The only times I would consider one is when hiking in bear country or when hiking close to border towns.

What about the Monastary in Phoenix? It's an indoor/outdoor bar with vollyball courts and BBQs outside. You buy your food there and cook it yourself. They are aimed primarily at groups, so it would be a great fit for us.

Website: http://www.realfunbar.com/intro.htm

Although I now have Verizon, I had Sprint for 4+ years and I agree with Elaine. Sprint is probably thr best in the business. Verizon claims to have the largest network, but it's my understanding that they piggyback/lease much of Sprint's network space (I think there's a telcomm expert on this list w...

In response to tinyelvis' reply: Now, finding out if a product has hydrogen in it should be the fun part... Isn't that what HYDROGENated vegtable/soybean/canola/etc oil is? :-) To keep it firm/solid. I've never seen hydrogenated butter though... maybe because the cream is already pretty solid. Jim

I've seen at least a half-dozen families running across the streets this season in Sun City West.

Last year, one of the babies couldn't jump up the curb (it was the vertical curb, not the rounded ones that are dominant in SC) so I pulled over and helped it up. Poor thing.

Coaster

I seem to recall from years ago (B.H. Haz) when people used to use a bandanna or AZ flag on their pack to identify Haz members. I know we did it on a White Tanks hike in 2K1.

Coaster

You can probably get them at any sporting goods store. I purchased mine at Sport Authority in Peoria. They are black Nike branded.

Coaster

Someone told me that if you count the number of chirps a cricket makes in 15 seconds....

... I forgot the rest of the story

Smokers or not....the point should be to pick up after ourselves.....and everybody else!!

What's that saying? If for no other reason, pick up trash you find on the trail so that other's behind you don't think it was You that littered :-)

Coaster

Since I just met you Coaster, I am really struggling to decide whether you are kidding or not. Esp. in lieu of SNICKS comments........................In any case, I am still chuckling. I would drape myself in velvet if it was socially acceptable :-) Seriously though, spandex is good stuff. If you e...

Spandex rocks! I wear it under my hiking pants to avoid chafing on my thighs.

Coaster

I concur regarding ankle support (I'm a big Jardine fan). If you think of boots, they keep your ankles supported but offer no means of strengthening thyem. I've always hiked in running shoes (New Balance) and although I may take some missteps, I've never sprained or injured my ankle. As long as you ...

Nothing new here. "Water poisoning" is common for people who hike the GC and don't bring an electrolyte mix (eg. Gatorade).

http://www.kaibab.org/gc/bc/suffer.htm#replace

I'm not sure I agree with the part about drinking only when you're thirsty though.

Unfortunately with any highly traveled area there is bound to be a lot of trash. Yeah... A lot of "white" trash too! I saw grocery bags of donut boxes, Gatorade, granola bars, 12-packs of beer... (YES, I was hungry!). How much effort would it take these people to walk out with the bag? So...

I once made a reservation at PR a year in advance but had to cancel due to unexpected illness. I'd like to eat there one of these days (I hear the stew rocks!). Anyhow, I was speaking to Kurt this weekend on the Hellsgate trip and he mentioned that you can often walk into PR and pick up a cancelled ...

OK now that we have all put our various floating setups to task lets hear how it worked... Well... those who were there know how well my tube worked :-) For those who were not there... I invested $2.99 in a Target special. It's a 36" pool inner-tube. For the hike into Hellsgate down to the riv...

But the fact of the matter is simple--Popular-Whatever-You-Call-'Em is the best danged outdoor store in these Southwest United States! REI--Take Notice! Yeah... maybe if you want Coleman gear. I'm not too impressed with Popular. I think I've purchased a sinlge pair of Teva's there over the years. O...

Hellsgate was awesome and I had the privilege to hike with a great group of people. It certainly seemed longer than 13 miles though.

sore comes to mind

Why is it that we can suffer huge amounts of pain on the trail but the minute we get home and sit down, we can barely walk 10 feet?

Coaster

I've been under the impression that when a snake rattles, what it really wants is for you to move away, not necessarily to strike. Is this accurate? I believe this is correct. The snake is alerting you to its presence so that you can make distance. As many have said here, most snakes feel your pres...

Pete, Awesome idea! I don't have access to a pool, so I filled up my bathtub and placed my setup in there. Only about 1 inch is submerged. This thing is rock stable too. I'd guess the load is 35 pounds. My setup is a external Kelty Trekker, Thermarest Guidelite (full length) which is about 40% infla...