Mike Asimos - New Shoes for Christmas?

It is coming up on the holiday season and as usual I am filling up my list of requests for Christmas. I learned in high school that the best thing to do in my family was to give a list over and leave the element of surprise out of it.

This year I need a new pair of trail shoes. Currently scattered around between boxes and my closets I have:

Waterproof sandals:

Keene Waterproof Sandals

Keen makes great shoes for outdoor wear, from very tonka like sturdy to lightweight. They take a little longer than I'd like to dry if the air is damp but I can usually make it work by putting them into a stream of sunshine for a few hours.







Winter Boots: Lowa Renegade

The Mike Asimos Top Choice - Lowa Renegade

I have always trusted Lowa boots. I got my first pair in jr high and have continued to buy them when they wear out. They are warm and stay dry. It doesn't get too cold here in South Carolina, but that doesn't mean the warmth is not needed when doing overnights in late fall and into winter.
My only complaint is that they are not resoleable which means that when the boot starts to separate from the sole, a new pair will be in order.

They are affordable though, and with the speed laces have always been easy to get on and off quickly.


Every day trail shoes:

Merrell Moab Trail Shoes

I have had this pair of Merrell shoes for the past two years and they have done me alright. The ventilation aspect works when it isn't too warm out, but I suppose not much can withstand the dampness of our climate.

It is a comfortable shoe and does well on rocks as well as sand. They are also surprisingly easy to clean.











I am asking for a pair of Ecco trail shoes this year.

I have gotten to try on some eccos before and found them to be really comfortable. At $190 they are not the most affordable, but they aren't the most expensive either. Top of my Christmas list - are you reading this, Big Mike? 

So these are my favorites of my current inventory. Do you have a favorite trail shoe or boot? I am always lookin for recommendations. 

Discounted winter camping rates in SC

Most of you know I take every opportunity to get outdoors and camp on weekends and holidays.

I came across this article: http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/

According to the website you can hit many coastal campgrounds for half off if you book quickly. More details are below:

The South Carolina State Park campgrounds at Colleton, Edisto Beach, Givhans Ferry, Hunting Island,Huntington Beach, Myrtle Beach and Sesquicentennial (in Columbia) would like to offer you a 30-day campsite reservation at half price!  50% OFF!  This special is valid for reservations that encompass the period of December 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015.

There’s beautiful weather during this time of year in South Carolina and still so much to do on the park and in the nearby area.

To take advantage of this offer, here's what you need to do:

• Call one of the seven parks that you are interested in reserving your campsite, and make your reservation. You cannot make your reservation online or via the toll-free number.
• Mention you are interested in the 30-day snowbird camping special.
• Pay for your entire month (30 days) at the time of registration.
• There are no refunds for early departure.
• Arrive and enjoy your stay!

I have been to all of these campgrounds except Givhans Ferry.

Edisto Beach is the kind of place you can really stay for an entire weekend and not tire of it. The sand is soft and makes setting up camp really easy.

You can sleep so close to the beach that it is hard to stay awake with the sounds of the tide.









Hunting Island gives you the opportunity to have more placid water.
If you enjoy fishing, this campground is a win for you. I have spent many hours with my headphones on casting my rod without seeing another human.

What is your favorite SC park to camp?

Social Media gives Mike a headache

I did not realize how much time it took to actually keep up with people on social media. In some ways it is super cool to be able to keep up with people even though you don't see them but in others I find myself missing the interaction. I created a bunch of profiles hoping to be able to catch up with people that I have met but I've forgotted half of the passwords at this point. Too much environmental science taking up all of my brain space, man.

Mike Asimos has a headache!

I will be finishing up school earlier than expected hell yes! Every time I talk with my friends they're discussing a social media observation of other friends instead of seeing them.

I think the only way for me to actually feel good about my friendships is to get back into the music show scene as quickly as possible after I graduate and have a little bit of time.

Foraging for Edibles

I just added an example of an edibles guide on my pinterest Michael Asimos Camping board. Understanding what mushrooms, berries, leaves, bark, etc that are safe can keep you alive in an emergency. That aside, I enjoy cooking with fresh ingredients that I find while on my outings.

The time to educate yourself on what plants in your areas are safe and what aren't isn't when you're starving after dark. Take the time to learn about indigenous plants and mushrooms that are specific to your geographic region before you need to. There are plenty of resources online and at the library, and a small field manual isn't a bad idea either.

I have a small emergency sheet that's laminated that goes inside my backpack.

If you plan your camping trip in areas that you know are abundant with edibles, you can pack less and use it fresh when you get there.

One word of advice -- don't eat anything that you can not identify 100%. If there is an extra band on the stalk or the leaf is "almost" identical, it isn't worth the risk.

Once you become familiar with the wild plants that are available in your area, you will feel more confident lightening your pack and it's a lot of fun to share your knowledge with other people who are hesitant or haven't been exposed to foraging before.

And if you ever come across a cache of Huckleberries --- let me know!

- Mike

Travel Towels - Get One

Maybe I am the only one who has seen a sham wow commercial and wanted one for camping, but they are heavy. I have invested in some REI multitowels and gotten way more than my money's worth out of them. The 36X16.5" is 4.3oz. I also got a PackTowl Ultralight which is only 1.8oz for the 36X20.


The REI multitowel feels more like a shamwow would - it's soft and absorbent, vs the PackTowl which is more like a squeegee on my skin. That said, the PackTowl dries much faster hanging from a tree branch or across my tent or even hanging from the corner of a bunkbed in a hostel!

Travel towels are an important part of my hiking and camping pack for several reasons. Listed below are just a few:
1. While couch surfing you don't need to dirty someone else's towels for a shower or quick rinse
2. If you come across a stream/lake/river on the trail you can dry quickly
3. Most campgrounds don't have towels
4. You can dry yourself and gear off before settling into your tent
5. If it is long enough you can use it to secure bulky gear atop your pack
6. It can double as a pillow
7. With a quick swipe of your knife you have tourniquet strips

I tend to go light and take the Ultralight with me and I have just the large, not the XL or XXL.

Travel towels vary in cost but a good one will last you several years and many adventures (if you're livin right!)

I also posted on my other blog about hang drums. I suppose that a travel towel large enough could provide some travel cushion for the drum.

The Lively Music App

I have a wicked collection of bootlegs for having the unfortunate timing of my birth being later than allowed me to collect them live.
I also have grown up in the digital age, and as is more aptly named, the digitized age.
I love live music and have spent many hours with my tape recorder/digital voice recorder/cell phone in the air trying to capture a few minutes of a great show as a keepsake for later. The result is never as magic as I hoped for and the recreation of the experience falls flat.

I just found a solution. It's called Lively and is available on Windows phones, iphones and android phones. It looks like they are working on other devices too but for now seems to be limited to mobile.

Lively has set up a system where they use (legal) high quality video and sound equipment to capture entire concerts and you can download the whole thing for the price of the album. Since you can share video from your phone it makes it easy to recreate the concert in your living room (or your buddy's living room) - and you don't get a charlie horse in your arm - and you don't have to worry about security confiscating your camera.

Their commercial is not the best, but it does a good job explaining it:

I already downloaded The Lonely Forest concert and am beyond impressed with the results.  I am hoping that they hit the folk festivals. There are a lot of shows I would like to go to but between my last year of school and how much a lot of these shows are it would be a decent substitute to get the concert this way!

Mike Asimos : Preparing Dehydrated Foods for Camping

When you're focused on planning a backpacking trip, a few things usually take priority - namely your tent and sleeping bag requirements, trail maps, first aid and food. Unlike car camping, food weight, ease of cooking and taste all play a factor, as does cost. Some meals can be so expensive and others are cheap and taste awful. I have used a dehydrator in the past with good results and wanted to pass on some tips to you.

The benefits of dehydrating your own food are control over ingredients and freshness factor. Overall, if you buy your items in bulk or use items you already have in bulk in your pantry it can also be more cost effective. It requires no refrigeration once it has been dehydrated and the weight is minimal.

The best fruits to dehydrate are bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches, cherries, pineapple, mangoes and blueberries.

The best vegetables to dehydrate are corn, peas, green beans, onions, mushrooms, carrots and broccoli.

There are plenty of other resources for meats, as I have very little experience with it mostly cause I'm afraid of getting sick, but I know that beef and turkey are supposedly easy.

Every item has its own levels of water and therefore need different amounts of time in the dehydrator but I have never seen a dehydrator that didn't have instructions for different foods.

Things to remember:
Cut the food items into small bite sized pieces.
Lay the items next to one another in a layer, but not touching while dehydrating
Place dried items into bags/containers that will allow you to remove all air from them.

I personally use Ziploc bags and press the air out. I also dehydrate shortly before my trip is happening. Then I bring one Tupperware to mix/rehydrate everything in and am able to reuse the Ziploc bags next time.

Mike's Drinkify Suggestion!

Drinkify

I am astounded on the daily by technology.
I found drinkify.org and put in the Grateful Dead just to see and their soundtrack and suggestion were equally impressive.
Two kinds of gin and lemon juice plus they played "big boss man".
Perfection!

Don’t listen to Grateful Dead alone. We suggest…

“THE GRATEFUL DEAD”

• 12 oz. Sipsmith Gin
• 12 oz. Lemon juice
• 6 oz. Blackwoods Gin

Combine in shaker and strain into cocktail glass. Serve. Stir vigorously.

Vegetarian Camp Cooking

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers

I found this article about Grateful Dead Black Bean Burgers at the Tupelo Honey cafe, and it inspired me to both share and comment on vegetarian camping foods.
Most people associate camping with a lot of meat (what about the hot dogs, Mike!!) but in fact I have had great success with vegetarian cooking in terms of flavor and not having to worry about food storage bacteria problems. Many freeze dried foods these days are vegetarian and fruits and veggies will often stay fine in your pack without needing ice.

REI has some pasta and beans kits that just need a flash of rehydration and they don't weigh as much as something already cooked in sauce and a tin can will.

The recipe above could be modified just a bit, pre-formed in a wax paper or aluminum casing and heated up once you get your camp fire going for a nutritious and filling meal.

Head over to the article above for the full scoop, or shortcut here. If you repost, please give credit via the site linked above!

Grateful Dead Black Bean Burger 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup peeled, shredded carrots
• ½ corn, frozen, or cut from 1 large ear
• ½ cup diced roasted red bell pepper
• ½ diced poblano chili
• ½ cup diced Vidalia onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 cup firm tofu
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 cups canola oil
• 8 artisanal hamburger buns
• lettuce and avocado for serving (optional-not in original recipe)
• Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the carrots, corn, bell pepper, poblano, onion, celery, and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often to make sure the garlic does not burn. If it starts to, turn the heat down some. Remove pan from heat and let veggies cool for 10 minutes.
2. Place tofu in a food processor and puree until smooth. Place in a large bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, combine beans, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Place 2 cups of bean mixture at a time in the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Once coarsely chopped, place in the large bowl with tofu.
4. Add panko crumbs to the large bowl and mix the tofu, bean mixture, and panko crumbs together. Form into 8 patties.
5. Heat Canola oil in a heavy bottomed skillet on high heat until oil begins to bubble. Put patties in oil and cook about 5 minutes per side, until outside is crispy.
6. Serve on rolls with mayonnaise.

Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise

• 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Wilderness Survival

I am going to keep my political views on the Dorner case to myself. I did, however spend time thinking about wilderness survival when I realized he had probably retreated into the Big Bear wilderness.

I have a copy of an old military field manual (21-76) which focuses on wilderness survival and escape. Even though it adds to the weight of my hiking pack, I can't imagine another instance of a time where I may need it more than when I'm alone on a wilderness trek.

The pages which focus on how to get fresh water using condensation and how to build simple lean-to's, and how to tell which way storms typically blow based on the condition of the branches have long ago lost their crispness because I'm not sure that I'll be in the mood for reading on the basics if faced with an emergency.

 I have read "into the wild" and other books of that nature, but I struggle to think of a book that has so much vital information crammed into it.

Does anyone else know of any survival manuals that they don't like leaving home without?

-- Mike

Show Tripping Weekend Packing List

I always camp when travelling for a show and the opportunity presents itself as an option. Gimme that sweet quiet away from the energy and noise of the crowds. When I've reached my limit of action and interactions I want to lay my head in the grass and think about the experience and rest and relax under the trees the way we're meant to be.

Since there aren't many shows in SC, usually have to pack something that will fit in the community car without taking too much space but still have what I need. Below is what I usually pack to get me through a weekend, not including what I'm wearing the day I leave.

Mike's Show Trip Weekend (Car Camping with the option to separate if the wind blows me)

Flip Flops
Bandana
Small first aid kit
2 shirts
1 change of pants
1 change of underwear
1 change of socks
Camel back water bladder
1 package beef jerky
1 ultralight tent
1 ultrawarm sleeping bag
1 headlamp
1 gigastove
1 mess / cooking kit
4 freeze dried meals

I've been researching small solar chargers for my phone but I am not yet sure the trust is there to warrant the expense.

Mike's Camping Food - Foil

Found this great article on 50 things to grill in foil nomnom and a lot of it is for a more sophisticated palette but not all of it, ie: nuts, chicken, roasted veggies. I think if you make them up ahead of time and throw em in a pack, you've got pretty fancy grub to go.

If i'm not backpacking and have access to trunk space i bring my coleman grill and these will cook up fine on a low heat i think.

If only they made compostable foil!

I'm Mike and I like to Camp!

I have liked being outdoors all my life. Even with college in full swing I've tried to get away for music shows and always opt to camp nearby. Sometimes the campgrounds if they are close by get noisy but I have found that I enjoy the comradery that comes from people camping vs parking lots that can turn into tail gate parties.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy tailgating for SEC games, but if it's up to me I will alwayz pick the woods.

This weekend I hit Pisgah National Forest (Pisgah National Forest 411). It is one of my favorite places in the world for solo and group camping. It got cold but I got a new sleeping bag for the holidaze that I was ready to test. Thank you Dad!

I also got to test some of my pinterest recipes that I found (michal asimos camping pinterest board ) and the ham and cheese bake was bomb.

I'm excited for winter to be over so that I can go to the west coast for some adventures. Any good show venues folkz can recommend?