John Rember is a fourth generation Idahoan, born in Sun Valley, Idaho in the heart of the Wood River Valley. He is the author of several books, many essays and short stories, and some plays as well. His most recent book – Traplines: Coming Home to the Sawtooth Valley – recounts his youth growing up in the mountains of Idaho and re-examines those experiences returning as an adult.
There is something very appealing about a camping headlamp. Maybe it is just knowing there is this compact source of illumination in your backpack to help keep away the scary unknown of the dark, but for me there is some primal gadget lust there as well.
Last summer, heading out into the field I was unable to track down my old faithful headlamp, so I stopped at The Elephant’s Perch here in Ketchum, ID and picked up a new one. The Perch is one of Ketchum’s oldest and best outdoor stores, if you are ever in town I recommend you check them out. I picked out the Petzl Tikka Plus which is just an updated version of my old Petzl. This version has: Continue reading “Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp Review”
“A border is always a temptation.”
-Larry McMurtry
The Peoples Guide to Mexico holds a place of honor amongst the collection of adventure books upon my shelf. It is a book both practical & charming, informative & entertaining, useful whether in Mexico or far from it’s borders.
Reader Beware: Because of this book men and women have been known to leave their jobs and take to the road. Over the years it has changed many lives. It could change yours.
In 1973 Ted Simon left England on his Triumph motorcycle. Beginning a four year – 78,000 mile journey around the world. In the length of his travels he passed through 45 countries, across oceans, through mountains, jungles & deserts. This book chronicles the dizzying heights and terrifying lows as he explores landscapes of natural wonder, fear and triumphs & the varied human nature of the many people he encounters across the globe.
This is a great book. Ted Simon relates the course of his travels with charm, humor, and introspection. The reader, sitting on the seat of the motorcycle with him will learn something about the many places visited and gets to share in the journey of personal growth as he examines himself and his relation to the world around him.
Jupiter’s Travels: Four Years Around the World on a Triumph
Ted Simon’s Website: Jupitalia
Ted is cited as an inspiration for Ewan McGregor during he and Charlie Boorman’s 19,000 mile cross-country motorcycle trek in 2004. Their travels were chronicled in a television series, video series on DVD & book entitled ‘Long Way Round’. They met up with Ted in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, during their trip.
Long Way Round: The Illustrated Edition: Chasing Shadows Across the World
See also:Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, 5th: Worldwide Motorcycling Route & Planning Guide (Trailblazer)
Friends, cohorts, fellow humans -
wanted to let you know that there is going to be an increase in the amount of digital media originating from the headquarters of this one man empire. Dispatches from my mountain kingdom will touch on subjects such as – live music, gear reviews, car camping, web design, photography, nostalgic remembrances of people you may or may not know, trails, digital nomadics, independent brand promotion, environments of the inter-mountain west, skiing, adventure books & quesadillas.
A majority of this will funnel through my personal site davidstilwill.com which uses Twitter to automatically update my Facebook status – Yes, geeks do make better lovers.
If you find the nectar too sweet I am pretty sure you can filter me down through your Facebook settings or block me altogether. If not I hope you will share in the laughter, tears & wonderment.
may we meet again soon.
fondest regards,
David
This summer was one of great privilege for me. I was contracted as a field monitor for the environmental organization Western Watersheds Project to document impacts of grazing on public lands in the west. Over the course of my contract I took thousands of photographs of heavily grazed watersheds and riparian areas. It was a real eye opener and introduction to the issues of land use for industry on public lands. Something of which I had been fairly unaware, taking for granted these degraded areas as the norm.
I will share some of those photos on my site later but this post is for some of the other images I captured – the pretty ones. These are mostly from central Idaho but there is one from Utah as well.
Mike Watt - Whiskey Jacques Ketchum, ID
Check Mike out at his website:
Hootpage
Listen to his show at:
The Watt from Pedro Show
Learn more at:
Mike Watt’s Wikipedia entry
Hector enjoys the wildflowers - Fisher Creek, ID
Recently I read in one of those year end “In Memory” compilations that Bo Diddley had passed on in June. News that had escaped me at the time.
