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Home » Archive for  Musings

Category: Musings

My views on life, the universe, and everything.

Paralysis by Analysis

Posted onAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025AuthorPaul Mags3 Comments

A look at paralysis by analysis that I think stops people from getting out in the wild places. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, MusingsTagsgear

Not Gatekeeping – Guardrails

Posted onAugust 3, 2025August 5, 2025AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

Some thoughts on maps, miles, and giving people the tools to see what they want to see. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsWilderness Ethics

Pay to Play on Public Lands

Posted onJuly 29, 2025July 29, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A piece inspired by a recent article in the Florida Phoenix about a private corporation now controlling access to public lands. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagspublic lands

Whitman – Almost a decade later

Posted onJuly 28, 2025July 29, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

More thoughts about Whitman almost a decade later since I took my solo Walk Across Southern Utah. Read More …

CategoriesBooks and Media, MusingsTagspoetry, Whitman

A Tale of Three Mugs

Posted onJuly 20, 2025July 20, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

A review? A philosophical look at gear? Navel gazing? Or recognizing I seem to run on caffeine, sarcasm, and stubbornness most days? Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagscoffee, cooking

Celebrating the wild places

Posted onJuly 18, 2025July 18, 2025AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

We celebrate not the trail, but the wild places it passes through. – Ray Jardine, PACIFIC CREST TRAIL HIKER’S HANDBOOK, 1996 Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsRay Jardine, wild places, Wildness

Times are a changin’ – Walking in time of weather extremes

Posted onJuly 13, 2025July 13, 2025AuthorPaul Mags11 Comments

Call it climate change, weather events, cycles, or bad juju. But there are more fires, swings in snow levels, droughts, closures, etc. Some thoughts. Updated July 2025 Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsclimate, climate change, favorite, weather, wildfires

First time on the Appalachian Trail

Posted onJune 28, 2025June 28, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

I am contemplating an extended walk in New England this Autumn.  This post comes back to mind. If all goes well, I will be returning to what sparked my love of the outdoors nearly 40 years ago. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsAppalachian Trail, boy scouts, New Hampshire

Another baker’s dozen – favorite campsites

Posted onMarch 16, 2025March 16, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Another “Baker’s Dozen” of favorite camping spots. A sequel of sorts to what I wrote in 2017. Rather than specific places it is areas we enjoy. Read More …

CategoriesMusings, Other Outdoor Jaunts

Two+ Year review – LightHeart Gear Fleece Hoodie

Posted onMarch 4, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

A longer term review of the LightHeart Gear micogrid fleece hoodie. Made in the USA, readily avialable, warm and fuzzy, but best for people who run cold or static use. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsclothing, fleece, gear review, Joan West

Ultra-light but not ultra-precise

Posted onJanuary 18, 2025January 18, 2025AuthorPaul Mags8 Comments

Why I stopped counting ounces with my gear…at least precisely. Updated for 2025. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagsgear, grams, lightweight, ounces

2024 in review

Posted onJanuary 6, 2025January 6, 2025AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

The 2015 version of a 1995 holiday newsletter (as I am too old/lazy to do a 2025 TikTok video) .
Read More …

CategoriesMusings, PMags NewsTagsyear in review

Thoughts on seventeen days away

Posted onJanuary 5, 2025January 5, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

We just returend from seventeen days away in Texas going to Hueco Tanks, Big Bend National Park, and Davis Mountain State Park. Some initial thoughts. Read More …

CategoriesMusings, Other Outdoor JauntsTagsTexas

Sunday Blues

Posted onJanuary 5, 2025January 5, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

All about the “Sunday Night Blues.” Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsSunday Blues, work life balance

The Enshittification of Gaia GPS

Posted onAugust 30, 2024September 2, 2024AuthorPaul Mags25 Comments

Gaia is now potentially new  sharing tracks and GPX waypoints unless you mark it as private.  And based on their past behavior, I don’t trust them for legacy tracks. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsenshittification

On “Structured Rambling”

Posted onMay 16, 2024March 16, 2025AuthorPaul Mags16 Comments

What got directed as an insult months ago seems less an insult and more of an aspirational idea worth striving for. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsfavorite, structured rambling

2023 in review

Posted onDecember 27, 2023January 1, 2024AuthorPaul Mags10 Comments

A look over 2023 with some photos and a few thoughts. Read More …

CategoriesMusings, PMags NewsTagsyear in review

Gear pick of the year 2023 – The Gift of Time

Posted onDecember 8, 2023January 20, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

The gear pick of the year for 2023? The best gift for any outdoors person – The Gift of Time. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsgear pick of the year, gift of time

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The Squak – A readily available, $60, active-focused grid fleece hoodie from a Utah-based company. Read the review.

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  • Home
  • Ramblings
    • Musings
    • Books and Media
    • Videos
    • From The Web
    • Thru Hikes, Long Walks, or Routes
      • My Alphabet Soup summary
      • Vermont’s Long Trail
      • Appalachian Trail
      • Pacific Crest Trail
      • Colorado Trail
      • Continental Divide Trail
      • Ring The Peak Trail (Pike’s Peak)
      • Benton Mackaye Trail
      • Tahoe Rim Trail
      • Uinta Highline Trail
      • Collegiate Loop
      • A Walk Across Southern Utah
      • Great Divide Trail (Canada)
      • The Northern New Mexico Loop
      • Grand – Moab Route
      • SEUG Circuit
    • Other Outdoor Jaunts
      • Utah
      • Colorado
      • New Mexico
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Nebraska
      • New England
      • Nevada
      • North Carolina
      • Oregon
      • South Dakota
      • Texas
      • Wyoming
    • Photos
    • PMags News
    • Press
  • Nuts and Bolts
    • New to the outdoors? Start here!
    • Getting Started
    • Quick Tips
    • Trip Planning
    • Quick and Dirty Guides
    • Food
    • Gear
      • All Gear Posts
      • Gear Reviews
      • Gear Quivers
      • Gear Lists
      • Budget Gear
      • What I’m Wearing
      • Clothing and related
      • Footwear
      • Packs
      • Shelters and related
      • Sleeping bags, quilts, and pads
      • Stoves, cooking, and related
      • Tools
      • Water containers
    • Road trip and car camping – gear and techniques
    • Winter trip reports, gear overviews, tips, and techniques
  • Subscribe by email
  • Write Me
  • About PMags.com
    • Who is Paul Mags?
    • About Joan West
      • Joan’s articles

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