A Word in the Woods

I never quite have enough of the clear liquid when I’m on a backcountry trip, but I’m usually a bit more active, of course. It’s made me a bit more conscious of my hydration in my day-to-day life, however, and I know what it means when my hands have that mottled look under their skin, and I get a headache for no reason. Keeping hydrated is important, but do we need to be fanatical about it?

Here’s an interesting article on the facts about water intake, and how much of it can be taken care of in your food alone.

I try to drink often in my travels, and to replenish a good day of canoeing and portaging, I’ve taken to making my first night involve a good hearty pot of well-simmered soup. I used to mix a boatload of gatoraide with water that didn’t taste so good, but I’ve found my filter does a decent job, as long as I choose my water sources well. I could do without the sugar crash, and if I make sure I have my tea and hot chocolate in the afternoon and evenings, soup and noodles and oatmeal and veggies, I’m doing just fine when in camp.

What habits do you have that help you keep dehydration at bay?

Tags: dehydration, h2o, hydration, nutrition
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I’ve decided to take a step back and look at this site. I haven’t updated throughout the winter, and although I camp year-round, sometimes there can be big pauses between trips. So to move things along during the slow times, I will be writing reviews of various gear that I’ve tested and used. Further to that, I’m going to actually take the time to design a new site, with a good section for organizing the reviews, and perhaps a gallery. It will give me a chance to test out some new technology as well, and I’m looking forward to that.

So begins the lengthy re-design process.

Tags: Gear, Reviews, site design
Posted in Things to try | No Comments »

I haven’t posted in a while, and for that, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy at work with a new job, and a lot of busy weekends, so I haven’t had much outdoors about which to write, but I get the feeling I’m back for a bit. It’s going to be a good year with lots of opportunities to try new things.

It’s May, and in Canada, that means Victoria day (pronounced \’tü fər\) is on everybody’s mind. At the very least, it’s on mine, and although it’s falling early this year, it looks like (for a change) we’ll have sun for most of it. I enjoy camping all year ’round, but two-four is a milestone. It starts off the summer camping and cottage season. It’s the time to get scrounging into the couch for spare change to fill up the Oldsmobile for a road trip, to play some guitar outside without freezing off your fingers, or just enjoy lying under the sun in the back of your buddy’s Jeep with the top down.

So I’m going to head home from the office in just a bit, hop in the Rover (new wheels, new brakes, new suspension to come), and sleep by the lake tonight. Here’s hoping you’ll do the same.

Tags: 24, may two four, nostalgia, victoria day
Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »

Looks like I may not be able to pick up my car tomorrow, I’m a bit under the weather – but hey, at least I’m getting into the habit of posting again!

I’ve failed to mention a great set of finds that I managed this past winter/fall. An old Coleman Lantern, and a Coleman two-burner stove. Heavy and heavy-duty, they don’t mess around with the good old stuff. The lantern still has its original box and runs on white gas – same as my lightweight camping stove. It’s in great condition, but I’m going to probably burn out some rust and dust in the innards, as it’s from 1976!

I’m looking forward to keeping them both in the car as part of my safety kit, but first things first, let’s get that car!

Tags: coleman lantern, coleman stove, sick
Posted in Gear | No Comments »

I’m looking forward to my new vehicle, but it’s with a bit of a twinge of regret that I’m putting my VW golf up for sale. I’ve put it up on Kijiji, my first ever post on something like that, so we’ll see how things go. I’ve also now put it up on Craigslist, and I’m surprised they let me use HTML and CSS to style it a little. If I had more time, I’d play with that a bit.

Ah, but now, I’m looking forward to my new ride. I’ll have to get some more pictures of it, but still have to get some things sorted out with the government first (Grr). I’m really getting to hate the red-tape registration that they require on everything.

I’ll try to remember to take as many pictures as I work on the new acquisition… until then, here’s something:

hee hee.

I’m going to have to do some work on it in quick order, to get things ready for my first camping trip of the year – a winter valentine’s camp in mid-February, coming up soon.

Sorry, haven’t maintained in a while, there was just too much spam going on, so I had to take things off the hook for a while. I’ll get back on track, and follow up with some more frequent posting over the next while.

Tags: golf, Range Rover, transportation, vehicle, volkswagen, vw
Posted in Gear, News | No Comments »

Ok, I know it’s just wrong, and I’ve got tons of pictures and stories to tell from the great fall colour changes, but for now, I’m off to have a beer, since I’ve been working too much.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

It was a bit of a rainy weekend on our favorite Algonquin park lake, but fun nevertheless. The unfortunate and undesirable part of camping is the drying out of gear after you get back. Right now, I’m just going to throw it all on the balcony, and hop in the shower.

I’ll update with a full trip report when I get a chance – it may be a bit of a busy week.

Tags: algonquin, rain
Posted in Personal | No Comments »

Although I’m not a fan of banning everything for our own good, this makes me smile. I’d have preferred if they just levied an environmental impact fee on buyers, but hey.

Read the article on the London’s plans to phase out bottled water.

Tags: bottled water, environment, London Ontario, politics, water
Posted in Conservation, News | 1 Comment »

There’s a good writeup CPAWs site about how our Boreal forests are going to be given a bit more protection when industrial development decisions get made. With any new policy or announcement that involves big business and the environment, I’m always a bit skeptical, but this seems like a great start.

Continued conservation of Boreal forests in Ontario means that the species that call it their native habitat have a better chance at surviving, and the hunting and fishing that goes on in those areas can be tailored to control the population to make sure the local species are not over-harvested, or grow in population too large for the land to support. More land means more flexibility for threatened species such as the Woodland Caribou, Lake Sturgeon, and Polar Bear – species that are also considered at risk in other areas of Canada.

Tags: boreal forest, Conservation, CPAWS, environment, government, ontario, politics, species at risk, woodland caribou
Posted in Conservation | No Comments »

So, lots of new things going on… I’ve got a new job and a new phone and probably a lot less time this year to go camping, but I’ll get a chance to check out the iPhone in the woods.

It has a gps, but I’m not sure how good it will be, since it relies heavily on being connected to the net. I don’t know if there’s any way yet to add local topographic maps for use offline.

One thing it will allow me to do is compose updates from remote areas. I know that I could just transcribe written notes, but let’s face it – if I were going to do that, I would have done it already.

One thing I’m looking forward to is trying out some solar cell chargers, since I like the idea of sustainable power. I don’t like throwing away batteries, but I also don’t trust rechargables enough to not bring alkaline spares.

A good solar system that would cover charging headlamp batteries, walkie-talkies, cell phones and cameras would be ideal.

Oh, and this is my first post using the iPhone!

Tags: gadgets, Gear, iphone, solar
Posted in Gear, Questions, Things to try | No Comments »