For the first time since living in Arizona, I skipped the opening weekend of Arizona quail in favor of heading north to some cooler temperatures, grouse hunting and Apache trout. But in the weekends following, I laced up my boots and braved the heat to chase Gambel’s in the Sonoran desert.
The summer reports seem to be accurate as there seems to be a slight uptick in bird numbers. Regardless, it felt good to get out and work the washes and hills. The weight of a shotgun over my shoulder was a little different sometimes I use one of my airsoft rifles for hunting. At the end of the day I had couple of birds in the vest so I had a welcome feeling after a long off season. Here’s hoping for many more quality mornings in the field chasing quail with buddies.
Regular readers of this blog know that I take my morning cup of coffee fairly seriously. At home I have a pretty standard French press routine, but I mix it up when I’m in the field depending on how much time, space, and weight I have. I’ve found that I really enjoy the taste of percolated coffee in camp, and the GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator has become standard in my camp cookset.
GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator
First impressions:
Stainless Steel – The GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolators are constructed from corrosion-resistant, marine-grade 18/8 stainless steel componentry and welds.
Sizes – GSI Outdoors sells several sizes of their Glacier Stainless Percolators: 8, 14, 28, and 36 cups. In this review, I am using 14 cup percolator
Dimensions – The 14 cup percolator weighs 2 lbs. 2 oz. and measures roughly 8.80” x 6.70” x 9.00”
GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator
Field Use:
My Glacier Stainless Percolator has been a staple on my hunting and fishing trips this past summer and fall. One of the biggest aspects about the GSI Outdoors percolator that stands out is it’s rugged design. I never have any worries when I toss it in the back of the truck for an overnighter in the woods.
The other aspect that I appreciate about the GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator is the overall simplicity that comes with percolating coffee. Everything that is needed for making coffee is in one unit and completely reusable. As with all percolators, no filters are needed. The only ingredients needed are coffee, water, and a flame to boil water or filtered water can also be used, since there are filters that remove fluoride and chloride and that you can get online. Typically, I use my camp stove to get a boil going, but there’s nothing more aesthetically pleasing then hanging the percolator by the wire bail handle over an open campfire to make coffee.
GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator
Pros:
Rugged design
Made from corrosion-resistant, marine-grade 18/8 stainless steel
Simple and easy to use
Cons:
Made in China
Plastic glass PercView top might be the piece to break if not careful
The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. The GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Percolator was provided by GSI Outdoors for the purpose of this review.Arizona Wanderings is not sponsored by or associated with any of the stated companies and is accepting no compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for this review. My independent status may change in the future but, as of the date of publication, no relationship other than described above has been pursued or established.
DJ and I had been talking about doing this trip for quite a while, and it was a bit surreal when we finally rolled into camp at midnight. We set up tents and made short work of getting to sleep knowing that morning would come quickly. Waking early, we donned bird vests and shouldered our shotguns for our day afield. We put some serious miles on our boots without much luck, but our hike took us through some of the prettiest country in Arizona.
We broke for lunch and decided to shift our focus from the birds and dropped 2000 vertical foot into a remote canyon in search of wild Apache trout. We found the golden beauties in a small trickle of a stream, eager to take a well placed fly. On our hike out, we debated how many other anglers walked the small canyon trail to this tiny creek. With the trail being so faint and overgrown, we concluded that the fish here did not often see a fisherman’s fly.
The roaring fire we built that night warded off the evening’s chill and provided a bed of coals to grill steaks and cook potatoes over. But the miles put on that day had taken their toll and we headed to bed for another early morning. The next morning, we worked some different country and were able to flush one grouse, but no shot opportunity presented itself.
Heading back to town, Ranger dog crashed on the back seat for a well earned rest, and we sat up front recounting the beauty of the country, the hard work we had put in, and the overall success of the weekend.
We’ll be back.
Ranger DogAspensDJ and his boyTailgate breakfastCamp CoffeeAspensLooking down into the canyonStraight on downApache TroutApache TroutDJ and Ranger tag-teaming a small poolApache TroutOne last morning looking for grouseHigh Country
I’ve had some pretty cool opportunities lately to check out some gear from Stanley. Several have really stood out to me over the past few weeks. The first is the Stanley Growler, I had reviewed a growler from another company a while back, and although it was an awesome product, the Stanley Growler had two features that made it stand out from others I’ve seen. The first was that Stanley printed the proper government warning right on to the bottom of the 64oz growler. Arizona law states that for a brewery to fill the growler it must have the government warning on the actual container. The second feature I like about the Stanley growler is the heavy duty o-ring and latch. There is zero chance of leaking and the contents either stay very hot or very cold.
The second piece of gear that I really found useful in the mountains was the set of Stanley tumblers. The stainless steel BPA-free tumblers stack and nest together to save room when not in use. These came in real handy around the campfire and the built in neoprene sleeves kept your cup sweat free while your drink stays icy. The Stanley Adventure Stacking Steel Tumblers make a serious upgrade to plastic Solo cups or the mismatch set of cups that typically make the journey to the mountains with me.
Stanley’s name has become synonymous with quality outdoor gear and they continues to expand their lineup and offerings. Check them out at Stanley Brand.
The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. The Stanley Brand products were provided for the purpose of this review and the links in the article help to pay the bills here on Arizona Wanderings. As always, I always strive to be up front and honest about gear and my relationships with gear companies. Thanks for looking. – See more at: Stanley Brand
It had been a while since I’d seen some moving water, and my understanding wife told me to head north for the day. I was feeling pretty stubborn, and even though there wasn’t a ton of surface activity, I continued to fish hoppers through the day. I managed the fish about as the sun was getting lower in the sky. The colors on this brown defied description, and I took just a moment to appreciate the Creator’s handiwork.
There’s no therapy like standing knee high in a stream with a fly rod in hand.
TreetopsHungry brown on a bushy terrestrialThe last bit of summer hanging on.Drippy brown trout
The sun rising on a morning of dove hunting in Arizona
My brand new baby boy made is appearance on the opening day of Arizona dove season, and subsequently Saturday the 12th was my first day in the field. With mama and the two babies still sound asleep at home, I eased the truck along a bumpy road that lead to a small piece of state trust land. It surely isn’t the greatest spot, but it offers a quick hitter for an hour or two at sunrise. I had packed the necessary fixings for a tailgate breakfast and coffee. Eggs and coffee were not a disappointment.
There was a small window of dove action right at sunrise, but things died down pretty quick. Knowing that there were little ones waiting at home, I called it a morning and made short work of the plucking. You’d be hard pressed to find a better way to spend a Saturday morning in September than hunting doves in Arizona.
Arizona Dove HuntingTailgate BreakfastPlucking FeathersLunch
Our family grew by one this past week. Elijah Clark Smith arrived early last Tuesday. Both he and his mama are happy and healthy, and his big sister couldn’t be happier to have someone to boss around. It looks like I’ve got an excuse to add a few more fly rods and long guns to the collection.
I scored a free Saturday morning and got a chance to head out into the field with my good buddy DJ and his up and coming pup, Ranger. We planted a couple birds and let the nose on the dog work out the rest. With quail season just around the corner, it was nice to stretch my legs, see a dog on point, and watch a bird flush.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for this Arizona quail season to start.
