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Bush: What Is He Thinking?

Several bits of Bush News today.
First, seen in may places is the following news:
Bush Acts on Drilling, Challenging Democrats. President Bush lifted nearly two decades of executive orders banning offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, while a Congressional moratorium on drilling remains in place. [NYT > NYTimes.com Home]
Does anyone really see this as [...]

Thinking About Sleeping Bags - How Light is Too Light?

When I return from a pack trip I often reflect a bit on how my equipment did and did not work, and on how I might tweak my setup. One issue that always concerns me - and more so as I get older - is the balance between weight and functionality. This is especially important [...]

Smoke. Everywhere.

I escaped the worst of the awful smoke that covers vast portions of California this week by spending some time at near 10,000′ in the Yosemite backcountry. The smoke affected the views even that high, but it was much worse at lower elevations - as I discovered on my drive home last night.
California Wildfire [...]

An Interesting Enounter

Cait Hutnik shares an interesting photo narrative of a wildlife encounter on a recent hike at Rancho Canada del Oro south of San Jose - thanks for the link, Cait: www.lightofmorn.com/html/grayfoxes.htm

Smoke from the Little Red Tent

Edie Howe’s Little Red Tent blog, that is. Edie lives in Yosemite Valley and often posts her photographs at her site and elsewhere. Recently she did the Four Mile Trail (from the Valley to Glacier Point) and she has posted a sequence of photographs from the hike. For everyone who wondered whether the smoke from [...]

The California wildfire smoke must be affecting him

How else to explain the confusing and contradictory statements by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about the Bush Cheney oil company McCain approach to the energy/oil/environment/global warming issues.
According to SFGate, on Friday Schwarzenegger’s position was:
Citing a list of proposals, including ending the ban on offshore oil drilling, nuclear power and biofuels - McCain supports them [...]

Black Balloons

Australian ads that help one visualize the sources of invisible C02 emissions…

Two Cents Per Gallon. Someday. Maybe

Thanks to fellow photographer Jim M Goldstein for pointing me to a short article pointing out how worthless the Administration proposal to drill, drill, drill really is: By 2025 this might lower the median price of gasoline by… wait for it!… two cents. (And let’s see… by 2025 gasoline should sell for about $25/gallon or [...]

Let the Fun Begin!

Passing on a note I saw at SF Gate:
Outdoors notes: High-country campgrounds are open. The high-country season in the Sierra Nevada officially started this weekend with Yosemite National Park opening its camps along Tioga Pass Road. Tuolumne Meadows, White Wolf, Crane Flat and Yosemite Creek campgrounds opened Friday, and Tamarack Flat will…
[SFGate: Tom Stienstra]
As [...]

Gear Review: Black Diamond Zenix IQ Headlamp

The Black Diamond Zenix IQ Headlamp must be overstocked or discontinued, because I see it at least once per week over at steepandcheap.com for a price in the low $20 range.
I have this headlamp and I’ve been quite impressed with it. I’ve used it on a number pack trips, for night photography jaunts, and for [...]