A few more updates just in from Wilmington artist & customer James Davis. Follow his adventures at myxolydian.com
Thursday, August 14
No rain today!! Good day. We went about 12 miles today. We are still exhausted from the past week; so we are shorten up our miles per day. A radio announcer from Prince Edward Isle in Canada (Mitch Comier) called Serene to tape an interview from the trail. He also interviewed me. That was fun!!
Friday, August 15
Another sunny day!! We hiked 11.8 miles today. We are still keeping our miles down so we can get healthy. Only 450 miles to Katahdin!!! We must get healthy so we are taking it slow the rest of the month of August. We figured we will be in Maine on September 1. And we have realized we cannot make it to Katahdin by September 14 & 19 for our birthdays. We will probably make it by the last week of September
Saturday, August 16
Up from the loft of the barn early today. Sure enjoyed the beauty of the end of Vermont. Got to Hanover early afternoon. What a great college town this is. I am definitely coming back here. Got a free piece of pizza at Roma Bitsies and it was really good. Went to the outfitters and got a new pair of boots. A stick went through my boot today and I literally had no shoe left. That pair went over 700 miles. I think the rest of my equipment will last for the remaining 442 miles. There is a hostel here that Serene and I will stay tonight.
Ride for the Land 2008
Nearly 200 cyclists rolled out July 19 for Ride for the Land 2008: The Little River Roll. The tour brought attention to TLC’s Little River Priority Area and raised awareness of our efforts to preserve this critical piece of our natural heritage. While we at TLC have packed away the water jugs and signage until next year, you can reminisce about this year’s ride by reviewing our photos online.
Burrito Bash - Sept 9
TLC is teaming up with Haw River Assembly and the General Store Cafe of Pittsboro for a Burrito Bash! Join us on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at the General Store Cafe (39 West St, Pittsboro) for music, dancing, a silent auction, and of course, burritos! If you are interested in volunteering at the event or would like to donate an item to the silent auction, please contact Marisa Bryant at mbryant@tlc-nc.org or 919-833-3662 ext. 111. For tickets and to view the growing list of auction items, click here.
Haw River Paddle Day - August 30
Join us for an all-day paddling extravaganza on the Haw River at the Lower Haw State Natural Area upstream of the Bynum Dam. We’re offering a different kind of paddle trip on August 30 — six different two-hour trips allowing different ways to see the Haw River. Some of the trips will be themed guided trips: birding, natural history, and geocaching. Others will be “freestyle” do-it-yourself explorations. Details and registration
Scavenger Hunt is an environmentally friendly treasure hunt through downtown Charlotte and connected areas, including the light rail line and greenways. Take a chance to explore the historical landmarks, local stores and quiet places of solitude available in the Queen City! Geocachers of all levels are welcome to participate and accommodations will be made for those without GPS devices. Participants will track down geocaches (treasures) with GPS devices and riddle solving prowess in a contest to find the most skilled Geocacher in Charlotte. A point system will be used to rank difficulty levels of geocaches and the contestant with the highest score will receive
the grand prize at the end of the contest. Teamwork is encouraged to ease the locating of geocaches but each participant should register individually in order to qualify for prizes and gifts. Please join us for a great way to explore Charlotte and enjoy the urban outdoors!
Geocaching is a world wide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache anywhere in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache.
Water For People is a registered 501(c)(3) private, nonprofit organization that helps the most impoverished people worldwide implement safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene projects. The North Carolina American
Water Works Association – Water Environment Association (NC AWWAWEA) is a 501(c)(3) organization that works in partnership with Water For People to raise money for projects for drinking water and sanitation projects in Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Malawi and India.
Hot off the Press - The Raleigh News and Observer is doing a 4 part series about the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Click Here for all of the articles, video’s, and interviews about the MST.
Falls Lake Trail Workday - August 23, 2008
Come help FMST extend the Falls Lake Trail to Durham. Great Outdoor Provision Co. will be providing Chick-fil-a breakfast for the workers! Great Outdoor Provision Co. also joined forces with Patagonia to purchase a trailer to store & transport all the Trail Crew tools.
Meeting Location: Rolling View State Recreation Area - MST Parking Lot at 9:00 AM for the start of work. Please RSVP this week with Jeff Brewer (jdbrewer@bellsouth.net) so we put the finishing touches on our projects for this workday. With a good turn out we will reach the 40 mile mark at Falls Lake as we close the gap at Santee Road. Once we close the gap at Santee we will move over near Patterson Road and start building the trail to Hickory Hill Boat Ramp - about 7.2 miles. We have some trail work to do at the dead end of Boyce Mill Road for a group of about 10-12 workers. Your RSVP is a huge help in knowing our total attendance for the workday.
Late this afternoon, we received the following video dispatch from Lin Peterson at Great Outdoor Provision Co. Marketing. He was on the summit of Middle Teton with Chad Baird (Footwear Product Manager), and took time out to enjoy some of the Trail Mix Crunch that samples that Grassroots retailers passed out this summer.
In June, Grassroots Retailers worked with Post Cereal to promote Trail Mix Crunch to benefit the environment. Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and Post Cereal partnered to benefit American Forests’ Global ReLeaf Program. In a joint effort, Post Cereals donated $50,000 to American Forests-enough to plant 50,000 trees in 2008. The partnership brings together the effort of 34 independent retailers across 22 states to lend support to the program.
The effort is highlighted in Grassroots’ member stores across the country in conjunction with the launch of Post’s new Cranberry Vanilla cereal. Customers will receive samples of the new cereal and learn more about getting involved with the American Forests restoration program in each location. American Forests is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests. The joint effort is kicking off this weekend with National Trails Day and Land Trust events at Grassroots’ retailers throughout the U.S.
Grassroots President, Dave Matz says of the partnership, “We were approached by Post to help them develop a conservation program in all of our member locations, and we are excited for the opportunity.” About the restoration initiative, Matz says, “We are committed to supporting conservation efforts, and helping companies do their part for the environment. Post has pledged to donate $50,000 to plant trees via Global ReLeaf, and we are happy to be the leaders helping them coordinate this outreach.”
For more information on the Global ReLeaf Program and to support local Grassroots’ members, please visit, www.americanforests.org
Picture your self standing in a river hip-deep in water, rod tucked under your arm trying to force open a jammed zipper. The frustration mounts as you drop your rod in the water because of the battle you are waging with a fouled zipper. Now picture your self in the same situation as you casually reach down and pop open your pack with a simple pull of one hand. Slide what you need out of the pack and with a simple push closed you are back to the action. A dream, you ask? Well, to some maybe. However, the good people at William Joseph have done it again.
After years of R&D, the ZipNo™ closure system has finally been perfected and is ready for release. This patent pending technology utilizes a system to extrude rare earth magnets thus allowing them to be sewn completely around all openings on the pack, eliminating the need for zippers. This provides all the functionality of a zippered opening without any of the hang-ups (no pun intended). This closure is impervious to corrosion and damage from debris and provides a near water tight seal.
Beautiful images of the natural wonders of North Carolina have inspired generations of people to be better stewards of our precious natural resources. The Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Competition aims to encourage people to participate in nature photography, thereby fostering greater appreciation of North Carolina’s wildlife and wild places.
All winners will be published in the January 2009 issue of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine and exhibited at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Winners will also receive a print of their winning entry and products from sponsor Great Outdoor Provision Co.
Grand prize: Your photo published on the cover of the January 2009 issue of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine, plus $200
First place, all categories: $100
Second place, all categories: $75
Third place, all categories: $50
Special state parks prize: One photo taken in North Carolina state parks, regardless of category, will be selected as Best of State Parks. The winner will receive camping passes at their choice of North Carolina state parks and other noncash prizes to be determined. Finalists in consideration for this honor will be exhibited at various parks across the state.
I am trying to sift out just why I like this sock so much. It’s called the Rebel Fusion, and it is revolutionary.
First, I am not unbiased; Wigwam extended me credit to carry their socks back in the early ‘70’s when the only credit I had was the 120 hours of college credit I earned to graduate. But then, Wigwams also always fit well, lasted a long time, and protected my feet better than just about any other brand. And, the worst washing machine I ever had could not kill them, although it regularly shredded shirts and underwear. But this sock goes to a whole new level. They’re part of Wigwam’s Ingenius series which is a sock and liner combined. This saves money, there is no chance for folds or wrinkles between layers, and of course they’re simple. But the real deal here is that the selective padding in the sock is just right for all day on your feet, running, hiking, working, or whatever used to leave my feet tired, blistered, or sore. They’re constructed with an olefin lining attached to the rest of the sock in such a way as to eliminate blister causing friction, and the outer sock layer is a blend of nylon, spandex and merino wool with loops to provide cushioning and yet not feel “squishy.” And they come in a “no-show,” a quarter top, and a full sized crew. Hands down they are the best I have ever used.
Trust me on this. I know I am loyal to the folks who helped me get started, but I can have any sock in the world in my drawer, and I do have just about any sock out there in my drawer, but the Rebel Fusion is the one I use. If you don’t like ‘em, I’ll buy ‘em back!
Last month, Outside magazine published a small article regarding reusable water bottles. This article mentioned that SIGG was searching for a new liner and then implied that therefore something must be wrong with the old liner. This article was indeed misleading and has generated some inquiries from loyal fans of SIGG.
Here’s the straight scoop:
SIGG Switzerland has been making bottles for 100 years now and we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our quality and production processes – that’s one of the reasons we are #1.
Our current liner is the best in the world and is tested constantly to ensure that there is 0% migration of the liner or the aluminum bottle. No harmful substances have ever been found in the SIGG bottle. The advantage SIGG has over most of the competition is that we own our own factory in Switzerland and therefore we control our product safety and quality directly. Most of the other bottle brands on the market subcontract their manufacturing to external Chinese suppliers.
SIGG has had a confidentiality agreement with our Swiss liner supplier which for competitive purposes restricts us from discussing any of the liner ingredients (as you can imagine, there are lots of Chinese manufacturers making knock-offs that would love to have this formula). We completely understand that many people would like to know more about the liner itself which is the reason why we began exploring alternative suppliers that will allow us to disclose the ingredients of the liner.
Besides always working to improve our quality, we also strive to ensure that our products are manufactured with the environment in mind (we are a proud member of 1% For The Planet donating 1% of all of our sales to protecting the environment). The Swiss engineers who are working on this project are exploring a new liner process which maintains all of the strengths of today’s liner - but is also more eco-friendly. We hope to have an announcement about this liner advancement very soon.
Thanks for your interest in our product. I hope this answers your questions. We at SIGG Switzerland are committed to making the best reusable water bottles in the world.
Last month, Outside magazine published a small article regarding reusable water bottles. This article mentioned that SIGG was searching for a new liner and then implied that therefore something must be wrong with the old liner. This article was indeed misleading and has generated some inquiries from loyal fans of SIGG.
