Aug 25
Moosejaw Summer Clearance Sale. Free Shipping on Orders Over $49!
Barefoot Tree Climbing in Minnesota. No ropes, no equipment. Thanks to Iron & Wine for the song, “Such Great Height.” Download it at ITunes: itunes.apple.com
Especial feature of 90 action shots to celebrate the 5th year of BrStock Image Bank. Alexandre Cappi is a Brazilian photographer and journalist specializing in adventure sports and travel. He is the author of the first segmented image bank of Latin America. Most of his images are Brazilian but some also are from foreign countries like New Zealand, Peru, Bolívia and Argentina. Cappi works as freelancer for about 20 magazines in Brazil, including Go Outside, National Geographic, Runner’s World, Sexy, VIP and TAM.
Two places you want to travel to, and you decide for now you are staying closer to home. All your friends tell you about it, and now you are ready to find out for yourself. You have heard that Anchorage, Alaska is a Traveler’s Paradise.
Why Alaska? Because it is the Last Frontier, and still a wilderness. It is called the Land of the Midnight Sun. Anchorage is the city that is in the heart of wilderness country, and close to the shores of Cook Inlet. This is the perfect place to get the battery juices flowing, and forget work for a little bit. Besides your automated Forex trading is bringing in profits, and your business is thriving now.
You did not want to nip the NLP Singapore training in the bud. But you decided to save it for a later travel date with your family, and get two things done. Today you will be traveling by yourself. It is not everyday that you get to enjoy some peace and mind, and you want to take advantage of it.
Alaska is the fisherman, and hunter’s dream. There is still plenty of game, caribou, moose, elk, bear, deer, and many more. The rivers, and streams are filled with trout, and salmon. In the winter, if you are a winter sportsman, you can ski, sled, ice fish, dogsled, and much more. Now you know where you will be retiring when you get a little bit older, because it is so beautiful!
So far you have touched only the tip of the iceberg! There is Glacier Park that you have to see, with it’s beautiful deep blue hue in the ice. You have to step into the wilderness, smell the fir trees, watch the squirrels play, and enjoy the clean crisp air. You will want to walk on the tundra that feels like a sort carpet underfoot, with thousands of streams that cross each other.
You will discover the diverse people and cultures that occupy Alaska. The museum in Anchorage is a must to visit. The history of Alaska is fascinating. Hopefully you will be there in the winter when the dogsled races begin.
If you like to eat, it is a promise that you will gain some weight! The coast is right there, and you will enjoy every seafood you can think of. You will want to explore the shops that line up the main street of Anchorage. You will find so many things that will amaze you. Yes, Anchorage, Alaska is a traveler’s paradise!
Camping in New England can be truly an appreciated adventure when you go during the height of the fall foliage. While it is true that you can go camping elsewhere during those fall months and watch the leaves change, there is something more vibrant and crisper about the changing leaves in New England. Whether you have ever previously witnessed the changing leaves in any of these historically rich and naturally beautiful states or you are just looking for the best campsites ever, this is the trip for you.
Be prepared to meet some of the nicest and friendliest locals you will ever find. New England is a place where the rest of the world is welcome to visit, learn, and partake of the lifestyle that is most definitely uniquely country and steeped long in tradition. Camping in New England means coming face to face with people and nature that can literally be so stunning that it can change your perspective on life forever.
There are simple fairs, like pumpkin festivals and sheep and wool festivals to all out Oktoberfest fairs that bring out the beer drinker in all of us. Much of New England still experiences the country life, and their country fairs are a tribute to the simple life that brings about good times.
There are fall festivals that celebrate the season and there are those that specifically dedicated to celebrating one certain aspect of life. You can find these festivals throughout the New England states over the period of traditionally fall months, with most happening in September and October. Admission is relatively cheap and in some cases even free. Be prepared to play games with your family, ride some country fair rides, and eat some of the best fall foods you’ve ever tasted.
Be prepared to spend some time getting to know Mother Nature. Camping in New England offers the outdoor lover a treat from the scenery to the adventures. Fishing, canoeing or kayaking, and hiking are just a few basic examples of the lifestyle waiting for you.
Be prepared to deal with some unexpected weather. While New England is absolutely gorgeous in the fall months it is also relatively easy to find yourself experiencing a quick and harsh change in the weather.
Always heed all weather warnings and make sure that you are able to receive regular weather updates to make sure that you aren’t about to find yourself smack dab in the middle of the changing weather unprepared.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6d70d566-f607-4b73-906d-6b4bac8e7c9e)
Aug 23
Camping holds a distinctive place amongst recreational activities. As a leisure time activity, camping does give pleasure to the campers. Much more than that is its impact on the well being of the body and mind. Over and above this, there is this important role of camping providing a possibility of establishing a symbiotic bond with nature. Nature has taken a heavy toll in the name of human progress. Pollution has spread wild over the land, air and water. The forests, rivers and valleys have been destroyed for development and progress. It is now asserted that this cannot go on indefinitely. Species survival, including human survival, is only possible if we change to ecologically sustainable development.
A number of things need to be mobilized for camping. Some of them are jacket, camping tent, first aid kit, sleeping bag, matches, knife, flashlight, food and water. If there are no basic facilities then one can think of bringing a hammock, camping chair, camp stove or grill, camp table, small backpack for day hikes, fishing pole, swimsuits and towels. A jacket, sweatshirt with a hood, gloves, cap and sleeping bag line would be required in cold weather. If the weather is hot, it will be prudent to take along a large hat to keep off the sun rays, sunscreen, canopy for shade, extra water, and a small battery powered fan.
Creating a bare livable condition requires camping tent as a primary requirement. Camping tents vary according to the climate. For summer there is the one-season tent which can withstand the light summer showers. The three-season tent is required to withstand heavy rains and light snow. It also offers protection from wind, moderate rain and insects. This tent is suitable for use in spring, summer and autumn. But this tent will not be able to hold out heavy snow. The four season tent can withstand heavy snow. It is also heavier of the tents. But it is not suitable if the climate is hot. Some of the four season tents can be transformed to three season tents by removing pole sections or unzipping a roof panel. Bibler Ahwahnee tent for instance is a four-season tent.
There is the potential in camping to initiate the process of reconnection with nature. One hopes that this experience will make people sensitive and committed to modify the relationship with and approach towards nature.
It is very thrilling to sleep in the open. A homely bed, a pillow, bed sheets and blankets is all that you need but the difficulty is in transporting them to the place. That is where sleeping bag comes in useful as it is light weight and can be taken along with your backpack. Sleeping bag is just like a bed but zipped up. It has all the comforts of the bed, provides you the warmth and insulation. Campers and travelers find them very easy to take it along while traveling. The cold does not creep in and it keeps you warmth. It protects you from the outside keeping away insects and the wind. Synthetic fill as PrimaLoft, cotton or wool or down are the materials used to manufacture the sleeping bags. The down or synthetic fill sleeping bags are usually preferred by campers as they insulate well and the absorption of water is minimal. It can also be folded. The heat is retained better with the down fill bag which can also be compressed. The synthetic bags are however cheaper.
Sleeping bags are shaped rectangular and like a mummy. The rectangular resembles a folded blanket with a zipper. This can be folded easily and tied with straps or cords. The mummy bags are sleeping bags shaped like a mummy. They are broad on the shoulder side and tapers down as it goes to the bottom. Heat retention is better with this type of sleeping bag. But unlike the rectangular bag, it does not fold, but instead has to be rolled up.
There are a number of reputed firms that produces and sells sleeping bags. Marmot, a firm that sells sleeping bags, also manufactures Marmot tents, backpacks and clothing. It manufactures both Synthetic Bags and Down Sleeping Bags as well. The synthetic sleeping bags of Marmot includes Marmot EcoPro 30 sleeping bag, Marmot Pounder sleeping bag, Marmot EcoPro 40 sleeping bag, Marmot Trestles 15 sleeping bag and Marmot Trestles 30 sleeping bag. The down sleeping Bags consists of Marmot CWM sleeping bag, Marmot Helium EQ sleeping bag, Marmot Never Winter sleeping bag, Marmot Col EQ sleeping bag, Marmot Synthetic Yurt sleeping bag, Marmot Down Yurt sleeping bag, Marmot Atom sleeping bag, Marmot Lithium sleeping bag an Marmot Arroyo sleeping bag, besides others.
It is necessary to consider a variety of factors to decide what sleeping bag suits your need. The major factor is of course the budget. Most sleeping bags are suitable in both hot and cold weather. All one has to do is to unzip when it is warmer and zip it up fully when is colder. But this will not suit in extreme cold conditions. There are sleeping bags specifically to handle extreme cold. When it is wet, the synthetic bags are better endowed than the down bag. But the down bag is better in dry weather.
The white ghost of winter is fading away. Spring is in the air. The air is fragrant and it is the perfect time to set out with your family for a camping trip up in the hills or near a lake. A camping trip is a great way to welcome the spring.
I decided to take my two kids out for camping during the coming weekend. It would be a great experience and I would get a chance to bond with my two kids, who were growing up real fast. I decided on a location and then brought out my camping gear from the attic. I took an inventory and checked my fishing gear, tents, sleeping backs, rucksacks and trusty old portable stove. Building a fire is pretty tough when it is raining and the trusted old stove would come in handy.
I decided on the camping site and checked to see if the weather would be fine during our stay. The weatherman said there would be no rain and plenty of sunshine. I surprised my kids by telling them that we would be going on a camping trip during the coming weekend. They just couldn’t wait for the trip to begin
On the day we left for our trip, the weather was warm and the sun was shining. We reached the camping grounds in time. We unloaded the gear and pitched up our tents. Doing all that work made us hungry so we roasted hot dogs and opened a can of beans. After dinner we decided to get into our sleeping bags. It had been a long day and we were ready to sleep.
My kids were asleep almost as soon as I tucked them in. After a little I woke up to the sound of thunder and saw flashes of light. All of a sudden it started to rain; at first it was just a slow drizzle and then a steady outpouring. Thankfully my kids were warm and snug in their mountain hardwear sl sleeping bags. The morning was chilly and damp. However my kids had slept peacefully in their well insulated and lightweight sleeping bags.
The weather was excellent over the next two days. We went hiking and fishing and had lots of fun. It was a ritual that we would repeat a number of times over the years.
Progress and development have comes with a price. They have been at the cost of nature. With industrialization, the natural wealth – forests, minerals, rivers and seas – have been progressively used. The use has been discriminate without concern to the environment. Within a few decades of this rapid destruction of nature, its adverse effects began to impact life everywhere. Particularly the loss of biodiversity, global warming, climate change, the fresh water crisis, and pollution of air, water and land have reached a crisis situation. Along with this environmental crisis, the awareness of the need to protect and conserve environment too has increased. Public interest, government initiative and private support have grown. A major area of strong initiative is the conservation of the remaining natural habitats.
National Parks are the most fascinating of all the protected areas. These areas are usually designated as national parks by the respective national government. Most often these are supported by law. The purpose of declaring these areas as national parks are to ensure that these areas are kept away from development activities and human interference. As on 2006 there were 6,555 National Parks in the world. Many more areas are being added to this category.
These National Parks are ideal locations for camping. The experience can be both enlightening and learning. Usually camping is done in small groups. The campers take off from their busy life for a few days to experience nature in all its glory. They pitch a tent surrounded by the forest and all its life forms. They bear up with the weather. All they carry with them are what they can hold in their backpacks. They carefully pack with them just the things they need to survive with minimum comfort. The camping equipments invariably contain camping tent, a minimum protection from the vagaries of nature. Camping tents are manufactured by many firms such as Kelty, Marmot, MSR, Black Diamond, Sierra and Eureka. These tents accommodate one to ten persons. For instance Marmot Aeros Tent accommodates three.
The National Parks have restricted entry. They are invariably open for the purpose of scientific studies, and educative and recreational tours. The entries are restricted and regulated by Park authorities. Government provides grants and allocates staff to protect the National Park and its biodiversity. The campers who visit the National Parks are expected to be responsible tourists.
With an annual turn over of some US$900 billion, the global tourism sector has a steady growth of 4 percent per annum. Ecotourism, a sub-sector within the tourism sector, is growing at 15 percent annually. Ecotourism targets the natural habitats that are as yet relatively undisturbed or less disturbed in the coast, the plains, the estuaries and the hills. The main goals of ecotourism are for the traveler to learn about nature, and conservation and support to it. Unfortunately, ecotourism is a troubled sector.Conservation areas are officially demarcated by governments and notified with the intention of regulating in order to protect them. But this has been facing difficulties with local communities alleging that their customary and traditional rights are being denied with the areas being notified as conservation areas. They maintain that their livelihood rights are violated with the area progressively being denied access to them. At the same time, these areas are let open for commercial interests to organize tourism. Often this is also justified with conservation as its interest. This has resulted in infrastructural development along with large hotels, lodges and resorts with modern facilities. The peace of these serene areas is invaded by waves of vehicles carrying the tourists. The local community life is disturbed as they are progressively displaced. The wildlife finds their habitat disturbed that they too have to withdraw into deeper parts. Maintaining the costly facilities mean getting more visitors to make use of them. This means more garbage, waste and pollution.
Responsible ecotourism involves traveling to natural destinations with minimal impact or low impact. It is based on environmental awareness in support of conservation. This typically can manage only small groups at one time in one location. Camping in natural surroundings is the more common amongst such tourists. These are backpackers who come with the essential camping equipments. These include camping tents such as MSR Hubba Hubba Tent and Marmot Aeros Tent, and many more designs from Black Diamond, Kelty, Eureka, and Sierra. You can get more details on the camping tents, for instance, on MSR Fury HP Tent from MSR Fury reviews.
Conservation requires that the ecosystem is protected by sustainable use of its biodiversity. The cultures of the local communities should be valued. Ecotourism should also benefit the local communities.
We are dependent on nature for our existence. Industrialization and technological advancement no doubt has increased our capacity to extract rapidly from nature what we need. This extraction has also ravaged the earth that no longer is this sustainable. Progress has come to be associated with material well being in terms of production and consumption. Mass consumption is promoted to sustain the growth curve. The ambitions of people too have risen. So too the population has increased. The consumptive life style requires increased growth that the environment can no longer sustain this growth. We are faced with an environmental crisis such as global warming, rise in sea level, depletion of fossil fuels, species extinction, climate change, pollution, endangered species, soil erosion, desertification, urban sprawl, habitat destruction, sustainable development and waste and garbage accumulation.
The urgent need to conserve the remaining natural habitats and protection of biodiversity is well recognized. There were just 9,214 protected areas covering 2.4 million square kilometers in 1962. But this has grown to 102,102 sites in 2003 covering 18.8 million square kilometers or 12.65 percent of the world. This covers 11.5 percent of the global land surface and 0.5 percent of the oceans.
Nature preserves without human interventions are the best place where one can learn and appreciate nature. Staying for a few days in a small group discreetly in a National Park sustained with minimum essential things is the most responsible way of visiting such a place. Camping tent and sleeping bag are two camping equipments that you will need for your protection and safety. There are other things too that you will need. You can get all these from a good camping equipment store. Firms such as Black Diamond, Eureka, Marmot, Sierra, Kelty and MSR manufacture tents to suit different needs and occasions. MSR manufactures tents in various designs as MSR Hubba HP, MSR Fury and MSR Hubba Hubba. If you want to know about any of these models you can check out a MSR Hubba HP review.
The first modern national park was established in the United States, the Yellowstone National Park in 1872. The Rocky Mountain National Park became the first national park in Canada established in 1885. The Royal National Park was established in Australia in 1879. The first national park in New Zealand was established in 1887. Sweden was the first country in Europe to establish a set of nine parks in 1909. The Kruger National Park came into being in 1926 in South Africa. Since the 1950s hundreds of parks were established in over a hundred countries all over the world.
