Sleeping warm

Even though the weather is getting cooler, it doesn't mean we want to stop camping. Here are a few of my favorite tips for sleeping warm:

1) Change your socks. Our feet sweat a lot, even around camp, so try and put a dry pair of socks on before bed.
2) Wear a hat. We lose a lot of heat out of the top of our head, even while asleep.
3) Have a sleeping set of long underwear. Same idea as #1
4) Use a sleeping pad. Much of our heat is lost through convection. Insulating yourself from the cold ground (head to toe) will help.
5) Do some crunches in your bag. You keep your sleeping bag heated, it does not keep you warm, so you need to have some source of warmth. Exercising raises your body heat and if you do the crunches in your bag it will go directly into the space around you. Plus it keeps your abs toned!
6) Hot water bottle. Put hot water in a Nalgene bottle (make sure it is a heat resistant plastic and the lid is on tight!) and then place it in your sleeping bag (at your feet or between your legs is nice). This will create warmth to heat your bag, just as the excercise does. If you are worried about the Nalgene leaking, put the bottle inside a wool sock.
7) Use a liner. A silk, fleece or wool liner adds warmth to your bag.
8) Get up and pee. If you have to go, get up and go. It takes energy to keep holding our urine, plus it is uncomfortable. Once you get up and go, you can get back in your warm bag and sleep soundly again.
9) Sleep in a warmer bag. I sleep cold, so I have a bag rated 10-15 degrees warmer than what the air temperature is. For instance, when the weather is 20 F, I sleep in a 0 degree bag.
10) Zip up. Once you've created all this heat for your bag, you want to hold it in as much as possible. So, zip your sleeping bag up tight around your shoulders or even around your head (in a mummy bag).

I am sure there are many more tips, but these are just a few to get you on your way to year round camping in comfort!
--Deb

Reading Lists

Whenever I travel to someplace new, I like to do research on the area before I go. I usually search the internet for a variety of information and it is a great resource. I also like to try and read books about the region as well. On our general information sheets we always have a suggested reading list. You can also Google/web search reading lists for where you are going as well. I try and read one historical book and one fictional book to provide both a factual and personal/creative perspective. For our recent Rafting the Grand Canyon trip, the group actually had emails going around recommending some favorites to read before arriving at the Canyon. I wanted to read the books and I wasn't even going on the trip. Add a dimension to your travels - books. -- Deb

"I love trash" Oscar the Grouch

Obviously when it comes to the wilderness (or even our backyard, neighborhood streets, or local parks) - we don't love trash. Trash is not only distasteful to our eyes, but can actually alter or destroy the ecosystem. We teach Leave no Trace principles on our trips to help reduce our impact on the areas we travel. One of those principles being - you pack it in/you pack it out. And I am not just talking about obvious items like an empty plastic water bottle, or your soda cup from Subway. It is also the small things that alter our natural world - an orange peel, a handful of dropped trail mix, toilet paper, etc.

Yes, even those things that "biodegrade" need to be packed out. The hardest one to understand, I think, is the apple core. There are good arguments for throwing it off in the woods: It's natural to most environments, it biodegrades relatively quickly, and if an animal ate it, it would not get terribly sick and it may find apples to eat in the area anyway. However, I have a different way of thinking about this: you may be just one of hundreds that visit that trail/park/campsite and if all hundred of you left your apple core, well, that would vastly alter not only how the area looked, but also the animals that may forage there. A few peanuts from your GORP may not seem a big deal, but when that chipmunk or squirrel starts relying on the hundreds of people that thought "no big deal" to leave a few peanuts, we have altered the system. Plus, those all too-friendly chipmunks, etc, are a real nuisance when you are trying to enjoy a picnic, or camp at a nice site.

The other idea I like to promote is collecting trash when possible. It is great when we collect the big, very messy things. But again, thing about the small items. I try to make a point of picking up 3 pieces of trash on my hiking trail. Typically they are small wrappers that probably fell out of someone's pocket or the twist-tie from lunch. I make the tiny extra effort to bend down and pick them up and carry them out with me. If we go back to the idea of hundreds of people visiting a trail - if each one of those people picked up 3 pieces of trash - we'd have a lot less trash in the wilderness.

We have to remember we aren't the only ones out there. Let's collect the trash like Oscar the Grouch and keep it in our garbage cans. -- Deb

International Car Free Day

September 22nd is International Car Free Day, a relatively new holiday which raises awareness about environnmental hazards of car use, and encourages people to bike, walk, take public transportation, or use other sustainable methods. Car Free Day started in Paris in 1998 as "In Town Without My Car!" day. Now over one thousand cities worldwide are celebrating Car Free Days. Some cities offer free public transporation on these days, or free/cheap bike rentals. Won't you participate in your city? -- Deb

Filter vs. iodine

I am beginning the pack out for Autumn Boundary Waters canoe trip and find myself pondering water purifying methods. Typically I bring a water filter. I like the water filter because it is an efficient way to get drinking water immediately, especially in the BWCA where water is abundant. I love my Pur [now Katadyn] Scout - it is easy to use, pretty quick to fill a quart water bottle, and the water tastes like, well...water.

The problem with most filters, however, is that they so often get clogged or something doesn't work with the mechanics. And then you are out of luck. In the BWCA, in particular, there is a fine sediment that clogs filters even when the lake looks incredibly clean. Eventually the pumping action is not so easy, nor fast. We always carry a replacement filter, but these are expensive and never last as long as you think they should, especially with a big group.

A decent alternative is iodine. I haven't actually used iodine as my dominant source of water purification in years, mostly because you need to let your water set for 20-30 minutes before it is potable and because it tastes, well...like iodine. In addition some people are allergic to iodine. Some people aren't bothered by the taste, and adding Gatorade or lemonade powder really helps (though you have to wait the 20-30 minutes before adding this). It certainly is an inexpensive option as well.

As I sit here and add up the cost of the replacement filters, and the anxiety if a filter breaks, as well as a few other factors, I am beginning to think that iodine is not such a bad group solution to purifying water. The answer will be that i will bring both. But what would you choose if you had the option? -- Deb

My new favorite socks

Before I went to Bulgaria for our hiking trip, I spontaneously threw 2 brands of hiking socks in my basket at REI that I had never tried before. I have been looking for ideal socks for years, ever since Fox River stopped making my original favorite wool sock. I don't like really thick socks and even some of the "lightweight" ones are too thick. Since I once liked them so much, I picked a new design of a Fox River sock - admitttedly because it had a flower on it (I am trying to get more in touch with my feminine side!) I also picked a TEKO sock because it looked like the right thickness for me and somewhere in the recesses of my brain I remembered some positive reviews of TEKO socks.

I loved both of these socks, and they fit wonderfully in my boot with a sock liner. But I really want to praise the TEKO sock. Not only was it comfortable, but their company is incredibly ecologically minded. Part of their mission is "to create the best performing socks in the world, with the least impact on our planet." They accomplish this in a variety of ways: They use minimal, post consumer, recycled packaging; the socks are made with recycled polyester, eco-merino wool, organic cotton, and natural dyes; they have bought wind-powered enegry credits to offset their own energy use; they also use low amounts of water in their wash process; and they are made in the United States.

On top of all this, the socks are just designed well. They are field-tested for a variety of criteria by people who are bikers, hikers, skiers, etc. My feet were definitely dry and comfortable and happy - and these socks were tested for 6-9 hours a day. I loved them (and my Fox River socks) so much that I just kept washing them out by hand and re-wearing them. Give a pair a try and if you don't like them they even have a one-year guarantee! You can read more about the design, performance and company information on their web site: http:// www.tekosocks.com --Deb

My mom turns 95 today

Which is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. I credit her with my love of the outdoors and travel, and being open to new experiences.

Not that she was an avid outdoorswoman. She was born in 1912 and is very much a product of her times. But she had the great fortune to grow up spending her summers in a cabin in the Adirondacks on a tiny island. And this was a very rustic cabin, where we cooked on a wood stove, read by kerosene lamps, got ice every other day for the icebox, and had an outhouse (none of which had changed during my childhood when we spent two weeks every summer there). We hiked and paddled but didn't camp or backpack.

Her true adventurous spirit emerged when she was 75 and two events converged-my dad died and I started guiding outdoor trips. There were two year when she came on a whitewater canoe weekend I was teaching over Mother's Day. At the age of 76 she joined me for a 5 day Boundary Waters Canoe trip, the first time she had camped since she was 14. Three years later she went on a 15 day raft trip down the Grand Canyon. We also had some great travels together- China and Costa Rica on tours and New Zealand on our own. Our last trip together was when she was 88 and we did a 2 week Elderhostel tour in South Africa.

I have learned a lot from my mom, and probably nothing more important than knowing that it truly is never too late to pursue new experiences. And also that a curious and interested mind keeps us fully alive. While macular degeneration has slowed her down significantly, she recently has been listening to books on Islam as she tries to understand what is going in the world.

Happy birthday, Mom! I sure hope you gave me all those genes. -- Marian