Blog de Puree

In today’s modern online world, buzzwords and acronyms abound. The military no longer rules the roost for great euphemisms, slang and odd letter designations. A quick search of the ‘Net will bring up great terms such as life-hacking, crowd-sourcing and erg-blogging. These terms evoke activities of the participant in a unique genre of interest. Here [...]

A new article from Backpackinglight.com reviews gear strategies for backpacking couples. Nothing new there, and one of the reasons I frequent the site. But also of interest, was a point the article quickly made that ensures outdoor harmony among hiking and backpacking couples. Randye and I like to hike quite often, and always seem to [...]

Two friends and I circumnavigated the western sector (West of Interstate 93) of the Middlesex Fells Reservation this past Sunday morning. Roughly a seven to eight mile route, it took us about three and a half hours with light day packs. Starting at the southernmost point of the Fells, we hiked the skyline trail that [...]

Is it true that the number of backpackers and hikers in America is declining? According to the Kitsap Sun, a Washington state-based newspaper, it is. The article in Kitsap Sun asks what’s causing the decline. The author, Seabury Blair Jr., writes that the number of backpackers in the last decade has seriously declined, despite the [...]

I came across this cool WoodGas Camp Stove in my online travels the other day. It’s a portable stove that doesn’t need white gas, propane or other non-environmental fuels, but burns any kind of combustible organic matter you can feed it. Grass, twigs, sticks, pine cones, you name it. The WoodGas Camp Stove is essentially [...]

Philly.com recently reported that Active Interest Media purchased Backpacker magazine from Rodale for an undisclosed amount of money. Active Interest Media is known for publishing enthusiast books, magazines, holds consumer shows and operates Web sites within niche or “enthusiast” markets. Along with Backpacker magazine, it’s Web site Backpacker.com will also be part of the sale. [...]

Two friends and I spent Saturday hiking Mt. Monadnock. And we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to do it. The skies were sunny, with small wisps of clouds here and there, and the temperature hovered in the mid 70s. To top it off, there were pleasant breezes in the lower altitudes and [...]

I’ve got an eight mile hike on Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire coming up in May with some friends. Thanks to my “Army” knees, I have to put in some training time to get them accustomed to hills. And it doesn’t help that I sit on my arse in front of a computer all day [...]