Cold Splinters Latest Blog Posts

What a heartbreaker of a race. MP3: The Replacements – Alex Chilton (RIP)

I imagine that I’m one of five people in the world that thinks this is cool, so not much more to do now but stare and make five stickers. But that’s fine by me. Thank you JTK for making this for me. Would have taken me 100 years.

The sun is-a-shining out east, which means getting your bike out of the closet and cutting up an old pair of pants to make shorts for the spring and/or summer. A co-worker came in this morning talking about the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame after seeing it on an episode of Globetrekker last night. ...

MP3: Loudon Wainwright III – Kick In The Head

Fort Union Trading Post was the most important fur trading post on the upper Missouri. Built in 1828 by the American Fur Company, the post was set up not as a government or military post, but as a business, established for the specific purpose of doing business with the northern plains tribes. ...

Starting next month, the United States Mint will issue the first of 56 quarter-dollar coins featuring designs depicting national parks and other national sites. The first coin to be released is Hot Springs National Park, which was set aside by Congress in 1832. Four other coins will be placed ...

Jerry goes snorkeling. A-mazing. Look at that missing finger handle an octopus. More here. Youtube: Grateful Dead – Ramble On Rose

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I have looked through a lot of old books about camping, the outdoors, etc., and I have yet to find any that are as good looking as the Time-Life: American Wilderness series. Pictures and writing are both wonderful. (Ed Abbey edited the “Cactus Country” edition.) The best part about ...

Great photo, bad name, decent album. MP3: New Riders Of The Purple Sage – I Don’t Know You MP3: New Riders Of The Purple Sage – Whatcha Gonna Do

The Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship (originally called “Frontiersmen Camping Fraternity”) was founded during the summer of 1966 by The Royal Rangers, a worldwide ministry of the Assemblies of God. From the “History” section of their website: The early American ...

In the early 1940s, while working as a journalist at the Miami Herald, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was asked to contribute to the Rivers Of America Series by writing about the Miami River. She was unimpressed by the river, so asked if she could instead write about the Everglades. She researched the ...

In case you have yet to watch VBS’ Heimo documentary in full, make sure you do yourself a huge favor and stop here over the weekend. And when you’re finished watching, read an interesting interview with James Campbell, Heimo’s cousin and author of The Final Frontiersman, the ...

It’s always a bittersweet moment getting back to your car after a few days in the woods/desert/prairie. You’ve accomplished something – even if it meant walking a few hundred yards, starting a fire, then drinking yourself to sleep – but you’ve also got to get back ...

Wired has an article about the best cars, from past to present, to use in a “snowicane.” And of course, the ol’ Wagoneer makes the cut. Read it here.

Tom Thomson, Campfire, 1916

“The Greatest Story Ever Told” on Bob Weir’s Ace is the same song as “Pump Song” on Mickey Hart’s Rolling Thunder. The sun is a shining, so have at it. MP3: Mickey Hart (featuring Bob Weir) – Pump Song MP3: Bob Weir – Greatest Story Ever Told

In the late 1950s, after joining the Royal Marines, serving during World War II, and building roads in Kenya, Welsh-born Colin Fletcher moved to San Francisco. He began hiking in the hills, and two years later, when faced with the decision of whether or not to marry the woman he had been living ...

MP3: Phosphorescent – It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)