Posts by Olin Lathrop
I suspect that tree grew with something else twined around it. That something else has meanwhile died or been removed. Bittersweet is a likely candidate for what might have wound around the tree ...
All public campgrounds in western MA are going to be "busy" on weekends in the summer. In fact, I wouldn't even try finding a campsite later than afternoon on Friday or on Saturday. As for hiking...
You could ask what the importance is of any species or related group of animals. They all have their place in the ecosystem, and there will be consequences when any of them disappear. In the part...
I've been to all three, and am not surprised by your statistics. While the North Cascades are certainly pretty and have their own appeal, there just isn't anything well known and iconic there. Mt...
The biggest danger is a broken ground wire, and some leakage path from the hot to the chassis of your camper. That puts the whole chassis of the camper at high voltage. That's actually no danger ...
Bobcats have short stubby tails. The typical house cat has a tail almost the length of its body. Bobcats have a specific color pattern. House cats have all kinds of colors and patterns due to th...
I see that Charlie has already shown that there may be a few cypress swamps that don't have alligators if you go far enough north and inland. However, being in a canoe gives you considerable prote...
The GPS receiver in recent tablets and phones is actually quite good. I use a Nexus 7 Android tablet for outdoor navigation, and it works very well. Tablets generally allow you to shut things dow...
You've already done the AT, so know what the terrain of the Berkshires, Green Mountains, and White Mountains is like. Obviously that gets a lot more difficult with 2-6 feet of snow on the ground. ...
First, make sure it is allowed. I'll assume you are talking about the Mt Agassiz in Arizona north of Flagstaff in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness of the Coconino National Forest. While backcountry c...
Asking why people wanted to do something in the past is opinion-based, so this question will likely be closed. I'm only guessing, but most likely the desire to establish wild populations of turkey...
Bears have definitely been migrating from the Berkshires in western MA eastward over the last couple of decades or so. Everyplace roughly outside Route 128 (about 15 mile ring road around Boston) ...
That tree got bent over but not snapped when it was just tall enough so that its tip was where the end of the bend is now. One of the small branches near that tip happened to point upwards after t...
Consider whether you really need to have dry shoes before going thru all the trouble. In the winter, wet footwear can be a serious problem. However, when it's warm out there is really no danger f...
The vast majority of picnic sites are available on a first-come first-served basis. This is true across the many local, state, and federal agencies that provide picnic sites. These sites are for ...
Probably the single most important thing I do is to tuck the bottom of my pants into the socks. Ticks like to crawl upwards. If they drop onto your feet, they will crawls upwards on your leg look...
I picture would greatly help. However, I suspect you are looking at the lines on the part you manually rotate relative to the fixed base part. Good compasses have something you can rotate to set ...
Most hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers in the wild. Therefore, a hummingbird feeder should mimic red flowers for best results. The color of the "nectar" itself doesn't matter. After all,...
This is impossible to answer unless you are willing to do an enormous amount of research. There is no single, or even just a few, databases of trails in the US. The national trail lists generally...
If hiking makes you feel anxious, then don't go hiking. If you do go hiking, as with most activities, you should pay attention to what your are doing. That includes listening to what is around yo...
Look at the surrounding terrain and think what water would do when it rains. No place is perfectly flat for very long, so suface water will flow away from some place and gather in others. Somepla...
Most trails for hiking are also good for running. In fact, I'd make the assumption that a hiking trail is a running trail without specific knowledge that makes it inappropriate. One way to get a ...
Unfortunately your picture doesn't give a good sense of scale, but my first reaction was that it looked like dog poop. Some other canid is also possible, with coyote being the most probable, then ...
To answer your other questions: No, don't insulate the pole at the bottom with a sandal, and yes, you are overthinking this. In the relatively unlikely (but possible) event that lightning does sti...
I would avoid swimming across if possible. For fording the stream, find a wide and shallow section. If you have a group of people, interlock arms and walk across together with the line of the gro...
