Close-up Flowers

In honor of Spring, I've been taking closeups of all the wonderful flowers blooming everywhere. To see the whole series, check out my Flickr page. I'll continue to add more pictures over time as I encounter new flowers. I'm no botanist, and if you folks happen to know the names of any of these flowers, I would love to know what they are. 

Outdoor Kit

Everyone loves gear. However, the depth and breadth of equipment available for traveling and adventuring is staggering, and merits some careful contemplation. This is a list of some of my favorite outdoor kit, which I use for most of my wilderness adventures. This is by no means an exhaustive list of everything you need to survive, but I do believe it covers the essentials. 

Snowshoes

I've gone snowshoeing the past three weekends in a row, and being as cheap as I am, not rented snowshoes. As long as the snow is knee deep or less, it's no problem. Of course, walking at the back of the group means stepping on already-packed snow, and you don't sink in too much. And isn't that really what friends are for? To make sure you don't sink in too deep.