Southern Indiana Trails

As spring arrives, Outside editors are staying busy by bingeing a beloved TV series, listening to some motivational guided runs, and stepping up our fermentation game. Here’s everything we loved in March.  What We Read I’ve been picking my way through Sandor Ellix Katz’s The Art of Fermentation for months. My wife and I have been on the fermentation train ever since we attended a festival dedicated to bubbly things in 2011, but this book helped me kick our production into high gear. We now have Thai-chile hot sauce in the cupboard, sourdough starter on the counter, hard cider in the basement, and kimchi in the fridge. The book is an extensive tour of types of fermentation around the world, but the biggest impact it had on me was giving me license to experiment. Katz argues again and again that the worst thing that could happen while fermenting is a batch going bad (well, glass bottles can also explode due to high pressure, so watch out for that). His approach loosened me ...

Self-supported weekend kayak trips are magical: you can paddle to a gorgeous spot—a remote island, a hidden beach, a secluded cove—with enough luxury items to stay comfortable and full while you’re out there. But packing sea or recreational kayaks the most efficient way and with the right gear can be overwhelming. To help you get to that perfect location with the best setup, I spoke with Saylor Flett, who runs the  Outdoor Recreation Leadership Program  of California’s Feather River College and has been teaching sea kayaking for 13 years. (He’s also an old friend.) These are the topics and tips he discusses with first-timers. Safety If you are a beginner, Flett suggests going with a guide or staying within eyesight of shore in protected waters (bays, inlets, etc.) until you feel confident using all of your safety equipment to self-rescue in a kayak. It’s really easy to get yourself into big trouble quickly in open water, and the all the gear in the worl...

The coconut crab is the world’s largest terrestrial arthropod, a terrifying creature that reaches up to three feet in length and in many ways resembles an unsettlingly substantial spider. Taxonomically speaking, it’s one of more than 800 species of hermit crab, all of which are born with naturally vulnerable, noncalcified bodies. An adolescent coconut crab must protect itself from predators by moving its tender little self from one portable container to the next (usually another gastropod’s shell) as it grows. It needs to move quickly once it has outgrown a shell, fending off predators or other crabs that will fight it for a new shelter. These days, I’ve felt a lot like a defenseless young coconut crab when I scuttle from my cluttered home, panicked if I don’t have what I need at hand. My “trips” are mainly to the post office, the grocery store, or a hike, and before I head out, I find myself triple-checking that I’ve packed exactly what I need for my lit...

The Dodge Power Wagon has a long history as one of the hardest-working trucks on the road, and it was one of the first four-wheel-drive vehicles available to civilians after World War II. In this episode of the 101 , Rogala explains why a full-size truck makes the perfect adventuremobile and gives us a tour of his new 2006 Dodge Power Wagon. by Outside Editors via Outside Magazine: All

A series of recently launched and soon-to-be-finished trails around the world are leading to places you might not picture for a typical hike in the woods. We’re talking about routes that pass through First Nations lands and surf spots in British Columbia, Lord of the Rings– themed scenery in Spain’s Sierra Norte, and every single national park in Italy. Thanks to the hard work of crews and land managers in the following remote locales, these long walks are all about getting off the beaten path. El Camino del Anillo , Spain ( Photo: Jose Coso Zamarreño/iStock) If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, then you’ll especially appreciate the vision behind this 76-mile trail through the Sierra Norte, an hour north of Madrid. With a resemblance to the fictional Middle-earth landscape and a name that translates to the Ring Road, the circular route has been five years in the making and was completed in 2020. It also features Tolkien-inspir...

by Outside Editors via Outside Magazine: All

This short film by  Backroad Creative   follows Copa, a bird dog who has been by the side of Orvis  president Simon Perkins for 14 years. Copa saw Perkins through   Montana fly-fishing guide life, a move to Vermont, marriage, and the birth of two children. As Copa nears the end of her life, Simon reflects on how much their relationship has meant to him. In the fall of 2020, he brought her home to the Montana prairies of her youth one last time to run through the fields   in search of sharp-tailed grouse. by Outside Editors via Outside Magazine: All

Early spring is the perfect time to get your bike tuned up for the summer riding season. Shops are typically less busy, so you can schedule service more easily. That’s important to understand, because the pandemic bike boom continues to impact not only bike sales but service departments, too. Besides, doing maintenance now will give you time to get parts and fix any significant problems before the weather warms. And if you’ve been riding through the winter, your bike probably needs some TLC after lots of riding in harsh conditions. This list doesn’t apply equally to every kind of bike, but here are problems to look for, followed by ten repairs that well-used bikes need on a regular basis. Inspect Your Bike for Problem Areas Pick a warm day to wash your bike, paying particular attention to the frame, drivetrain, and wheels. Once it’s dry, give it a complete inspection. Check for the following.  Drivetrain Wear A chain checker is a...

Just like a lot of us, I allowed my fitness routine to slip a bit in 2020. First the pandemic forced me to cancel my gym membership, and then a seemingly endless run of daily horrors in the news cycle filled me with existential dread. But toward the end of last year, things started to look up, and I set out to take control of my workout routine. I needed to build my home gym on a budget. For me, $2,400 sounded like a reasonable target. That’s two years’ worth of my old $100-a-month gym-membership fee. In the end, I actually managed to come in below that amount, even while splurging on some high-quality equipment. Here’s how. Cardio Like most Outside readers, I prefer to do my cardio outside. I also own three big dogs, and they need exercise, too. But the pandemic swelled trail-use numbers nationwide by  as much as 50 percent , and here in Bozeman, Montana, trails certainly feel more crowded. I’m not sure whether...

Big disasters, such as the winter storm that shut down Texas’s power grid, are relatively rare. But you might be surprised to learn that boil-water advisories, like the one put into effect during that storm, are quite common. Fortunately, preparing to have clean drinking water on hand, no matter the   scenario, is   easy. In this video, Wes Siler explains why absolutely everyone should keep one of these $40 MSR Home Emergency water filters around. He also shows a couple of other options that can make your drinking water even safer.  by Nathan Norby via Outside Magazine: All

In captivity, we give polar bears names and personas. Take, for example, Gus, who resided at the Central Park Zoo and became the beloved mascot of New Yorkers due to his neurotic tendencies . Or Knut, of the Berlin Zoo, who appeared on an ice floe on the cover of Vanity Fair  alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (and whose life in the public eye and untimely death earned  a comparison to Marilyn Monroe). And then there’s Nora, the unlikely protagonist of journalist Kale Williams’s new book, The Loneliest Polar Bear . The story begins with Nora’s birth at Ohio’s Columbus Zoo in 2015. Just a couple days after she emerged into the world, her mother abandoned her, and a group of keepers, veterinarians, and even a nutritionist swooped in to save her. (Collectively, they became known as the Nora Moms.) Polar bear cubs born into captivity already face long survival odds: only about a third of them make it to adulthood. Those odds go down without a parent. But baby bears can a...

Leather boots are like a marriage: beautiful, expensive, but built to last—unless you ignore them, in which case they’ll fall apart well before their time. But if nurtured, they’ll last until death do you part. It’s all about proper care. Some brands offer comprehensive kits, with most of the equipment you need for the long haul, like these from Otter Wax  ($38) and  Red Wing ($40), but you can piece together a solid one of your own. The good news is that taking care of your boots is relatively inexpensive. Here’s how to do it in just four steps.  1. Cleaning The author’s boot before the cleaning process ( Photo: Graham Averill) You’ll need several cotton cloths for the entire process. I like to use an old cotton T-shirt cut up into several pieces. Use a different cloth for every step. First, remove the laces and take a dusting brush, like this one ($12), which has stiff pig-hair bristles, and remove excess dirt on the leathe...

With a dozen exclusive films in its lineup, the 2021 F3T  is second to none. Its footage spans the globe, from the Guyana rainforest to Utah’s Flaming Gorge and beyond, and its stories feature all types of enthusiasts, from fun-loving steelhead diehards to one of Bimini’s best bonefish guides to a cast of Aussies exploring an outpost in French Polynesia. The films will inspire and feed your fishing addiction, as well as build awareness for conservation efforts. Tickets are now on sale for $69 through Fly Fishing Film Tour . by Outside Editors via Outside Magazine: All

At Outside , we try our best to reserve judgment about gear until we’ve actually tried it. Most of the time, we don’t know how a product will surprise us until we’ve taken it out in the field. But sometimes we’re just plain excited. The following three pieces were pitched to us for our Gear of the Show awards for Winter Outdoor Retailer 2021. While they didn’t make that cut, we can’t wait to get our hands on them and put them through some thorough tests. Salewa Ortles Couloir Ice Climbing Boot Ice climbing boots need to be stiff. It’s what allows you to kick hard and “stand” up, even when a good portion of your body weight rests on just the front points of your crampons, sunk a half-inch into the frozen flow. But stiffness comes with trade-offs. Ice boots tend to be clunky to walk in, and even the lightest among them are relatively heavy, which means they’re only good for climbing. Salewa’s new Ortles Couloir boot will be the first to truly change that paradigm, resulting in a ...