video

This Saturday we zipped out of town and up into the foothills of the Condoriri mountain range for a picnic. The 5 of us piled in to the car, drove for a few hours and hiked up to a pretty little waterfall, that sometimes has fish below, and then went to work preparing various backpacking culinary delights. All made from scratch. Scroll down to see a video of the trip and cooking experience.

It was an opportunity to try out some easy and cheap recipes that could make it into our family backpacking trip menus. We didn’t have time to test all of them, but here are three. Instructions and How to video to come.

Herb Potatoes

An improvement on regular mashed potatoes, but we need to fiddle with the ingredients. The kids weren’t huge fans.

Ingredients

• Plain instant mashed potatoes
• Milk powder
• Dried Basil
• Garlic powder
• Dried Oregano

 

• Milk Powder
• Sauce mix
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Dried Oregano
  • Dried Basil
  • Garlic powder
• Olive oil
• Smoke beef or canned tuna

Backpacker’s Chocolate Bundt Cake

 

Well it finally happened. After training and hiking I managed to get things organized for a 2 day summit attempt of Huayna Potosí.

There’s a bit of debate as to how tall it is, with the official height being around 6088 meters or just shy of 20000 feet. This is in a country where official altitudes can be off as much as 500 meters. Most people at the summit (including one that I summited with) find that their GPS reads about 6100+ meters, or safely above the magic 20000 feet mark.

Usually tourists tackle the mountain in 3 days to allow a bit more acclimatisation time at the high camp of 5180 meters (17 000 feet) before attempting the summit. We did it in 2 as I have been in La Paz for a while and time was a constraint.

Leaving La Paz, we drove up towards Paso Zongo, where on both sides there are mountains over 5000 meters and a glacial blue lake sits just below you. An incredible start to a trip.

Disembarking at the Refugio or base camp (4700 m or 15 400 feet) we stopped for lunch and some coca tea (it helps with the altitude) and discussed plans for the day. A couple hours to the high camp involving regular hiking and a bit of scrambling then it was R&R before the summit attempt the next morning.

We had 2 porteadores (porters) that helped with our stuff. We could have done it without, but it helps support the local economy and makes it more of a relaxing trip.

Huayna is very popular so it has a nicely worn trail, which we followed past a glacier, across a stream and then along a ridge before we scrambled up a rocky trail littered with leftover ice. Apart from a small section of ice steps, the going was non technical and my trekking poles did the trick. Within 2 hours we were at the high camp “Campo Rocas Alto” of 5180 feet where another stone “refugio” sits on the edge of the snow line.

After taking a whole bunch of photos and talking about the route, we relaxed inside with some more food and drink. After chatting with the others that were attempting the summit the next morning we decided to head to bed.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with mountains, the night brings strong wind bellowing up the mountain. I found it hard to sleep as the sounds made me feel that at any moment the roof would be torn off this tiny shelter and leave us exposed to the cold.

This fear was somewhat confirmed at 2 am when I went out to use the facilities and after sitting down on the frozen seat the outhouse door blew open and off its hinges.

We had decided to start an hour later than the others to give us a bit of calm and because my guide Gonzalo felt my pace was quicker than the rest. After getting a few hours of shut-eye and a couple more hours of lying in bed and listening to the rattle of the roof joists we decided to eat a light breakfast and gear up.

We wouldn’t need the ice axe for the first section so we stowed them quick to hand and took out the trekking poles instead. The first hour is straight forward as you cut up to the left and then back to the right. Pretty much every time you start to get tired it levels out a bit to give you a breather, before sending you up another steep section.

My Hydration hose froze solid despite blowing into it to get rid of water in it and I had to store the hose behind me back to thaw it out. The water was essential for the altitude, I’m glad I brought 3 liters, despite the weight.

When I rested, it was not so much to give my legs a break, but more to give my lungs a chance to catch up from the lack of air. Doing the Choro trail a few weeks before had been a good idea.

We followed the trail and marked the red flags that indicated crevasses and ascended till we came to a wall. There was one slightly technical section filled with crevasses where we needed to pull out the ice axe and dig in with the crampons to get up, but after that it was smooth sailing to the final ascent. We stopped for photos and a snack when the sun started to crest and the moon was outlined, but then pushed on.

When we got to the final crest, we had caught up with the other teams. We dumped the trekking poles and switched back to the ice tool and climbed up the ridge that snaked its way to the summit. The wind was blowing up one of the faces so we tried to keep low until we got to the top.

At 7:20 AM we reached the summit and the sun had come up not long before. After taking a break, drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate and coffee mixed we congratulated each other, thanked our guides and finished the adage: What goes up, must come down.

Although it took us a bit over 4 hours to get to the top, we only needed an hour and a bit to make it back to the high camp. That included the sight seeing and photo taking of the amazing sights that we couldn’t see on the way up in the dark.

At the high camp again, we took only as much time as we needed to pack up our stuff and have another drink before we hopped back down the trail to the car. Once there we recounted our exploits, settled our debts and got in the car and headed home.

It was then that I realized what we had just finished doing. in just over 24 hours I had zipped up to around 20000 feet (not even possible back in Canada), for the first time in my life had summitted a significant peak and left that all behind. Needless to say, I’m already planning my next peak.

The Outdoor Adventure was recently given the opportunity to let one of our younger adventurers put the Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike to the test! As this is a long-term testing process, we’ll be sharing the testing progress in segments for your viewing pleasure. So sit back and enjoy the ride, or go out and let your little adventurer take a Strider for a whirl!

I first heard about the Strider bike from a friend and her active 2-year old. He cruised around on his Strider with such confidence I knew I had to research them more! Once I watched some videos online, and browsed their website on www.StriderLife.com I knew I wanted to let Ayalah try one out. Strider graciously sent The Outdoor Adventure a beautiful green Strider and at 22-Months Ayalah was more than ready to try it out! They have plenty of information and a variety of colors to choose from on their website www.StriderBikes.com (video below)

I found the set-up to be very user friendly, and the instruction manual to be clear and concise with its wording. Of course, I still overlooked the bold lettering at the top of the page about taking the plastic wheel nut covers off after set up. I realized they weren’t just sweet pegs about halfway through the first ride, and removed them at that point without any harm done. Ayalah enjoys taking the Strider on our daily neighborhood walks, clutching the steering post close to her chest the whole way. We encourage her to scoot back on to the seat, but will let her decide when she feels comfortable enough to make this adjustment on her own. In the meantime we cheer on her every stride!

When Ayalah isn’t out on her Strider, she enjoys watching YouTube videos of other children on theirs. In fact, if we dare bring out a smartphone near her at any given time she will demand in true toddler fashion to watch videos of “bikes!” We are pleased that she too will be adding a few more videos to the mix!

Do you have a Strider for your little one? We would love to hear your thoughts and any tips you have to encourage her confidence to take it to the next level!

A Big Thanks to Strider for this awesome opportunity. You’ll be hearing more from us again soon!

Reviewed By:
Tabea B
The Outdoor Adventure Team

If you’re looking for a hike in Washington that feels more like something in Arizona, head out east past Leavenworth to an area called Dusty Lake. Nestled in between Buttes, this easy 1 to 2 hour hike lands you in rattlesnake country where the fishing is good and the sun is oppresive.



We zipped in on a Friday night and did the hike with Headlamps (not recommended, especially for those who don’t know the route). It made it easy as it was cool enough to keep you from suffering the daytime highs of 90 degrees or so.


The ground is only littered with sage brush (and dust) and apart from the buttes around is very flat. Think Old West. There are very few trees (an experienced guy in our crew brought both a deck chair and umbrella) which most people ended up fighting over. Fires are permitted, but the lack of anything to burn means that you should pack in wood yourself.

We hiked into the slightly farther away Dusty Lake and then took a day hike over the buttes to the ancient lakes where there’s a waterfall and bass fishing. Dusty Lakes is main trout, and big ones at that. The locals know it as they carry in their belly boats and spend the day enticing the lunkers out (you can only keep one per day).

One thing you’ll need a lot of is water. The air is dry and the heat and wind can shrivel you up if you’re not careful. Bring water purification of some form or plan to boil. I shook my head on the day trip out as many families were heading out across the plains without any extra water, a very dangerous thing to do in that area.

All in all, the hike is very impressive because of its landscape. The only downside is that this little valley is surrounded by farm land. A friend kindly named it “Monsanto lake” because of white staining from what is most probably agricultural run-off. The fish seem healthy enough, but I wouldn’t make too many trips out there because of that alone,

For a day or weekend hike, the area is beautiful and the potential for teasing out a 16+ inch trout will be too much for most anglers.

Take a look at the “Guys hike” that a few of my bud and I went on in early May.

Ok, so we’re checking in with yet another Sea to Summit Product. For those who are unaware, just go to your local outdoors store and ask for the Sea to Summit Section. at least that’s how it’s laid out in my local store.

Sea to Summit produces great quality, ultralight gear for hikers. Anything from biodegradable soap that you need only a tiny capfull of for a shower or wash dishes, to shelters, bug tents and more. The real kit that impresses me is the wide array of waterproof bags and compression sacks. I was given a few of their light weight storage and stuff sacks by the company, including the Ultrasil View Drysack and  Ultrasil Nano and as well the Ultra Mesh stuff sack which I’ll be looking at today.

Made of: Lightweight no see-um mesh, ultralight silnylon and a lightweight draw string.

Sizes and weights. There are a wide variety of stuff sack sizes to suit your mesh preferences:

• 2.5 liter (0.2 oz)
• 4 liter (0.3 oz)
• 6.5 liter (0.4 oz)
• 9 liter (0.5 oz)
• 15 liter (0.6 oz)
• 30 liter (0.7 oz)

As you can guess, the weighty part is the string and silnylon top and bottom. The rest is practically weightless.

Uses:
I have the 9 liter mesh sack and it’s just the right size for lightweight backpacking. I can’t confirm the capacity. I filled it with 9 liters of water and there was lots of space left. In fact I gave up trying to fill it up… bad joke. sorry.

I’ve been using them on a few of my trip happily and the mesh sack was the one that had me scratching my head at first as to what I could best use it for. This is what I came up with:

Non compression items. As a ditty bag for just keeping stuff organized this is great. A way to keep all of 1 type of thing together, like packaged food or snack bars, toiletries, cook set, etc.

Old clothes. I like to keep cleans and dirties in separate bags, but the dirties could use a bit of airing out. If you want to give that Merino wool a bit more time to breathe, why not hook it on the back of your backpack and take advantage of that summer breeze?

Bear sacks. For areas where hanging food and smellies is permitted, this is a great little bag as it’s light weight and comes in a wide variety of sizes.

Fish net? Ultralight is the king of multi use items. Why not make yourself a tenkara net on the trail and get the most out of 0.5 oz?

Bug net? Oh, and while the mest is tight enough, you’d need at least a 15 liter bag to fit your (my)  head in it.

Do you use mesh stuff sacks? What have you found them most useful for? Oh, and take a look at this video for a brief look at this cool tool!

Well, it all comes to an end. A special thanks to SOG knives for giving me the Aegis and hand axe that were featured in these videos and that made survival possible.

Also, thanks to everyone who gave feedback on what to do, with what and where. It was an awesome experience and I can’t wait to do something like that next year.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the poorly edited video! Oh, and if you missed the previous ones, here are the links:

Spring Survival Part 1
Spring Survival Part 2
Spring Survival Part 3

If you’re a long time reader, you will have heard about my long term plans to do a survival trip up in Canada for 3 days and two nights. I coordinated it for a trip I had planned to visit family, and my dad ended up coming with me.

The plan was to hit a mountain area of British Columbia where we could test out theoretical skills (this was my first trip) and carry a backup kit if we needed it. I brought simple items (emergency blankets for my dad and myself, flint strikers, survival fishing kit, a cheap rain poncho, aluminum pot and a hand axe and Aegis folding knife (provided by SOG). I also took a small panasonic camera to film all our adventures.

My dad acting as backup also brought a pot, plate and cup, in addition to a regular fishing kit. We headed up to a lake on crown land at about 800 meters where nights were below freezing and where snow in the day was not uncommon.

In this part I improve the comfort of the shelter, make a birch bark cup, dig for and cook cat tail roots, try both cat tail fluff and a Fire puck as fire starter, steam a trout over the fire, collect some wild edible plants for food and determine that I need a camera with an external microphone.

DISCLAIMER: I’m an untrained and unprofessional amature. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH PROPER TRAINING. I am NOT responsible for any harm that comes from anyone trying to imitate me.

One of the most famous things for tourists to do in Bolivia is taking a mountain bike down the old highway from La Paz to Coroico. A couple years ago, it was the only road down to Coroico, but after countless tragedies due to its narrow width and at times 600 meter almost vertical drop to the valley bottom A US group lent the money necessary to construct a large, much safer route. This has eased up a lot of traffic and allowed the tourism to take off for thrill seekers.

Most tours start at La Cumbre (The summit) of the mountain pass (4700 meters or just under 16 000 feet), where you speed down the actively used highway dodging cars and buses (and hoping they dodge you).  The views are spectacular in this part with towering mountains all around  (over 5000 meters), old stone walled homesteads and the occasional waterfall.

After a quick break and opportunity to pay your entrance fee (b$25 or $3.50 US) for road maintenance you jump back in the bus for a short uphill drive before heading off into the death road itself.

The death road, or “The World’s most dangerous road” isn’t as dangerous for bicycles as it was/is for cars… but it is still not something to take lightly. There have been 18 deaths of cyclists on the road since 1995, and the day before we headed down, a 2012 4×4 had gone over the edge trying to pass in relatively dry conditions. A quick search for “Bolivia death road” on youtube is not recommended for the faint of heart as countless results come back of car accidents along the road.

There are a number of companies going down the road, including B-side Adventures the company I went with a few weeks ago. They charge anywhere from $60 to $100 depending on the company, but you get what you pay for. I saw a cheaper group heading down with only basic helmets and old school bikes. In contrast the more expensive ones include full face helmets, knee and elbow pads, full suspension and disc brakes, and b-side takes both photos and videos (low res) of the event which it offers free of charge to its clients. Oh and pretty much all companies offer a shirt to those who complete the trip. It’s a good idea to check Lonely Planet’s guide as it will give you a good idea of who to check out.

A couple things to ask the companies are if the bikes are full or front suspension, disc or standard brakes, if pads are included, if the helmets are full or partial, do they take photos and provide them after the fact? oh and possibly most importantly do they bring extra bikes or tubes in case there are problems. I really like b-side, except for the fact that they didn’t provide extra bikes. I was fine, but 1 other person got a flat (which they fixed) and another had his pedals freeze up. The guides did switch bikes, but it would have been a downer for me for sure! I did send them an email with my suggestions which they graciously received. We’ll have to see if they implement my suggestions.

If you’re a thrill seeker and know how to pedal a bike you should definitely consider this trip if you’re in the country.

I took over an hour of video going down the road, but condensed it down into this less than 7 minute clip for those who want a taste of the trip!

So, Having got the basics of our shelter together, we turn to fire and food gathering in the second part of our 1st day in a Survival Scenario in the Canadian Mountains.

If you didn’t see Spring Survival PART 1, here’s a rundown:

The plan was to hit a mountain area of British Columbia where we could test out theoretical skills (this was my first trip) and carry a backup kit if we needed it. I brought simple items (emergency blankets for my dad and myself, flint strikers, survival fishing kit, a cheap rain poncho, aluminum pot and a hand axe and Aegis folding knife (provided by SOG). I also took a small panasonic camera to film all our adventures. Video below!

My dad acting as backup, also brought a pot, plate and cup, in addition to a regular fishing kit. We headed up to a lake on crown land at about 800 meters where nights were below freezing and where snow in the day was not uncommon.

DISCLAIMER: I’m an untrained and unprofessional amature. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I am NOT responsible for any harm that comes from anyone trying to imitate me.

If you haven’t noticed, Sea to Summit gave us a bunch of stuff to review and I am happy to be putting it through its paces. Next on my list is the super cool Ultra Sil View drysack. This little baby boasts 3 significant features: Cordura fabric, a View window and a super light weight.

First out, this is a bit heavier than the ultra sil nano we looked at previously, but that is because of their choice of cordura, a heavier duty fabric, and the clear view port for seeing what is inside… I guess I could stop there, especially if you know Sea to Summit’s reputation, but for the sake of sharing what my feelings, read on!

I really like their Waterproof nano, light weight drysack (1 oz for a 13 liter bag), but for those of us who are forgetful and don know where they packed Xyz, this is worth the extra weight (1.5 oz for the 8 litre model I got).

Let’s start with the window. Itś made of TPU and RF welded on. I didn’t know what that all meant so I took a look. TPU is a plastic Thermoplastic polyurethane. Say that fast 5 times. That stuff is supposed to be elastic, abrasion resistant, as well as grease and oil resistant. I’m guessing they chose it to go along with Cordura’s durability

The RF welding is a process that bonds the materials and leaves the join as strong as the material itself. That is supposed to translate to being free of weak spots, something you don’t want on a drysack. It looks and handles great IMHO and I don’t see that window breaking any time soon… But don’t worry, we’ll be doing a long term review as well.

So let’s move onto the Cordura. They’ve chosen the growingly popular cordura fabric for this view line (comes in 1,2,4,8,13,20 and 35 litre models). Although it’s been around since 1929, cordura has only recently come into my radar (read 1-2 years). It’s known to be strong and durable, resisting abrasions, scuffs, etc. They’ve siliconized it to make it waterproof to give that much needed dry feature of drysacks. he he he.

This pack is almost double its ultra sil nano cousin of the same capacity, but clearly designed for harder wearing and better organizational skills. Still, at 1.5 ounces, you’re not suffering by turning to this for longer or rougher trips. Especially if you’re not easy going on your gear.

If you haven’t seen this new line, check it out on Sea to Summit’s Ultra Sil View page.

Pluses: Heavier duty fabric and a nice view port to keep track of where everything is.

Downers: Results in a slightly heaver weight.

My conclusions: For light, but not ultralight hikers, you need to check this out for yourself.

Check out a first impressions take I did on the ultra sil view here:

If you’re a long time reader, you will have heard about my long term plans to do a survival trip up in Canada for 3 days and two nights. I coordinated it for a trip I had planned to visit family, and my dad ended up coming with me.

The plan was to hit a mountain area of British Columbia where we could test out theoretical skills (this was my first trip) and carry a backup kit if we needed it. I brought simple items (emergency blankets for my dad and myself, flint strikers, survival fishing kit, a cheap rain poncho, aluminum pot and a hand axe and Aegis folding knife (provided by SOG). I also took a small panasonic camera to film all our adventures.

My dad acting as backup also brought a pot, plate and cup, in addition to a regular fishing kit. We headed up to a lake on crown land at about 800 meters where nights were below freezing and where snow in the day was not uncommon.

In this part we choose our location and focus on building a shelter and collecting firewood.

DISCLAIMER: I’m an untrained and unprofessional amature. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I am NOT responsible for any harm that comes from anyone trying to imitate me.