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There isn't a person in the world who tells themselves what they are doing is wrong. Will, I have been watching with fascination your justifications for acting illegally and unethically. Sadly, I don't agree with them. Brian

I have a -20. I would highly recommend at least that, if not warmer. But I have no body fat. My own general rules is that I want to have a bag rated twenty degrees better than the actual low. Brian

Why are people splitting hairs about how far off the trail one must go? We’ve all seen the illegal sites—they’re usually fifteen feet off the trail, at best. Last night, bears rolled the bear boxes upside down at 13 Falls. No one was harmed, no food was taken. All those humans sleeping near...

If people haven't read it, Mary Roach's book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, is a wonderful read! She has two brisk and engrossing chapters on local communities and bears--although the whole book is magnificent. Her point is that humans in bear country can take actions to keep bears out of...

The last thing we want is someone not calling for a rescue because they feel they cannot afford it.

Well, the subject line says it all. People aren't taking bears seriously, and it is having an effect. Brian

The American Alpine Club also offers rescue insurance. I am a member for other reasons (their library is phenomenal!), but it's a very nice benefit, to be certain. https://americanalpineclub.org/rescue Brian

I'm getting the impression you're new. Let me give you some advice. Stay at hardened sites. Those are sites are there for reasons. a. They have water sources; b. They have bear boxes; c. You have the safety of sleeping around other human beings, and the pleasure of meeting other folks; d...

It would be helpful to explain why you don't want to stay at Thirteen Falls or Garfield tentsites. If you've never been, that neck of the woods makes it mighty hard to hike two hundred feet off trail, and a LOT of people hike through there. If people are not using the hardened sites provided...

Dang, now I have to go up and look for the other 15!

I had to dig a little deeper into their website (https://www.iso-ne.com/about/key-stats/resource-mix) and found the following, which appears to have been written Jan 18, 2022, looking back at 2021. Gas: 46% Nuclear: 23% Wind 3% Refuse 3% Wood 2% Solar 2% Landfill gas: 0.4% Methane: 0.3% Hydro...

If I read it correctly, the Forest Service conducted repairs to the tower over August 1-2, 2022. It's a gem, that tower. I've heard it said one can see something like twenty-eight other 4,000-footers from it. I tell everyone I know to make it their final summit on the 48, just for the joy of...

People can disagree about politics, climate change is existential.

At the risk of telling folks something they already knew, all the ranger stations in the Whites have bear canisters they will lend out for free to people camping in the Whites. I just learned that this morning. Kind of useful! Brian

Interesting little history of the Four Thousand Footer Club. http://www.amc4000footer.org/history.html 1951 is a ways back now, but it's fun to think about a time when Cabot, Waumbek, Tom, Zealand, Owl’s Head, West Bond and the Hancocks lacked trails on them. Brian

I'm not sure how to respond to this. If one is trying to understand why individuals take an action, or fail to take an action, social science posits that we should examine the incentive structure for doing so. If the members responsible for the decision to change the mountains on a list think...

With all due respect, allow me to offer a different perspective. When you want to understand the actions of individuals inside an institution, start by reflecting upon their incentive structure. You have a bunch of folks on a committee whose primary task is to send out patches and certificates...

I think I have posted about this movie on another thread as well, but there is a great feature length movie, Newtock, about the first American community forced to relocate due to the permafrost beneath it melting into the ocean. It's fascinating and extremely well done...

We were on the water for three days. It would have added up.

For Leg 2 of the Connecticut River Expedition, my friend Mike N. and I wanted to paddle from the Maidstone Bridge (way the heck up there) to Littleton, a distance of about 43 miles over three days and two nights. The plan was to go up to Brighton State Park up in Island Pond, VT on Thursday...