Hydration packs are increasingly common, and it seems companies are more and more desperate to make themselves stand out (I’m looking at you CamelBak). Most of the time for a pack to support hydration it means that its got a pocket where you can slide a bladder in and a few elastic bands to thread the tube and nozzle through. That’s about it.

Osprey Hydraulics changes that. Their support really raises the bar a few notches. One major feature is their HydaFrom Reservoir line, co-developed with Nalgene. These bladders feature an anatomically molded plastic sheet between the reservoir back and a layer of nylon fabric, forcing the reservoir to conform to the complex shape of the back. This also helps keep it from barreling out from the internal water pressure when you fill it. On top fo that it features a rigid spine that serves as a handle to make it so that you can load or remove the bladder with a full pack. Nice!

The bags themselves are engineered to work with the reservoir designs too. Their HydraLock internal frame maintains a space dedicated to the reservoir so that it will always fit back in. This also helps squeeze so that the motion of the water is minimized. Another nice feature is a magnetic attachment point for the bite valve.

Osprey Hydraulics is available on bother their Raptor series, geared toward mountain biking and trail running, and Manta series, a more general multisport daypack.

I can’t say that I have ever had one, but last year I decided I wanted to make one. Unfortunately it was too late in the year. This year I’m going to nail it. I’m going to make and tend to a vegetable garden.

So for all you sustainable-types; or perhaps, for all you frugal types; or… for all you crafty types- now is the time to start figuring out your garden plans and layouts. Although in the mountains it’ll be a bit before plants can be put into the soil outside, get an early jump by sowing seeds indoors though.

Also, take the time to set it all out on paper. Lay out what plants you want to grow, then figure out about when in the year each needs to begin growing based on the last day of frost and how long they should be grown before being put outside. The NOAA site is great for figuring out freeze and frost timing. Also check Victory Seeds’ site and The Farmer’s Almanac for information on specific seeds. Then map out when each plant will become mature.

Making a garden is an awesome way to get beyond the limbo between winter and full-fledged spring. Its also a great way to reconnect with the Earth, linking your life more strongly to the ebbs and flows of seasons and variation in plan life-cycles.

Check out this excellent post from Keeper of the Home for more tips. Also, lets hear from you. What are your personal gardening tips and experiences?

Photo courtesy of sscornelius

Check out this bit from Devon Balet about 4 days of strait awesome. Be sure to check out more info on Devon and his killer photography at devonbaletphoto.com:

For most people, the idea of being snowed in atop of one of the roughest mountain passes in Colorado is the beginning of a nightmare. Red Mountain Pass is well known for catching some of the deepest snow storms and having some of the most dangerous avalanche paths of any highway in Colorado. When Colorado Avalanche Information Center employee Anne Mellick walked up to the Addies Hut where I was staying, I knew exactly what she was about to tell us. NOAA was calling for nearly ten inches of snow to fall Thursday night. However, from what Anne had to tell us, it appeared that the storm was bring much more then 10”.
“We will be closing the pass at sundown today. You guys should really think about packing up and heading out. There is a good chance the pass will remain closed until Monday.”
LEAVE?! Are you kidding me? There was no way I was leaving. Monday huh? That’s only five days, I can hang with that. So after a few friends slipping past the gates just in time to join our lock in, the pass closed at 7pm Thursday. Around 9:00 we all decided to venture out to the road to see what was happening. Snow was blowing side ways and piling up fast. After only two short hours nearly 6” had already accumulated on the road. We were in for an adventure.
The next morning came after a full night of wind and pounding snow. The front deck of the hut was under a solid foot of snow, and the trail to the outhouse was gone. A single set of post hole foot prints led the way. The energy in the hut was through the roof. We all headed up to the road to see what the night had brought for us.
All our vehicles were nearly gone. Snow drifts piled up burying my truck to the hood. The road now had over 16” of solid snow. With this massive drop of snow on top of unstable snowpack, we all decided the best thing for us to do was to build a jump over the road closed sign. After little effort the jump was built. Creating an in run proved to be a bit more challenging. Swimming up to my chest, myself and few others trudged up the hill to pack in a run.
Once we had enough of playing with federal property, a four man crew headed out for what we thought would be a short skin. Now over two feet had fallen since the pervious evening, making for some of the hardest skinning I have ever experienced. The track was knee to chest deep, forcing us to switch leaders regularly. The massive amount of effort needed to slug through the snow made for slow movement. We were moving at about 1/4 mile per hour.
Besides the difficult skinning, the constant fear of avalanche made the tour slow moving. Constantly we were hearing massive womphs in the snowpack. Several times the snow collapsed so much you would drop nearly six inches. As the sun slowly made its way west, we knew we needed to get back. The three hour skin up came with a one hour skin down. The snow was so deep that in the low angle terrain you couldn’t get enough momentum to move through the snow pack.
Friday night brought even more snow and wind. Later I learned that a weather station on Red Mountain Pass recorded a 141 mph wind gust Friday night! 141!!! More snow, more wind, and no plows. We owned Red Mountain Pass. There was no sign of life on the pass and no sign of CDOT crews whatsoever. What to do? What to do? “Let’s go hit this big jump I built while you guys were skinning yesterday!”
The bottomless snow was perfect for hucking your meat skyward with no fear of injury. The biggest fear was swimming your way back to the top of snow. One of the crew members, Travis, sent well over 40 ft and ended up a good two feet under the snow on impact.

As the sun set on our third day of being snowed in on the pass the snow begin to pick up again. Now we were wondering if we would be getting out anytime soon. Not to worry! There was still tons of food and a solid stash of beer. We can make it.
Sunday morning came with a nice snow storm. MORE SNOW?! With well over 50” fallen in the past four days, it looked as though Sunday would not be our day of release either. The big concern now? Our costume party the night before left us with a mere five beers left. With a crew of seven this would quickly pose a problem.
Myself and good friend YaYa decided to take a chance at finding some decent turns with our day. “If we aren’t getting out, we might as well get some face shots.” Around 2pm we set out to an area close to the hut with a promise of good turns. As we neared the top of the pass the roaring sound of diesel hung in the air with a side of explosions. Just as we were rounded the last corner to the summit there they were. CDOT was in full force; plows, massive snow blowers and an avalanche canon mounted on the bed of a truck.
As the blow made its way through the snow, a feeling of disappointment over came me. Sure, it was nice to know we would be getting out finally. But I was growing fond of being locked onto the pass. For four days, the only sign of life on the highway was a single skin track making it’s way up the pass. The simplicity of our snowed in life appealed to me.
As the crews worked their way up the road, we learned we could get an escort off the pass in one hour. Nearly ever slide path ran, covering the highway in 15 feet of snow in places. So with the sign of pavement, we packed our stuff and made a line for our escort out. As I followed the massive plow down the pass back towards Ouray I was already missing my life at the Addies Hut.

Lets hear about all your own experiences with last weekend’s dump in the comments!

Quick heads-up: Over at Alpineer.com we are running a sale on all Cloudveil, Nau, & Patagonia products. Patagonia is checking in at 25% off, and Nau and Cloudveil are currently rocking 30% off.

So for any of those items you need in the tail end of this season – that poofy 850-fill down coat, a new set of base layer clothes, or a pair of nordic gloves- be sure to check it out!

After many snowdances and longing for snow, Crested Butte finally received 30 inches of snow in the past week on the mountain. When it snows on the mountain, it snows infinitely more just a few miles from town in the backcountry. Saturdays’ mission was Red Lady. It’s a 3000′ skin right from the parking lot to one of the most prominent mountains over town. Today we would be skiing the glades down, which is the safe option after a big storm. The bowl wants to suck you in, but it would of done just that with avalanche conditions being reported by the CB Avalanche Center as considerable to high.

About 2 hours deep into skinning up, we hit the tree line with wind whipping. We opted to bail out about 700′ from the top. Ripped the skins, jackets, googles, ski boots in ski mode, heels locked in the Dynafit FT 10 binding mounted on Manaslu skis. Off we went, wait – we were walking down hill. The snow so deep that it overcame gravity. Shuffle, shuffle… finally some speed. A bit steeper pitch and the Manaslus were able to do what they do well, float and top and make some turns. Even though there was a lot of deep snow traversing that required a lot of effort, good fun was had by all. Jan Runge – Elk Mountain Traverse Director, Mike, Lisa Cramton – Alpineer store manager and myself all had smiles after our 4+ hour expedition.

No photo documentation was had, as I left the FLIP on my table at home. Next time!

Ski area will be opening terrain all day, so I will let my body rest and get after it on Monday.

-Travis