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A couple of years ago my father showed me a book. “50 Places to Fly Fish Before You Die” Both of us being avid flyfishermen we marked off all the spots we have already been. Since we both are previous Montana residents we had fished a lot of the Western US streams listed in the book. It did list destinations all over the world. Peacock Bass on the Amazon to Sea Run Browns in Argentina and many other incredible places. Some of them I had not heard of before. Some of them are incredibly expensive as well. Here is the link to the old USA Today article written about the book. If you are a flyfishing enthusiast and like to travel to new waters then check this book out.
This weekend Campman took a trip down to the Creek. For those of you who don’t know about Indian Creek, it’s a world climbing destination for those who want to test their crack climbing skills. Known for its perfect splitters I thought it would be a great place to try out Green Gear’s Hand Jammies, Jetboil Group Cooking System, and Edelweiss Liquid Chalk.
When climbing cracks one usually tapes the back of the hands in order to protect them. The idea behind the Hand Jammies is to alleviate the need for taping. Making tape gloves takes time and a little skill to make. The Jammies just slide on and you Velcro them down tight. That’s it you’re done. Not only are they easy to get on but they also have climbing rubber on the back so they are sticker than tape on the rock. All of these peaked my interest so I thought I’d give them a shot. I strapped them on and started up a route that was hands to fingers sized. I noticed from the moment I put them on that they were really stiff and thick compared to my usual tape gloves. In the thin parts of the crack the gloves actually impeded my process. The few hand jams that I did get they were great. I wasn’t impressed on my first attempt with the gloves but I thought I’d give them another shot just to be fair. It was pretty much the same on the next route. The verdict was I was going back to tape. However after reflecting on the Jammies I figured they would be good for a route that was just hand size or rattly hands. Once you get into finger locks or fingers they are pretty bad.
Next on the list was the Jetboil Group Cooking System or GCS. It includes the pot, self lighting stove, and covers for the pot. It was incredibly easy to use. Put on the Jetboil fuel can, bottom stabilizer, pot stabilizer, turn on the gas, and push the lighter. It started right up and I was cooking. I decided to make breakfast burritos that morning. So I tossed in the hash browns, sausage, eggs, and cheese. 15 min later I had a feast. I did notice that the pot got really hot and I had to turn it all the way down. Once all was said and done I don’t think that the this stove is great for cooking dry food such as hash browns, but when I boiled water it was extremely fast. So as a backpacking stove this is great. When car camping I would bring along the dual burner stove and fry pan. Definitely the best backpacking stove I’ve used. It’s extremely simple and works great. The only down side I could see in the backcountry is that I would bring a fresh fuel canister every time to ensure I don’t run out of fuel. So the possibility to collect half full canisters is a likely possibility.
Last but not least was the Edelweiss Liquid Chalk. It comes in a small bottle so I was wondering how long it would last. I tried just a small amount at first, about the size of a quarter in my palm. I spread it around my hands and it dried pretty fast. Once it did my hands were dried out from the alcohol and chalked up. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great way to get a good base layer when starting for the day or anytime before a route. The bottle should last awhile if you use sparingly. Which is all you need to use it anyways. Definitely worth the pick up for the avid climber.
Utah’s three foot rule is going to get it’s first test. An alleged prank turns criminal. Here is the Salt Lake Tribune Article.
Cycling advocate Jason Bultman makes his way home along… (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Jason Bultman was pedaling his bicycle up 500 East in Salt Lake City in November when a red pickup zoomed up beside him and a hand swiped across his back.
Startled, the all-seasons bicycle commuter feared he was so close to the truck that it would send him sprawling. Instead the truck veered away, the passenger withdrew inside and Bultman took down the license number for what would become the first reported prosecution of Utah’s 2005 law requiring motorists, in most situations, to give cyclists a 3-foot buffer.
Police followed up with the driver and Salt Lake City prosecutors confirmed they filed charges under the 3-foot rule, adopted by the Utah Legislature in response to the 2004 death of University of Utah graduate student Josie Johnson. She died after being hit while cycling in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
“It’s kind of interesting that you can actually prosecute someone for violating the 3-foot law,” Bultman said. “[People] were saying it’s unenforceable.”
City prosecutor Sim Gill said his office filed the charge against a George Richard Young, 46, but attempts to find him and serve a summons for an arraignment earlier this month failed. The city will try again before issuing an arrest warrant, he said.
Attempts by The Salt Lake Tribune to reach Young at his last reported address were unsuccessful.
“Just because you happen to be in a motor vehicle doesn’t mean you don’t have a responsibility to operate in a way that respects everybody’s rights to be in the roadway, including bicyclists,” Gill said.
The charge is a misdemeanor with up to a possible $750 fine and 90 days in jail, though Gill said there’s no minimum mandatory fine and the courts are untested on these matters.
Bultman said authorities gave him several options to charge the passenger, including assault. Instead, he opted for the 3-foot rule, figuring it was the driver who had endangered him by swerving too near.
“I was well off into the shoulder and was all of the sudden brushed,” Bultman said. “The guy was hanging out the passenger-side window of the truck. I don’t know how the mirror missed me.”
If the driver and passenger taunted Bultman in the way he described, they chose the wrong cyclist. Not only was he aware of the new law, but he is president of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective. Plus, in 2004 he suffered a crushed ankle in a car-bicycle crash. “My side job in life is to try to educate people that bicycling is a great way to get around town.”
Education, not revenge, led him to press charges for what he called a “botched prank” with likely no harm intended.
“Good for him,” said another cycling advocate, John Weis, when he heard of Bultman’s case. Weis was director of Johnson’s graduate pathology program at the U. when she was killed, and he helped lobby for the 2005 legislation.
He had expected the law to raise awareness, but not necessarily draw prosecutions, he said.
“Even before we had the 3-foot law, we had a law that said you can’t get too close to a bicyclist, and police told me they had never used it,” Weis said.
The law is not easily prosecuted, acknowledged its sponsor, Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City. But jailing people was never as important as making drivers more conscious of the necessary buffer, she said.
“Luckily, this incident did not result in bodily injury or death,” said McGee.
Looking around at forums one guy said he has gotten two people prosecuted in Wisconsin however the law is very hard to enforce. Some people have even said that it is unenforceable due to the difficulty of proving it really happened. In this case it is a little easier since the person was actually touched. Riding a bike on the road can be a scary endeavor and maybe a couple of people getting fined for getting too close might bring about awareness.
We’ll see if this one sticks. If it doesn’t then the law probably is unenforceable.
This last weekend the World Pipe Championships were held in Park City. It was a great time to see some of the top riders in the world throw down. The top women boarders, men boarders, and men skiers exhibited their best tricks in hopes of winning part of the $80k purse. It was a pretty nice day. The light was a little flat in the morning but turned out to be a nice day.
Men’s Snowboard
1. Shaun White 93.00 $15,000
2. Mason Aguirre 90.33 $8,000
3. Janne Korpi 85.33 $3,000
Women’s Snowboard
1. Torah Bright 96.67 $15,000
2. Kelly Clark 93.00 $8,000
3. Soko Yamaoka 85.00 $4,000
Utah Outdoor Activities
Resource to the Utah outdoors. Offering pictures, stories and reviews on outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, boating and more!
50 places to flyfish before you die, flyfishing destinations, Outdoor Activities
