It’s been a pretty long winter here in Maine so far. It’s late February and the weather guesser is saying that we’re in for another snowstorm by this weekend. Now the big deal here in Maine are “Bean Boots” made and sold by LL Bean. They’re nice… with leather uppers and rubberized lower parts of the boot. They’re great for the cold slushy muck of northern winter. But they are kind of pricey. And part of the problem with rubberized boots is that they trap moisture against your

Weaving an Algonquin style back pack to carry my gear in the backwoods.

With deer season coming up soon, take a look my load out for a week spent in the hunting woods.

I’ve never had a service dog until now. I’ve had numerous other dogs over the years, but this is my first actual trained and registered dog. Ryland came to me from an organization in California called Guide Dogs of America . I’ll admit it…. I’m old, I’m opinionated and grouchy sometimes. I guess it’s the curse of being an aging Marine Corps artilleryman. Deaf as a post, and the older I get the less social I become. I saw those grizzled old veterans shuffling around town when

Because I’m rapidly approaching “geezerdom”, and aging like an antique…. I have a number of medical issues. Now I won’t go into an explanation of these, but suffice it to say that a few folks a lot smarter than me decided that I would benefit from a service dog. Yep, an actual trained registered service dog. Ryland the dog I just got her yesterday and this is my first time getting her out into the woods for a hike today in between rainstorms. We hiked a short distance and she

I’m an avid backpacker and hiker. I know a lot of Marines who basically decide once they get out of the Corps, they don’t ever want to see another pack for the rest of their lives. Years of road marches over ridiculous distances take their toll on your knee joints, ankles, and feet. The average infantry load is about 120 pounds. This breaks down your shoulders and causes back problems too. For some of us — we tend to walk naturally on the balls of our feet. I used to get fuss