Topo Tips #2

Posted by on May 21, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments

In honor of the May eruption of Mt. St Helens in 1980, I have put together this Topo Tip about the Breach. You can see the steep walls of the crater surrounding the new Lava Dome and the glacier that now surrounds it. Incidentally,  this is the only glacier in North America that is growing […]

Topo Tips #1

Posted by on Apr 21, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments

Ok, I’ll start with one that probably everyone has seen, Multnomah Falls. You can see from the photo the steep walls behind the falls, now look on the Green Trails map bit and notice behind the .5 and the dash naming the falls back to the .9 part. Can you see how close the lines […]

Problem Animals

Posted by on Mar 30, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments

In my Backpacking Basics classes, I get a lot of questions about animals. Most of these questions appear to be fear based notions that big animals like black bears and cougars are hiding in trees or lurking around your tent waiting to eat you. The fact is, most of these animals are shy and avoid […]