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Just another sign of the addiction:

Right in the middle of replying to a friends email I imagine a new way to carry a necessity in my pack.
I try it and it works so well that it makes two gallons of water carry like one.
Or something similar to that, might not be water but could be something like discovering a cool pocket for a flashlight or such that you haven't tried before.

Do you ever get them? or am I just that sick?

GTG

e·piph·a·ny Pronunciation Key (-pf-n)
n. pl. e·piph·a·nies
Epiphany
A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed.
A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.

A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: “I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself” (Frank Maier).

I had to look it up to make sure.

Do you really want an answer to that last question GTG?

Think everybody, with the possible exception of GTG, knows the answer :P

You can't look up 'a bolt out of the blue' but it's about the same as GTG's definition (see above). So we were driving along on a nice, peaceful day and happened to be driving past ADOT's local DMV branch. And we look over and the parking lot is stone cold empty! Maybe that happens once every millenia. So, just like that, BLAM, a bolt out of the blue comes along and we think, 'Wow! What a great idea!' And so we veer into the parking lot and jam inside and blurt out, 'We need a duplicate driver's license!' Within minutes we walk out $4 lighter but now in possession of TWO Arizona driver's licenses and we rush home and, smiling hugely, carefully place License #1 into our day pack so that we will never, ever again worry about deciding whether or not to carry our wallet on a hike. We're fairly sure you all know how that mindgame works. Now the wallet stays safe and sound at home or locked in the truck where the odds of getting lost are now real 'minimized!'

What's that old saying. 'Small pleasures for small minds?' Anyway, we understand GTG's ephiphany (sp?) thingie, for sure, and THANKS! for posting it, GTG. If we told you some of our OTHER 'bolts out of the blue,' you'd REALLY have some doubts about the size of our minds!

J&S in RR

Duplicate DL's? Didn't even konw you could do that!
What a great idea :idea: I was just checking e-mails and stuff before heading out to the White Tanks; and had just tucked my DL in my day pack, tucked $3.00 into my shirt pocket (Hope the entrance fee hasn't changed)when I read your post J&S. Well, DMV ain't open today, but will head in there sometime next week. Thanks :!:

GTG, I have been working on pack equations since I was 10 years old. My first pack was one that I got from Yellow Front for 39 cents. It was Korean war surplus probably. I carried that pack through college. I am always looking for a new way to do it better, lighter and easier.

Tell us about your revelation. I like to hear different opinions.

OMG I'm older than I thought... even I've been to 'Yellow Front'

FYI - you can get duplicate DL's online. I believe it's $6. Very quick too, only 3 business days. Also nice for changing address too.

Sorry, I'd comment on GTG's topic but it hurts to look at that word :!:

Joe, the Yellow front that I used to spend all my allowance at might have been the original. We are talking 1965. It was a very small building that sold stuff for 'guys', adventure stuff at the right price. Another good buy was a leather flying helment for 29 cents. Now I hike, go on adventure and fly. Go figure.

I kinda like GTG's word, epiphany. I would be a bit careful with it around some of my hardcore outdoor buddies that ain't had much book learnin.

I do have to admit that playing with my pack has been a long time pursuit for me. I never get tired of it.

WOW, I must be younger than I thought 'cause I never heard of Yellow Front :roll:

Well, I had an epiffwhatever today; did the same Ford Canyon hike the HAZ group did a few weeks ago, only in reverse. Counted the number of times I stubbed the toes of my boots and when I got home checked the scars on the toes of both pair of boots. 8O Sandals are definitely out for hiking in my case :!: I'm very fond of seeing my toes all pointing in the same general direction :arrow: :arrow:

Hoolie, If you only arrived in Arizona last April then age has nothing to do with it. It's location, location, location. Yellow front went out of business years ago and I believe that they were a local type business. The store that I frequented in Phoenix in 1965 was a very small surpluss store. It was priced for 10 year olds like I was at that time. To this day I love the smell of surpluss canvass. They progressed into larger stores and moved to Tucson too. They ended up a discount store that sold a lot of very cheap clothes and I don't belive that they sold Army surpluss anymore. Maybe that is where they went wrong. Anyway they went out of business.

I experienced many an epiphany in that small store which was within walking distance of my house.

I am with you on the sandals. I love them in town or around camp but I won't hike in them with all these rugged trail and sharp rocks strewn everywhere.

Yellow Front epiphanies were the best! You would be walking through the store and suddenly you would be frozen in your tracks, staring at some arcane item with a mixture of amazement, discovery and epiphany etched across your stunned face. You would pick up whatever outdoor widget it was and your mind would race ahead to all those glorious outdoor moments the widget was certain to enable. Yea verily, the Epiphanites saw Yellow Front and they knew that it was good!

There was even a Yellow Front in Sedona and, to this day, the old timers refer to that spot as 'where the old Yellow Front was.' People who frequented that place, ourselves included, date the demise of Sedona from the time of disappearance of Yellow Front. Sure, Wally World and Popular and always trendy REI carry boatloads of outdoor stuff. But we both gotta be honest. We ain't never had no epiphanies in any o' them.

You know how you'd be sitting around some campfire and somebody pulls out some really cool camp widget and you go, 'Whoa, where'd you get THAT?' 'Yellow Front,' would always be the reply. Pretty soon, you realized most of everybody's stuff came from the same store as yours!
Guess they was all having epiphanies and they didn't even know it!
Well, thanks for the memories guys, we're both having ourselves an Epiphany Home Evening just thinking about it!

J&S in RR

I almost didn’t post this last night, glad I did. I never dreamed it would take us into the gooey memories of past purchased pack fodder from our local Yellow Front stores. Didn’t they go out in about 1985 or 86? I remember then having all of this really cool camping, hiking gear and didn’t they carry hunting equipment as well? I did a Google on them and couldn’t find a thing except this –
http://www.yellowfront.dot.nu/
It seems to be a German racing team.
I don’t see a sign of the old Yellow Front stores out there at all.

Back in Alabama we had what we called the green front store. For years you could only buy distilled spirits in government run liquor stores, and they were all painted dark green. The first time I saw a Yellow Front store, I thought what big liquor stores they have in Arizona.

I don’t usually use such words like epiphany myself, but it came to me right after the pack thing that it was an epiphany. So I guess it was an epiphany to write about the epiphany.

Oh boy it’s getting deep in here,

Yep, I can say that I can sit around and try things out in my pack too. I’m usually pretty careful not to let anyone see in when I’m traipsing around my apartment with a full pack, trying out my new trekking poles and such. It can be tempting to move the breakables off the coffee table to try my step-ups though. That would be what my mother would call stupidity.

GTG

[quote='GTG']Didn’t they go out in about 1985 or 86?[/quote]

I transferred to Phoenix in July 1989, and worked at 19th Ave & Camelback. There was a Yellow Front at that intersection then. I believe it closed sometime in 1990.

I just remembered something that was lost in the memory banks for decades. My old Yellow front used to sell 50 cal machinegun bullets. I did not have a machine gun but I bought a few. Those were some big bullets. I think all the powder had been removed. They sold for maybe a nickle a piece. I'm sure there was a lot more in that store that I don't remember.

I started shopping at Bob's Bargin Barn when I returned to Arizona in the mid-70s. Once again military surplus mixed with other good ourdoor gear. I may have bought one of everything from them. Sadly they have gone the way of Yellow Front. Bob's Bargain Barn was even mentioned in the Monkey Wrench Gang, Abbey's masterpiece of strange friends.

When I moved to Arizona in June 1967, I bought a USMC WWII combat pack, web belt canteen etc. from the Yellowfront in Mesa. The combat pack is retired and hangs on the wall and I still use the web belt and canteen. South Tucson has a Army Navy Surplus that has been in business since 1946. Another outdoor store is Del Rays (still open) on South Central in Phoenix.

Backpacker Magazine uses the term "Trail Epiphany" this month.
Hmmm.

GTG

Seems like they owe you a byline for that one, GTG, maybe they have been visiting HAZ....

Just in case anyone cares:

Recent studies have shown that we do our most creative thinking when we are doing things that are routine. e.g.: driving to work, taking a shower, working in the yard, etc.

Bottom line being - we don't always think our best when we are trying, more often than not we do our best thinking when we aren't.

It is truly amazing what will just pop into your head when you least expect it. And as studies are showing, expect it when you least expect it!

I bought a lot of camping gear at Yellow Front. We had not discovered hiking yet in the mid 60s. Our Yellow Front in Flagstaff was in the first shopping center we had--the one at the top of Humphries near the hospital.

I've had a fiberglass covered cargo carrier for years that I put on top of my Jeep for camping. It has a picture of a snail and the words: " S Cargo" on the side as a logo. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I got it!

Escargot!!!!

I've always wanted a better name for these moments of clarity, as I used to call them. Epiphany works great.