Platypus Gravityworks Water Filter

Camping or hiking with a group? This gravity water filter does 4 liters in 2.5 minutes with out any pumping…

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“I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

If you are backpacking, camping or hiking with a group, share this Platypus Gravtyworks water filter.  As a group you save weight and there is no need to do any pumping.   Just hang this from a tree and Isaac Newton does the work.  It will filter 4 liters of water in 2.5 minutes with out any pumping.  It has a flow rate of 1.75 liters per minute. 

The system weighs 10.6 ounces and filters to 0.2 microns.

click rei from purchase to here

Bug Hunting With Kids

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"Be who you are & say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

This is a guest post by Debi Huang; Check out her blog at:
Go Explore Nature

Bug Hunting With Kids

While it’s true not all kids like bugs, going on a bug hunt is still fun – especially if you take along some friends. After all, the more eyes looking out for critters, the better! Here’s how to make your next adventure a success, even for the most squeamish among you.

1. Bring the right tools.

A bug container, bug tweezers and a magnifying glass are pretty much essential. The kid-sized tweezers make grabbing fairly simple, even for little ones. Store your catch in a bug container long enough to examine it close up without fear of it crawling or flying away. Just be sure to release it before heading inside!

2. Know where to look.

Backyard bugs can usually be found under things, like potted plants or other heavy items. If you’re on the trail, look for bugs in flowers and trees or near water.

3. Take your time.

Bugs are easy to miss if you’re walking too fast. Most are small and many have the gift of camouflage, making them tough to spot at first glance. Take it slow and let your eyes roam the area for anything that moves. You might even want to pick one place and hang out for a while.

4. Search for signs of bugs, too.

Finding bugs is thrilling, but so are signs of bugs or bug homes. Spider webs and vacated cocoons are good examples. My kids are also enthralled with dead bugs, so don’t be too quick to discourage curiosity in whatever form it comes.

5. Try to stay quiet.

I know what you’re thinking – how is staying quiet possible with kids? But you’d be surprised how willing kids are to listen and be still when looking for bugs and other wild critters. And once you’ve spotted one – and you will, trust me – even the littlest of kids seems instinctively to know to be still and enjoy their new toy. At least for a little while!

Debi Huang is a Los Angeles-based wife, mom and adventure guide for two young boys. Her blog at Go Explore Nature is all about getting kids and families outdoors and connected to nature.

Backpacking with a Tween

” We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

I’ve finally managed to get my pre-teen daughter out backpacking. Actually it was due to my wife joining in the conspiracy so that we could surprise her with a new puppy when we returned the following day.  She’s almost twelve and in good shape so we could have gone on a much longer hike, but the timing of my wife picking up the puppy required that I keep her out of the house from after school on Friday – then having her back late Saturday afternoon.

For those of you in the New York/New Jersey area that might like to duplicate this hike; I decided to take her up to Bald Rocks shelter in New York Harriman State Park.  We started the hike on the White Bar trail just of RT 106 (off 17 N) about 1/2 mile past Lake Stahahe (small parking area on the right).  We hiked a flat 1/4 mile then turned right on the Nurian trail (marked with White with “N”).  The Norian trail soon goes up steeply and terminates into the Ramapo-Dunerberg trail at “Black Rock” (very large boulder).  We turned left onto the “R-D” trail and followed it along the ridge to Bald Rocks Shelter.  The entire hike is under 2 miles with some intense steep parts.  Just the right distance considering how late in the day we started and that this was the first time Nickie had hiked with a backpack of any real weight (12 LBs).

We found we were the only ones at Bald Rocks, very surprising since this is one of the most popular and most accessible camp sites in the park.  I’m guessing the threat of thunderstorms that night kept people away.  But we were lucky and only got strong winds and a slight rain.

We were able to setup our tent before dark, relax and cook a nice meal.  Normally backpacking I bring my one man tent ( a Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo – see prior article) but having Nickie with me, that wouldn’t do.  So a packed in my L.L.Bean Micro Light two person tent.

Video of hike to Bald Rocks and L.L.Bean Micro Light tent:

I purchased the Bean Micro Light tent a few years ago when I first thought my kids were old enough to go camping.  Its gotten minimal use up to now but it looks like it will be getting much more exercise this year.

The LL Bean Micro Light Two-Person Backpacking Tent (non-affiliate link). Sells for $149, weights 3 lb 12 oz (respectably light for a two-person tent). Without the fly, other than the floor it is complete no–see-um mesh – fantastic for ventilation and for seeing the stars.  It’s made of 30-denier ripstop nylon.  The rain fly is coated with 1,500 mm silicone on the outside and a polyurethane layer inside. It has a 2-pole hoop-style construction, making it great in the wind (was proved this weekend), easy to setup although not completely free standing. Very good head room – two people fit very comfortably.

So I’m very happy with this tent and will continue to use it with my children and wife (if I can every get her to go backpacking!).  That said, if I was to buy a two-person tent today, I might bypass this one and choose the Big Agnes Fly Creek Ultralight 2 (see previous review of the UL1). 

The Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 is over a pound lighter than the Micro Light and is free standing (well almost).  The down side of course is the price - $200 more than the Bean Micro Light.  I know, that’s an expensive pound.  It also packs smaller (19”L vs 6.5”W versus 23”L x 6”W).  You do loose a bit of head room with the Fly Creek also (Been peak is 3’6”, the BA is 3’2”).  On top of that it is hard to find to find the Fly Creek UL2 in stock anywhere.

At  the time of writing this, I found it at Ramey Outdoor (Affiliate of BPBC) and on Amazon.com.

OK, enough about gear – the really good news is that Nicole loved backpacking and wants to go again (so back to gear - I’m going to have to find a decent backpack that fits a 12 year old girl).  We made it back to the house Saturday afternoon with zero problems, a happy kid – and then an ecstatic kid when she was surprised by a new puppy.

 

 

Hiking Pyramid Mountain

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” So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.” ~ Ben Franklin

Most of us who hike often have a place close to us where we go to hike when we have a few hours but not enough time to go far.  Some place close to home but still away in the woods. I’m lucky to live 15 minutes away from Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Area in Morris County, New Jersey.  I know, those of you not from around here are probably thinking - “A forest in New Jersey?”.  Yes, believe it or not, most of New Jersey is not like the New Jersey Turnpike.  I’m within an hours drive of the Appalachian Trail, many state parks and some wonderful county parks.

Pyramid Mountain Park is over 1300 acres of trails, forests and wetlands. It has several unobstructed views on the New York City skyline. A unique glacial erratic known as ‘Tripod Rock’.  This is a many ton boulder balanced a three smaller boulders.  It was deposited here by the Wisconsin Glacier over 18,000 years ago.  The park also has ‘Bear Rock’, one of the largest glacial erratics in New Jersey and a fun rock for kids to climb.

There are old stone ruins that are fun to find and explore. There is also a nice season waterfall, more than 100 species of birds and 30 species of mammals including black bears, beavers and (some say) bobcats.  You can sometimes see eagles, herons, egrets and vultures.  Also in the park are scarlet tangers, yellow warblers, indigo buntings, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees.

The woods you walk through are quite varied depending on the part of the park you are in.  It could be blueberry patches, paths through rhododendron, chestnut oaks, American beech trees, or holly shrubs. Like most parks in this populated area, once you get 1/4 or 1/2 mile up the trail, the people become few and far between.

These two video’s (below) show you some highlights of what to expect in the park.   To find Pyramid Mountain, follow the directions on the county web site here.

Sandy Hook National Park Bike Ride

“Among the many thousands of things that I have never been able to understand, one in particular stands out. That is the question of who was the first person who stood by a pile of sand and said, "You know, I bet if we took some of this and mixed it with a little potash and heated it, we could make a material that would be solid and yet transparent. We could call it glass." Call me obtuse, but you could stand me on a beach till the end of time and never would it occur to me to try to make it into windows.” --
Bill Bryson

So we took a drive down to Sandy Hook to spend the day riding our bike by the sea. For those of you in other parts of the world or just not familiar with Sandy Hook, it is a National Park.  Sandy Hook is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area in the New York / New Jersey Area.  Sandy Hook jets out into the lower New York Bay, just below Brooklyn.  Fortunately for my family it is only about an hours drive away from our house. 

One of the best things about Sandy Hook is the bike path.  It is over a five mile loop interconnected with very low traffic park streets.  You can ride your bike around Sandy Hook all day without getting bored.  There are some nice shady parts of the path through patches of trees and other parts of the path running along the ocean with fantastic views of the Sea, passing ships and New York City.
There are a ton of things on Sandy Hook to keep a family entertained.  This time of year the beach still has a cold wind that keeps most people off of it, but in the summer it is beautiful. For the more intrepid there is Gunnison Beach (clothing optional).  There’s an old light house or you can ride you bike or walk around Fort Hancock (closed Army base with many relics from World War II).  There are hiking trails and old gun batteries and the “proving grounds” to explore and old Army missiles are scattered around the park on display.  Sandy Hook base was the site of a Cold War Nike Missile installation (guided tours are available including the Radar installations still in good condition).   At the north end of the island is an active US Coast Guard base (normally off limits to the public).












National Park Service Sandy Hook Web Site

Short Video Clips from yesterdays bike ride:

BackpackBaseCamp.com