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Monthly Archives: April 2008
Real-life adventures
Are you burning for outdoor adventures, but gosh, just don’t feel like outrunning avalanches or BASE jumping from 300-foot cliffs? If you love hiking, paddling and portaging and think it would be even more fun with an added competitive edge, then it’s time you tried Adventure Racing.
Wild Adventure Race is one of several Minnesota organizers that provide a chance to discover, then test your physical and mental limits. Most races have elements of orienteering, paddling, biking and climbing. Think a BWCA trip, compressed into a half-day. and with bikes. Fun? Affordable? Yes to both, but what has impressed me more in my 3 years of racing is how approachable they are, even for schlubs like me.
Vicarious adventures
Feeling antsy as you wait for the water to open up? Restless for the feel of the trail beneath your feet? Thirsty for adventure? Might I interest you in the foolishly dangerous variety?
If you’re looking to inspire your inner dirtbag, don’t miss the Radical Reels Film Tour, featured at Midwest Mountaineering’s Outdoor Adventure Expo. The expo itself is like a State Fair for outdoorsy Minnesotans, even without said film tour. Nonetheless, if you want to vicariously experience the utmost insane adventures in whitewater, alpine skiing, climbing, downhill mountain-biking and catfish noodling (j/k)… this is something you should see. For details and ticket info, download yourself this brochure.
Feed your addiction
It’s official, we are approaching the time when hardy northwoods people everywhere will walk out their front door, blink their eyes a little and realize that the mukluks and parka are a little excessive. Until this time of showing off pasty white skin we need to find a way to channel our outdoors enthusiasm.
A new feature on Backpacker Magazine’s website should help to channel this energy, or do some training if you’re so inclined. The Find A Hike tool on their home page lets you discover short hikes by their proximity to a major city. They have both hikes featured in Backpacker and reader submitted hikes. So go out and feed that camping jones.
Have you taken our Boundary Waters survey yet?
Does it ever bug you that most BWCA online trip planners are stuck in the Stone Age of the web? It sure bugs us, so we’ve begun work on a planning tool and resource of our own. A few weeks back we posted a survey for UpNorthica readers, but we want to get as much input as we can.
So, if you’ve been to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, fill out out our 9-question survey by clicking here: UpNorthica Survey
You’ll be helping to build a better way to plan (and share) your unforgettable experiences up north. Thanks!
“Camping, to me, is when room service closes at eleven.”
Sometimes when I hear self-described ‘non-outdoors types’ bemoan why they hate to camp, I catch myself chuckling inaudibly. Comedian John Pinette’s reasons had me laughing out loud.
Via Uncooped.
Man builds canoe from recycled chopsticks
I can imagine this guy out on a lake as other paddlers approach, warmly admiring the fine craftsmanship. Admiring, that is, until they begin to feel nauseous from the smell of rancid wasabi. The craft is made up of 7382 chopsticks and its builder, Shuhei Ogawara of Japan, will be launching it this spring.
I’m still Googling to see if anyone around here has done the same, with corn dog sticks, but I’ll be watching this guy with interest. I may end up building a boat with a bulk of disposable bamboo sporks.
Via The Goat.
Moss graffiti: This trend is growing on me…
I’ve seen this kind of work cropping up a bit lately on the Innertubes, and I want to see lots more! Using clods of transplanted moss and a handful of household tools, artists like Edina Tokodi, Helen Nodding and Jesse Graves use public spaces as canvases for their art. Using organic materials (Graves’ preferred medium is mud,) the pieces usually environmentally-themed messages. And because the materials are biodegradable, it doesn’t sound as though the authorities consider the graffiti as a violation. There’s a good article with more about the artists, here.
Myself, I’m mostly inspired by the thought of transplanting sphagnum moss, old man’s beard and other lichens, for my own purposes. I may just have to run a few experiments of my own this spring, using a recipe like this. Hey, a body’s gotta have something to do while waiting for the water to open up…
Have you heard of canoe poling?
Neither had I, or at least not as an actual technique, until I read this article on ‘canoeing without a paddle.’ Advantageous for navigating shallow waters as well as scouting rapids, poling seems best suited for travel on rivers. Definitely something that would be fun to learn. Although, by loose definition, I’ve ‘poled’ my way through a great many shallows to avoid lining; I’ve just used the wrong tool: a paddle.
Via Jack Mountain.
Bear spray: 90% of the time, it works – every time
Research findings of a Brigham Young University wildlife biologist show bear spray to be a far more effective deterrent to aggressive bears, than guns are. On average, it takes four shots from a gun to stop a bear, with your odds of success being about 66%. But based on the research, opening up a can on old Gentle Ben is as much as 90% effective. And, of course, you don’t end up with messy bear carcass that you have to pack out (remember, ‘leave no trace’).
Thankfully, the black bears inhabiting our region are rather docile, tending only to attack you if you’re dressed up as a cheapo food pack. But just in case, here’s a primer on how to get tha full effect out of your bear spray. Also works great on any gun-toting, good ol’ boy drunks that may roam into your campsite at 3am.
A proud and happy day for loon-dom
It was announced yesterday that the Minnesota state bird is receiving a 1.8 million dollar inheritance. Retired schoolteacher Iva Weir vacationed often here. Apparently, often enough to become quite attached to the estimated 12,000 loons that inhabit Minnesota’s waterways. Having lived frugally, she donated all her cash savings to the Minnesota chapter of The Nature Conservancy. $1 million has already gone towards several wilderness areas; the remaining amount is likely to also go towards acquiring lands to be protected.
The donation is the largest donation towards a single species that TNC has received in the state. I hope it only encourages others to more often ‘adopt’ wildlife and wild places. Any takers on helping recover our dwindling moose population?
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