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Outdoor Retailer Winter 2011: Gear Report #2
Here’s our second update of the top eye-grabbing goodies from Outdoor Retailer, the twice-a-year gear expo.
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Meet America’s New Favorite: Bear Head Lake State Park
North America has a new favorite vacation destination. And it’s right in our backyard.
Thanks to an internet poll by Coca Cola, Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely edged out better known parks, like the Great Smoky Mountains, by a land slide. 1.7 million votes secured the $100,000 prize for Bear Head.
It became popular because of two well known research bears, Lily and Hope. We suspect that many of those polled, however, are unfamiliar with the park itself.
If you can’t get to the Boundary Waters, check out why you’ll want to make a trip here.
UpNorthica Reviews: Integral Design Siltarp 3
Mountaineers are protected from snowfall. Rangers get a break from the wind. It’s hard to beat the quality and durability of Integral Design’s outdoor products. Even the government uses them.
But isn’t a tarp just a tarp? Read on to see what we uncovered.
Just What is the Monowalker?
Works like a backpack, acts like a bike trailer, looks like a… wheelbarrow?
The unexpected design of the Monowalker is hard to describe in a word. Maybe that’s because this gear carrier purports to do so much: It’s a hiking trailer with a harness (and is that a ski attachment on the wheel?). Add on an extra wheel and it converts to a bike trailer. Or stow the whole thing away as a backpack, for the lighter loads.
Seemingly though, nobody in the blogosphere can decide whether the Monowalker is a good idea. And neither can we: While the thing can better distribute payloads up to 100 lbs, do you really need that much stuff? For winter camping, it could be more maneuverable than a pulk sled, but the wheel/ski could snag pretty easily in roots and such.
We’re stumped. So go check out the product’s site, watch the video and mull over the 900 euro price tag. We’ll let you decide.
Choose My Adventure, Day 1: Never a Boaring Moment
Woo hoo! Our first day here in the Allegheny Mountains was marked by high altitudes, high thrills, and truly high-on-the-hog living.
As part of this Choose Your Own Adventure sweepstakes theme, your votes had me tracking wild boar during our day hike. (Don’t forget to make your pick on Day 2′s activities, later on.)
Read on for lots of pics and tales of adventure!
Choose My Adventure, Vote #2: Swim a Frigid Stream -or- Fishing Contest
As winners of the Choose Your Own Adventure sweepstakes, we’re in the Allegheny Mountains with the Gear Junkie. But our trip is made even more special because you can vote on our itinerary! Your votes had me tracking wild boars today; watch for that report later tonight.
Our plan for tomorrow: Fly-fishing local trout streams, which we’ve been told, are among the best in the East. But to keep things interesting, you get to pick between two challenges for me to take part in:
Swim a Lap in a Frigid Trout Stream
Wanna see me cool down after a hard day of sweet-looking fly casting? Daytime temps have been about 45 degrees, but we’ll be bundled up in, like, 4 base layers and more polar fleece than an Eddie Bauer Outlet.
-OR-
Challenge the Gear Junkie to a Fish Catchin’ Contest
I haven’t fished in years — but neither has he. This could be a real upstream battle for both of us, but if you vote for this, I’ll promise save you a bite of trout. Heh heh.
Watch for our Day 1 report, later tonight. In the meantime, cast your vote in the comments section of this post for Day 2: Frigid Swim or Fishing Contest. What’ll it be, y’all?
Choose My Adventure, Vote #1: Tracking Wild Boars or Granola Bar Survival Fire
Wow! Tomorrow begins our adventure in the Allegheny Mountains, with the Gear Junkie. We’re extremely pumped — and you should be too, since you’re voting on our first day’s activities!
Since the trip is the grand prize of the Junkie’s Choose Your Own Adventure sweepstakes, we want you to be a part of it. We need you to vote on what to do during our hike in the mountains tomorrow. Will it be:
Tracking Wild Boars
Honestly, we know nothing about the Alleghenies. So while researching, we were curious about which kinds of wildlife we could expect to see. “Whitetail deer, chipmunk, groundhogs…” Nothing new, we have those in Minnesota. “…Bobcat, snowshoe hare, wild boar and black bear are also found in the –” Hold it right there. Wild boars? Yes! What an awesome chance to read Nature’s signs, feel the thrill of the chase and perhaps get our shinbones flayed by a vicious feral beast!
-OR-
Start a Survival Fire Using Granola Bars
A vigorous hike will keep you warm, but in those elevations… well, you just never know. If you vote for this option, we’ll attempt a fire fueled with bars of both the Chewy and Crunchy varieties — and who knows, maybe some of that paraffin-coated Key Lime Luna Bar crap (I sure won’t be eating that one, Survival or not.) It’ll be educational.
So, what’ll it be? Cast your vote NOW in the Comments section of this post. You’ll find out which option we chose, when we post our hiking adventure, tomorrow night. VOTE!
On an Adventure with the Gear Junkie — and So Are You
Word mighta leaked out that yours truly had won a vacation getaway to the Alleghenies, courtesy of everyone’s favorite gear junkie… uh, well, The Gear Junkie. Good news, right? Well, the better news is that you’ll be a part of that adventure.
As grand prize winner of the Choose Your Own Adventure Sweepstakes, I got to pick from an array of outdoor adventures in fly-fishing, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking.
So here’s where you come in: Each day, you’ll get to vote on the next day’s activities. Will you help pick a biking route? Request a demo of survival skills? Have me challenge the Gear Junkie to a physical challenge? Just like in the books, my fate will be in your hands.
But first: “What the heck is an Alleghenies?”
Portage with a Wolf Pack!
Find a wolf print on the trail? Hmm, that’d make a neat photo… Meeting a whole pack of wolves, face to face in the wild? Now you’ve got a real story.
Hiker/blogger Nina Asunto and a companion were recently on Isle Royale, when they experienced a close encounter of the Canis Lupis kind; one I’m sure she’ll never forget.
On the fifth morning of their 8-day hiking trip, they awoke early to the howling of a nearby pack. A few hours later, a short ways into their walk, her companion suddenly halted along a curved stretch of plankwork, alerting Nina to an amazing sight:
‘I’m not kidding,’he said. ‘There are at least five wolves on the trail ahead of us.’ The next few moments were the most surreal and exciting I’ve ever experienced.
Heads Up: Trees Down
The windstorm that buffeted Minnesota’s Arrowhead region last Monday, is gone. And gone with it are miles of clear hiking trails.
Best to plan carefully if you intend to hit the Superior Hiking Trail or the BW anytime between now and spring, as reportedly the damage is significant in some areas. How significant?
The SHT has deemed it “very severe” from Finland to the north end of the trail, with many hundreds of trees down. Apparently one hiker spent 2-1/2 hours covering just one mile, in an area north of Grand Marais.
Ourselves, we were tripping along the Sawbill Trail in the days after the storm. Some down there, on the portages, but certainly not to this extent.
Andrew Slade’s blog has more details, as well as several photos of large downed trees.
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