Category: Cultural critique
-
Yellowstone Winter Use Plan: Comment Now
The Yellowstone draft winter use plan(s) are up online, and the 60 day comment period is open now. You can read the draft and use the parks electronic comment form here. As the report itself says, the draft option which the NPS selects is likely to shape winter use of the park for decades to…
-
“Be Brave, Be Strong” book review
Jill Homer, whom I am blessed to call a friend, has written a new book about her journey up to and race of the 2009 Tour Divide. In reflecting on the 300+ page book, which I read in one sitting on Monday night, I can think of no better words to summarize it than those…
-
Fire!
First, Dan and canyon crew are on fire with this trip. Serious FOMO warning. Second, Enel requested that I hold forth on the subject of firearms (guns!) as a backcountry safety tool. Since moving up to Griz country I’ve thought a fair bit about the various ways in which one might defend oneself against hostile…
-
Why Roubaix is the greatest
I imagine that the overwhelming majority of ya’ll, out there, know that the road race Paris-Roubaix was run yesterday. If for no other reason than I already mentioned the winner, Johan Vansummeren. I’ve been drawn into following pro road racing over the last year, and in it’s good moments has become a far, far…
-
Local bullshit
BS item #1: Me being easy to spot last Saturday. BS item #2: Spurious “breakthrough agreement” on Bison management in Yellowstone As I’ve written before, the argument that brucellosis is carried by bison to cattle with detrimental results is a red herring. Ranchers dislike bison because they stomp their fences and generally disrupt the illusion…
-
Western Montana: A seasonal guide for outdoor recreation
The seasons dictate what we do outside and how we do it. Outdoor recreation is at it’s best when the intersection of equipment, terrain and weather come together to provide an experience which is aesthetically interesting and spiritually satisfying. Hauling a bike through unrideable powder or peanut butter mud does neither, nor does skiing micro-patches of summer snow…
-
The 5 reasons to buy gear
Allow me to begin here at the end: gear should be a means to an end. And not just any end, but a good end. Ryan Jordan has recently written a superlative post on just this point, building on his interpretation of what a good end should be. I agree with him, I’ve written here…
-
Cost/Benefit
The question which is, when attached to outdoor gear, the most relevant (and certainly most interesting) of all. Is item X worth it? The first photo ever posted on Bedrock & Paradox: me riding my old Gunnar Rockhound on Mt Elden, AZ in the summer of 2006. It’s a good point of departure. wondering if…
-
On not getting hurt by an avalanche
(Wherein I throw most caution related to my modest amount of training, knowledge, and experience to the wind.) While there’s no doubt that this knowledge can lead to better decisions, it is disturbing that the victims in this study that were most influenced by heuristic traps were those with the most avalanche training. -McCammon, 2002…
-
On Roland Fleck
I interrupt a quiet moment at work (thanks to a cancellation) to bring you something of great interest: In a story that will soon be blowing up all over internetland; Roland Fleck, a 78 year old doctor from Jackson, was sledded off the slopes of JHMR in handcuffs this past Saturday. The crime? Skinning up…
Bedrock & Paradox 
You must be logged in to post a comment.