Free Republic

Fresh Idea: Survival Kits For Kidshttp://kutv.com/freshidea/local_story_143180939.html May 23, 2006 4:07 pm US/Mountain The summer is here and you may have a lot of outdoor activities planned. But before you send family members out in to the wilderness, Michelle King shows us what every parent should equip their child with. In case of any emergency being prepared for the worst may save your life or the life of someone you love. Last summer 11-year-old Brennan Hawkins went missing for four nights, but was found alive. Just one year prior to Brennan, 12-year-old Garrett Bardsley also went missing during a scout trip...

Utah Scouts preparing to push summer safetyhttp://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635212541,00.html http://tinyurl.com/kcvon Deseret Morning News, Saturday, June 03, 2006 By Pat Reavy and Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News In the wake of high-profile outdoor tragedies in recent years, the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America is revising its rules to help keep Scouts safe this summer, and one Utah mom has developed an outdoors safety pack for children. The organization has made sweeping changes to many of its camping policies, including new safety measures for hikes, precautions against lighting strikes and new guidelines for campfires. "We now have in place...

"GMUG" stands for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. Combined, they encompass some 2.9 million acres of National Forest lands in Central and Western Colorado. These three forests are home to some of the most outstanding recreational opportunity in the West. Right now, the forest's are revising their Forest Plans. These management plans provide broad guidance on what activities may or may not occur on these lands. The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national recreation advocacy group that champions recreational access and responsible use of public and private lands, is growing increasingly concerned about the influence several anti-access groups...

A quick vanity to all... I am beginning to plan a 1-week or so family vaction (experienced cyclists / hikers) "Up North" next summer to get out of Arizona heat. We are looking primarily at Alaska, Glacier National Park (Montana), Yellowstone. We are looking at hiking, kayaking/rafting, bicycling, horseback riding; and prefer camping to hotel stays. Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best tour company or ones to avoid? Could anyone give pointers on dumb things to avoid or things which really added to their experience? Cheers!

Yellowstone is a world wide draw By Cara Eastwood outdoors@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle I scoured Yellowstone National Park during the first week of June, surrounded by European and Asian tourists. At each turn in the road, I found another tour bus squeezed onto the side of the road as its passengers pressed their faces to the windows to ogle an elk, a herd of deer or in one case, a dead bison. Other tourists I saw drove expensive SUV rental cars to explore the park. They all must have gotten the memo that American schools weren't out yet,...

Walk loudly and carry a big stick. That's my approach to hiking in mountain-lion country. I've fashioned a stout walking stick out of a pine branch that now is as much a part of my hiking gear as a water bottle and bug spray.

Doctors Remove Leech From Woman's Nose Fri Apr 8, 4:09 PM ET Strange News - AP HONG KONG - Doctors have removed a leech from the nose of a 55-year-old Hong Kong woman after she swam and washed her face in a stream, a medical journal reported. The woman went to her doctor complaining of nose bleeds and an occasional sensation that something was blocking her left nostril, the Hong Kong Medical Journal said in its April issue. Her family doctor noticed a "brownish mass" in her nostril but couldn't remove it because of heavy bleeding, the journal said. The...

Mother, Daughter Recount Struggle to Survive Winter Ordeal on Colorado Mesa The Associated Press Published: Feb 10, 2005 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - Deborah Walker and her 18-year-old daughter had been lost for two nights in the snow, warding off death and worrying about her missing husband, when she sagged against a tree and thought, "God, don't let Camille see me die." Not long afterward, on Jan. 11, rescuers found the pair. But Walker's 54-year-old husband, Dan, who had struck out alone to find help, is presumed dead. The mother and daughter described their ordeal Wednesday to the Grand Junction...

GREAT ST. BERNARD PASS, Switzerland, Oct. 27 - The only dog right now at the 950-year-old hospice of St. Bernard is a very nice golden retriever named Justy. The issue of those other dogs - the famously huge and heroic ones, who toted brandy barrels in legend, who lived here for centuries and sniffed scores of stranded travelers out of the snow - is not one that the Rev. Frédéric Gaillard is keen to talk about. "Now there are helicopters," Father Gaillard, one of four remaining monks at the St. Bernard's hospice here, said with some irritation. "And we have...

Story Number: NNS040326-08 Release Date: 3/26/2004 11:20:00 AM By Journalist 3rd Class Devin Wright, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- Almost 130 Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets took part in an annual four-day spring camp beginning March 19. The spring camp consists of a day of boot camp-style instruction on military protocol, and a basic seamanship course that includes sailing and kayaking. There is also a physical readiness portion in which cadets hike Diamond Head and complete second class swimming qualifications. Cadets also receive an historical overview of the Navy here in Hawaii,...

A Good Way to Lose Subscribers... Thu Jan 22, 8:44 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - A hiking magazine apologized on Thursday after it published a route plan that would have sent walkers striding into thin air off the north face of Britain's largest mountain, Ben Nevis. The magazine, Trail, missed out a vital bearing needed to guide climbers off the summit of the Scottish mountain in bad weather. Anyone who had followed the magazine's directions would have plunged down a sheer cliff into nearby Gardyloo Gully. Editor Guy Procter, himself a keen hillwalker, said that Trail published 200 routes every...

Camping Part 1 Well, it had to happen eventually, though when it came, I wasn't ready for it. My son, only ten years old--they grow up so quickly, don't they?-- finally approached me and asked, you know, THE QUESTION. He caught me off guard—but then, is a father ever really ready to have his once innocent boy come up to him, eyes solemn and full of trust, and so very bluntly ask, "Dad? Why can't we ever go camping?" Normally I handle his requests for information with a very patient and caring, "Ask your mother." Somehow I know, though, that...

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, Utah - Thirteen park rangers lugged equipment into this southeastern Utah park and lifted an 800-pound boulder that had trapped a mountain climber until he amputated his arm with a pocketknife. After hiking 3 miles to the remote canyon Sunday, the crew was able to lift the egg-shaped boulder and push it into a space where it fit securely. The rangers also recovered the arm of Aron Ralston, who was pinned for five nights before cutting off his arm below the elbow with a pocketknife on Thursday. Ralston, 27, hiked out of the canyon for help and...

Vandals pillage remote cabin By SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard   Recommend this story to others.   A remote U.S. Forest Service cabin near Waldo Lake that is used almost exclusively by volunteers was found ransacked this week. Someone broke into the Taylor Burn cabin and proceeded to smash appliances with an ax, break glass out of cabinets, cut up furniture, ruin winter provisions and spray a chemical fire extinguisher over the mess. The Willamette National Forest estimated the damage at $5,000. "The cabin was totally trashed," said Gary Guttormsen, a volunteer wilderness ranger from Springfield and retired Thurston High School art...

I'm looking for sources of quality, American Made, hiking and hunting boots. Any suggestions?