Five stay warm tips

Car rides with the windows down Tall, ice-filled drinks Swims with your horse The pleasures of summer seem far, far away. At my place, pasture walks are slow, laborious efforts of postholing, walking in snow that goes to my thighs and fills my boots. I’d […]

Tempest Williams wows OR crowd

The Outdoor Retailer is all about the selly-selly-sell. Thousands of outdoor gear exhibitors tout their latest socks, stoves, skis, shoes, snowshoes, and shovels in the effort to wow thousands of buyers (or not). Increasingly, however, it’s also about organizing and affirming the outdoor industry’s growing […]

Bits of Winter Wonder

Winter has come and I’m determined not to bring bad juju (ie, snarkiness) to the season. As in: “Brrr, I don’t want to do _______ (fill in outdoor activity) because it’s too dang cold.” or “I’m just going to sit around the space […]

The Shine of Newness Officially Off

The glisten and novelty of living in this new place is officially off and over. I no longer skate above the surface of a beautiful, iced-over pond. I’m swimming in it. (And, yes, I’m cold. With dastardly electric heat, I’m heating the house as conservatively […]

Progress in fits and starts

I’ve now put about 30 hours of trail work into the Lollipop Loop. That’s what I’m calling the trail that goes from our back pasture, down a southeast draw, up along a modest cliff face, then back along a northeast draw. It’s been a helluva […]

The Wobble Board of a New Place

Moving to a new place where you don’t know a soul, don’t know what the weather will do, and don’t know where to buy stuff is a lot like riding a new, fresh horse. Or, it’s like being on a balance board. It’s a delicate […]

“Struggling” with hypnosis of outdoors

Not everything is wonderful at this new place and with this new living arrangement: Winter is coming and with it, the need to prepare (More hay to put up. Fencing and gate work to do. New tires to buy, etc.). Living, eating, being alone so […]

A Day in the New Life

This day could be representative of life over the past several months as my partner, Steve, and I embark on this new, adventurous (some might say, ‘curious’) and sometimes arduous leg of life. By “representative,” I mean that fresh, gratifying, and interesting things happen or […]

No Goose in the Kusa

The Perfect Barn Coat just found its perfect layer, now making it a four-season jacket to love and adore. The perfect layer? The new, ultra thin Kusa jacket from Cotopaxi. The reversible Kusa weighs just 15 ounces and has an attractive quilted stitching pattern on […]

Skida jazzes up the hat world

Just in time for winter, UtahOutsider has a new friend. Say hello to Skida, the Vermont headwear and accessories company. What Darn Tough has done for the drab, itchy sock industry, Skida is doing for the drab, itchy hat world. The colorful, hip hats fit […]