Outdoor Source Magazine

Now that spring is here and I have a yearning to get out and be in nature, I thought it was finally time to put up the series of photos that I took back in the fall. As a reminder, I went out to the Muttontown Preserve for 4 or 5 weekends spanning from September to November. There’s a couple of different pieces of nature out there. First is a rolling meadow that’s been taken over by wildflowers. The second is a forest featuring several different types of hardwoods and pines. I can only imaging that this is what all of Long Island used to look like before the hordes from NYC turned into millions of people with a million cars. Anyway……

The first shot below was taken walking through forested section of the park in mid to late September. Off on the right side are the first signs of fall with the changing of the leaves.

My family (wife and daughter) and i went out to a great park this weekend.  We went to a county park on Long Island called Blydenburg Park.  The next time we go I’m definitely bringing my camera along.  I had some wonderful opportunities to take some shots — but alas, i didn’t plan ahead.

 The park had a feature that’s pretty rare on Long Island.  There’s 2 areas that you can let your dog run and play off leash.  There’s one huge area (about 2 acres) for large dogs — there was a bunch of dogs running around including some Boston Terriers, which ain’t that huge.  There’s also a smaller area of around 1/2 acre for smaller dogs to run around and play.  My doxie is just a pup of around 4 months old, so she’s still pretty wimpy, but she seemed to warm up after a while.  My daughter got a live illustration of the birds and the bees when Georgie (a fat older Beagle) tried to mount her.  Ya gotta give the old guy credit for trying.

 Anyway — hurrah for these areas within the parks.  We definitely need more of them.

Last week I was getting all excited about getting out into the woods during my favorite time of the year (for the woods), fall. As I began making plans for the coming long weekend (Labor Day), i was reminded that there are potential issues with getting into the woods in the late summer and fall, particularly if you’re looking at mountainous regions. Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure that you have a good experience:

If you’re sleeping outside, make sure that your sleeping bag is going to be warm enough. If your sleeping bag is not rated to be able to deal with cold enough temperatures you can either go get a better bag or you can double them up. Putting on additional clothing might not actually keep you warmer (just the oposite).

Watch the weather forecasts. Mountains contain very irratic weather and can create some very unexpected situations. Last night (August 20th), Lake Placid NY went down to 30 degrees. That’s 10 degrees colder than the forecast called for and about 20 degrees colder than my wife would be able to deal with. There’s nothing like shivering to really kill a fun trip.

Keep an eye out for bears. As fall approaches, they’re trying to finish fattening up for the coming winter siesta so they are out eating almost all the time (close to 20 hours a day). Don’t sleep with any food near your tent (if you’re tenting). Keeping it in the car could even cause your car to get torn apart.

Finally - stay dry. As the temperature dips to highs in the 50s or 60s you have to treat you getting wet to be a big problem. If you can help it, don’t wear cotton. Cottom retains water and if it’s right on your skin you could run into problems as the sun goes down.

These are just a few things to keep in mind if you’re heading into the woods as the weather cools. Planning ahead can help keep a fun time fun and safe.

I’ve been involved in several on line debates regarding this actually little debated topic. A lot of people on one side of this discussion have professed that the debate is clear that humans have irrevocably harmed the environment and have caused the planet to heat up to our ultimate demise.

I was doing a little thinking on this subject, particularly since the big culprit that environmentalists hang their hat on is the amount of CO2 emitted by cars into the atmosphere as being one of the leading causes. I was thinking about this and wanted to crunch some numbers. The data that I’m using was found on the internet so there could be some pretty big errors due to originating data errors. First, let’s look at cars and some facts that I found:

• The average American drives around 12000 miles per year.
• Let’s assume that 45% of the US population drives (I arrived at this figure by backing into some other figures that were released by a department of the US gov’t under Clinton)
• Let’s assume that 40% of the miles driven in the world are driven by an American (personally I think that’s high)
• The current EU emission goal is 499 grams per kilometer.

All of these figures will calculate out to about 3,270 billion kilos of CO2 emitted by automobiles around the world every year. That’s a lot.

Now, let’s look at what our basic survival emits per year. I found a stat out on the web that the average person exhales about 1.98 pounds of CO2 per day. Now if the world population is now 6.6 billion, that will calculate out to 2,166 billion kilos of CO2 emitted per day — JUST BY BREATHING.

I honestly don’t see what the fuss is all about about what we’re doing to the environment with all of our cars. The worldwide use of automobiles only adds 50% more CO2 into the atmosphere than just breathing does.

Personally, if the environmental crowd is so hepped up on what we as humans are or are not doing to the environment they really need to start off by looking at population control as the first line of defense.

Once the middle of August hits and we get that week of rainy and raw weather (at least in the Northeast) I start to think about a fall expedition/hike into the woods. Every year around my birthday (end of September), I love to pack up a few things and hit the trail.

Think about it. The fall is absolutely perfect for both hiking and backpacking. First off, the weather is just prime for it. The evenings (and even the days) begin to get a little cooler. The cooler evenings I find to be just perfect sleeping weather. After a day of being on the trail, then a short rest with dinner, I’ll walk another mile or so to get away from the smell of my dinner. Once I make my camp for the evening I can’t wait to hit the sleeping bag for a nice cool sleep.

Another benefit of fall hiking is that the majority of the summer bugs have signed out for the year. I’m one of those people that opens the door and gets bitten by something. It really prevents me from getting out more often.

Yet another benefit is probably the most obvious - School started. Most people have finished up their vacations for the year while Mom and Dad are getting their kids back to school, the start of the soccer season really curbs the overall attendance in most places.

Finally, particularly in the hardwood forests in the northeast, we’ve got the changing of the colors. Since foliage changes at different times during the year, you’ll need to find links to your particular area so that you know when it’s best to get out there. Here are a few links that I’d like to offer up:

• http://www.weather.com/maps/activity/fallfoliage/uscurrentfallfoliage_large.html
• http://www.maine.gov/doc/foliage/


• http://phototravel.com/fall.htm

To summarize, fall is a GREAT time to head into the woods for either a day hike or a short backpacking trip. Cooler weather, less insects, less people and interesting colors can make for a wonderful time. The only issue that you need to keep an eye on is the weather. Fall is the transition season so dress for success.

We’re in the process of finalizing a new section of the site. I had a lot of this content on another website and got a lot of great feedback. We’re now including listings for every National Park, Monument, National Battlefield, Wildlife Refuge, etc. in the United States in a new section of the site.

You can find and navigate this section using the Parks By Type page and roll from there [if you click on the Parks by State page today, you’ll get an error, but be patient, we’ll get that one done too.]

The page is available here http://www.outdoorsourcemag.com/Parks/parksbytype.htm.

Just like boots need to be broken in to avoid injury (and serious pain from rubbing and blisters), you need to learn how to walk with a backpack.

Rule #1 about walking in a group (even a small group) is for you to stick together. It is very easy, particularly in a very rugged area, for someone to fall behind and potentially not be able to continue on. This situation can become very dicey because the straggler could get lost and the ‘not lost’ party could get injured looking while in a frenzied search for the straggler.

Keep a strong walker both in the front and in the rear to make sure that the less able (or weaker) walkers dont fall behind.

When walking with a pack:

• When you are walking uphill, it’s important for you to take very short steps, then place your feet on the ground prior to pushing yourself up.
• When walking downhill, again, take short steps and move steadily. As you are moving downhill, lean backward to take strain off your knees. DO NOT POINT YOUR TOES AS YOU STRETCH DOWN, you can very easily hyper-extend your knee. I’ve done this several times (usually playing basketball) and it is extremely painful.
• For steep or soft slopes, climb down with your feet placed sideways and use a walking stick for extra support.

Personally, I’ve never backpacked and haven’t hiked in 15 years without walking sticks. It actually takes a little practice for you to use them, but for the added stability on the walk and the added peace of mind, it’s well worth learning to use them.

Being a suburban dweller that works in the middle of Long Island I rarely get the chance to get out into the woods to enjoy the smell of pine and bug spray.

This weekend this finally changes for me. I’m taking a solo 1-nighter up in the Catskills. There are a couple of waterfalls that I’m going to get out and photograph. I’ll post something on Monday or Tuesday that I shoot.

Captain Obvious Alert: You should always pick a tent that is suitable for your expected conditions.

For backpacking you will obviously want to go as light as possible since you’re lugging your shelter along with you. You’ll need to make a tradeoff between peace of mind and weight. My basic recommendation is that if you don’t really need a tent, dont bring one — bring a bivvy bag if you can. A bivvy bag is essentially a tent for your head with a waterproof bag for your sleeping bag.

If you ARE going to bring a tent, here’s the breakdown of types:

• Ridge Tent. This is the classic pup tent. It’s a waterproof bottom with a ventilated inner tent with a rain fly. You can use these tents pretty much anywhere in almost any condition.



• Dome Tent. Ideal for high wind situations and less cramped than a ridge tent.



• Single Hooped Tent. This lightweight tent provides ample living space, easy to set up and its sloping design helps deflect oncoming winds.

Finally - the image below illustrates the Bivvy Bag.

Photography and in particular, outdoor and nature photography, is one of the main reasons that I personally head outdoors. To me there’s nothing more relaxing than getting up early (or heading out right after dinner) to get to a great photo spot and wait for the light to be perfect. It’s not the getting there that’s relaxing, it’s the waiting that is relaxing.

Now, why is the timing so important in outdoor photography?? Well if you’ve ever been out in the sun at around noon or 1 in the afternoon and taken pictures, you know what i mean. Shots come out so bright that you can barely tolerate the harsh coloring that results. You can tone everything down with a series of filters as well as adjustments to the white balance settings in your camera, but the best results typically come from ‘Good Light’.

Good natural light is only available for around an hour a day. The 1/2 hour (maybe 45 minutes) right after the sun rises and the 1/2 hour as the sun is setting are by far the best times to be outside taking photos. The light at this time of day is very subtle, the shadows are long and expressive and the colors of nature are their most vibrant at these times.

Photographic results depend on the temperature of the light for their results. The higher the temperature of the light, the harsher the colors. Here’s an experiment that you should try out to see what I mean:

• Set your camera up on a tripod
• Set your camera on automatic with some standard setting
• Focus on something that will allow you to see some details both close up as well as at a distance.
• Every hour on the hour (or every half hour or whatever time interval you want), take a shot
• After shooting literally all day from sun up to sun down take a look at the results of your pictures

You’ll see that the shots that you took in the middle of the day tend to be very harsh in their presentation. These shots can possibly be altered in photoshop (or some other photo editing program), but the best shots typically need little altering. You will also see that the shots taken during the prime shooting times will have nice warm and variant colors — or will illustrate a beautiful array of shadows.

Happy shooting.