Crabby critter!

Outside of my youngest child, I don't think I've ever meet a littler fella that packs more attitude than a red squirrel. With nothing to fear from the rage of these mini rodents, I find their ballistic scolding quite humorous and even endearing.

"The nastiest tongue-lashing I’ve ever received came from a tiny red squirrel"

Most of us have experienced the fury of an outraged red while hiking. The script usually plays out like this...

Hiker is minding the trail, making good time, enjoying the outdoors... 15 yards ahead a  cinnamon colored bullet fires across the path, rips through the underbrush and blasts up the trunk of a spruce tree... The hiker continues on, totally unaware of the gross trespassing misconduct they are committing in the squirrel's front yard. As the hiker continues to encroach, the squirrel decides it is time to educate this offender... The red showers down a barrage of what we can only assume is "sailor talk". With a passionate wrath the feisty critter stakes its claim on the surrounding forest! Hiker takes mild notice and pauses briefly to visually locate the source of all the sass. Moving on, the hiker continues away on the footpath as the little red uses the opportunity to get in a few choice last words.

Hiked it Liked it Gear Review: Merrell Bare Access 2 Barefoot Running Shoes

Merrell Bare Access 2

Let me first say, I am not a avid runner. I don't even like running. To be completely honest I hate running. (Wow, that escalated quickly!) I am foremost a hiker. I would much rather hike 15 miles with a full backpack than jog for 3 miles. However, I do try to exercise regularly on my local trail system and there are ways to trick yourself into enjoying it. 

 Enter... "trail running"! There is a vast difference between jogging around my neighborhood/toiling on a treadmill and trail running. Trail running is a great way to trick myself into thinking I'm having fun in the woods when actually I'm just jogging. The Merrell Bare Access 2 running shoes were the catalyst to making it all "run" smoothly.

Hiked It Liked It Gear Review: Petzl Tikkina headlamp

 

The Petzl Tikkina headlamp.

Backpackers basically want three things out of their gear, it must be lightweight, dependable and durable. I'm sure there are other criteria that some will account for, but if a product can check off those three boxes you've got a good thing going for you. Most of us realize that to get all three of those things out of a product you had better plan to spend accordingly. The last thing you want to do is test out the, "You get what you paid for" theory when you are miles out on the trail. But every now and then, the backpacking gods smile down on us and bless us with a product that is not only lightweight, dependable and durable, but also affordable! (This is the part where a heavenly chorus breaks out!)

Have a hoot! ...in the Sax Zim Bog.

Kids and nature.

I have a handful of children. Literally, I have five kids. That is a lot. So as a parent I have to be intentional about spending quality time with each of them... individually. Each one of them has their own interests and my wife and I do our best to encourage them.  My five year old is young naturalist at heart. He spends hours of the day either pouring through oceanography books, drawing pictures of animals, or assisting in filling the bird feeders. If it creeps, crawls, swims or flies outdoors he's into it.

I'm setting the table so you don't find what I'm going to say next so weird... While some of the kids have gone with me to baseball games, or airshows, etc... I knew we would need to find something else for the little naturalist. Something more in his wheelhouse. So he and I talked about it and came to a decision. We would drive to a boreal forest bog in northern Minnesota to look for Owls. Odd for a five year old right? ...Well he was ecstatic!

Hiked It Liked It Campsite review: Scenic State Park - Canoe-in/Boat-in site B17

The campsite.

This state park is exactly as advertised... "Scenic"! And so is their canoe-in/boat-in site B17. An open grove of red pine trees has left a carpet of needles on the forest floor. With little underbrush, the breeze from the lake can sweep through the campsite and then quietly whistle through the giant pines. The site feels expansive as it sits on a gradual slope that makes its way to Sandwick Lake.

Take the time to teach your kids about the great outdoors.

Nature lessons.

Late this past summer one of my little naturalists saw a small bird hit a neighbor's window and drop to the grass. We checked on the dazed little fella and inspected his crooked little wing.

I told my son that this was a Cedar Waxwing and pointed out a few of the features that distinguished the bird from others.

After a short spell, the small bird was able to fly away on its own and looked to be in good shape.

Afterwords, my son and I looked over a few of our field guides and read up on the tendencies of the species.

What's for dinner? - Expanding the backpackers meal options Part #1.

$$$.

While I love the traditional "mountain house" style meals, at some point the average backpacker needs to find more cost effective meals. (Maybe I’m just too cheap) I’ve found some decent alternative options to just forking over the $6 to $7 per meal...

I've found with the Bear Creek meals, I can divide the package into plastic baggies and get four single servings out of them. They have more meal options, they taste comparable, and only cost about $2.40 to $3.00 per package. That's four times the food for less than half the money!