It’s been March for ten months and that means it’s the holidays. All the big newspapers are publishing their gift guides. More and more these have entire sections devoted to hiking and camping and the outdoors. Which is great! But most of the gear they recommend is… not great. Not inspired. Not cutting-edge. Not going… Read More Silver’s Hikertrash Giftguide 2020
It is a sacred ritual. The priestess removes the holy objects from their alcoves. Takes them into the temple, hides them from the stars. In the morning she returns them to their pillows for the worshippers and passers-by. Neat and tidy and holy at the Temple of Rolex. I find her on a dating site.… Read More arrest
Joe Biden ran Hillary Clinton’s campaign. He appears to have done so with a little more success – not very much, but enough. This strategy was summarized in 2016 by international sex symbol Chuck Schumer: “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in… Read More Growth & Importunity Project
Some people like to hike around mountains. I am one of those people. I am a thruhiker. Part of the charm of a thru is getting very far away from where you started. But this doesn’t mean you have to end there. Just ask anyone who’s done a yoyo. Just ask anyone who’s done the… Read More RTM
I’ve now driven over ten thousand miles during COVID, all while trying not to die. Or, worse, be a murderer. I picked up a few tricks and I’m here to share them. I should probably start with a gloss. Hot take: COVID bad. It’s spread primarily by exhalations, so the best thing you can be… Read More Crossing a COVID Country
Some kids want to fly X-Wings or Gunstars. Some want to be crew on the Enterprise or Normandy. I always wanted a space yacht. Something more than a Heechee One but less than the Bebop; a streamlined solitude between the stars. The Consul’s spinship. The Milano or Dora or Razor’s Crest. Just a pleasant way… Read More SPACEYACHTS OF THE PAST – TODAY!
To everyone who’s asked me for advice on which dehydrated meals to stockpile: 1) Thruhikers don’t usually eat those. When you’re eating 6,000 calories a day, you can’t afford it; when you’re hungry enough to eat 6,000 calories a day, you’ll eat anything; good luck finding them in some triplecrown *trail towns,* let alone further… Read More A Thruhiker’s Advice on Short-term Prepping
Hiking has caused big changes to my body. My feet are longer, and wider; my leg muscles are bigger, at the expense of my arm muscles; and somewhere in there I lost a hundred pounds. As a result I basically had to get rid of everything I owned, and rebuild my wardrobe from scratch. Hiking… Read More Another Basic Bastard
The Arizona Trail is an 800mi (1300km) continuous footpath down the length of the US state of Arizona. It can be thruhiked. I thruhiked it. It was wonderful. This here is my quick guide to the AZT. It’s designed to be detailed enough for your to form a general plan, but simple enough that you… Read More Silver’s Guide to the Arizona Trail
I have thruhiked the Arizona Trail – from Utah to Mexico – two months – 1300km – hikertrash for life. Temps from -20C to 30C. Ellie from 500m to 3000m. Terrain from mountain to canyon to forest to desert (and sometimes all at once). Monsoons, wind storms, snow storms, flash floods, 80km water carries. Giant… Read More Coronado
