Lightning strikes, thunderstorms - a brief explanation
If there is one thing that can scare the pants off you in the backcountry it's thunderstorms. I have had ...

Fatal Bear attacks - recent reports
Just found this interesting article that lists all fatalities for the past years. Probably the most famous 'recent' incident is ...

USA Mountain webcam links
It's raining here in the South-East of England. To think I considered speed hiking the South-West coast path on my return. It would have been really miserable at times! Funny how you quickly adjust to normal life back home after a long journey.....all thoughts of the mountains are swept aside for a while.....until you catch sight of some remote webcams! I think it will not be long before those towering peaks beckon for me again. Continental Divide Colorado web cam Glacier National Park web cams I was surprised at how little sn

Wild Mushrooms in the USA - Part 1
As I sit here on the first day of November it's now absolutely chucking it down outside and it's still very mild. Don't you just love global warming. But to me this means one thing. Mushrooms!....(it also means I may get wet at work)...So I may get out to the woods during the next week. But my last good mushrooming was back on the PCT. Out on the trail in North Washington I was treated to two weeks of good mushroom hunting. When I say hunting I should say mainly viewing although I did eat some Boletes. Boletus edulis shown below I have a great guide that my lightweight hiking principles forbid me to carry. But I'm now avidly searching through it to identify some of

Safety devices - Satellite phone, spot device or smoke signals?
There has been a lot of debate over the past year about devices that enable you to get rescued from the hills and mountains. Mobile phone, SPOT device, Satellite phone, GPS unit, Smart phone with GPS enabled It seems with the advances of technology soon 'nearly everyone' will be carrying some sort of gadget to enable them to send a distress signal with or without a GPS location. Will this mean no days off for Search and Rescue teams? The SPOT device was popular on the Pacific Crest Trail. Of the 50 or so hikers that I met, I would guess maybe 5-10 of them had a device.  I myseld had a satellite phone for emergency use