Leesa's Outdoor Ramblings

August 20th

It has been such a strange summer… The weather has been so wet and rainy that I haven’t done as much hiking as usual.  I have had the chance to try out kayaking.  I have an Advanced Elements Lagoon I inflatable kayak – that is so much fun!  It is super stable, and made me feel more secure on the water right away.  I learned a bit about paddling, and turning the kayak.  Its great exercise for my arms (which need it!)  I really find it relaxing, once I get into a paddling rhythm.    That made 2 kayaks and 1 canoe for 4 people.  We all share, but of course going out on the water together was tough.  So, I now have an Old Town Dirigo kayak, made right here in Maine!   I got to try it out for a little bit before the side effects of Hurricane Bill arrived.  It is pretty stable, and very comfortable.  I’ll have to learn how to turn it – but it sure tracks straight!!  I think I am addicted to kayaking.  Its still a challenge for me – but I am getting over my nervousness in the water.  As a matter of fact, an old friend has just about convinced me to bring it to Ohio over Thanksgiving and take it out on the Grand River.   Well, he’s not ‘old’, but I’ve known him for a long time, and am looking forward to trying it on the river with someone who knows what he’s doing.  I trust him, and don’t think he’d want to drown me.  ; )

The end of last week I received a box of goodies from Woolrich.  Some of the clothing will be part of fall and winter reviews, but one item that was super handy was the

Eureka Springs Tee

 Eureka Springs Tee shirt.  The first thing I noticed about this shirt is the texture – hard to describe, but it feels soft and smooth almost like an old t-shirt.  I went to try it on – and had to figure out if it was inside out at first.  The seams are finished in a way that makes the inside look like the outside.  In other words, there are no places for the seams to rub, if you are wearing a backpack with it.  There is a small zippered pocket that would hold a license, keys, chapstick if needed.  I really like the neckline of this shirt.  It is a bit different – and is very comfortable under a life jacket.  It kept the jacket from rubbing against my neck.   

Description from the Website:

The first time I wore the Tee, it was hot and humid.  We decided to take the new kayak to the lake for a bit, before we started to feel the effects of Hurricane Bill.  I was perspiring before we ever got the kayak on the car.  By the time we got it into the water, I was ready to dive into the water.  I climbed in and paddled around for a while, and noticed that I splashed myself a few times.  I wondered what the shirt was going to look like, and if it would be clingy if it got soaked.  Turns out, it didn’t cling and amazingly, especially considering the humidity, it dried extremely fast.  Once I was off the water, I found that I was perspiring again, but the shirt seemed to be wicking the moisture away from my skin. The rain started as soon as the two kids had tried the kayak, so we hoisted it back on the car and headed home.  

Cooling off in the lake, wearing the Woolrich, Eureka Springs Tee Shirt

The next morning I had plans to walk with a friend.  I decided to wear the shirt again, and try out the claim ‘The breakthrough Dri-Release® with FreshGuard® microblend fabric will keep you cool and dry. Plus, it resists odors, pilling, and wrinkles, and it delivers UPF 30+ sun protection.’  Especially , the ‘resists odors’ part.  Thankfully, Kim is a good friend, lol.   It was humid for most of our walk, and we didn’t get much breeze until we got almost back to her house.   I was impressed with the shirt – it kept me feeling dry and comfortable.  I really like this shirt so far, and plan on wearing it again soon (after I wash it).  The shirt smelled fine after walking, but I don’t want to push my luck.  I like that the shirt works so well for outdoor activities, and is stylish enough to wear out also.  

While out on my walk, I tried out a new water bottle.  This one is from ecousable.  There are a few things that make it special:

*Food Grade Stainless Steel bottle – won’t hold funky smells or tastes.

25 oz Stainless Water bottle, with filter

*It has a built in filter – no need to carry a water filter on hikes or rides.

*Easy to open flip top ‘straw’.

The bottle is a nice, tall, slim design, with a screw off top.  Connected to the inside of the top is a filter housing that holds the filter near the bottom of the bottle.  I rinsed it with warm water, then filled it with cold tap water.  We have well water, which tests very good, but sometimes seems to have an ‘off’ taste.  I headed out for my walk, and soon drank most of the water in the bottle.  Heat and humidity always call for lots of water.  I refilled at my friends house after my walk, and drank that fairly quickly also.  It is easy to pull the water up through the filter and up the straw.  I was surprised that the first

 bottle had stayed cold for over an hour while we walked.  The bottle is not insulated.  The taste of the water was the same from both sources.  I would be surprised if anyone could tell the difference between the water from the bottle, and bottled water you’d buy in a store.  That is another huge benefit of using the Ecousable filtered bottle – no more need to buy plastic water bottles in order to have clean, good tasting water to drink.   Less plastic bottles of water, less plastic in the landfills.

July 3-5th

I haven’t disappeared – but have been busy!  Between the horrible rainy weather ( 22 days of rain in June), traveling for work, and trying to organize the website, I haven’t had time for much more than day hikes, with a quick overnighter.   The rain has brought out the mosquitoes – thankfully I’m reviewing Vermont Soap Organics Insect Armor – so far, its been really a big help in fighting off the little pests.

June 13 – 14th

This last weekend was a continuation of the rainy weather we’ve had for almost a week. I spent the weekend getting some spring cleaning done, and trying out some new recipes. I made three new energy bars. I like the one with cacao pieces the best I think, as it has a nice dark chocolate flavor. The oatmeal breakfast bar is good also – one taster thought dipping them in chocolate would make them even better. The Pineapple-Strawberry- Cranberry almond bars are good -but I think I should have made the pieces smaller. It is a bit chewy – although, that may be good on a trail when you want to eat as you go.

Send in your favorite recipe, and I’ll include it on the site also. Feel free to head over to the forum to ask questions or share ideas about anything outdoor related, especially food!

June 6th

I went for an all day hike through the Vernon Walker Wildlife Management area in western Maine. Both of my children went with me. The hiking is fairly easy – some snowmobile trails, some deer paths, some bushwacking, etc. Not much up or down, other than to get to the river and back up on the paths. The Wildlife area covers just over 5000 acres and has many criss-crossing paths. We set out by marking our spot with the GPS, and then taking the outer paths first. We were trying out a new geocaching device, (www.geomate.com) and covered about 18 miles over the course of the day.

We saw quite a few deer and smaller animals, including rabbits, which seem to be pretty rare around here. We did see the back end of a moose as it walked off the path and into the thick brush. We saw plenty of bear droppings along the way also.

I carried the Talon with all of my gear, including the backpacking stove and food. We each carried our own water, and a little extra. The Talon 44 was the perfect size. The weather was cool, and looked like possible rain went we set out in the morning, so I had on a fleece jacket, and packed a rain jacket. Also in the pack were my: food (dehydrated meal, gorp,crackers and jerky), water, stove, utensils, first aid kit, camera, GPS, extra socks, water purifier and a bandana.

The pack fits great! I put it on, expecting to spend quite a bit of time adjusting the straps, etc to get a good fit. I was really wrong on that – the pack fit almost perfectly, with minimal adjustments. The pac features: an adjustable harness, that allows for two torso sizes. There is an adjustable sternum strap, an external hydration compartment and an Airscape Back Panel.

The AirScape Back Panel is one of the first things I noticed about the pack, and then I forgot about it until I got home from my hike. Once the pack is on, it was impossible to see or feel the panel, but when I got home, it dawned on me that my back didn’t feel all sweaty. The other feature that interested me was the hydration compartment. I hate when my hydration bladder sweats and makes everything wet inside my pack. Having the external compartment took care of that problem.

Osprey Talon 44

The lid of the pack has a mesh pocket on the inside, with a clip for keys. The inner portion of the pack has no pockets. It is wide enough that I could pack things inside and then find them without removing anything to dig down inside. There is also a zipper along the bottom section to access items that way.

The adjustability of the harness and sternum strap, along with the compression straps etc, makes the Talon an easy, comfortable pack to wear. For once when I got home from my hike, I wasn’t sore and tired from carrying my pack all day. I can’t wait to get out again next weekend.

I wore the Oboz Firebrand hiking shoes for this hike. The shoes have great grip on wet rocks – no slipping or sliding for me! My feet stayed dry even with all the splashing around I did. For most of the day, I managed to keep my feet completely dry. The shoes kept the water out very well – and I kept from stepping in water deep enough to come in from the top. One feature of the shoe I have really come to appreciate is the toe protection. I hit my toes on so many rocks and exposed tree roots, that without the protection I am sure I would have had black and blue toes and a ruined hike home.

After hiking all day, I managed to step into a stream and water flowed into the shoe from the top. The water was pretty cold, as it is in Maine in early June. The water quickly drained out, and my foot while wet, was not cold for long. I hiked for about a half an hour and as I hiked, I could tell the shoe was drying out. When I got to the car, I took off my shoes and socks and put on a pair of sandals. Within two hours, the shoes were dry – inside and out.

Wet area where we accessed the kayaks

On Sunday the kids and I went to a Paddle Sports Festival. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we had wanted to look at kayaks, as Mike was thinking about replacing his. When we got there, we found out we could try some out in a nice cove along the Atlantic coast. I had the Firebrands on, and was trying to decide if going barefoot was a good idea, or soaking the shoes would be better. Well, the northern Atlantic is pretty cold in June, and there was an abundance of slimy, slippery seaweed, so I decided to wear the shoes. Good choice on my part in the long run. I could climb in and out of the kayaks, in about 6 inches of water. The shoes were laced up fairly snug, so the water didn’t rush in very quickly. My feet did eventually get wet, but not soaked right away. After kayaking for about an hour or so, I got out to take some pictures and look around, and found my socks were soaked. I pulled them off and walked around the grassy area barefoot for a while, letting my feet dry along with my socks and shoes. After eating a great bbq lunch, I decided the shoes were drier than the socks, and just wore the shoes. They were damp, but not too bad to wear without socks. I found them very comfortable and they continued to dry as I wore them. I again took them off in the car and by the time I got home two hours later, they were almost dry. I was concerned that when they dried, they would have a ’salt water’ smell. Luckily, they seem to have dried without any lingering aromas.

Once again, I was impressed with the great gripping ability. I had no problems climbing in and out of the kayaks, even though they had wet bottoms. I felt more sure footed than usual also. I am really enjoying wearing the Firebrands and am looking forward to some more adventures in them.

Hi All,

I do tend to ramble – both in the verbal sense, and outdoors. I’m hoping to share some of my trip information here – places we go, things we see, the food we eat and the gear we take. I’m a middle aged Mom, although ‘middle aged’ isn’t how I usually feel, other than in my knees occasionally. I have three kids – a 20 year old, who is off sailing back and forth on the Atlantic for most of the summer, a 16 year old who is very into hiking, backpacking and kayaking. He bought himself a kayak a few years ago, and loves to take it out on the rivers or lakes. My 13 year old daughter is also into hiking and geocaching. They all love being outdoors – in the woods or on the water.

This Memorial Day weekend, we are heading out to a place along the Maine/New Hampshire border. Cold River has camping and hiking areas, along with fishing. The weather is looking like rain, and temperatures are only in the high 40s F right now. Of course, it was hot all week while I was stuck at work.

What’s in my Pack?

I’m taking gear along that will be part of some ongoing reviews. In order of arrival:

Badger Balm (http://www.badgerbalm.com/default.aspx?) Sore Joint Rub…knees, sort of sums it up.

Kulambo’s Bandana (www.kulambo.com)- works to keep bugs away, naturally. Maine + Rain = mosquitoesa and biting black flies.

Planet Dog (http://www.planetdog.com/) – Yep, we’re taking Chip with us. He’ll be trying out the Hemp Collar, Retractable Leash, Travel Bowl and Feed Bag.

SteriPen (http://www.steripen.com/) – We’ll be trying out the Handheld Water Purifier. Smaller than I imagined and no pumping required!

GeoMate Jr. (http://geomatejr.com/) No wires, no computer – just set your location and it will find the closest Geocaches. I can’t wait to try this out. Its small (smaller than the palm of my hand). We’ll post the review – and add the caches to our geocache.com account.

Now – time to head out and have some fun. Stop back the beginning of the week, and see how it all works out – and how much rain we get, lol

Over the Weekend 5/23 – 5/25

Saturday started out rainy and windy, so we put off heading out. I tried to get some things done at home, watered the plants that should be going out into the garden soon, and got my gear organized. Saturday afternoon, I decided I wanted to figure out how the Geomate Jr. worked, before I headed out with the kids. So, I grabbed it, and stood in my front yard to see what would happen when I turned it on. I was glad to see that it picked up a geocache that was only 1.3 miles away, and the rain had stopped. So, I headed in the direction of the geocache. From the parking area, to the cache was only 700 ft – if I went through the woods, along the trail it would have been about 1/2 mile. I decided to go through the woods in the interests of saving time, and avoiding the next downpour. I will say, the Geomate never lost the signal, even with the heavy tree cover. It definitely worked better than the old GPS I had. It was extremely easy to follow the directions on the Geomate Jr. and I found the cache without any trouble. I used the on screen menu to navigate to the ‘Found’ screen, and marked it found. The rain started again, so I headed home. My plan was to take the kids back on Monday, after camping out Sunday night. We headed to our annual Memorial Weekend Historical Society Penny auction in Limerick, Maine. Mariah has continued her two traditions – not winning anything, and getting a big ice cream from the local ice cream store. As a family, we won a cruise on Casco Bay. (off the coast of Portland, Maine)

Sunday morning was bright and cool, so we headed out. We set up the tents and had a great day of hiking around here: Cold River Campground, White Mountain National Forest Next time we’ll be sure to take the kayak and/or canoe, as there is a beautiful lake right there.

The SteriPen got a good workout over the weekend. We filled our water bottles, first pouring the water through the SteriPen pre-filter. The green pre-filter is a two piece, easy to assemble device, with a small filter in the center of the cup part (larger, top piece). The actual filter has a small blue air valve, that when lifted to the open position, allows water to flow through. If closed, the water is held in the cup portion. The bottom piece is the ‘funnel’, which allows the pre-filter to fit into the tops of many different sized bottles. Being able to keep the water in the cup portion is convenient when you need to move the water, and the bottle isn’t handy. Once the water bottle was filled, all we had to do was take the Journey purifier out of the holster, and twist off the orange protective cover. One click of the button turned it on, and set if for one liter of water. I was then able to put the end of the purifier in the neck of the bottle, and turn it upside down, so that the water was in contact with the purifier. The grey rubbery piece fit securely inside the bottle opening, with no leakage. In less than a minute, the counter on the display went down to zero, and a smiling face appeared, signaling that the water was purified. The water was from a spring located in a nearby mountain, and was running fairly fast. The water tasted very good, and was extremely cold.

The SteriPen Journey, and pre-filter were very easy to use, and take up minimal space. The prefilter funnel nests inside of the cup portion. The Journey fits inside it’s holster, which can either be attached to a pack strap or hip belt, or it can easily fit inside a pocket inside a pack. If I were to travel outside the country, I would definitely take it with me. We’ll continue to report on how it works for us as the summer progresses.

We also tried out the Geomate Jr., (for photos: http://geomatejr.com/products) as I mentioned earlier, I tried it before hand, and marked the geocache I found, as ‘found’ on the Geomate. That was probably not a good idea, because when we returned, it had disappeared from the list of local caches. I’ll back up a bit and explain the Geomate Jr a bit. It is a small, handheld device for locating geocaches in the area you are located. Starting with the closest, it shows location information of the 20 closest caches. It is extremely simple to use, and very accurate. When the kids and I headed to the local mountain to find the one I found the day before, my daughter turned on the Geomate, and it picked up the signal quickly, and showed the closest cache as being 1.3 miles away. I knew that wasn’t right, because it was only about 700 ft away. Well, that was because I had marked it as found the day before, and the Geomate was smart enough to move on to the next closest cache. So, off we went to the next cache. It was an easy one, and the kids found it right away just by using the Geomate. There are two buttons on the front of the device – one to cycle through the menu, and one to select which item you want. The power button is at the top, and there is a rubber area on the side that you press and then you can slide the battery cover off. It is very easy to figure out, even if you leave the directions at home, lol. I made a couple of mistakes in the beginning, like trying to find caches located near where we were going, instead of waiting until we got there. The Geomate finds and shows the 20 closest geocaches to where you are at the time. Once you have marked a cache as found, there doesn’t seem to be a way of having it show up again. With 250,000 caches pre-installed, running out shouldn’t be a problem. There are plans for updating the device, so new geocaches can be added to the database. It also shows size of cache, terrain, difficulty rating and the Geocaching.com ID code for each cache. Keep in mind, this is not a GPS, in that you can’t pull up maps, or save tracks. It is a very cool geocaching tool, that leads the user to the geocache, in a simple, reliable manner. Well be using it again soon, and will report back. It iss going to Wisconsin with me next, so I’ll see how well I do with it in an unfamiliar area.

All Natural biting insect repellent

Since the rain increased the quantity – and possibly quality of the mosquito and black fly population, the Kulambo all natural bandana was put to good use. It is available in both black (which I received) and pink. I slid it out of the package, gave it a twist as the directions suggested, and put it on as a neckerchief. I went out behind my house, where the mosquitoes tend to be pretty bad, as we live in a clearing in the woods. As usual, they were thick, and seemed to be biting everyone else who was outside. At first, I was disappointed, because they were still flying around my face and I thought the bandana wasn’t working. After just a minute, I realized I wasn’t getting bit! I was really excited to think I finally found a way to keep the little biting nuisances away. They kept flying around my face and ears, while I was trying to help clear the garden, which was irritating me. I ended up wearing it as a head scarf, pulled lower on my forehead. That helped keep them from my ears and face. I ended up wearing it every time I went outside over the weekend, and kept it on while sleeping in the tent. I ended up with one mosquito bite over the three day weekend, and that was on my arm. It may have happened during the night, since the Kulambo directions say to twist the bandana every few hours to reactivate, and I didn’t at all during the night. I’ll be wearing the bandana both while hiking and camping, and in my garden. I like to garden early in the morning, while it is quiet, and before it gets too hot. Unfortunately, that seems to be when the mosquitoes are out also. The bandana has a pleasant, herbal aroma, which isn’t too ‘girlish’ according to the guys who looked at it. I can’t quite decide what it smells like, but it is pleasant, and not overwhelming. I’ll be updating this section as I use the bandana, and am looking forward to seeing how well it works over time, and how long it lasts.

After hiking Sunday my knees were not happy at all. I injured one when I was fifteen, and it has always been a ‘sore spot’ for me. I’m not sure why the other one acts up, maybe just in sympathy. Sunday night, I was trying to go to sleep kept thinking about the dull ache in my knees. It wasn’t horrible, but it was distracting me from thinking about where to hike on Monday. Eventually, the light bulb went off, and I reached into my pack and pulled out the Badger Balm Sore Joint Rub. I rubbed it on both knees, front and back. It has a very pleasant aroma, with no strong overtones. The ingredients from the website: Ingredients: *Extra Virgin Olive Oil, *Cayenne Extract, *Golden Yellow Beeswax, *Castor Oil, CO₂ Extracts of *Black Pepper, *Ginger, Arnica, & Rosehip, Essential Oils of *Lemongrass, *Cardamom, *Rosemary, *Sage, & Thyme. The * indicates Certified Organic ingredients. The rub goes went on smoothly, and left no residue and nothing to rub off on my sleeping bag. One side benefit from the rub was that the skin on my knees was much less dry, and felt smoother to the touch the next morning. I decided to read for a while after applying the rub, and drifted off to sleep a little while later. When I woke up, I was able to get up without feeling that my knees were ‘creeky’ or stiff. We spent the day hiking and climbing over some rocks. While sitting around the fire that night, I rubbed on some Sore Muscle rub, and went to bed. I figured I’d save time, and put it on before my knees became sore. I was asleep very quickly, and once again woke up without that creeky feeling. I really like that the rub goes on so smoothly. I’ll continue to use it on my knees, and any other joint that needs some attention. I keep thinking a little shoulder massage with some Sore Joint Rub sounds really good after a rough day.

From Chip:

Chip is our 8 year old English shepherd, he is a great hiking partner, and is always ready to go another mile or two. He is lucky enough to be trying out some neat products from Planet Dog. This past weekend, he wore his new Hemp Collar and Retractable Leash and we carried his Travel Bowl and Feed Bag on our hikes. My son, Mike put the collar on Chip and it was immediately covered up by Chip’s coat, but it fit perfectly, and attached securely. The inside of the collar is lined with fleece, which seems like it would keep the collar from rubbing uncomfortably on the dogs neck. Short haired dogs would most likely appreciate that quite a bit! The collar is adjustable and has a metal ring that the leash hooks on to. The retractable leash snaps on to the collar quickly, and extends enough that Chip could walk ahead of us, but not far enough to get tangled in brush or branches. The leash extends out 6 ft. Once we were away from the parking area on our hike, we unhooked him and he hiked along with us. The leash extends and retracts smoothly, without catching. The leash portion has a reflective surface, great for night time walks. A funny side note – the leash was put in my pack after we returned home, ready to use next time. Chip watched me put it in there, and then sniffed the pack a few times. When I got out of the shower, he was sitting next to the pack, and would occasionally sniff it. I think that means he liked it!

The other two items that Chip is using, are the Weekender Travel Feedbag and the Travel Bowl. The bowl was a big hit after he got used to it. On our first hike, I pulled the bowl out of my pack, filled it with water, and Chip starred at it. He sniffed it, but wouldn’t drink. We sat for a while on some rocks and had snacks. After about 10 minutes, Chip walked over to the bowl, and sniffed a few times, and then drank the water. After that, as soon as the bowl came out, he was right there. At the end of the hike, we set the bowl out, and were just air drying it before packing it away for the ride home. Chip kept picking it up, and carrying it over to us. We used the feed bag to carry his food, and I was definitely impressed on how securely it held the food, without any spilling out. We’ll be using these items frequently over the next few months and will be updating the information as we go.