Trailspace Blog November 2009

It’s a dark and stormy night, and you want to scare the bejezus out of your friends around the campfire. In honor of Halloween, learn to tell a good ghost story. Then on your next camping or backpacking trip you can casually bring it up around the campfire, or just before your tentmate heads out for his 2 a.m. pee break.

“Hey, that reminds me,” you can say. “Did I ever tell you about the time I saw that phantom hitchhiker / man with a hook for a hand / escaped lunatic with a really big knife on this very trail…”

To tell a good ghost story, you first need one to practice. There are entire books and web sites devoted to ghost and scary stories. Read a bunch. Pick one you like, giving preference to ones with local flavor. Give the tale your own spin with details appropriate to your setting and audience. Then practice telling your story as fact in your own voice. You’ll need a scary twist or surprise at the end to complete the effect. If your audience includes kids, be mindful of each child's ability to handle the experience.

Here are two instructional videos with tips on telling ghost stories:

• How To Tell a Ghost Story
• How to Tell a Ghost Story: Tips for Practicing Ghost Stories

And, here are a few of the many sites with scary stories:

• AmericanFolklore.net
• BoyScoutTrail.com
• KOA's Campfire Stories

Then tell us your favorite scary story camping or backpacking moment below.

Get a pack that fits you. Inevitably you hear that advice when talk turns to pack selection. But if you’re new to backpacks, achieving a proper fit from all those straps and buckles can seem daunting

In the video below, Wayne Gregory, founder of Gregory Mountain Products, offers some advice on how to properly fit a pack. Wayne—who made his first backpack as a 14-year-old Boy Scout—was the first to offer packs designed for different torso lengths and with different harness and waist belt sizes.

The core of Trailspace is our community of users who gather here to review, discuss, and debate outdoor gear. To help you better express your own unique personalities, we’re launching a number of new features today:

• User profiles
  Your profile has been expanded with a slew of features that allow you to share more about yourself, your interests, and your experience: age, location, activities, vital stats, and more. Click here to get started editing your profile.
• Avatars
  When you update your profile, you can upload a photo to be displayed on your profile page. A smaller version will be displayed on your forum posts (and eventually on your gear reviews as well).
• Forum post formatting
  The forums now support basic formatting codes for styling text and adding images, links, and quotes to your posts. Click here for the complete list of formatting codes.
• User list
  It’s now easier than ever to find and connect with your fellow members. Just click on the “People” tab at the top of any page to access a sortable list of Trailspace members and their expanded profiles.

I hope you'll find these features—and future ones we're currently working on—a useful addition to your Trailspace experience. Let us know what you think in the comments for this post.

Grivel North America has ceased distributing Grivel products and recently announced it is shutting down for good. Here's the announcement from their web site:

 

Grivel North America Over and Out
By Mark Twight

Hail Citizens,

Grivel North America ceased distributing Grivel products on September 1st, 2008. We did our best over the last few years to keep the company alive but the flagging US economy and the Euro’s strength against the dollar prevented us from doing so.

Retail customers may contact the following dealers to purchase Grivel ice axes, crampons, helmets, ice screws, packs and some replacement parts while supplies remain.

The Mountaineer
www.mountaineer.com

Mountain Gear
www.mountaingear.com

Recreational Equipment, Inc.
www.rei.com

Second Ascent
www.secondascent.com

Mountain Equipment Co-Op (Canada only)
www.mec.ca

Warranty and repair issues must wait until Grivel determines how they will service the North American market in the future. Stand by for more information.

I thank the individuals who used Grivel ice tools and crampons and believed in the performance enough to keep doing so year after year.

To view the complete line of Grivel products or more information surf to:
www.grivel.com

 

The European Grivel site also has a slightly longer list of American and Canadian retailers who have already ordered Grivel ice axes, crampons and ice screws for winter 2008/2009.

Win a Yosemite snowshoe trip in "The Gear Junkie's Choose-Your-Adventure Sweepstakes."

While outdoor industry contests pop up routinely, “The Gear Junkie's Choose-Your-Adventure Sweepstakes” is one worth entering.

This winter, one lucky person, and a friend, will travel with The Gear Junkie (aka Stephen Regenold) on one of five professionally-guided winter adventure-travel trips: climb Mt. Washington, learn to ice climb, snowshoe in Yosemite, snowshoe hut-to-hut in the Whites, or learn mountaineering skills in Sequoia National Park.

The winner will also get a head-to-toe outfitting of new gear and have his or her trip chronicled on thegearjunkie.com. The contest runs now through December 17.

For more info: thegearjunkie.com/sweeps

It's arguably the classic Maine survival story—Lost on a Mountain in Maine, the story of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who got separated from his family during a hike high on Mount Katahdin in 1939. Nine days and more than 35 miles through the Maine North Woods later, he finally came upon an inhabited cabin and was rescued, 16 pounds lighter, covered in bug bites and cuts, but alive. His resurrection made the front page of The New York Times.

Having read the story as a kid and an adult, I was eager when I had the opportunity to hear and meet the 81-year-old Fendler at a conference on kids and the outdoors last week in Maine.

“We were not prepared to climb that mountain,” Fendler readily admitted during his talk. Like the others in his hiking party, which included his dad, two brothers, and friend Henry, Fendler was wearing dungarees, old, beat-up sneakers (nothing like today’s footwear, he says), and no socks. He had no water, two handfuls of raisins, and no semblance of survival gear. When a storm came upon Fendler and Henry on Katahdin's summit, Fendler got scared and, against Henry's better judgment, left to find his father below, losing the trail in the clouds.

Fendler and the mountain, after his ordeal, 1939.

A massive rescue effort was launched, but with Fendler on the move his trail was lost. “I wasn’t a very good Boy Scout,” said Fendler. “If I’d stayed on the mountain, they would have found me.”

During his journey, Fendler lost his sneakers, pants, and underwear (though, for coverage, he later found a gunnysack, which he still has), and track of time. He ate berries, followed a stream in hope of finding people, and was driven into the water by swarms of bugs. "That to me was the worst thing I ever experienced," he said; he now rarely gets bitten.

So how did Fendler survive nine days in the wilderness after disobeying the first rule when lost—stay put? Fendler credits first, his faith in God and prayers; second, the Boy Scout training that ultimately helped him calm down and keep his head; and third, an inner will that did not let him give up. Ultimately, the experience taught him faith, responsibility for his actions, and love of family, he says.

Fendler signing books at The Governor's Conference on Youth and the Natural World, October 2, 2008, Augusta, Maine. 

Fendler still summers in Maine and visits Baxter State Park every year, sometimes watching the hikers heading up Katahdin. While the majority of hikers look prepared, he says, "it's amazing what you see, people in flip-flops." (Maybe he should hand those hikers a copy of his book.)

Fendler regularly shares his survival story with school children, as both a lesson in proper preparation and an inspiration to never give up. He tells kids they all have something inside of them that they don’t know they have until they’re tested. Then “you’ll find out how tough a person you are," he said. "Tough in the heart and tough in the mind.”

For more information: read the book, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, or visit www.donnfendler.com

Getting more kids actively outdoors has become a mission for the outdoor industry in the past couple of years, and a number of companies introduced new children's outdoor gear, footwear, and technical clothing at Outdoor Retailer in August.

For various reasons (blame it on the economy, a glut of new outdoor products, or lack of interest), quite a few of those debuts didn't make the final cut for spring/summer 2009 (a disconcerting trend on its own). However, here are some new-for-2009 items that did make the cut, and that may help your little one gear up and get out.

	Deuter Climber A smaller version of Deuter’s adult Guide packs, the Climber is a technical alpine backpack for kids ages 7 and up. It uses Deuter’s Alpine Back carry system and features ice axe/trekking pole straps, side compression straps, mesh side pockets, gear loops, a zipped lid pocket, chest strap with emergency whistle, built-in rain cover, and hydration compatibility. Weight: 1 lb 12 oz Capacity: 1,350 cubic inches Torso: 10"-17" MSRP: $69
	Deuter Junior A backpack for mini hikers and explorers ages 3 and up, the Junior has a padded back, S-shaped shoulder straps, chest strap with safety whistle, two zipped front pockets, safety reflectors, and child-friendly buckles. Weight: 15 oz Capacity: 1,100 cubic inches Torso: one size MSRP: $39
	Slumberjack Kids Composite Mat The Kids Composite Mat is made from multi-density, layered composite foam and has a nylon exterior with a DWR coating for added durability and water resistance. A removable cover can be tossed in the washing machine for cleanup, and roll straps and a carry handle allow for easy transport. Weight: 1 lb 12 oz Dimensions: 20" x 50" Thickness: 1.25" R-value: 4.5 MSRP: $44.99
	Roonwear “Mountain to C” and Roonbug Collections For its third year, Roonwear added two new collections of technical children’s clothing: the “Mountain to C” line of activewear made from wicking Dri-Release fabric and the Roonbug collection, which features Buzz Off Insect Shield bonded to Dri-Release fabric. The odorless  and invisible repellent repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers, and midges (no-see-ums) and lasts through 70 washings. No See Em ActiviT Sizes: 12 months-5T MSRP: $31 No See Em Haulin Cargo Pants Sizes: 12 months-5T MSRP: $43
	Sierra Designs Boulder and River Rock Pants For 2009, Sierra Designs added the Boulder (girls) and River Rock (boys, at left) performance trail pants to its offerings of kids clothing and sleeping bags. Made from a quick-drying fabric with a DWR finish, the Boulder and River Rock Pants have elastic waistbands with a drawcord and are also available in shorts versions. MSRP: $45
	Merrell Chameleon Strap Mid Merrell is no newbie to the kids footwear market. It's Chameleon Strap Mid is a kid-specific boot with reflective heel webbing, water resistant uppers for wet treks, and Aegis antimicrobial footbeds to control stinky feet. Weight: 14 oz Sizes: Kids - 3.5-7 half sizes; Youth - 10-3 full sizes MSRP: $60
	Merrell Chameleon Leather Mid Waterproof Merrell's Chameleon Leather Mid Waterproof is a more rugged boot for boys with waterproof uppers for wet treks, reflective heel webbing, and Aegis antimicrobial footbeds. MSRP: $70

For more kids outdoor gear available now from these and other brands, visit Trailspace's reviews and information on kids backpacks, sleeping bags, clothing and outerwear, and footwear.

And remember, even more important than the gear, is getting out there in the first place.

The election is still a month away, but it's already time to vote, for trails that is. Twenty finalists have been selected for the American Hiking Society and Nature Valley's Save the Trails grants.

Visit www.wheresyours.com in October and cast a vote for your favorite trail project. Help extend a loop trail in Hawaii. Supply the Lulu Lake Land Trust in Georgia with maps, signage and trailhead gates. Introduce recreational walking and hiking to an impoverished New Mexico community. Restore legal public access to Wilson's peak in Colorado. These are just a handful of the projects that you can make a reality. AHS and Nature Valley will grant $5,000 each to ten finalists.

The 16 winning projects for the American Hiking Society's 2008 National Trails Fund have already been named and are listed at www.americanhiking.org/NTFReceipients.aspx?id=5

The National Trails System was signed into law on October 2, 1968, with the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails becoming the first National Trails. Forty years later, the National Trails System totals more than 60,000 miles of scenic, historic, and recreation trails in all 50 states and is longer than the Interstate Highway System.

For more info: www.nps.gov/nts