I suspect he's one of those guys that doesn't think he needs a hunting license since he owns 30 acres.
Joke's gonna be on him when someone on the neighboring lot hears him shooting his shotgun in say August, and then finds a wounded deer on his property.
Also he should have fun figuring out which are the edible plants and which are the look alikes.
I eagerly await his preparations for winter in Wisconsin.
If I were him I'd find a copy of this at his local Goodwill.
One final comment that I'm adding as a separate post since I reached the size limit in my post above: for anyone who is looking for additional information concerning backcountry ailments and injuries, I highly recommend the book Deep Survival, by Laurence Gonzales. In addition to drawing from his own experience, the author analyzed countless reports of backcountry injuries in writing the book. One of the biggest takeaways that I got from Deep Survival is the idea that injuries in the backcountry are rarely the result of a single factor, but rather usually the result of multiple factors- and those factors are often seemingly inconsequential when evaluated on an individual basis. If you can learn to recognize and address various factors as they crop up, then you can generally reduce most of the risk of injury.
Everyone should read the book about this when they can. It's an extremely enjoyable and sometimes gritty true account of a group of men who went into the jungle in search of a lost city and simply vanished from the face of the earth.
They based their hunt on a rare Portuguese document written by a friar in Brazil after one surviving man from an expedition emerged from the jungle in 1753 after 10 years and gave his account as to what they saw. It's a real document known as Manuscript 512 and it's in the Brazilian state archives.
Congrats on finding relief for your painful feet and freeing yourself of expensive conventional treatments that may or may not actually work.
Please keep in mind that sufficient strengthening of your lower legs (muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones) for successful long term transition to zero drop shoes can take a long time. For some it can take several months. For some it can take years.
So be careful not to push yourself too hard too fast. Because if the usual pattern holds true, the next step in your evolution could be metatarsal stress fractures and chronic Achilles pain.
Edit: You might also check out Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is you haven't yet.
https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307279189
There's a fantastic book written by a man who spent 76 days at sea. He floated in a raft, purifying water and eating what little fish he could catch.
At night, he couldn't see or hear the sharks. But he knew they were there from the hard bumps they'd give the raft.
No motor. No communication to anyone. Just endless black sea and sky, while sharks kept him up at night.
Youtube videos. Park Tools is the channel to start with. But GMBN and many others have good maintenance videos as well. Buy this book and spend some evenings reading up on various parts of your bike:
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https://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1937715477/
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If you are really interested in learning, buy an old cheap "project" bike off somewhere like Craigslist and work to tear it down and build it back up again.
I'm a sucker for ruins. A couple other ideas:
Part of a civilization in decline secured some of their sacred relics but didn't have the resources to continue to occupy the city containing a major temple. They leave with every intention of coming back at the next high holy day but... don't. Maybe they were killed by disease or starvation, maybe the intervening country became occupied and they didn't dare risk a journey that could lead an enemy to a sacred site.
Placing ruins in difficult and inhospitable places also helps. Look at the jungle ruins we are still finding to this day only thanks to new technology. A place can be carved out and livable and then quickly disappear back into "nature" in our own world. Adding the chance of magic / divine intervention in the mix makes this even more likely. The book The Lost City of Z really cemented this idea for me when I read it a couple years ago. I highly recommend it!
Sometimes the ruins are simply occupied - an army or some creatures moved in and chased off the original inhabitants. They either don't know about or don't care about what the players find valuable and thus the PCs have to sneak in and get it.
Sometimes nature just surprises you, like what happened over time in Dunwich.
Anyway, I hope at least some of that helps!
I would recommend snagging a copy of "Zinn and the Art of MTB Maintenance," it's a fantastic guide that will walk you through everything you need to know!
https://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Maintenance/dp/1937715477/
I would also suggest checking with your local bike shop or cycling club if you have one, they often (pre-pandemic at least) offer "bike maintenance 101" classes where they'll teach you how to fix a flat, tweak your shifters, and get everything ready for a ride.
Changing tubes and tires is definitely do-able for a beginner! I think everybody should know how to replace a tube in case you get a flat while out riding. Swapping out brake pads is also a pretty easy fix.
For bike parts, you'll probably want to avoid the no-name-made-in-China parts that you might order off Amazon, but if you order from your local bike shop or an online bike retailer, pretty much anything you get should be decent quality!
Deep Survival -- an informative read of when things go wrong in the wilderness and how the survivors make it out alive. It shines upon the personalities and characteristics that tend to have the highest survival rate by analyzing the craziest stories of people that have lived and also sometimes died. Such a good read in fact that it's the only book that could hold my attention for the last 4 years. ^((I don't really like to read))
Welcome bud, where you coming from?
Here are my suggestions for trails out here:
Colorado Backroads
Colorado Backroads - Northern
These books are great and have allowed me to do some serious exploring, hope you find some that you love!
You can definitely get out in the whites and stay out of avalanche danger, staying below tree line and staying on low angle terrain. If you want to venture into some of the bigger lines in the presidentials, you'll want some training and partners who know what they're doing. Also, study the avalanche conditions put out by https://mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org. They update daily, so you can follow how weather conditions affect the snowpack. And take an Avy 1 course.
Get this book by David Goodman https://www.amazon.com/Best-Backcountry-Skiing-Northeast-Classic/dp/1934028142. It's a great starting point. It's not all downhill, there are some xc tours as well.
Good beginner tours are Mt. Cardigan, the Sherburne trail, and Moosilauke Carriage Road.
I take my kids on all kinds of trails. Always welcome anyone who wants to join. My dad who is 78 also prefers the more technical/challenging trails.
I would google local off road groups. In CA the is CORVA and endless 4x4 clubs on facebook. Honestly though, I just meet people at different trails. I don't belong to a club, but I will ask a few people I know who may want to go...
The value of going out with other riders is learning from them. Go out a few times and you learn a lot. Get dude's number next time you are 4wp.
This guys writes great books:
If you are into learning about different cultures, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is an great choice for you. It's the #1 Best Seller in Track & Field on Amazon, so it has quite the reputation. I actually encountered the Tarahumara in an anthropology course during undergrad, as they are pretty heavily studied by sociocultural and physical anthropologists. Here's a section from the Tarahumara Wikipedia: > The Tarahumara word for themselves, Rarámuri, means "runners on foot" or "those who run fast" in their native tongue according to some early ethnographers like Norwegian Carl Lumholtz, though this interpretation has not been fully agreed upon. With widely dispersed settlements, these people developed a tradition of long-distance running up to 200 miles (320 km) in one session, over a period of two days through their homeland of rough canyon country, for inter-village communication and transportation and hunting. Their running in sandals are described in the book Born to Run.
No affiliation, but went off a lot of the green trails in this book with a grand cherokee and it was helpful to understand what we were getting ourselves into, as well as find new trails.
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/193483825X/
You bought a medium to high end bike as a beginner, but whatever. If you can afford it, no problem!
I would buy this book and read it cover to cover so you know the basics of how things work and, if needed, how to maintain them. Your bike will eventually need maintenance, and learning the fundamentals of that make it less scary when something goes wrong.
Get basic safety gear (glasses, helmet, gloves), some appropriate riding clothes and shoes (you'll figure this out), and have fun.
Do your best to avoid upgrade-itis -- only replace things as they wear or demonstrate a real need to replace.
Don't go too big too fast (you don't need to start jumping big stuff, or absolutely flying through the woods on the edge of control) else you're way more at risk of getting hurt.
Don't store your bike outside (they aren't meant to take long-term exposure to the elements) and do basic cleaning stuff to keep it nice and it'll last.
And most importantly, have fun.
Start with this:https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/193483825X
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First time try driving some mellow trails to get the feel of things. Dome Plateau is a good one, Long Canyon, then to Secret Spire.. The drive down Bartlett wash is fun and easy, you can turn off into Hidden canyon for a nice drive.
Everyone (for their best protection) have to know the basics:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937715477/
First thing I bought when I got my e-MTB.
I just read it in a book recently. I actively looked it up because I was like "wtf, did he just spell aesthetic wrong?"
Not sure how interested you are in non-fiction, but I highly recommend The Lost City of Z by David Grann. It's the true story of the explorer Percy Fawcett, who set out in 1925 in search of a lost civilization in the Amazon. I won't give away too much more than that, but it's an outstanding book. And while it is non-fiction, it definitely reads like a novel.
Buy the book if you dont have it already. You can get it on amazon and in every gas station, book store and gift shop in Moab. You will regret not having it. And remember its desert hot there in June.
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/193483825X
Yes, the book is called "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon" by David Grann. Below is a link to it on Amazon. This is one of the best books I've ever read.
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Deadly-Obsession-Amazon/dp/1400078458
If you're looking for similar jungle adventure/endurance books I would highly recommend:
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
The River oF Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Both books are extremely readable and cover similar true stories of journeys into the jungle in search of something undiscovered.
In Moab, if the trail name sounds gnarly...it probably is. ie Metal Masher, Rusty Nail, Steel Bender, Hell’s Revenge...etc.
UTVs are pretty versatile depending on which ones you have but for the beginner off-road people in your group just be careful as you can get into a spicy situation really quick.
Know which trails you are doing each day, plan it out well in advance, and share your itinerary. Charles Wells books are great for this and he has a Moab Edition . I love reading up on trails and planning out each day with these books. They’re Super well done and great to bring along while you’re out there as they have GPS coordinates, waypoints, and write ups.
For an extra security blanket OnX Off-road is a great app to use while you’re out there as you can download maps offline and your phone will still ping your exact location on the map. Also shows public vs private lands
Not sure how accurate it is but the book "Born to Run" is actually all about this. I really enjoyed it.
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307279189
In it it explains that humans, when properly conditioned and with good running form, can run hundreds of miles at a time. Not faster than, but longer than any other land animal.
Most of my experience was outside the US. I did the Vagabonding thing when I retired from the military. $200 per night hotel rooms were not in my budget. I was able to do things via AirBnB that I would never have been able to do with hotels. But for short stays, I agree that AirBnBs aren't really worth it.
I’m from the east as well. Before I moved I found a lot of backcountry in the Adirondacks. Specifically the store “the mountaineering” was a big help in steering me along with this book: Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast
FWIW I loved it there but now do different stuff in the North West (Alaska/Yukon)
I recommend getting yourself a copy of this;
It will answer all of your questions, plus will help you develop an idea of how to go about planning such a trip.
Must do? Depends on your rig and experience. First I'd do Fins and Things. Then 7 mile Rim and explore that area. Long Canyon is easy and pretty cool. Once on top head over to the 3D trail accessing it off of Barlett Wash. Hells Revenge is OK IMO, but most people do the tip toe route and exit the way they came in.
Here's a great trail guide to the area. https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/193483825X
There was a guy who made it 76 days in the Atlantic and he happened to be a bad ass survivor type. His sailboat got RAMMED by a WHALE (that was a TIL for me) and capsized but he had a life raft.
The book is called Adrift and it's a quick read.
But it goes deep into all the things he had to do. Solar stills were the main reason he didnt die, also he caught some huge fish (Dorado) and made fish jerky. I think there was a mild shark attack as well.