The photos do a far superior job of telling the story of our first family camping trip with our seven month old baby girl. In short, it far exceeded our expectations. Enjoy.
Family Camping Trip
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Rambling Review – GSI JavaMill
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Rambling Review – GSI JavaMill
Why: So, I like to drink coffee. I also happen to like good, fresh coffee. Whether I’m bumming a bag of fresh home roast from a buddy or heading to the coffee shop for something commercial, I like whole bean, because grinding your own beans gets you an extremely fresh cup of coffee. I’ve been using my standard plug-in electric grinder for years and typically will grind beans before I head out for a trip, but the GSI Outdoors JavaMill allows me to bring fresh whole beans along to grind in the field, providing a perfect excuse to drink really fresh coffee in the woods.
First impressions:
The size – The GSI JavaMill is a compact little unit that stands about 6.5 inches tall and has a circumference of 2.5 inches. It fits in nicely with my car camping cook set and doesn’t take up too much room.
Weight – I was surprised by the weight of the JavaMill. The composition of plastic, ceramic, and metal alloy give a little bit of weight to it and make it feel pretty solid. It weighs in at 9.3 oz.
Field Use: So typically, most of the gear I review on Arizona Wanderings gets almost all of it’s use in the field, because that’s where I use it. The GSI JavaMill coffee grinder has become an important part of my everyday morning ritual. My old morning routine involved the electric grinder, which as every coffee drinker knows makes a loud whining and growling noise as it grinds up the morning coffee. With a 6 month old in the house that wakes up from the tiniest noises, my coffee grinding has become a huge problem at 5am. So for the past couple of months I’ve been hand grinding my coffee with the new GSI JavaMill. The JavaMill is very quiet and to be honest, I love the mechanics of grinding coffee by hand.
The JavaMill is pretty easy to operate. Coffee in the top. Turn handle. Ground course coffee drops in the bottom portion of the JavaMill and is ready to go. I primarily French press my coffee but I know that there are a variety of other ways to brew coffee that would need a different courseness of coffee. To change the courseness of the grind, remove the bottom portion of the JavaMill and turn the wing-nut to find your desired coffee ground size.
I’ve also been bringing the GSI JavaMill coffee grinder on some of my recent fishing and camping trips in order to brew up a pot of coffee as a pick-me-up at lunch and/or for the long drives home. It’s pretty handy to be able to get that taste of freshly ground coffee way out in the middle of nowhere. I really think that the JavaMill is worth its weight in a car camping situation. For a backpacker who is really trying to cut down on the ounces, I don’t think the JavaMill is practical for lightweight backpacking.
Pros:
Quiet
Well made and designed
Perfect for car camping
No electricity required
Reasonable price
Cons:
Might not be ideal for lightweight backpacking
Prognosis: The die hard coffee drinker who finds themselves in the outdoors (or with a baby who wakes up at the sound of an electronic grinder) should definitely consider adding the GSI Outdoors JavaMill to their camp cook set.
*Disclaimer: The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. 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.
Arizona Fly Fishing: Christmas Tree Lake
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I finally crossed Apache trout off my species list. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’ve lived in Arizona for going on 8 years and have just now laid hands on my first Apache trout. I’ve pulled in a couple of hybrid Apache/Rainbows off of a couple of creeks in the past, but these were my first true gold, speckled, Apache trout. My good buddy Kyle and I ran up to the Whites for a long day trip to work some fish at Christmas Tree Lake. Christmas Tree Lake is located on the White Mountain Apache Reservation and is known to hold some large Apaches and the occasional big brown. Since picking up my Scadden pontoon boat, it’s been fun to explore some of the stillwaters, that were not really accessible to me before. We met up early and made it to the lake just after sunrise.
What we weren’t expecting was the hellacious wind that ripped across the lake. The wind swirled from every different direction and spun our pontoons around like we were on the teacups at Disneyland. It made for an interesting day of fishing. We were lucky enough to pick up a few fish early in the day on ant patterns while the wind was a bit milder, but we had to wait for the evening bite to pick up any more fish. Regardless, it was a beautiful day in the mountains on one of the most picturesque lakes in the state. I look forward to heading back up in the future for a less windy day on the lake.
Book Report: The Pulp Fly Empire
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I was a little bit slow on the uptake. Reading on an iPhone or a tablet never really appealed to me. Even though I spend a good amount of time reading on the computer, there is nothing I like more than a good book in my hands. That all changed when I took the plunge, downloaded a kindle app for my iPhone and ordered Pulp Fly: Volume One. In a word: Fantastic There were several writers I was familiar with like Matt Smythe, Bruce Smithhammer, Matt Dunn, and Alex Landeen, paired with several new authors that were not in my regular reading repository. Each short tale revolved around the theme of fly fishing although they all had their own unique story line. The only problem with the first Pulp Fly was that I ended up reading it too fast.
I reread through the collection several more times before the world was blessed with Volume Two and some time later Volume Three. The second and third installments of Pulp Fly certainly did not disappoint. Delivered to the palm of my hand with a couple clicks, I was reading the next collections of stories from familiar writers like Erin Block, Jay Zimmerman, and Tom Reed along with a sprinkling of new names that were instantly added to my must read/follow list.
As if things couldn’t get any better, the Pulp Fly team put together an all-star lineup of upland hunters/writers for the first (and hopefully not last) installment of Mouthful of Feathers: Upland in the West. Between flushing birds, hunting dogs, and dirt roads, I couldn’t get enough. It truly is an excellent collection of writers and stories. The team behind Pulp Fly has set the bar extremely high and laid the ground work for what I can only hope will be a future filled with more volumes of fly fishing and upland hunting collections. If you haven’t been blessed with reading one of these collections, you owe it to yourself to spend the measly five dollars and download the first one. They are all well worth the price of admission.
Three important fishing tips
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I like to fish, and every chance I get, I’m packing the truck and heading for the hills. Now, I know that compared to an unmarried fishing guide or a retiree, I don’t fish that much, but I have a wife, a child, an 8-5, and a mortgage, and still I successfully manage to put in 30-40 days fishing or hunting a year. To me, that’s a success.
I often get asked by several of my buddies, how I talk my wife into letting me go fishing and hunting all the time. There is an easy answer to this. I married up. End of story. My wife is extremely understanding and knows that if a couple weekends go by and I’m not fishing or hunting, I’m going to be a basket case.
Having said that, I would offer several tips to the poor sucker whose wife is busting his balls for going fishing too much. (Full disclosure: I’ve tried all of these and they work.)
#1. Handwritten notes – I found a small journal in the closet that wasn’t seeing any use, so I started a tradition of writing my wife a note and telling her how much I love her and where I was going for the day along with the details of when I should be getting back into cell service. She says that she really enjoys getting up on Saturday mornings, reading what I wrote, and getting to see where I’m going. She thinks it’s sweet, although on several occasions she has threatened to publish all of my secret fishing spots. I think they call that blackmail.
#2. Wildflowers – This is a winner. When the seasons are right here in Arizona, we have some pretty spectacular wildflowers. When I find a decent spot on one of the backroads, I’ll pull over and cut a small bouquet for her, put them in my coffee cup full of water, and romantically (or at least as romantically as I can smelling like sweat, dust, and fish) give them to her when I get home. This goes a long way in softening things up when you get back from a long day of fishing.
#3. Involve her – Everyone needs their own space and downtime. Fly fishing has become my escape and I often use the time to recharge my batteries while enjoying the solitude of nature. Although my wife had never really shown much interest in fly fishing, she made mention of wanting to give it a try when we hiked into the Grand Canyon and camped on Bright Angel Creek. When she pulled her first wild rainbow out of the creek, I think I was more excited than she was. Over time we have had several opportunities to fish together, and I know she has a better understanding of why I love it and need to take off on a Saturday. Now on long car rides, she’s cool to even listen to a couple of Tom Rosenbauer podcasts to break up the drive. How does it get any better than that?
Anyone else have any tips or tricks?
Rambling Review: Gregory Baltoro 70 Pack
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Rambling Review – Gregory Baltoro 70 Pack
It’s funny how an item can conjure up the most vivid of memories. I’ve got quite a collection of packs in the guest room closet. My wife would disagree with me calling it a “collection” as she’s on the verge of calling that horders show from TV. Regardless, I’ve got packs of every shape and size for every different occasion and I’m pretty proud of the collection. As I was rearranging some things in that closet, I came across one pack that has really stood the test of time while traveling up many mountains, down into more than a couple of canyons, and across the ocean on a trip to Europe. The Gregory Baltoro 70 Pack is most certainly not the coolest looking pack and due to it’s size, I have the tendency to pack it with more than I should, but I have found it to be one of the most comfortable and rugged packs that I’ve used.
When I saw the pack hanging there, I could remember the burn in my legs on that last quarter mile coming out of the Grand Canyon and how glorious it was to finally reach flat ground. I remembered trying to stuff it into the overhead compartment of the plane for our flight to France, trying not to make eye contact with the flight attendant for fear of her telling me that it would have to be checked. It still has pine needles in it from the last overnight trip into the woods, and it wears multiple smudges dirt like hard fought medals of honor.
I finished stowing the gear that I was rearranging and shut the door to the closet, but not before taking the pack off the hook looking it over. It’s still in great shape and ready for another adventure. Guess I better get something planned.
Disclaimer: This isn’t my normal format for a Rambling Review because this pack design is no longer available as Gregory has since come out with an updated design. I feel though that a good piece of gear still deserves it’s day in the sun. If Gregory continues to make gear like the Baltoro, the new packs should be worth checking out.
* Real Disclaimer:
The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. 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.
Arizona Fly Fishing: To the Mountains
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With a long week of work behind us, we made an extremely early morning drive to the mountains to escape the heat and beat the crowds. We rolled into the parking lot and could see the fish rising from the bank. The air was chilly, which made the water warmer than expected as I eased into the water and worked the pontoon boat out away from the launch. The boat got a good workout and I’m feeling a bit more comfortable on the water. I still have plenty to learn about stillwater fishing, but managed to pick up a handful of fish, on a mix between intermediate line with a couple of simi-seal buggers and hanging midges.
We had the water to ourselves until about 10:30 and by noon we were off the water to make way for the onslaught of the Memorial Day weekend crowds. I think I can get used to this stillwater thing.
Book Report: The Sean Stranahan Mystery Series
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I’m always looking for something interesting to read. Most of my bookshelves are a laden with a heavy dose of fly fishing and hunting with a spattering of history and philosophy left over from college, and I don’t have much in the way fiction in my collection. I recently had the chance to get my hands on a couple of books by Keith McCafferty. McCafferty who daylights as the Survival and Outdoor Skills Editor for Field and Stream, has written several novels that center around the main character, Sean Stranahan.
The novels follow this part fly fisherman, part artist, part private eye on his exploits in rural Montana. I really enjoyed reading through the stories that are full of fly fishing and outdoor references and the pages really fly by. If you’re looking for something to fill a day in the hammock, a Sean Stranahan mystery might be right up your alley.
