat and your course, so at least start on a small boat. Also, taking a few full ...
Stepping on a rock during a hike is always riskier than that of stepping "Over" a rock/log. I must have lost my footing a gazillion times trying to step "On" a rock. Regarding startling a snake/cri...
From the sounds of it, to develop all the skills you are interested in, you are not going to learn them all with a single class. Additionally, it will likely take several years to hone your skills ...
No one's mentioned this yet, so I'll throw this out there: at least for my fingers/hands, I find breathing on them helpful (not blowing on them like you would soup, but the kind of breath that you'...
I used to think I knew the answer to this, from having a couple of very small leeches, but this guidance from wildmadagascar.com is quite comprehensive: Identify the anterior (oral) sucker which ...
I have used a touring kayak for fishing, and it works out ok. You can rig up a rod holder in your cockpit, but paddling is a bit awkward, though this is probably also a problem with any kayak used...
There are several concerns Rodents. Unlike the eastern US, rodents in the West are much more likely to carry Hanta virus and Bubonic plague. These are not common, but unlike the Eastern US, the...
I would recommend checking out something like Hobie's Mirage pedal driven kayaks. With their spiffy pedal drive, you can trivially outrun(outpedal?) just about anyone while hardly breaking a sweat....
Yes, there is definitely a performance difference between different types of kayaks. In fact, there are performance differences among the same types of kayaks. For example, a 14-foot kayak will alw...
Other tidbits I've heard from local** guides: Wearing red increases your risk of being struck by lightning Burning egg shells will anger forest spirits and cause nightmares and illness The quicke...
The park service has some good tips. The biggest ones are: It is hot and dry, and gets hotter the farther down you go. Sweat can evaporate straight off of you before you can even see it, and pe...
Your blood and body need sodium, potassium and various other solutes in order to function (without the correct potassium levels, your heart will start to fail etc) In a hot country, where you may ...
You definitely need to be concerned if you are using waxless XC skis with fish scales under foot. Skiing over hard dead sticks can break off the edges of these scales (or wear them down over time) ...
Agree with both LBell and Rory Alsop. I come from the leech infested Western Ghats of the Indian subcontinent. I must have been bitten by these guys innumerable number of times. Most of the times,...
What xpda writes about setting the anchor is right (although hopefully you know this if you are sailing your own boat). As well as what he says, make sure you have the right kind of anchor for the ...
The FiveFingers are going to weight less than one pound combined: Buy yourself some hiking boots, and bring your FiveFingers along with you. That way you can test them out without relying on them.
The options you're proposing are VFFs or hiking boots. There are lots of other options. What I use most of the time here in California is running shoes. They work great when conditions aren't snow...
Bears in California are a huge problem in certain highly impacted areas such as Yosemite Valley. They are almost not a problem at all in less traveled areas such as the White Mountains. Rattlesnak...
People who work with children are usually very happy to take any old ropes for non-climbing purposes (marking playing fields, tug of war, anything really). Even an old rope totally unfit for climbi...
Gear manufacturers generally purchase the down (waterproofed or not) from suppliers. There are several water resistant down products, but they all work withing a small range of results with the sa...
No, you can't rent that kind of equipment at a Park Service ranger station. They only rent out bear canisters, and even that is only at certain locations (e.g., Yosemite Valley). If you want a Spot...
"Unlikely" is not the same as "won't happen." You're going to the White Mountains in California, so call the ranger station in Bishop and ask them. They will probably tell you that bears do exist t...
