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Posted: March 12th, 2010 under Art/Photography, Camping.
Comments: 3

The Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship (originally called “Frontiersmen Camping Fraternity”) was founded during the summer of 1966 by The Royal Rangers, a worldwide ministry of the Assemblies of God. From the “History” section of their website:

The early American frontiersman was an excellent example of man’s ability to adapt to the outdoors and the wilderness. His achievements were also an example of courage and determination. The national office, therefore, made the decision to base this fraternity on the lore and traditions of these early frontiersmen.

The first FCF chapter was organized in the Southern California District on July 8, 1966. High in the San Bernardino Mountains in a clearing surrounded by gigantic trees, a large group of Royal Rangers sat around a blazing campfire. As they waited, a feeling of mystery and expectancy filled the air.

Suddenly, the blast of a hunter’s horn shattered the night’s stillness and echoed through the trees. National Commander Johnnie Barnes stepped into the firelight, dressed in a buckskin outfit and a coonskin cap. As lie began to explain the new FCF program, a hum of excitement rose above the sound of the crackling campfire. Assisted by two district leaders, Ron Halvorson and Bob Reid, these men proceeded with the first FCF callout. After pledging to endure a time of testing, the candidates were led away carrying a large rope to a mountaintop nearby for an all night initiation.

Later as the new members (five men and five boys) were officially inducted into the fraternity at the final friendship fire, they sensed that this ceremony was a milestone in Royal Rangers history.

That same year, three more chapters were organized in the Northern California, the Southern Missouri, and the Iowa Districts. This exciting and unique fraternity has so captured the imaginations of men and boys until the program has now grown to include organized chapters in the majority of our country.

More old guidebook covers after the jump…

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Posted: March 9th, 2010 under Camping.
Comments: none

Wired has an article about the best cars, from past to present, to use in a “snowicane.” And of course, the ol’ Wagoneer makes the cut. Read it here.

Posted: March 3rd, 2010 under Camping.
Comments: 2

How do y’all make your coffee in the morning when you get out of the tent? The NYT reviewed several products a few months back and decided this GSI espresso maker made the best cup. A few weeks ago, I tried Starbucks VIA for the first time up after waking up in a cold, wood-burning stove heated cabin on an island in Lake Winnipesaukee, and dare I say this, but it was pretty darn good. Way better than the instant Folgers I’m used to.

MP3: Bruce Cockburn – Going To The Country

Posted: February 25th, 2010 under Camping.
Comments: 21

Throughout the 1940s, Dan Gibson (above, left) made nature films, including Audobon Wildlife Theatre, where he learned how to record wildlife sound. He helped design pioneering audio equipment, including the “Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone,” which he used to record LPs in the 1950s and 60s. In 1981, Gibson started the Solitudes series, which is now run by his sons (Gibson passed away in 2006). Solitudes is more like New Age music with whale calls now, BUT, f you ever find one of the old LPs at the thrift store, buy it. The covers, descriptions of the environments they’re recording in, and the actual recordings are just wonderful. From the first volume of Solitudes, By Canoe To Loon Lake:

“Our starting point is a waterfall at the end of a portage. We dip the paddle into the gently flowing river. We drift awhile. We are watched. The ruby-crowned kinglet notes our presence in its territory. The Kinglet is the first wildlife voice we hear. As we drift downwards a spruce lined shore one of nature’s friendliest sounds keeps us company, the spruce forest rings with the song of the white-throated sparrow. … Up ahead we can see the white waters of the rapids thrashing up above the surface level of the lake. The canoe is drawn forward. Our microphones are mounted on the on the gunwales, soon you are plunging into ever quickening rapids until they are thundering all around you as you surge through the channels … then come at last to the placid reaches of Loon Lake. A slight evening breeze drifts us out into the secluded lake where the gray tree frogs and the spring peeper frogs provide their evening background chorus to the haunting calls of the loon.”

In 1994, Dan was awarded The Order of Canada for his environmental works, and in 1997, Dan was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards.

Download By Canoe To Loon Lake and Storm On A Wilderness Lake at Closet Of Curiosities.

Posted: February 24th, 2010 under Camping, Music/Movies/Books.
Comments: none

Does anyone have a Wagoneer XJ (I prefer white or beige/champagne, but I’ll do anything with a wood panel) that you would like to sell me? Or if you have anything similar…

Thanks,
Cold Splinters

Posted: February 22nd, 2010 under Camping.
Comments: 4

Arizona State Route 85 runs 130 miles from Buckeye to the Mexico border near Lukeville. There’s not much there for those 130 miles – a large (very large) military base and a few small towns dedicated to the sales of Mexican Auto Insurance – and that’s the whole damn point. I spent two hours on that road, speedometer hugging 75 and the radio tuned to anything that would reach my antenna. As I finally rolled in to my campsite at the 330,000 acre Organ Pipes National Monument, the headlights of my rented sky blue compact caught the eyes of a young coyote, who would, over the course of my stay, take three shits on my stove, angry that I wasn’t leaving any food out for him. The saguaros stood proud under the moon and the cactus wrens yelled from atop their chollas while I put up my tent and made black bean soup with a can of green chiles. When done with dinner, I put some hot water and whiskey into a small tin cup, walked a few hundred yards into the desert, sat down and started humming a song I had written a few years ago after reading Edward Abbey’s “Winter In The Organ Pipes,” a chapter from the Cactus Country edition of Time-Life’s Wilderness Series:

I’ll meet you in the Organ Pipes
All alone on a winter’s night
You’ll say,
“Come home.”
I’ll stay
You won’t.

The next morning, after driving into Lukeville and buying a plastic gallon of water and a few lemons to join my evening hot water and whiskey, I hiked to the top of Arch Canyon, a short trail that leads to a difficult scramble up to a small red arch. The views from the top of the arch, and from almost anywhere in the desert, are endless. Organ pipes, saguaros and ocotillos run for miles and miles in the dry winter wind, perfectly placed in the sand, soaking in the sun all day. I had wanted to come to this place for a long time, and now that I was there, sitting on a rocky, red throne a few thousand feet above sea level, king of all the desert life that was hiding from the cold, I felt the way I always hope to feel when I go camping: small and insignificant. I walked back down the trail as a young couple from Tucson were slowly walking up. We gave each other a quick hello and a series of forced smiles before I got back to my car.

There’s no backcountry camping in Organ Pipes. Too many drug smugglers and illegal immigrants crossing the border. The monument’s visitor center is named after Kris Eggle, a ranger who was shot in killed a few years ago while tracking a Mexican drug cartel that was fleeing Mexico after a string of murders. Sure, staying at a group campsite is a bummer, but this place isn’t Yosemite. The campsite is small, in the middle of nowhere and dead silent for most of the day. You can hear the pack rats scattering around your tent at night and the coyotes howling from the hills. And hell, without that campsite I wouldn’t have met Richard.

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Posted: January 5th, 2010 under Camping.
Comments: 5

Fjällräven opened up their first American store today at 262 Mott Street in New York City. I stopped by last night’s pre-opening celebration to stare at all the pretty Swedish girls and drink a few beers. If you have any affinity for vintage camping gear, and I would assume you might if you’re reading this, then get on the subway or hop on the plane and go check it out. You might know Fjällräven from the mini-backpacks you see around town (and in my apartment) but they started out as, and still are, a technical outdoor gear company, something that they want you to know as soon as you walk down the steps into the store. Filled with axes, tents, sleeping bags, boots from yesteryear and new alpine coats that you clearly don’t need for urban life, people who complain that “outdoor gear just isn’t stylish” will complain no longer.

More photos of the new store can be found at Paul + Williams Flickr.

Posted: November 19th, 2009 under Camping.
Comments: 2

Not surprisingly, Alaska is home to 4 of the 5 least visited National Parks this year, with Kobuk Valley National Park taking the #1 spot. The park only had 1,250 visitors in 2009. Other parks that made the list are Great Basin National Park in Nevada, Congaree National Park in South Carolina, Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (pictured above) in Colorado. The L.A. Times has the whole list and more info.

(via The Goat)

Posted: October 15th, 2009 under Camping.
Comments: 1

Another wonderful trip to the Otis Pike Fire High Dune Wilderness. The bugs are dying down, so now’s a great time to go. Pictures are by Daniel.

Posted: October 13th, 2009 under Camping.
Comments: 1