You Can't Rely on Phone Service

I spent this past weekend on a backpacking trip in the Uinta Mountains. Before heading out, my son sent me a map that he created from CalTopo.com and I printed it on waterproof paper. Actually I printed 3 copies of the map: one for me, one for my son, and another for someone else on the trip. As my son and I have been to the exact same place before, the maps really were not that necessary, or so I thought.

Our group started the hike and everyone sped down the trail to our scenic destination while I pulled up the rear and enjoyed the journey. The first time I hiked this trail, I made a mistake on one section and left the trail because a lot of hikers before me had made a wrong turn at the exact same spot. This time I remembered the error and patiently waited on the correct trail while yelling ahead to the group to turn around and follow me. At that point several of the millennials in the group pulled out their phones and tried to use their map application. We were out in the middle of nowhere with no possibility of mobile phone service. Guess what? Maps don't work on your smartphone unless you have downloaded the maps before leaving mobile phone coverage. I just had to chuckle to myself as I watched this group of kids trying to figure out what to do without their smartphones.

There is a saying that "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In my case, it is the dude with the paper map. Our hike continued uneventfully until we came to the area where we had to leave the trail and do a meadow walk to get to our destination.

For those that are not familiar with a meadow walk, it is a hiking technique to minimize damage to delicate alpine meadows. Creating a trail in such an area enables devastatingly destructive erosion so it is better for everyone to spread out, walk delicately, and take care not to trample the spectacular mountain flowers. We had three such meadows to cross before arriving at our campsite. Once again, the map proved its worth.

Our hike back to the car followed a different path around various picturesque alpine lakes and completed a loop as opposed to going back down the same trail we used to the previous day. We chose this path because neither my son nor I had traveled it and we wanted to see new places. The trail did not disappoint us and once again the paper map proved its worth.

The United States has great mobile phone coverage and sometimes we take it for granted. Unfortunately it is not everywhere and there is a good chance that it won't work when you are in the wilderness. Should you find yourself heading to camp in a remote area, be sure to print up a paper map before leaving home (or at least download the area to your phone). While it may not necessarily save your life, it may save countless miles of unnecessary detours.

My Bear Claw Yurt Video

A week and a half ago I went on a ski mountaineering trip with my two sons and a friend. We hiked into the Bear Claw yurt and spent the night. The next morning we woke up, hiked up a couple of mountains, and skied down them before returning to our car. I thought the entire experience would make a pretty good video and so I took some footage with one of my new GoPro knock-offs. I'll let you be the judge of the video but I think it came out pretty well.

This represents a different way of creating videos as I had the video completed and up for viewing on YouTube in about 10 days. We left on Thursday afternoon and I uploaded the completed product the following Saturday. When I started the trip with my sons, I had a rough idea of what I wanted to capture and just pulled out my camera every time I thought something interesting happened. When we got home, I reviewed the video and created a simple script describing the trip.

Every time I go to create a video, I feel like I have to relearn a number of the settings for the software I use to create the finished product. This time I took copious notes so it will be easier the next time. I also only created my last video a few months ago and so a lot of what I did was still fresh in my mind. I think the sound quality on this one came out much better than previous ones. There is still a bit of work to do though.

I am trying to create these videos as a method of improving my video creation skills. If you have any constructive comments, please feel free to let me know.

Night Rock Climbing

My youngest daughter had her birthday a week ago and so my wife joined me in the Uinta Mountains to spend time with her. This daughter is the director of climbing for a summer camp and spends her weekdays teaching Boy Scouts how to climb. On Friday nights they will do night climbs and last week's evening of fun happened to fall right on my daughter's birthday.

My daughter had explained night climbs before but I had no idea what a party the evenings turn out to be. My daughter's boss has a set of outdoor speakers that he sets up with the help of stored music on his smartphone. Then all of the boys show up headlamps ready to climb about 50 feet. When I first heard of the event, I thought there might be 10 or so boys. Nope, imagine the entire camp showing up. Throw in the loud music, bobbing headlamps, and excitement of 14 to 18 year old boys. The sight impressed me and seemed like a lot of fun.

Last week my wife and I really enjoyed our evening watching our daughter celebrate her birthday. Our daughter enjoyed herself as well. In a world where I imagine most teenage boys enjoy video games and technology, it pleased me to see such a large group outside having good clean fun.