It was fifty years ago that Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mount Everest. Check out “A Life Well Lived,” a short documentary about the climber here. Inspiring guy.

Thank you to Mr. Holstad for sending over a link to The Private Life of the Barn Owl, a 1976 BBC short writen, produced, directed and narrated by the great David Cobham.

MP3: Carly Simon – Night Owl

This Outside article is a few years old, but after recently finishing the WONDERFUL Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, I had to sneak Wells Tower in here somewhere. And since this rag is all about the outdoors and such, this fits the bill perfectly. Read the entirety of “The Tuber” here:

Having constructed the greatest flotation device mankind has ever known, WELLS TOWER embarks on an ill-conceived, possibly insane crossing of alligator-infested North Florida via a string of seriously imperiled and incredibly beautiful rivers. (Yeah, it’s a tube.)

Enjoy the trail. Enjoy the sun. Enjoy it all.

MP3: Lemonheads – Down About It

I started writing my own synopsis of this show, but the Wikipedia version does a pretty decent job. If you’ve never seen FWJ, go go go go go. Start with Tom Waits.

Fishing with John is a 1991 television series conceived, directed by and starring actor and musician John Lurie, which earned a cult following. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: in each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a fishing expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the interaction between Lurie and his guests, all of whom are his friends. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures.

The guests featured are film director Jim Jarmusch, actor Matt Dillon, musician Tom Waits, actor Willem Dafoe and actor-director Dennis Hopper. The series ran for 6 episodes, each featuring a different guest and locale, except for episodes 5 and 6 which both feature Hopper in Thailand. Each episode has voice-overnarration by Robb Webb, which is sometimes bizarre and off-topic. The soundtrack is by Lurie, with several guest performers (see below).

Fishing With John originally aired on IFC and Bravo cable channels in 1991. The Criterion Collection has released two different versions of Fishing With John, one in 1999 and another in 2004.

As many of you already know, the cicadas are coming. In a major way. Not sure yet what that means for camping, but it’s gotta mean something, right? At very least, we’ll appreciate all the snoring thru-hikers that we’ve shared AT shelters with throughout the years. That sound will be nothing compared to these bugs. Time to invest in a real pair of earplugs…

MP3: Pearl Jam – Bugs

Get em while they’re hot, trail hounds. Read and listen here.

Wear them fancy hats, pick some ramps and enjoy it out there.

MP3: Brendan Benson – You’re Quiet

New Hampshire is the second most forested state in the nation with 4.8 million acres of forestland. (It’s next door neighbor, Maine, tops that list.) To maintain all those handsome trees, the NH Division of Forests and Lands operates 15 fire lookout towers from early spring to late fall. They also have something called the Fire Lookout Tower Quest, which, as you may have guessed, is a challenge to visit all of the towers in the state. What happens when you? Well, you get the pretty little patch pictured above.

Download both parts of the Fire Lookout Tower Quest brochure here and here.

Today marks the last day of graduate school for our bestest friend, partner in crime and Boston Baked Bean dining companion, Tom Bonamici of Archival Clothing. We’re all happy you’re sticking around the East Coast. To many adventures in the months and years to come…

Youtube: Justin Timberlake – Mirrors