Michael Martinez‭

When a snake rattles at you, it wants you to move away from it. Rattlers will warn you first before striking, giving you enough time to move away. My wife and I were hiking once in the desert, she...

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 11y ago by System‭

I have backpacked and camped in the Rocky Mountains most of my life (and also more recently in the Sierra Nevadas) and have never had any issues with bears. I would say that as long as you're not s...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭

The mountains in the West are larger, higher elevation, and therefore possibly more strenuous than what you're used to. So: extra physical preparation and altitude climatization. Generally the Wes...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭

I used to do a lot of backpacking with my wife in the backcountry in the Rocky Mountains. The places we hiked were remote - often hours would pass without seeing anybody else. I gave thought to get...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭

The only time I'm aware when you shouldn't leave feces behind is near bodies of water (within 200 yards of a body of water), which is why the feces are packed out of the Grand Canyon. (This is taki...

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭

Wild bears don't like the smell of warm man-flesh. So, you're inside your tent, make some noise, move around, talk. The bear will go away. You don't need to use your shotgun, you don't need to use ...

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭

Protein powder. Add it to your food. Add it to water. Add it to hot-water+powdered milk.

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭

Don't use an intact sunfish as bait. cut it up and use the cut pieces on your hook. But, as far as attracting and hooking big largemouths, while at the same time deterring other types of fish, wh...

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭

I've spent many years hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains and California, and animals I have seen more than once or regularly include black bears, deer, elk, moose, wild turkey, beaver, mount...

posted 11y ago by Michael Martinez‭

I've got a pair of Keen hiking boots that, at their best when brand new, never had a particularly good grip, and now, a few years later, have simply lost any grip to speak of. They are so slippery ...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by System‭

I live in Sunnyvale and my favorite place for hiking is Rancho San Antonio near the Los Altos Hills. It butts up against the Santa Cruz mountains, and there are a network of trails including some t...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 12y ago by System‭

Different parts of California have different wildlife, so you should probably narrow the region. Anyway, I'll talk about the areas I'm familiar with. In the Santa Cruz mountains, there are a lot o...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 12y ago by System‭

After you kill and gut the fish, then clean it (wash it and scale it, if it needs scaling.) I don't know what you mean by "bleeding" a fish: I only ever gut it. After doing this, you do not actuall...

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 12y ago by System‭

I take the small packets of gatorade or similar that offers flavor plus electrolytes. I find that flavouring helps to make certain sources of water palatable when filtering it out in the backcountry.

posted 12y ago by Michael Martinez‭  ·  last activity 12y ago by System‭

The best thing I have ever found for getting rid of odors, and it works extremely well, is something called "OdorXit" which is based on some enzymes that neutralize odors instead of masking them. I...

posted 9y ago by Michael Martinez‭