High Peaks and Back

I just got back from the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks.  I visited Lake Placid for a day and then headed to the Adirondack Loj and Wilderness Campground.  An amazing place, excellent for launching on a backcountry hike, as the trailheads are right there.  A last minute decision on the route had me going over Algonquin Peak the first day, I stayed at Opalescent River lean-to the first night, then over Mount Marcy from the Four Corners, over Little Haystack and on to the amazing, new Bushnell Creek #2 lean-to for a cold night, then out back to the Loj the day after. 
It was a great rip and it gave me a chance to builkd up my legs for Iceland, as well as test out a whole bunch of new gear.
There'll be some good reviews I'll write up soon with loyts of new gear I tested out!

Nikon 14-24mm Loose Lens Cap - Tighten 'er up!

I suppose you can call this a hack, although I hate that word.  The Nikon 14-24mm is a staple for landscape photography and offers excellent optics for the wide to super wide range of lenses for Nikon.  However, it has an unconventional lens cap.  Due to the bulbous optics and the built in flower petal lens hood, Nikon produced a lens cap that fits over the outside diameter of the lens like a cup.  The internals have little ribs spaced out that are supposed to keep the lens cap secure.  And for the most part, it does.  But, mine is several years old and the ribs have been sanded down by the number of times I have removed the lens cap and replaced it, so now it is a little loose for my liking.  Recently, my cap has fallen off numerous times when I use a Peak Designs Slide sling attached to the baseplate so the camera and lens hangs down.  Luckily, the lens cap is large enough for me to notice it falling off.

I was about to just purchase a brand new one,but I thought of a way to tighten it up, and it's pretty simple.  Just heat up a soldering iron and press sideways ever so slightly on the rib while melting it.  I did this to both sides of all ribs and the cap is much tighter now, and no need to buy a new one.

Garmin eTrex30X First Impressions

I'm preparing to go to the Adirondack High Peaks on Sunday and although it's not a must have, I do like to have a GPS for a little added security and lower frustration in some situations especially since I will be solo. I pulled out my old Garmin 62s and found out the micro USB connector had crapped out and I couldn't connect at all to my computer.  If I had a bunch of time, I'd probably send it in to Garmin to get it fixed, but I don't have time.  I figured I'd pick up a new one instead.  After doing some research I think I'd like an eTrex 30X.  Besides Garmin there really isn't much competition other than Delorme.
I can't stand touch screens for backcountry.  I don't know who would.  Your hands are dusty, wet, covered in gloves, etc.  But some people must since Garmin keeps pumping out new models. The eTrex and the 64s aren't touch screen.  The eTrex is the only thing you can even remotely call light weight in Garmin's lineup.  Somewhere along the line it seems noone gave Garmin's product managers the memo that people like super light weight things in the backcountry.  My old 62s is a beast and the newer 64s hasn't changed at all since that.  Honestly I think the only thing different is the processor is faster and maybe more memory.  The eTrex blows the others away in terms of weight, as well as an impressive-on-paper 25 hours operating time on batteries, compared to 16 for most others Garmin offers. On top of that, the resolution of 240x320 is twice that of the 64s ridiculously low resolution of  160x240 (what is this, 1992?).
Opening the box and taking it out, the 30X IS small, with a smaller screen compared to my 62s.  That's OK.  I transfered my old SD card with some maps on it to the 30X, fired it up and put some maps on the 30X via MapSource (screw Basecamp, it still sucks), then threw some batteries in it and turned it on.  The rear cover has a quarter turn lock on it, similar to the 62S but not with the overdesigned investment cast aluminum dovetail the 62S has - this time it's plastic for the eTrex, and I'm OK with that.  I managed to set my preferences easily enough as the controls and still confusing-as-hell to find the option you want OS is very similar to the 62s.
Putting it on my kitchen scale, the 30X is 99 grams sans betteries.  The 62S is 167 grams.  That means the 30X is only 60% the weight of the 62s..  sweet!
Well, I guess I'll see how this works practically in the next week, but so far, I think it's an improvement over my old 62s in terms of size, weight, resolution and battery life.  I'm sure Garmin could take another 1/3 of the weight out of this thing if they put their minds to it, and make the screen larger at the same time...  those two items would be on my wishlist for improvements.

Wide Width Hiking Shoes - Merrell Moab Ventilators

When backpacking or hiking, your footwear is obviously your most important piece of gear bar none and the styles, brands and opinions out there are truly daunting when looking for what best fits your preferences and needs.

Oldschool thinking and debates

1) high top vs. low top
2) waterproof (GTX) vs. non waterproof

 Some say, and I believe it to be true - that the oldschool thinking of super heavy all leather hiking boots is a thing made up by the shoe manufacturers to make you buy more expensive boots.  I have been transitioning from heavier footwear to lighter over time.  The ultralight thinking nowadays says that the lighter the shoe, the less tiring you will be at the end of the day and super heavy boots do not give much (if any) advantage.  I have strong ankles and it is said that mid high boots don't even give any ankle support - at best they just keep pebbles out of your shoes.
Same with the waterproof (or 'breathable' GTX) liners.  My feet sweat alot even when cold.  The waterproof/breathable liners just make my feet wet from sweating.  Why fight it?  That, and as anyone that has had footwear with liners knows, the liners rarely stay waterproof with any decent mileage on them.  I have changed my thinking on this as well, and am opting for some well-ventilated shoes.  The other thing is water crossings.  Some people prefer to change footwear to sandals or the like while crossing then switch back on the other side, but this is very time consuming.  A liner shoe will just trap all that water and give no chance of draining.  Well vented shoes will just drain out.  I spent some time researching what through hikers have to say about this and many agree that you just plow through the crossings with your hiking shoes and if they have provisions for draining, your shoes will be mostly dry at the end of the day.  In any case you should switch to dry socks and alternate footwear around camp.  In the morning if need be, put your damp socks and shoes on again and hit the trail.

Wide Feet

I never really considered my feet to be wide width in the past, just on the large side of regular width.  I've never had to purposely buy wide width shoes for the last forty some years.  But I have had some issues while hiking/backpacking, namely that my small toe gets pushed over my second smallest toe with most hiking shoes, creating a blister/callus.  I didn't really think this had to do with the width of the shoe, just something that happened and I had to deal with it.  But my feet are slightly on the wide side I have come to realize.  I have been cycling through a bunch of hiking boots and none seem to fit just quite right.  Yet another issue I have is I seem to have low volume feet.  This means in many brands of footwear me feet slop around and/or I have to cinch the laces until the two sides are almost toughing for my feet to feel secure.
The truth is different brands and models of hiking footwear are made to different widths.  And frequently as well, as well as strangely I find, especially for something as paramount as fit for hiking, each model of footwear frequently does not even come in a selection widths, many just in a regular width...  which again means something different to different brands.
If you search for wide hiking footwear you actually don't get much on this topic.  I've gone through though a bunch of different footwear and hopefully have found something that I love in my new Merrell Moab Ventilator wide width shoes.

Wide hiking shoes...  there's not as many manufactures for this as you'd think.  Keen in regular width have a good width toebox, but the models I have had in the past leave some things to be desired on the durability side, as well as being able to cinch tightly and feel secure/no rubbing on downhills.  Salomon - I like their designs, light weight and construction, but they are just too narrow and no wide widths.  North Face - again too narrow. Lowa - I went through two sets of Lowa renegades in the past when they only came in one width, and I loved them, but they were too heavy, and also too narrow.  Their designs nowadays seem to heavy across the board.

So I settled on the wide Merrell Moab Ventilator wide version low cut.  These are tried and true, have been on the market a while and there's some people that absolutely love them.  I've also had Merrells in the past and they were definitely too narrow.  But these wide versions feel right, at least new.  Certainly not ultra wide, but just about right for my feet, and also cinch tight without reefing on the laces.  I've heard Asolo and New Balance also make some wider width shoes.

I'm looking forward to testing these out in the Appalachians as well as trekking in Iceland in the next couple months and hope they will fit the bill for what I want in some footwear.  They are still a tad on the heavier side with beefy soles and reinforcement...  possibly in the future, I will transition even lighter to trail shoes but these look great for now.

Update:  I just got back from a rugged backpacking trip 42km over Algonquin Peak and Mount Marcy, and these are by far the best boots for my feet yet.  They dry fast and the treads are very grippy - great on exposed rock surfaces and the lugs are deep enough to maintain stability in soft mud.  I did switch out the footbeds with SOLE response footbeds which I highly recommend over any stock footbeds.

Here's a good read on why to ditch your boots:
http://www.cleverhiker.com/blog/ditch-boots

No Foreign Exchange Fee Credit Card - Rogers Bank Platinum MasterCard

This seems to be a bit of a strange topic for an outdoor focused blog, but the reason it is here is that I frequently purchase many of my outdoor equipment online, and the majority of it comes from the US, because it is either lower cost, or more importantly some specialized gear simply cannot be purchased in Canada.  It also is great for traveling.  It’s no secret that the value of the Canadian dollar to the US dollar has been tanking hard recently, and has been for the past several years.  Nowadays I have to do the math to see if I really want to purchase something from the US.  When it was once on par for quite a while with each other, I didn’t really have to think.

In all honesty, I hate Rogers as a company, part of the oligopoly that holds Canadians hostage with their sky high telecommunications costs and lack of customer service to boot.  Likewise, I hate the banks, almost equally an oligopoly, they squeeze every penny out of their customers with service fees and hidden fees to rake in huge profits.

Why am I mentioning Rogers Credit Card – Rogers and a bank, you’d think that would be the worst of all worlds? Paradoxically, Rogers Credit card offers something few others in Canada do.  That thing is no foreign exchange fees.  If you purchase only occasionally in foreign currency, you might not notice how screwed you are being with foreign exchange.  Firstly Visa sets a daily rate, based on the cost of the currency pair the day before.  You can find this out here: https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html/ .  If you look at the real exchange from the day before, you will notice that Visa makes a little money on top of the real exchange.  Then comes the bank that issued your credit card.  Almost all banks charge a further 2.5% on top of the Visa rate, thank you very much for the easy profit!  But this is usually all hidden in one general exchange rate that you see on your card.  So, tyipically, you can pay 5% more just for Visa and then you bank to take turns raping you for exchange fees then conveniently hiding it all in one number.  Well, with the Rogers card, at least you save the 2.5% that your bank would normally charge you.

Now, if you go through Paypal, it’s even a different story. Paypal itself has even more enigmatic exchange fees and they hide it even more.  Suffice it to say, Paypal will screw you over even more if you allow them to change you in your native currency.  By default they will exchange the currency and just charge you in your native currency.  And the fees they collect are even higher.  If you must go through Paypal, I believe there is an option for Paypal to charge your credit card in the original currency, instead of converting it to your native currency.   Do this.

So, the no exchange fees is a good reason to get this card if you purchase many items cross border, or travel a lot.  After doing some research, I found there were only a couple other cards.. namely Amazon.ca card run by Chase Bank, and that’s almost it.  I see many complaints about Chase bank, namely their customer service is horrible and their oldschool paper type of statements, along with the lack of online account management.  Sadly there are not much other options for Canadians for no foreign exchange fee cards.

As a bonus with the Rogers Card, you sort of get 1.75% back on your purchases.  By sort of, I mean it can only go towards Rogers or Fido services/products.  I happen to have a Fido phone, so this works out for me.

Bottom line, to deal with foreign currency exchange and minimize your fees:
- Know what your bank is charging and do the math to estimate how much money you loose in foreign exchange fees
- Get a zero foreign exchange fee credit card if possible.  Rogers Bank card is a good option for this in Canada at this time.
- Always ask for your card to be charged in the native currency of the country you are buying from, so the credit card does the exchange.  This includes PayPal.

This applies whether you are travelling in a foreign country, or ordering things online.

Some Links:

https://www.rogersbank.com/en/

http://www.nomadwallet.com/best-credit-cards-for-travel-abroad/

http://www.greedyrates.ca/blog/travel-tip-avoid-foreign-transaction-fees-canadian-credit-card/

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fees-disappearing-1280.php

Curfew at Cypress Lake Campground Bruce Peninsula National Park

So, it's been a year since I have been blogging.  I have been meaning to get back to it, and apparently now is the time, since unfortunately I'm pissed off.  You see, today,, yurts went up for reservation at Cypress Lake campground in Bruce Peninsula National Park, managed by Parks Canada.  That's all cool and I was excited to reserve a yurt for the May 24/Victoria Day long weekend....  until I read some notes about restrictions while I was going through the motions of reserving a yurt.  On top of the usual pervasive alcohol ban, now there are campfire bans...   you are not allowed to have a campfire after 10pm until 7am.  Talk about absurd.   I was infuriated and abandoned my effort to reserve a yurt for this weekend.

  A huge portion of why people go camping is to enjoy a campfire late at night.  A group of people respectfully gathering around a campfire quietly does in no way take away from someone else's camping experience.  Forcing everyone to shut down and go to bed at 10pm certainly takes away from many people's camping experience.  You know there are quite a few people that don't want to go to bed at 9 or 10 pm like 70 year olds and people with small kids do.   The existing noise rules are more than sufficient to ensure a good camping experience to all, provided the rules are enforced by the rangers.  Treating people like children and creating what essentially is a curfew is an asinine way to address the problem of people being rowdy and partying all night long.

I wrote a complaint on the Parks Canada comment area complaining about this, and I received this response:

This essentially says that they are lazy and want to take away any possible potential situations that

people might get rowdy and have some fun.  That's like telling everyone in society they cannot drive cars anywhere anymore more because doing so gets some people killed occasionally.

I myself don't like children screaming at 7 or 8 am either.  I propose children are banned for campgrounds as well.

One way to ensure noone gets out of hand at all and doesn't offend anyone at any time is perhaps just to shut the entire campground down period...  maybe that's the next logical step.

Way to go Parks Canada for taking all of the fun out of camping and being complete idiots.  SMH.

I do encourage you to write some comments to Parks Canada regarding this here:
https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/Comments.aspx

Kolapore XC Backcountry

I visited Collingwood recently for a weekend of downhill skiing. On my way back to Guelph on Sunday I checked out the Kolapore Wilderness Trails for some prime cross country backcountry touring. The place is quite amazing when full on winter is around. The trails are tough and challenging with many steep uphills and downhills - my kind of stuff! Beautiful place for a ski.

Here's a quickly edited clip I put together of some of the fun sections:

I'd highly suggest picking up a map of the trails - there's none at the trailhead.  I got mine in nearby Ravenna, you can find out more on the Kolapore website: 

http://www.kolaporetrails.org/