Forbidden Fruit – Another Bike to Work Week dilemma
It takes around 500 calories or so to bike into work. It’s a manageable amount. Sure, you’re really hungry when you get home, but that’s OK — it makes dinner taste all that much better. But then...
View ArticleThe big lake was not a mistake
I wrote a column on Friday about my first paddle on Lake George. There’s a lot going on up there, some good and some not so good for someone in a kayak. I tried to ignore the not so good.
View ArticleGear review: Avex Auto-Seal bottle
Gimmick. The first thing I thought when I saw the Avex bottle. It features a push button drink dispenser. Unlike your average Nalgene bottle where you unscrew the cap to drink, with the Avex you push a...
View ArticleThe Last Peak
I wrote a column for today’s Times Union Sport section about Gillian and finishing the fire tower challenge. I hadn’t realized the role it played for us until we were almost done with the list.
View ArticleMore Norway: Trip to Helle
Sunday’s Unwind section contained my story about our trip through Norway in June. Since space in the paper is limited, I’ll offer a little more about our trip here in the next few days. Excitement vs....
View ArticleMore Norway: Kongstinden
Our hiking boots beat a tattoo on the paved streets of Svolvaer as we walked. A fresh new hiking map in my front pocket was leading us to adventure in the mountains above town. We had a pick of trails...
View ArticleShepherd’s Tooth with a Shepherd
The Shepherd’s Tooth is a small, rock and alpine grass-covered knob that sticks out like an island above the sea of spruce in the MacIyntrne Range of the Adirondack High Peaks. Until 50 years ago, the...
View ArticleGear I really, really like: Asolo TPS 520 GV boots
On occasion we at the Outdoor Blog get gear to test. Not a lot of gear, but usually some smaller items. (Dear Mountain Hardware, feel free to send us your “Ghost” model polar sleeping bag. Ditto to you...
View ArticleThe illuminating darkness
There is the cold and the dark. I’m reminded of them by others. The darkness adds to the risk. No one knows about it more than I do. I’m out there, smaller and lower on the asphalt food chain. I know...
View ArticleMan versus mountain
I wrote a column for this morning’s Times Union Sports section about how giant rocks and other issues tried to keep me from enjoying Hail Mountain in the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. Spoiler alert – the...
View ArticleSliding Downhill
Gillian wrote a first-rate column in today’s TU Sports section about downhill skiing at Gore Mountain. It was the first time either of us have done such a thing in five or six winter olympics and were...
View ArticleEating the dog
One of the sadder and more heated outdoor stories of 2013 came from Canada. Outdoorsman Marco Lavoie, traveling with just his German Shepherd in a remote section of Quebec, was attacked by a bear. The...
View ArticleRescue on Mount Marcy, Winter 2035
The following is fiction. Probably. “Rescue on Mount Marcy,” Ned calls over to me, “Coordinates coming to you from dispatch.” I call up the bird’s-eye view on my monitor. We have 10 U.S.A.s on the...
View ArticleSolo in Winter
It’s not a great idea, just about anyone will tell you. I let ambition get the better of me on a trip to the High Peaks this winter and wrote about it for today’s Times Union Sport s section. Do you go...
View ArticleAnd Gladly Be Guided
I wrote a column today about hiking with professional guide Spencer Morrissey. It was my first trip out with a guide, an idea spawned by my wife to keep me from hiking alone.
View ArticleThe Hike Safe card
Think of it as a kind of “get out of the helicopter free” card. New Hampshire is considering offering a card that makes rescues free of charge. Vexed by the high cost of search and rescue, the state is...
View ArticleMy first bike…
My column from today’s sports section is below. If you have a first bike story to share, please share it with us in the comments. If you want to share a photo, email it to hterns@timesunion.com and...
View ArticleThe $100 shirt for your bike commute
If… you can get past the price tag, this stuff is pretty cool. It’s a big “if” because it’s a big price tag. This bike commuter wear looks like normal clothing but has reflective threads interwoven so...
View ArticleLook before you camp (or click)
Maybe you’re like me and stared at those campground maps on Reserve America. Is it a good site? Bad site? Sloped? Tiny? Close to the water? It’s hard to tell from those maps so NY Campground Guide is...
View ArticleGillian’s solo hike illustrated
Times Union artist Mark Hempstead offered this take on Gillian’s solo hike with her big honking knife. (She wrote about her trip for the Times Union Sports section last Friday.)
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