February 2009 Archives
“Audubon’s Guidebook to New England soon helped me figure out the plant was bladder campion. Since that initial identification a dozen years ago, this flower has caught my eye everywhere in Maine, particularly on the edges of gravel roads in the north country. In short, one day it did not exist in my life, and forever after I have seen it far and wide.” Ken Allen says guidebooks aid the joy of discovery like almost no other piece of equipment. In Maine’s Kennebec Journal.
In The New York Times, Ian Austin comments on the arrival of Shimano’s new battery-powered derailleur on the pro cyclists tour and notes that some cycling purists are not happy with even the smallest addition of energy in the human-powered equation: “‘People choose bicycles precisely because a bicycle’s motion requires only human effort, and nothing could be more simple, independent and autonomous’ Raymond Henry, a cycling historian in St. Etienne, France, wrote in an e-mail message. ‘Any source of external energy, however weak, runs counter to this philosophy.’”
Benjamin Roman reviews the Rec’Repair Emergency kit from CRG Industries ($14.99), which he calls a convenient — if not cosmetically appealing — solution for emergency repairs of mangled gear. “The heart of the kit is a rigid, heavyweight plastic patch with adhesive backing. When heated to about 200 degrees, it becomes rubbery and moldable, so it can be cut to size and formed around your broken gear. As soon as it cools, the adhesive sets and the patch hardens.” On GearJunkie.com.
The Oregonian’s Terry Richards points to the key spots for outdoors nuts in the central Cascades, including the head of the Metolius, the Badlands, and Newberry Crater: “The national volcanic monument near La Pine has two gorgeous mountain lakes with lodges, a giant mound of black obsidian and a classic mountain bike trail around the rim of the caldera.”
“Stewart Island is remote and wild, with only 15 miles of roads. Eighty-five percent of the island belongs to Rakiura National Park, established in 2002. The island has nearly 150 miles of hiking trails (or ‘tramping tracks’ as New Zealanders call them), including the Rakiura Track, one of New Zealand’s great walks, which makes a 3-day circuit through podocarp forest and coastal habitat.” The Seattle International Travel Examiner’s Annika S. Hipple describes the small but trail-rich island off the southern end of the South Island.