Medical Health

Petition to Save Arizona’s State Parks

Arizona’s politicians are set to close thirteen state parks. Here is a link to a petition to save Arizona’s state parks. You may sign this petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-arizona-state-parks

The organizers will send the petition to Governor Brewer and the state legislators on February 1st, 2010.

You will find a slide show of Arizona hiking destinations on our Flash Gallery

Also see the post The Grand Canyon State: Arizona Set to Close and Sell State Parks?

Tags: exercise, hiking, nature

The Grand Canyon State: Arizona Set to Close and Sell State Parks?

The world flies in and takes a long look at Arizona, the Grand Canyon State (see our Photo Gallery). And soon after arriving in Phoenix, they fall in love with all the other gems Arizona has to offer: preserved yet accessible desert wilderness areas and wildlife refuges, such as the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction.

But now Arizona’s lawmakers are preparing to vote on budget cuts that could shut down the entire state parks system by July 1. And that vote in January 2010 might result in the sale of state parks to the highest bidders. That’s right: I’m hearing that once an Arizona state park is closed, it must be sold: Land speculators and developers will mutilate our public gems, our community wilderness. They will restrict access, and Lost Dutchman State Park will become a gated community or a private suburb, with lot and house prices starting at $700,000 or more.

Here’s a group of hikers who will show you how to protest the closure of Arizona’s state parks: visit the Take a Hike message board and web site.

Tags: hiking, nature, running

BPA-free Biodegradable Plastic Bottles

We hear about how plastic bottles are filling our landfills and oceans, but bottled water manufacturers and consumers can solve this problem. We do have biodegradable choices, and biodegradable plastic may cost us a little more in the short term, but I’m sure the costs will fall in the future, as our health and our planet’s health improve.

See www.biogreenbottles.com and BioGreen Biodegradable BPA-Free Sport Bottle with Wide Mouth DuoFlow Lid (26-Ounce). These bottles are BPA, DEHA and DEHP Free, and they are made in the USA.

Tell the bottled water industry that we insist on safe biodegradable plastic.

Also see the post Avoiding BPA in Plastic.

Tags: Cancer, hiking, prevention, running

Hiking in Ice and Snow in the Grand Canyon

On Friday December 11, 2009, I phoned the equipment rentals desk in the Grand Canyon’s South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace), which is located in the Market Plaza, Grand Canyon Village. Arizona’s north country had a huge snowfall last week, and I was wondering about trail conditions.

The employee at the equipment rental desk said the snow extends down 3300 feet below the South Rim, with ice covering the last few hundred feet (of the 3300 total). He said that the snow can be knee deep in spots on the maintained trails and that he would take poles and crampons on hikes. (He went on to say that the the non-maintained Grandview and Tanner trails require snowshoes: the snow is over seven feet deep in some areas.)

You can buy crampons and Stabilicers at the South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace), or at Babbitt’s in Flagstaff, or you can rent crampons from the Tempe REI (in the Phoenix area).

UPDATE: Ice and snow derailed the Grand Canyon train, but everyone survived without injury.

JANUARY 2010 UPDATE: A friend told us the Grand Canyon’s South Rim General Store (Canyon Village Marketplace) was sold out of crampons on Dec. 30, 2009. The Grand Canyon had fresh snow on Dec. 30 (and some of the roads were closed that day), but when we hiked the Bright Angel Trail on January 1, 2010, the snow did not reach all the way down to Indian Garden, which is located about halfway to the Colorado River.

Tags: exercise, hiking, survival

40% Off Coupon for Ultralite Golite Gear and Apparel

Golite emailed me a 40% off coupon that is good for online purchases made on golite.com before January 1, 2010. At checkout on the GoLite website, use the coupon code BCORP09. I phoned GoLite and they said that it’s fine for me to distribute the coupon code: anybody can use it to get multiple bargains.

As an ultralite backpacker, hiker, and trail runner, I have bought quite a few GoLite products (as well as gear from Osprey and Vasque). GoLite sleeping bags and down jackets are usually under two pounds in weight.

The GoLite coupon code is BCORP09

I also do price comparisons using
Google Shopping, http://www.google.com/products.

Tags: aerobics, exercise, hiking, running, survival

Hiking Etiquette

If you join a hiking group you will, of course, meet people from a variety of places and backgrounds. And you will usually meet them early in the morning and then carpool to the trailhead, which is fine when your fellow passengers are courteous enough to refrain from riding along when they have bad colds or bacterial bronchitis. The morning doesn’t seem quite right when the stranger in the backseat shakes your hand, coughs repeatedly, talks about the antibiotics he’s taking and about how his live-in girlfriend died last month after a very prolonged illness that required multiple hospitalizations, how he is looking for a job because he has spent his savings after buying a 2700-square-foot foreclosed home and because his dead girlfriend’s social security checks have stopped coming.

Then later, on the trail, when he keeps sliding on loose rock (you don’t want walk below him), you see that the soles on his 20-year-old hiking boots are worn smooth — there’s no tread.

Tags: aerobics, exercise, hiking, prevention, survival

Top Brands: Hiking Boots

A hiking acquaintance asked me, “A friend of mine just emailed and asked who else, other than Merrell, makes a sturdy hiking boot. Since you seemed to know all the brands, what would be your advice?”

I emailed her my answer:

Boots: I like Merrell, Danner, Vasque, and Columbia brands (and maybe Lowa).

I have found that Danner makes the sturdiest boots (which often weigh more than others), and hunters often say that Danners are the best. Lowas are made in Eastern Europe (rather than in China). Vasque makes quite a few light-weight models.

The REI-brand boots are made by Merrell and Vasque. So it seems that REI likes Merrell and Vasque. But one long-time REI employee says that he likes Lowa best (that they are “made in Slovakia, not China”).

One friend of mine wears only Montrail boots. Asolo makes sturdy boots, too. The sturdiest boots are made for backpacking (day hikers buy the lighter boots and shoes).

In summary, I like Merrell and Danner boots and I want to buy some Lowa boots. (And I like low-top Columbia hiking shoes for short hikes up and down hills and low peaks.)

Here is a link to all the various boots at Campmor (which is known for its very competitive prices): Hiking Boots at Campmor

Here is the link to Danner Boots: http://www.danner.com

And here is the link to Lowa: http://www.lowaboots.com/home/

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I also recommended the following products and services:

insulated sleeping pad: Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad

good pack cover (for rain); get the size thast fits your pack: Sea to Summit SN240 Ultra-Light Siliconized Cordura Pack Cover

extremely lightweight 2mm cord (buy 50 ft): http://www.rei.com/product/716685

REI equipment rentals: http://www.rei.com/stores/rentals.html

Don’t Forget the Duct Tape by Kristin Hostetter — how to repair your hiking and camping gear: Don’t Forget the Duct Tape: Tips & Tricks for Repairing & Maintaining Outdoor & Travel Gear (Don’t Series)

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You should read these related posts:

Beware of Advice from Meetup.com Members

Desert Cotton

Hiking and Backpacking Gear

Cotton for The Grand Canyon

Desert Venom

Tags: exercise, hiking, survival

Beware of Advice from Meetup.com Members

If you join a Meetup.com activity, let’s say a hiking group, and you hear the members giving out impromptu advice regarding survival, health, injury, etc., make sure you consult a professional, too, or at least do some reading.

You might find that at a monthly hikers’ meeting, an attractive know-it-all is showing you a stretching exercise for your sore knee. But if you go to a good physiotherapist, you might learn that the stretching will only exacerbate your knee or hip injury, that what you really need to do is build muscle strength in the injured area.

Similarly, someone might tell you that no one dies from rattlesnake bites and that the Mojave Rattler is no more dangerous than a Diamondback. However, if you take the time to read page 583 in A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum) you will find that world-renowned experts write, “The Mojave has a very toxic venom that has caused human fatalities.”

Here’s couple of good (but brief) desert survival books:

Desert Survival Tips, Tricks, & Skills

The Ultimate Desert Handbook : A Manual for Desert Hikers, Campers and Travelers

98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive

Tags: hiking, survival

Desert Cotton

In a previous post I talked about wearing cotton in hot deserts (see Cotton for the Grand Canyon). Now I would like to point out that in the Arizona desert beginning in September, you should carry a survival blanket and a lightweight polyester fleece shirt or jacket (and maybe even some silk-weight long underwear) if you expect the nights to be cool or if you are hiking to higher elevations. Then if you are unexpectedly delayed or caught out after dark, you can switch out of your cotton shirt and/or wrap yourself in the emergency blanket. Or you might want to dispense with the cotton and wear nylon shorts or pants and a short-sleeve polyester shirt, but when you expect the nights to be cool always carry an emergency blanket and an extra layer of clothing.

In the Phoenix, Arizona, area the nights can cool down substantially even in May, especially out in the desert, away from the city asphalt and hot cement.

Tags: hiking, survival

Shoshone Point, Grand Canyon

Shoshone Point is a great spot for watching clouds and the way their shadows move across the canyon like wild beasts of prey.

Looking across the Grand Canyon from Shoshone Point

For more photos, see our Gallery

Talked to a ranger in the Shoshone Point parking lot. He said that he had met his wife at Indian Gardens (she was hiking through), that Indian Gardens was home (though he no longer lived and worked there).

I’m hiking in the Grand Canyon again this year, the third year in a row. The first time, I stayed in a motel in Williams, Arizona, and drove into the Grand Canyon National Park every morning for day hikes. Last year I stayed in the lodges on the South Rim, hiked to Phantom Ranch (which is located at the bottom of the Canyon), and then spent another three days hiking up and down primitive trails. This year I am hiking from the South Rim to the North Rim and then back to the South Rim.

The food is good at Phantom Ranch, but up above on the South Rim, I prefer to buy items from the general store, rather than from the restaurants.

Tags: hiking