Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

Birds, Surf, Sand

BeachSurfBirds2006|01|14: Birds, Surf, and Sand. Davenport Landing. January 14, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Birds, Surf, Sand. Davenport Landing. January 14, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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January 14, 2006 Posted by | Ocean | Comments Off on Birds, Surf, Sand

Pacific Storm

PacificStorm2006|01|14: Pacific Storm. South of San Francisco. January 14, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Pacific Storm. South of San Francisco. January 14, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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January 14, 2006 Posted by | Ocean | Comments Off on Pacific Storm

Ridgtop Oak Snag

CaleroOakSnag2006|01|13: Ridgetop Oak Snag. Calero Park. January 13, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
Ridgetop Oak Snag at Sunset. Calero Park. January 13, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.

January 13, 2006 Posted by | Photography: Calero | 2 Comments

Another Lightweight Pack

“Cyberhobo” posted a comment on yesterdays reference to the Two-Heel Drive story on lightweight packs:

My MountainSmith Auspex is pretty tough for the weight. I think they nailed the perfect comprimise with it.

I have to agree. I also own an Auspex and it represents a very useful middle ground between the old school behemoth packs and the new wave of tiny, ultralight (and sometimes a bit fragile and underfeatured) packs. I wrote a bit more in my reply to cyberhobo (see the link to the comment above), and have even more to say in Dan’s Equipment List.
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January 13, 2006 Posted by | Equipment | Comments Off on Another Lightweight Pack

The Stegner Special?

A hike that leaves you in shape to hit sportsmen’s show. This week stands out because I’m looking for a first-class hike that I can chop short if necessary because of weather or time — and still have the energy to set out for the International Sportsmen’s Exposition in San Mateo. The best answers for this… By Tom Stienstra. [SFGate: Tom Stienstra]

Stienstra describes an “expandable hike” along Skyline Road near the junction with Hiway 9 above Saratoga. I have hiked sections of this trail, but not recently, and I think I rode parts of it on a mountain bike some years ago. He says that author Wallace Stegner was known to enjoy hiking portions of this route.
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January 12, 2006 Posted by | Trails | Comments Off on The Stegner Special?

More January Oak Trees

ProspectOaksC2006|01|08: Oak Trees on the Prospect #3 Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 8, 2006. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
More Oak Trees. Prospect #3 Trail, Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 8, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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January 8, 2006 Posted by | Quicksilver | Comments Off on More January Oak Trees

Oaks on the Prospect #3 Trail

ProspectOaks(A)2006|01|08: Oaks on the Prospect #3 Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 8, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.
Oaks on the Prospect #3 Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 8, 2005. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

After being on the road (in Seattle) for the past four days, I managed to get out for a nice hike this morning. This was one of the January California days on which it starts out feeling cold but warms up as the day goes on – until the new growth and bright sun make one begin to remember that spring is not that far away.
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January 8, 2006 Posted by | Quicksilver | Comments Off on Oaks on the Prospect #3 Trail

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Apparently my Photoblog has been nominated for inclusion in a “best of” competition for photo blogs at the Photography Blogs Network. I wouldn’t mind at all if you want to vote for me… :-)

Visit http://www.heartlandoutdoorsman.com/phototech and vote for Dan Mitchell’s Photoblog.

Thanks!
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January 7, 2006 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on Pick Me! Pick Me!

OK, I was wrong

For quite a few years I have had relatives living in the Seattle area and other points Pacific and Northwest. Although I had heard that this part of the world is wet – very wet – every time I visited the weather was beautiful, often with sunny skis and temperatures in the 70s and 80s. (There was one very wet drive down the west side of the Olympics, but that is a different world.)

When I would remark on this they would often reply with something along the lines of, “Well, yes, but you should have been here yesterday when it rained 23 inches.”

I finally decided that the whole thing was a scam to convince Californians to stay home. They know how wimpy we can be about rain, so it was the perfect line. “Yeah, Seattle is really a cool place. Oh, by the way, it rains every day… about 6 inches. You’d hate it.”

Yeah, right.

Well, maybe so. I got here yesterday and it was supposed to be “partly cloudy.” However, the partly cloudy began to precipitate noticably by afternoon. This morning I woke up to actual rain which has continued all day. And into the night. And the forecast is for more of the same tomorrow.

January 5, 2006 Posted by | Commentary | 2 Comments

Finally, a New Year's Hike… Sort Of

We can use the rain and I enjoy a good storm, but the past few days have not been good for hiking. I missed my New Year’s Day hike because, well because we had winds of nearly 60 mph and about 15% of our normal annual rainfall… in one day.

Yesterday, surprising even the weatherman I think, it again rained all day long.

Today I finally managed to get out for about 2 hours in light sprinkles. It was not a particularly unusual hike – just up the English Camp trail at Almaden Quicksiver to the ridge and back – but it was my first real hike of the year.

So there!
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January 3, 2006 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on Finally, a New Year's Hike… Sort Of

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