Washington — In response to a petition for rulemaking, the Federal Railroad Administration is delaying by 16 months the implementation dates of its Training, Qualification, and Oversight for Safety-Related Railroad Employees regulation.
FRA delays implementation of training for safety-related railroad workers Read More »
This week’s recipe is for Health Cookies. It is a recipe excerpted from the scarce book Nine Hundred Successful Recipes, by Lulu Thompson Silvernail. This book, from my own book collection, was published in 1923. A recent change in U.S. copyright law now puts most pre-1925 books in the public domain. Lulu Thompson Silvernail’s emphasis in this book was recipes that included hard red winter wheat flour. This entire recipe book will be just part of the more than 4,000 pages of bonus content that is being added to the SurvivalBlog archive waterproof USB stick. That should be orderable within …
The post Recipe of the Week: Health Cookies appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Recipe of the Week: Health Cookies Read More »
Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend. Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is is a … Continue reading →
1-Foot Extension Power Cables and 4-Way Splitter Cables – Item of the Day Read More »
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| Along the road to the power plant |
I decided to tackle this route on an alternate trail because I could reach this section terminus by bus. I knew from the map that there was a hydroelectric plant in the valley I had to ascend but did not think much of it … When I approached the valley on a well used dirt road I saw a big guard station at its entrance. There were lots of signs but none said “no entry”. So I tried to just walk by while the guard was dealing with some cars. Of course I was stopped. The poor guy did not really seem to know what to do with a hiker – and in order to play it safe he denied me access. I decided to not make a scene. This was all open landscape with no fences and it would be easy to just sneak in. And hopefully that late in the evening nobody would stop me once inside.
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| My designated camp site … |
It was easy to bypass the guardstation without being seen and soon I was on a huge maintenance road leading towards the power plant. I just made it 2 kilometers in before I was discovered by another security guy in a car. He stopped immediately and asked me where I was going that late. “Have you registered at the guard station?”, was his next question. I mumbled something about cross country and hoped for the best. At least it now looked like hikers were allowed here. He told me to get into his car because he wanted me to register at the guard station and promised to bring me back afterwards. There was nothing I could do about this – but I wondered how the security guy at the guard station would react when he saw me again … It would then be very obvious that I had disobeyed his orders ….
But I was incredibly lucky: In the meantime a new work shift must have begun because a different security guard was sitting at the entrance. He copied my passport details and off we went going back. Unfortunately the driver would not let me out where he had picked me up. He told me again and again that this was too dangerous and there were pumas and so on. He would take me to a safe spot. Again there was nothing I could do. After five more kilometers he finally stopped, showed me a very nice camp spot close to the river and left. I don’t want anyone to know where I was camping but it was already getting dark. I decided to trust the guy and stayed. And indeed nobody showed up while I was camped there although vehicles were coming and going to the powerplant all night long.
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| I never made it down to these lakes … |
I did’t see a single person next day! I passed the power plant, ascended 1000 meters and walked in breathtakingly beautiful country. At the end of the day I wanted to descend down to the lake in the photo and camp there. I could already see on the map that this 400 meter descent would be difficult because it involved a 1 km long traverse of a very steep slope. When I stood at the beginning of this traverse and looked down things were a lot worse than expected. The very steep slope had eroded so badly that there was no more trail whatsoever – only sun baked dirt covered with loose pebbles. If I slipped there I would fall almost 400 meters … I retraced my steps very carefully. I felt too exhausted at the end of the day to tackle this difficult section and walked two kilometers back to the last water source. Next morning I deliberated my choices: If I took the risk to traverse the steep slope (and survived!) I would immediately be confronted with the next problem. The GPT passes very close to the volcano Chillan which was in “alerta naranja”, orange alert now. As hikers were not suppposed to get closer than four kilometers I would have to take an alternate route that involved a very long and very exposed cross country section …
I came to the conclusion that no trail in the world was worth this risk. I just did not feel comfortable continuing – and therefore decided to turn back and skip the rest of this section. In order to get some variety I wanted to hike out on the regular route which turned out to be incredibly beautiful – and full of steep slopes with eroded trails … After 16 kilometers I came to another section where a slip would have meant immediate death. As spectacular as the scenery was – I did not want to risk my life for it. I turned back and hiked out the route I had come in. For someone who is 100% sure footed and free of vertigo this would probably have been easy. And even for me the chance of an accident was minimal – but I did not want to take that risk …
I arrived back in the valley after a very long day and steep descent, set up my camp and slept very well. In the morning my decision to turn back was confirmed by the fact that my shoes were falling apart. The sole was coming off and I would have felt even more uncomfortable in this difficult terrain with defective shoes …
But before I arrived back in civilisation I was in for another surprise. A lonely puesto near the trail that had been empty two days ago was now full of people, probably a family. When the father saw my clumsy efforts to climb over the gate next to the puesto he immediately invited me over. “Have a drink, have a peach, relax!”, he told me and offered me a chair.
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| Hugo and yours truly in front of the puesto |
Hugo was here on holiday with most of his family. Only one son was back home looking after the cattle. They had brought a goat from their herd as food for the weekend. When I jokingly told him that I had never ever eaten goat, I was invited to try a bit. His wife put a huge piece of meat onto the open fire inside the hut and thus warmed up the rest of last night’s barbecue. Despite the rather primitive hut I was served this meal on a porcelain plate, with silverware and napkins. The meat tasted delicious and Hugo even sang for me!
When I left these friendly hosts my luck continued. When I reached the power plant and the road again I was picked up by two locals who had been cutting wood here. We passed the guard station without any problems and they took me to their village, where to only direct bus to Chillan, my next destination stopped for me within five minutes ….
Greater Patagonian Trail: GPT 8 Read More »
Even if you don’t like camping, it’s still worth learning wilderness survival tips in case you get lost or have to bug out. That’s the topic of this video. #urbansurvivalsite #wildernesssurvival #bushcraft #survivaltips #survival
The post 10 Wilderness Survival Tips For Your Next Adventure appeared first on Urban Survival Site.
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Installing a home security system to protect your loved ones and valuables need not be expensive anymore! Today, you can purchase a modern, affordable, and do-it-yourself home security system with …
The post Ring vs Simplisafe: Which Home Security System Is the Best? was written and published on 24/7 Home Security.
Ring vs Simplisafe: Which Home Security System Is the Best? Read More »
The Division of Parks and Recreation is seeking public input on the Wilderness Gateway State Trail plan. When finalized, it will guide project stakeholders as they refine the planned corridor and build the trail.
The trail will connect Chimney Rock State Park to locations in Catawba County as well as the Overmountain Victory State Trail, the Town of Valdese, and South Mountain game lands and state park. When complete, the trail will traverse Rutherford, McDowell, Burke and Catawba counties.
The plan is being developed by the division with input from officials from the four counties, major towns in the corridor, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and Conserving Carolinas Land Conservancy, among others. It will identify opportunities, challenges, trail section sponsors and stakeholders along the trail corridor.
Drop-in style open house meetings to receive public input will be held on Jan. 14, 15 and 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the following locations:
Jan. 14
Rutherfordton County Administration Office
289 N. Main St.
Rutherfordton, N.C. 28139
Jan. 15
South Mountains State Park
3001 South Mountains Park Ave
Connelly Springs, N.C. 28612
Jan. 16
Catawba County Government Center
25 Government Drive
Newton, N.C. 28658
Members of the public are encouraged to attend and can expect to spend about 20 minutes to review, discuss, and comment on the planned trail corridor.
If inclement weather is anticipated for any of the meetings, a weather-related notice will be posted on the Wilderness Gateway State Trail planning webpage at https://trails.nc.gov/state-trails/wilderness-gateway-state-trail.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
National Park Service (NPS) Deputy Director David Vela recently announced that the NPS successfully treated 230,308 acres of public land in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, helping to reduce wildfire risks in America’s national parks and safeguarding nearby communities, natural resources and infrastructure.
Prescribed fire was used to treat nearly 207,000 acres, and an additional 24,000 acres were treated by mechanical and other methods. In support of recently issued Executive and Secretary’s Orders calling for an increase in active management, 17,000 acres were treated through active vegetation treatments. A robust vegetation management program improves the resiliency of landscapes to wildfires and preserves public lands for a variety of uses and enjoyment by the public.
“The accomplishments of our fire and aviation programs are vital to meeting our mission as well as the Secretary’s priorities,” said National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela. “We are proud of the dedication and hard work completed over the past year by the men and women of the aviation, structural and wildland fire programs.”
In FY 2019, the bureau reached a milestone with over 90% of the 31,339 structures listed in the NPS Wildland Fire Geodatabase now surveyed for threats from wildland fire. Also in 2019, the areas adjacent to more than 6,000 structures were treated and the potential of risk from wildfire was reduced.
Research in wildland fire to better inform and fuels management is another high priority for the NPS. In 2019, the following five research projects were funded totaling $157,000:
• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California: Effectiveness of Fuel treatments on Wildfire in a Chaparral Community
• Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico: Identifying Activity Periods of an Endangered Salamander to Facilitate Fuels Treatments
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: Changes in Woody Fuel Loading and Ericaceous Shrub Cover from 2003 to 2019 in Great Smoky Mountains NP
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska: Fire and Ice – integrated fire research to inform managers on the short and long term impacts of fire and climate on ice-rich permafrost soils, water resources, vegetation and wildlife habitat
• Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier national parks, Wyoming and Montana: Drivers of Early Postfire Tree Regeneration and Indicators of Forest Resilience in National Parks of the Northern Rocky Mountains
Within the NPS Structural Fire Program, NPS revised and updated all structural fire classes and added a hazardous materials class; this provides bureau structural firefighters with all the multi-faceted training needed for certification. More than 150 NPS employees were trained in structural firefighting, including 41 new firefighters, 26 new driver operators and 92 at firefighter refresher classes. In addition, 34 new park structural fire coordinators were trained during 2019. The program has also developed cancer awareness and prevention procedures and a grant to support structural firefighter gear cleaning for cancer prevention in parks.
Aviation continues to be an important multidisciplinary program for the NPS. In 2019, aviation resources supported wildland fire, search and rescue, law enforcement, and natural resources studies, surveys, and research missions. Approximately 11,000 hours of flight time, from 7,400 flights were conducted in 2019.
In addition to treatment projects conducted domestically, the DOI and U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, continue to support ongoing efforts to combat the wildfires in Australia. At the request of the Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, DOI and the USFS have deployed 150 firefighters thus far, 10 total from the NPS.
“The loss of life, property and environment are devastating in Australia,” said U.S. Secretary David Bernhardt. “The United States stands with our partners, and we will continue to support Australia in sending our world class personnel to contain these blazes and help protect Australian communities and wildlife.”
The U.S., Australia and New Zealand have been exchanging fire assistance for more than 15 years as the Australian and New Zealand personnel filled critical needs during peak wildfire season in the United States. The last time the U.S sent firefighters to Australia was in 2010.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
Ramble On: A History of Hiking
Exploring Grand Teton National Park
