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Home » Archive for  Musings (Page 3)

Category: Musings

My views on life, the universe, and everything.

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

Top Ten Reasons Why Top Ten Gear Lists (Mostly) Suck

Posted onNovember 17, 2023November 17, 2023AuthorPaul Mags14 Comments

Top Ten Gear Lists are perhaps the most popular articles in any community. Be it backpacking, music, movies, etc. But they are typically useless. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagsFriday repost, gear review, top ten

Lightweight backpacking concepts for couples

Posted onSeptember 7, 2023April 27, 2025AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

A look at lightweight backpacking concepts for couples. More so than solo, lightweight backpacking as a couple means the overall system. Some thoughts. Updated Sept 2023. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagscouples, Friday repost, partners, sharing gear

Images, not vandalism

Posted onAugust 11, 2023August 11, 2023AuthorPaul Mags7 Comments

Thoughts on why images are not vandalism. And reasons why people are calling them images rather than “rock art” as well. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsAncestral Pueblo, Arizona, Colorado, favorite, Friday repost, New Mexico, Petroglyphs, pictrographs, utah

The last journey

Posted onJuly 14, 2023January 27, 2026AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

Polar explorers talk about the concept of last journeys. Maybe we are in the age of last, traditionally defined, other outdoor journeys as well? Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsclimate change, favorite, Friday repost

Three simple outdoor guidelines

Posted onJuly 7, 2023July 7, 2023AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

Three guidelines for the outdoors: be safe, be courteous of others and their experience, have fun. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsFriday repost, guidelines, outdoors

America’s Outdoor Recreation Act – Boon or bust?

Posted onApril 6, 2023AuthorPaul Mags9 Comments

America’s Outdoor Recreation Act seems promising. But I see many loopholes potentially exploited for financial interests. Or, business as usual. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsNational Parks, Wildness

An NPC in Moab Adventure Land

Posted onJanuary 1, 2023January 3, 2023AuthorPaul Mags14 Comments

For those who live in a tourist community, it sometimes feels like we fill the role of Non-Player Characters (NPCs). Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsMoab Adventure Land

A look back at 2022

Posted onDecember 31, 2022January 30, 2026AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A look at 2022. Some sentiment, some snark, and lots of photos. Read More …

CategoriesMusings, PMags NewsTagsyear in review

A ritual of the American pasttime of baseball. From the "Made in China

Sunday night rituals

Posted onNovember 6, 2022November 6, 2022AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Our Sunday evening ritual means repeating a pattern week in and week out. But one we enjoy. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsgift of time

Influential Gear?

Posted onAugust 15, 2022February 4, 2026AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

What backpacking gear has become influential in the past few decades? Some thoughts. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagsculture, electronics

The simple pleasure of bike errands

Posted onJune 29, 2022April 27, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Now that we live near downtown, we find we rarely drive during the week. The addition of a bike trailer made this task feasible. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagsbiking

Whaddabouda-ism

Posted onMarch 9, 2022April 27, 2025AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

If you try to prepare for every contingency you may find you end up ill-prepared for what you need to do. Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagsgear thoughts

An influential woman for March 8th

Posted onMarch 9, 2022March 9, 2022AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Sr. Helene, a no-nonsense nun, is a woman I think of on March 8th every year. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsInternational Women's Day

2021 : The steady state

Posted onDecember 16, 2021December 16, 2021AuthorPaul Mags3 Comments

The annual waxing of the poetic and looking at the past year. Or skip the prose and see the photos! Read More …

CategoriesMusings, PMags NewsTagsyear in review

Happy Holidays – Desert Style!

Posted onDecember 9, 2021December 9, 2021AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

Happy Holidays from the desert! Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsMoab, utah

Bears Ears – The enemy is us

Posted onNovember 4, 2021January 27, 2026AuthorPaul Mags3 Comments

Thoughts on Bears Ears and what the re-instated protection may actually mean. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsBears Ears, outdoor ethics, Wildness

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A Quick Guide to Moab

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

Women’s | Men’s | Children’s   

The Squak Camp Dress 

One of Joan’s favorites!

The Squak Alpha Fleece 

                                                                    

– 15% off coupon = PMAGS-SQUAK                                                                                                      

  • REI: Shop Deal of the Day at REI Garage!
  • REI: Outlet 50% off deals
  • REI: Official Coupons and Rebates page
  • REI: Used Gear Store

PMags Instagram

A hike to our local mountains did not go quite as planned. With an AQI of 176 in Moab due to the fires in our corner of the world, we sought refuge in the mountains.
"Effective today, June 30, 2026 at 12:00 PM, all Forest Service lands, roads, and trails within the Monticello Ranger District of the Manti-La Sal National Forest (San Juan County, Utah) are temporarily closed due to the Babylon Fire. "
"So far this year, 35,247 fires have burned more than 2.9 million acres nationwide. " -National Interagency Fire Center
The CDT forms the backbone of the continent. The Long Trail makes a classic East Coast walk. Brett Tucker's routes require some advanced skills. My DIY routes don't even have schwag.
A couple of days at the edge of the San Juans. Storms moving in had us trading backpacks for a car camping trip, but we still wandered to the edge of treeline. We also settled in with hot drinks while wearing puffies, a welcome contrast to the sweltering heat in Moab earlier in the week.
Some graupel in the San Juans. From @ramblinghemlock

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Disclosure: This website may be compensated for linking to other sites or for sales of products to which I link. These sites include Amazon, REI, Moose Jaw, Gaia GPS, Six Moon Designs, Squak Mountain Co, and ULA Equipment. There is no additional fee for purchasing items through these links.

 

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  • Ramblings
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    • 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
      • A Walk Across New England
    • Other Outdoor Jaunts
      • Utah
      • Colorado
      • New Mexico
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    • Getting Started
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    • Food
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      • All Gear Posts
      • Gear Reviews
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      • Clothing and related
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