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Monthly Archives: March 2009
A Concert of Loon Calls
Capture of a lovely loon concert. Between all the echoes, I think I heard three of them. How many can you pick out?
UpNorthica Reviews: GoLite Adrenaline Sleeping Bag
Mention GoLite around the water cooler and you’ll likely get blank stares. But bring up the outdoor brand around your outdoorsy buddies, and people listen. Those on the fringes of your conversation will crash it. Pulses quicken, shirt collars get unbuttoned. You’ll have to throw them subtle hints to wipe the drool from their jowls.
GoLite is a standard-bearer among the ultralight set. The company’s commitment to making products with “maximum performance for minimum weight” has earned them awards, respect and adulation.
So I tried some of their stuff.
Specifically, the stuff that the Adrenaline 0 ̊ sleeping bag is made of. I wanted to know if the bag’s performance lived up to its high reputation – and high price point of $400.
How Stimulating! A Spruced-Up Superior National Forest
Thanks to $557,000 federal stimulus dollars, the Superior National Forest will be getting a long-awaited clean-up. Trails including the Kekekabic Hiking Trail will benefit from “brush clearing, tread work, [installation of] water control structures, boardwalk reconstruction and trail sign maintenance.”
The SNF will partner with the Minnesota Conservation Corps, with work to begin in June.
This means two things. One: Safer, better-marked trails, especially in light of the Kek’s poor conditions. And Two: A crapload of summer jobs way better than working at Culver’s.
The Singing Wilderness Documentary
We were excited to see that a Sigurd Olson documentary is afoot!
Here’s a short promo for The Singing Wilderness (currently in production,) a film that looks to provide a very intimate study of the legendary conservationist and writer. And by ‘intimate,’ I mean it promises more than mere biography. According to the filmmaker’s blog, the film will go deeper – way deeper:
In addition to interviews with his son, his biographer, and others who knew him and whose lives he changed, we’ll speak with contemporary experts from the disciplines of psychology, ecology, biology, anthropology, and burgeoning fields like ecopsychology and sociobiology. For the backbone of the film we’ll follow a group of college students into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, a vast wilderness which Olson was instrumental in preserving, for a two week expedition as they study his writing and record their own impressions of their wilderness experience.
I’ve not read all of Sigurd Olson’s books, so I know very little of his “wilderness theology,” as it’s been called. Looks like the film will cover this too.
We’ll be sure to update y’all when it’s released.
How Manly is Minneapolis?
The makers of Mars Snackfoods and Combos have released a study listing the 50 Manliest Cities in the U.S., to promote their Ultimate Man Zone Sweepstakes.
Using criteria like the number of professional sports teams, interest in tools and hardware and the frequency of monster truck rallies [insert your own echo here] would be expected. But researchers didn’t stop there:
Cities lost ranking points for “emasculating” characteristics like the abundance of home furnishing stores, high minivan sales and subscription rates to beauty magazines.
Nashville grabbed the top spot in the ranking thanks to its high number of NASCAR enthusiasts, popularity of hunting and fishing, and concentration of barbecue restaurants.
So how did the Minneapple rate? 18th! Are you kidding? This, the land of polar bear swimming, ice-fishing, lutefisk-eating, Body-by-Alumacraft canoe portaging Viking berserker sons of Paul Bunyan – 18th? We here in flyover country are sorely disappointed in you, Mr. Combos.
How depressing is that! …If anyone’s looking for me, I’ll be in shopping therapy at IKEA for the rest of the day. Via The Goat.
Friday Films: Cry of the Wild
In today’s Friday Films feature, Bill Mason aims the camera at the wolf – but not as the silent documentarian. In Cry of the Wild, he immerses himself in their world (or arguably vice versa,) connecting to his subject in a way that reminds me of Never Cry Wolf, the 1983 film starring Timothy Hutton.
Mason sets out to dispel the myth of the bloodthirsty wolf. Going beyond the wolf’s natural habitat, Mason relocated three young wolves to his own property and was able to film tribal customs, mating and birth. As a result, Cry of the Wild offers viewers access to moments in wildlife never before seen on film.
Remembering Quetico’s Beginnings — 100 Years Later
Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park celebrates its centennial this year (as does as our own Superior National Forest.) Canoeing.com is featuring a nice retrospective of how these lands came to be the protected northwoods we know today.
It’s interesting to see how closely the concerns of the public then, mirror those of today — especially in regards to preservation of species:
While industrial growth spurred the turn-of-the-century economy, the cultural beginnings of a ‘wilderness ethic’ emerged. Fueled by a desire to escape the polluted cities, and return to a more idyllic time in America, people began to value the outdoors as more than a well of raw materials. For locals, the beauty and rarity of the northwoods was not an imaginary ideal, but a daily reality. Fearing a decline in moose populations and total depletion of the forests, citizens on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border took action.
They’ve also posted a calendar of events (albeit with limited detail) for Quetico’s centennial celebration. Worth a look if you wanna twofer up on your next trip northwards.
Video: Kayaker With Hydrofoil Outpaces 4-Man Kayak
The speed this guy reaches is unbelievable. While the Flyak design may, or may not, branch out to other recreational vessels, just imagine what hydrofoils could do for pontoon boats full of retirees on Rainy Lake. Via Paddling.net
Get Yourself Covered With BeardHead
There was a time when only G.I. Joe operative SnakeEyes could look cool with a face mask; a time when the rest of us in our frumpy balaclavas looked like stalkers or costume-shop ninjas. That time is past.
BeardHead unveils a way to keep warm *and* increase your face value with their ultra-hip beard caps. Lovely ladies Tawny, Bambi and Gisele (pictured above) are modeling the Lumberjack, Grandpa and Viking caps. They’re also available in Pirate flavor (black.)
I love the swooping lines of the ‘stache, and I’m sure it keeps the upper lip warm. But how well does it hold onto food crumbs for that snack between meals? Via The Goat.
…In Which We Offer Our Most Unabashed Approbation of The Kenspeckle Letterpress
I’m sure there actually are words to describe the fanciful works coming out of the Kenspeckle Letterpress — but those words are above and beyond the grasp of my humble lexicon.
The engravings, prints and posters of Duluth resident Rick Allen feature images of boreal wildlife, as well as mirthful scenes of camping misadventures. Often, the two seem to comfortably coexist within the same artwork. Plus, that hand-rendered typography is just so-o-o tasty (again, words fail me.)
Happily, the studio has a slew of the featured artworks for sale. ‘Scuse me while I go Craigslist half my earthly belongings and get me a few o’ these…
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