Posts by Olin Lathrop
Here are some points of interest you should definitely include, based on your rough proposed area: Arches National Monument. It's at least worth a day trip thru there. There are some natural arc...
Early September is the best choice considering the criteria you have given. While it is true that there are less hikers in early June than later in the summer, there are reasons for this. Black f...
The total number of incidents, even over a defined period of time, is meaningless by itself. There is no absolute scale for danger. What we really want to know is how dangerous one thing is relat...
There is nothing wrong with asking people you meet on the trail where there are coming from or going to. This is very normal trail-encounter talk. I've asked people this many times and rarely got...
The only truly correct term is Branta canadensis. Otherwise, for everyday English, the quote from the suggested edit is completely correct. The colloquial term is "Canada goose". There is a lot ...
There must be some kind of "free list" or "sell list" where you can give away stuff in your area. Maybe you can find someone that has a stove that is compatible with these things. Perhaps the loc...
I hike a lot with a camera. Put the camera around your neck and one shoulder after putting on the backpack. If the camera is just around your neck, as it would be in a more pure photographic situ...
I originally thought a porcupine did this (see my other answer), but after seeing your new photos and a closer look at the original ones I now have a different theory. Your tree was first infested...
In the US, the designation National Monument or National Park (same thing other than the first created by presidential edict and the second by congress), sets preservation as one of the top goals. ...
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. ...
Even if the existence of rabies in that area is real, there is really very little you would do differently. I live in a area (New England, North America) where rabies is present. In your words, t...
If you aren't equipped to handle a situation where you can't drive out as expected, then you don't belong there. Conversely, if you go to such places and situations, you should take enough stuff w...
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...
If there were any serious likelyhood of brain damage due to exposure to 10,000 feet or more altitude for just a day, then the city of Cusco would be full of brain-damaged zombies. There are nearly...
There isn't a lot of wilderness near Boston, but there are many local trails. Camping is not allowed on most land that local trails pass over. However, it is sometimes possible to get permission....
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...
Yes, that looks like arrow heads I've found in that general area too. Note that it may be a unfinished or discarded piece. There is clear flaking and shaping. It would be very very unlikely for ...
It makes more sense to insulate you than the whole back of the truck. Get a foam pad to put under your sleeping bag. You say there is a plastic liner, but a real sleeping pad should insulate much...
Yes, the solar panel will be a little less efficient on the dashboard than outside because: Wavelengths absorbed by the windshield. The windshield absorbs most UV, which does still contribute to ...
Knowing why distance was included or omitted in any particular instance requires asking the people that decided on that particular sign. In other words, in the general case, you don't know why. I...
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...
There are many reasons a trail takes the particular path it does. Probably the most common is historical, as you mention. Probably the least common is deliberate design. Most trails have evolved...
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 ...
I don't know how rare resistance is, but it seems the real question is about resistance coming and going. Yes, resistance can come and go for individuals over their lifetime. Exposure, or long pe...
