The training and nutritive techniques are virtually identical — endurance athletes minimize weight, eat high-calorie, easily digestible carbohydrate gels and fluid proteins, hydrate often, and take electrolytes — but if you compare the numbers (if you can find the numbers), you’ll find that marathoners and long-distance runners outnumber endurance hikers. While an average marathoner might finish a 42.195 kilometer run in about 5 hours, an endurance hiker will often take 11 hours to complete the same distance on rough wilderness trails. Recent mothers, fathers, and young professionals often find that the travel times to worthwhile hiking trails (plus the hiking times) are prohibitive.
Author Archives: health
Reavis Ranch & Hoolie Bacon Photo Galleries
A 19-mile in-and-out day-hike to the old Reavis Ranch in the Superstition Wilderness along a well traveled trail. Click through to the entire post so you can view the galleries.
Hoolie Bacon: Thorns, Sand and Mountain Lion Tracks
Arizona Slideshow
Here is a slide show of some of the photos I took on hikes in Arizona during 2008 to 2010. If you hover your cursor over a photo, the navigation bar will pop up. If you then click on the square box located at the right-hand edge of the navigation bar, you will see slide show in full-screen mode.
Julbo Availability in Canada
I wish Julbo would somehow get its products reviewed in the Canadian media so that Julbo sunglasses would become readily available here in Canada. I live near Toronto, Ontario, but when I searched the Internet last year, I found only two places selling Julbo sunglasses in Canada, and both of them were in Montreal, Quebec.
Hikers recognize my Julbo Race sunglasses when I’m on the trails in Arizona, but here in Ontario, Canada, almost no one has heard of them.
Winter Hiking on the Bruce Trail South of Speyside, Ontario
Click on the thumbnail photos (and then when you are done, click on the full size photos to close).
Great Winter Softshell Pants for Hiking, Skiing, and Snowshoeing
The sun shines 288 days a year in Flagstaff, Arizona. I sweat on the trails, even while hiking out of the Grand Canyon through the snow on New Year’s Day. But when I’m kicking up powder, my pants get wet, and after dark my legs get cold.
My merino-wool socks and winter hiking boots are on standby near the backdoor. I keep a 19-ounce insulated jacket in my backpack. Now I’m hoping for a pair of REI Acme Pants for Christmas. The durable Schoeller® Dryskin fabric is warm, breathable and water and wind resistant, and the rip-and-stick tabs and ankle zippers keep the cuffs from sliding down over my heels.
Starting Early Gets the Prize: Kids Want Wisdom
Do not underestimate your child’s hunger for wisdom and capacity for boredom. Teach your children that earning, saving, and spending money is an adventure. Show them that starting a business or working for wages can take them up mountain trails. Tell them true-life stories. Let them know that it’s fun to aim for early retirement, for unencumbered bank accounts and long vacations.
Buying a House in Arizona: Home, Termite, and Mold Inspections
First I’ll tell you about the information you can get from the Arizona State Government. Then I’ll tell you about my conversations with house, termite, mold, and fungi inspection companies in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona.
You can phone the Office of Pest Management at 602-255-3664 (and 1-800-223-0618). Or go online to the www.sb.state.az.us web site, where you can use their “Consumer Resources” section to search for companies licensed for Pest Control, Termite Inspection, and Fungi Inspection (Mold Inspection). For termites, you are probably best off looking at companies that have both the pest control/treatment license (the B2 license) and the pest inspection license (the B8). For mold, the fungi inspection license (the B7) might only apply to the exterior walls of buildings–you’ll want to inquire with the inspection service providers.
