The National Archives is dusting off a bunch of historic films and loading them onto their YouTube channel, including this documentary. “Land of the Giants” profiles the Civilian Conservation Corps’ work in California parks. It’s a 23 minute YouTube video, so settle in for some solid time wasting before the long weekend.

via Two-Heel Drive

Criminals.

Elden Nelson (Fat Cyclist) and a few friends spent an afternoon in court the other day answering to charges that they’d thrown a rock off a cliff. The rock didn’t hit anyone or any animals, and it didn’t damage old cave drawings or crush any arrowheads.

We can agree that throwing rocks off cliffs is generally a bad idea. Climbing along hiking trails at High Cliff State Park back in high school we had plenty of people kicking rocks over the edge or tugging at our webbing tied off to sturdy trees. Fortunately the tallest ‘cliff’ was about 20 feet, so the rocks didn’t hurt too badly when they hit your skull. Of course, that’s not always the case.

In Fat Cyclist’s scenario, he’d checked the overhanging cliff for climbers and the landing zone for hikers and then tossed the rock over with the help of a friend. Later on a ranger contacted him about throwing the rock, which he admitted to doing, and ordered him and friends to appear in court to answer to the charges. They were fined about $60 each and sent on their way.

It’s a pretty funny story and worth reading, but what’s mind boggling to me and goes unaddressed in the blog post is how the hell they were caught. It seems the ranger didn’t see him throw the rock, but that someone actually contacted the ranger with a ‘hot tip’ about the illegal act. It begs the question, what kind of a person turns someone in for throwing rocks? And further, what kind of a ranger doesn’t tell the witness to get lost? Then the whole thing gets really out of hand when you find out that they actually went to court, were assigned a state defense attorney, and talked to a judge who had to make serious decisions based on these facts.

I remember thinking these Injinji socks with the toe-gloves would be really popular right after they came out. I’d met a girl wearing them and she was freaking out about how awesome the socks were. But then I saw her a couple months later and she was freaking out about how awesome a new Harry Potter movie was so I figured she’s just one of those people that freaks out about everything. Too bad for Injinji socks. Well, now Injinji is back for another try with their knee-high compression socks. They’re supposed to improve circulation in your calves to facilitate recovery and prevent fatigue. It’s part of a whole trend of compression gear that’s going to make all of us look like The Tron Guy when we go out hiking. Unfortunately for Injinji no one wants to wear knee-high socks anymore unless they’re wearing short shorts and playing kickball or at a roller skating birthday party.

via GetOutdoors

As part of its Scenic American Landscapes Series, the USPS has unveiled two new international stamps: one of Zion National Park and one of Grand Teton National Park. Sounds like 70 people showed up to celebrate in Zion and 100 people turned out for the viewing in Moose, Wyo.. I hope those less-than-impressive numbers say more about the declining interest in stamp collecting or the sad state of the postal service or the lack of hors d’oeuvres and tasty beverages than they do about interest in our National Parks. If nothing else, these stamps will be tiny little ads for our stunning parks… to the three people overseas who actually get them on a letter.

Photo: StampNews.com

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention put out their latest obesity rankings by state, and Colorado is the fittest state with only 18.9% of their residents considered obese. Massachusetts took second and Connecticut a close third with about 21%. I honestly would have thought that Utah would have slid into the top three since so few people there drink alcohol, but they’re tied with Montana a couple spots back. The most unfit state for a third year in a row is Mississippi, and three more states have crossed the 30% obese threshold: Alabama, Virginia, and Tennessee. So states that value outdoor recreation and education are more fit? Shocking.

via Out There

The U.S. Government has agreed to forgive $30 million in debt owed by Indonesia in exchange for increased protection of endangered rainforests on the island of Sumatra. This will be the largest ever debt-for-nature-swap since the Tropical Forest Conservation Act was kicked off in 1991 by Bush the senior. Basically, instead of paying the U.S. back, Indonesia has agreed to put $30 million into a trust over the next 8 years that would then issue annual grants for forest conservation work on the island. As much as it sounds like Indonesia is holding their own natural resources hostage, this is one of those things you just have to accept. After all, once our country is polluted beyond recognition, we’ll need something clean to invade and takeover.

A decade-old satellite staggering around the globe has managed to stitch together over one million images to make the most detailed topographic map of the world. I haven’t had a chance yet to see if Dick Cheney’s house is blurred out on it. The joint US/Japanese hardware covered 99% of the globe to create this 3D visualization and real-color map. The map is available for free, but the site hasn’t been working well today.

via Outside

Not a day goes by in this country that a hiker doesn’t wander off-trail and need to be rescued by a search party. Usually it’s solo hikers, but occasionally there’ll be a pair, family, or entire Boy Scout Troop lost. China does every thing we do, only they operate on a much grander scale. Anyone who doubts that missed the Opening Ceremonies.

The outdoor climbers group “wind runners” was earlier formed spontaneously by some climbing amateurs by posting forum through internet. On June 28th at 8:00am, the 104 climbing group members, led by an employee of a shenzhen transportation company, rented two buses and headed for the Shitouhe Reservoir for climbing from Shenzhen Gymnasium. At about 21:00pm, the 104 members were lost and stranded in the Lovers’ Valley due the darkness.

The spontaneously-formed climbing team only spent a few hours lost in the wilderness, but it’s easier for a search party to find a group of 104 people than one lost Cub Scout. Something must be lost in translation here. How does a team of 104 people spontaneously rent two busses?

So you booked a trip to Italy this summer and can’t get a tourist-free photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Not to worry. Snap about five photos while people mill about and then blend the photos together for a tourist-free image with the snapmaina Tourist Remover. The online tool is free with 100mb of space, though you’ll eventually pay if you love it so much you need to clean more photos.

via Boing Boing

Feed the powder jones a bit with the trailer for the 2009/10 Matchstick Productions movie In Deep. The movie looks insanely sick. I can’t even complain about the soundtrack since it’s some kind of new-age Enya-sounding crap that goes along with the skiing really well.

via Powder Magazine