Hiking Prep 2012: The Bivy Bag

This year I was able to convince my mom to put togther the bivy bag that I had bought the materials for about two years ago. Originally I was going to do it myself but since my mother is always busy making quilts, knitting or some other related craft I figured it would be best to just let her have at it.

For those of you who are not familiar with what a "bivy" bag is, it is a waterproof and breathable bag that you put your sleeping bag inside of. "Bivy" is short for "bivouac". There are a number of commercially available types at stores such as Mountain Equipment Co-Op or Wholesale Sports Outfitters, practically any store that caters to the outdoorsman.

I got the pattern for this particular one off of the Internet. It is made from two fabrics that I was able to get from Fabricland: a "Gore-Tex" - like upper  and a tougher nylon material for the bottom. We included a hood that can be pulled over just in case of bad weather and cold conditions.



Bivy bags are useful for the backpacker because it protects the sleeping bag from the elements. Because of this it is possible to sleep on the ground without having to carry a tent. In inclimate conditions you can string up a tarp to keep the rain off you. Under ideal conditions you can simply roll it out and sleep on the ground under the stars. The sleeping bag is protected from dirt, light rain and dew. It also adds a layer of wind resistance ( by this I mean the outside wind, not the wind you may produce within your sleeping bag!) and another layer of warmth. The bag is lightweight as is the tarp so the reduction in weight is beneficial.

I am looking forward to trying this out!

 

Book Review: The Sisters Brothers

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt is a kind of surreal western. It follows hired guns and brothers Eli and Charlie Sisters on a journey to California to kill a prospector that has done their boss wrong. A typical "road" type story, the brothers encounter adventures along the way such as troublesome horses, a strange gypsy witch-like woman, a killer bear and a few other odd ball characters.

Eli is the main character and the story is told from his point of view. His brother Charlie is a bit more prone to this type of work than Eli. Eli seems to have come to a point in his life where being a gun for hire no longer appeals to him. In fact I get the sense that he never really wanted to do it but his loyalty to his brother forced this life upon him.

The story has several humorous parts but some scenes take on a dreamlike aura and you wonder if maybe there is supposed to be a deeper meaning to the novel that I just did not get. There are two "intermissions" in the book revolving around a peculiar and homicidal little girl that seem to come out of nowhere. I am not sure what they were supposed to lend to the story.

Review: Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the true story of a mountaineer (Mortenson) who having failed an attempt on K2 in the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan was instead driven to build schools for impoverished children in that region.

The book is not not very well written in my opinion. The author, David Oliver Relin adds some background information that does not seem necessasy to the story. Various sidenotes on the history that would be interesting in and of themselves seem to pop out of nowhere and then disappear. They seem to be just thrown in as filler. I found the first half the most interesting when he begins to learn the culture of the people of Pakistan and goes through the rigamorale of raising money and acquiring the materials to build his first school. The parts to do with the Taliban are interesting but not very eye-opening. Later chapters revolve around the time of 9/11 and Mortenson was trying to extend his school building mission into Afghanistan. He was in the region when the invasion of Afghanistan began.

"H" is for: Hiking This Summer

Last summer I did not get out on a good overnight hiking adventure at all!

To make up for it this year, me and my friend Harold have set aside a full week in August for an epic journey through Willmore Wilderness area on an 80km (we think) odyssey that will begin at Rock Lake Provincial Park and end at Grande Cache, Alberta.

"N" is for: New Ace Doubles!

Put in a random bid on EBay and won a couple more Ace Doubles for my collection. Normally I don't like to buy them off EBay because it just seems too easy. What I do is just put in a low bid and the price with shipping cannot be more than $5.00 per book.

In this case I was caught by the fact that one of these is a Philip K Dick story and quite often they sell at higher prices. Suffice to say this one will not. When I got it a whole bunch of the pages had fallen out and were shoved back in, upside down and out of order. I'll never read this one it is just too fragile. On the bright side, the cover is in pretty good condition and that is what the big attraction is to me anyway.

If you haven't checked out my other pages on the site devoted to my expanding book collection, please look at the tab above. If you have any of these Ace books or know someone who wants to get rid of some, please let me know as I would be interested!

 

 

 

"J" is for: Jasper Trip

Just got back from a two day trip to Jasper, Alberta. We decided to come down here for a couple of days to get away from Grande Prairie and take a little break from things. Unfortunately as we got closer to the park, the clouds rolled in and we were under a fairly steady stream of rain and snow the entire time. We did manage a short trip down the Icefields Parkway to Athabasca Falls but other than that most of the key sights are still closed for the winter.

Athabasca Falls was a nice little trip and seeing it at this time of year with the snow and ice was very beautiful. The trails were a still snow and ice covered so I would recommend ice cleats and hiking poles if you go at this time of year. We didn't have them and though we could see everything it made some of the trail a bit treacherous.

That being said the restaurants and pubs are open so instead of blowing our money on tram rides and so on we were able to enjoy the dining instead!

"G" is for: George Orwell's 1984

"In America you watch television. In Soviet Russia television watches you!" - Yakov Smirnoff

George Orwell's book "1984" is one of those classics that I turn to every couple of years or so. It is too easy to take the book originally written in 1949 and then see how it applies to modern times. People have been doing it since, well, 1984 for sure!

The book introduced the idea of "telescreens" that were located practically everywhere including inside your own home. The screens could not be turned off and would spout off an endless supply of propaganda. In today's society it would seem you cannot go anywhere without some kind of screen being present whether it is a restaurant or even the food court at the mall, there is a television there. The rest of your time is spent looking at small screens on your computer or mobile device. I guess the only difference between us and Winston Smith is that our screens are not watching us (at least I don't think so!).