Beyond the Sagebrush

Another normal day on the playa.
Jungo Flats, Nevada

Cloud Reader

Imagine you’re hiking along a trail or out riding your ATV and look up to see clouds in the sky. Do you know if they mean more sunny skies ahead or impending doom is coming and you’d better get back to shelter fast? Take Backpacker’s Cloud Quiz and you will be able to predict the weather by reading the clouds. Plus, you get to view aw-inspiring photos by Michael DeYoung.


I took the quiz; I won’t remember the names of the clouds, but I’ll remember what they indicate and that’s what matters when deciding whether to press on or retreat.

Happy Cloud Reading,
Trails

Oatmeal Energy

On my first few backpacking trips oatmeal was the go-to breakfast. And a power bar was my go-to snack an hour later because I was starving. This made me rethink my backpacking breakfast of choice. I opted for granola and dried milk with a bit of warm water – yummy and filling.

I recently discovered oatmeal on steroids in the pages of the September Backpacker magazine and was intrigued if it had what it took to keep me going until lunch or at least for a few hours. Here’s the recipe for power oatmeal from Backpacker:

Ingredients: 1⁄2 cup rolled oats, 3 tablespoons dried milk, 2 tablespoons wheat germ, 1⁄4 cup raisins, 1⁄4 cup almonds (or pecans), 1 tablespoon sugar, pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons almond butter

At home: Combine dry ingredients (oats, dried milk, wheat germ, raisins, nuts, sugar, and salt) in a zip-top bag. Measure almond butter into a spill-proof container or squeeze tube.

In camp: Mix dry ingredients with 1 1⁄4 cups water in a pot. Stir to combine, breaking up any dried milk lumps as the water warms. Bring to a boil and simmer for about five minutes (until most of the water is absorbed), stirring occasionally. Take off heat and mix in almond butter.

I made this at home to test it before a backpacking trip with a few substitutions: pomegranate craisins instead of raisins and crushed walnuts instead of almonds. Verdict – very filling and kept me going all morning! I can’t wait to hit the trail with this oatmeal.

What is your favorite backpacking or camping meal?

Happy,
Trails

Happy Birthday Blog!

Our adventure began one year ago today! Since then we've had 3,247 page views from 10 different countries including here in the United States, to Australia, United Kingdom and Canada! Thank you to all of our frequent visitors and keep spreading the outdoor ethics word!

-Trails

The Lorax

Is it March yet?! I'm really excited for this to hit theaters, hopefully it makes it to Winnemucca...



Happy Turkey Day,
Trails

Earthcaches on the Playa

Some of you may already be avid geocachers, but for the muggles (non-geocachers) out there…geocaching is a high-tech scavenger hunt where you use a GPS unit to find a hidden container that might be an old Altoid tin with tiny log book or an old ammo container full of goodies to swap. You can find a wealth of information about this worldwide recreation activity on geocaching.com.


Nevada Outdoor School recently published two Earthcaches allowing geocachers to follow Tread Lightly! principles as they discover the geology and ecology of the Black Rock Desert! Earthcaches are different than traditional geocaches in a few ways: there is no container to find, no log book to sign and you answer geology-related questions to prove you found the site. However, you can still log your find on geocaching.com and post photos from your visit!

Next time you’re in the Black Rock Desert find our Earthcaches:
A Beach in the Desert: GC2VFKX
Why is that rock black?: GC2VFMW

Happy hunting and please be aware of playa conditions when traveling in the Black Rock Desert, especially this time of year.

-Trails

My Newly Discovered Creature: The Banana Slug

This past weekend a few NOS folks were able to attend an environmental and outdoor education workshop in Little Basin, an area of Big Basin State Park, which is near Santa Cruz, California. The workshop was fun and educational and on our last day we decided to explore the area a bit. I had been to California before, but hadn’t seen the redwoods, and it was one of my coworkers first time in California so we were excited to go exploring. We headed over to the visitor center and decided on a short trail through the redwood forest. Right before we started our hike, Trails mentioned we might come across a banana slug, something I had never heard of growing up in the Northeast. After finding out they are enormous for a slug - up to 10 inches - and bright yellow I was excited to find this new creature, but had doubts that I would be able to find one.

Low and behold about 10 minutes into the hike I stopped short. Right in front of me was a banana slug about 5-6 inches long just hanging out in the middle of the trail. Trails proceeded to ask us if we wanted to kiss it, because apparently it will make your lips numb, but we decided to pass. That got me curious though, about these crazy creatures, which look like something from a fantasy movie, so I decided to do some research.

The banana slug, which is the University of California, Santa Cruz mascot, is actually the second largest species of land slug in the world and can weigh up to as much as a ¼ lb hamburger (The Biogeography of the Banana Slug). The numbing factor has to do with their mucous, which has anesthetic properties when it comes in contact with a wet surface, such as inside a predator’s mouth, or a daring human’s lips. A way to get around this is to roll the slug in the dirt to get rid of the slime, which is a great option of a hungry raccoon, bird, or snake (Banana Slug Biology).

Some other interesting things I learned from The Biogeography of the Banana Slug:
• Banana slugs are mostly found in the Pacific Northwest and love the moist weather, which, because it had been raining all night is probably why we saw about a dozen
• Although they are land animals today, they are a mollusk and evolved from marine snails
• These slugs are pretty much loners, leaving their eggs as soon as they’re laid, and only interacting with other slugs during mating
• Mushrooms are their favorite food and they also like to feast on dead and decomposing plant and animal matter

Although I am new to this part of the country and am fascinated by a creature others may have seen their whole lives, it inspired me to take a closer look at plants and wildlife I’m familiar with. There may be something in your backyard that you don’t know much about, or maybe an animal you’ve seen your whole life; but do you really know why it lives in that environment or why it behaves the way it does? I challenge you to find out a new, interesting fact about a local creature—some things may surprise you!

Be Curious,
Annie