The WildeBeat Podcasts

PodcastDirectory / Variety / Radio
PodcastDirectory / Regions / NA / USA

"The audio journal about getting into the wilderness." Primary Format : Radio Language : English Also Listed as: City : San Jose State/Province : CA Country : USA Region : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of The WildeBeat Podcasts Methings.com listings of The WildeBeat Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

Announcement: A New Show This is a special announcement in place of our regular show. Steve announces a change in our format and our production schedule. Our future programs will be presented in a longer format on roughly a monthly schedule. We expect to release the first in our new series of programs in December. Special Announcement on November 6, 2008 [MP3 format; length 6:32; 3,133,896 bytes] JOIN NOW -- Help us help more folks to appreciate our wild public lands. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Update: Using All Fours, part 2 This skills program is part 2 of our look at the science and skills, myths and fact around trekking poles. Is hiking with poles a trendy gimmick, or a valuable skill? (This is an update of our edition 87 originally presented on May 24, 2007.) Julianne Abendroth-Smith talks about the results of research into the effects on the body of hiking with trekking poles. She's a biomechanics professor at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. We hear from Jayah Faye Paley, an author and educa ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Using All Fours, part 1 This skills program is part 1 of our look at the science and skills, myths and fact around trekking poles. Is hiking with poles a trendy gimmick, or a valuable skill? (This is a reprise of our edition 86 originally presented on May 17, 2007.) Steve talks to Julianne Abendroth-Smith of Willamette University in Salem Oregon. She's a biomechanics professor studying the physics of hiking, and how hiking with various poles and walking sticks affect the body. Steve talks to Jayah Faye Pale ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The New Rust Belt In this wild places program, Guest Correspondent Kurt Repanshek investigates the changes coming to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Kurt explains how the mountain pine beetle is affecting the white bark pine trees, and man animals and people who depend on these trees. Why is this beetle a growing problem now? We also hear from Dr. Jesse Logan, a recently retired U.S. Forest Service entomologist, Diana Tomback, a biology professor at the University of Colorado in Denver, and Louisa Wi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wild Shelters This skills program presents skills for building primitive shelters. This is the fifth in a series featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. Other shows in this series are edition 141, First Skills, edition 146, Starting with Fire, edition 150, Ancient Firemaking, and edition 155, Primal Grooming. Using primitive tools and natural materials, naturalist Norm Kidder explains how to choose a sheltered location, demonstrates how to cut wood with a rock, and describes how ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Primal Grooming This skills program presents primitive skills for personal grooming. This is the fourth in a series featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. Other shows in this series are edition 141, First Skills, the edition 146, Starting with Fire, and edition 150, Ancient Firemaking. Using primitive tools and natural materials, naturalist Sue Labiste demonstrates how to soap up, perform dental hygiene, and give yourself a manicure. The Primitive Ways website has many articles ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sharing Wilderness This skills program presents the Leave No Trace principle of Be Considerate of Other Visitors. This is the fourth and final edition in a series featuring the Leave No Trace traveling trainers. We hear J.D. and Emily in several situations where someone didn't consider this seventh principle of Leave No Trace. J.D. and Emily summit a peak, encounter a cyclist on the trail, and try to get some sleep in a campsite. Emily and J.D., along with the other Leave No Trace traveling trainers, ma ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Getting Oriented, part 2 This outings program is part two of a look at the sport of orienteering. You'll win this race by getting lost the least often, because it's all about your navigation skills. Participating in orienteering events can significantly improve your backcountry navigation skills. (Part one is here.) Steve attends an orienteering meet organized by the Bay Area Orienteering Club at California's China Camp State Park. Long-time club member Terri Ferrah explains the e-punch system used to track p ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Getting Oriented, part 1 This outings program is part one of a look at the sport of orienteering. You'll win this race by getting lost the least often, because it's all about your navigation skills. Participating in orienteering events can significantly improve your backcountry navigation skills. Steve attends an orienteering meet organized by the Bay Area Orienteering Club at California's China Camp State Park. Gary Kraght, the vice president for club services of the United States Orienteering Federation exp ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Summer OR 2008 This gear program is a report on the 2008 Outdoor Retailer's Summer Market. What gear will BackpackGearTest be reviewing for next summer? Volunteers Rick Allnutt, Christopher Nicolai, and Ken Bigelow report on the most interesting gear they hope to test for BackpackGearTest.ORG. They comment on products by: GoMotion, Ultimate Survival Technologies, Gerber, Bushnell, Sigg, Insect Shield, and the Therm-a-Rest division of Cascade Designs. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack G ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ancient Firemaking This skills program presents advanced skills for making fire without modern tools. This is the third in a series of shows featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. (The first show is number 141, First Skills, and the second is show number 146, Starting with Fire.) Naturalist Dino Labiste talks about the three methods prehistoric humans used to make fire. He demonstrates creating fire by friction using a hand drill. He talks about two other methods, fire by percuss ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Waste Training This skills program presents a training talk and demonstration on disposing of waste properly in the backcountry. This is the third in a series of editions featuring the Leave No Trace traveling trainers. Steve recorded J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler giving their regular presentation of the third principle of Leave No Trace, Dispose of Waste Properly. This is an important skill that most people get, but fewer people seem to get right. Emily and J.D., along with the other Leave No Trace ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bagging Wild Sounds, part 2 This outings program is part two of a report on a trip to record nature sounds. You've got to be totally quiet; stand like a statue. And then, if you're in the right place at the right time, you'll capture your sound. (Part one is here.) Our assistant producer Kate Taylor reports on her visit to the annual field recording workshop of the Nature Sounds Society. She tells her story with the help of: Alton Byrd, a nature sounds hobbyist from Berkeley, California. Martyn Stewart, a profe ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bagging Wild Sounds, part 1 This outings program is part one of a report on a trip to record nature sounds. You've got to be totally quiet; stand like a statue. And then, if you're in the right place at the right time, you'll capture your sound. Our assistant producer Kate Taylor reports on her visit to the annual field recording workshop of the Nature Sounds Society. She tells her story with the help of: Dan Dugan, technical advisor to the Nature Sounds Society. Gina Farr, a multimedia producer from Marin Coun ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Starting With Fire This skills program presents the basic skill of fire building. This is the second in a series of shows featuring primitive technologies experts from Primitive Ways. (The first show is number 141, First Skills.) Naturalist Dino Labiste explains and demonstrates the fundamental skill of fire building. Our ancestors depended on fire as a basic survival tool as far back as a million years ago, and yet today, among many people it's becoming a lost art. Ben Lawhon, the education director f ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stealth Gear This skills program explains the gear you can carry to tread lightly on your favorite wild places. This is the second in a series of presentations by the Leave No Trace traveling trainers. J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler talk about the gear you can bring along to make it easier to Leave No Trace. They talk about shoes and shelter, bags and trowels, cameras and sketch pads, lights and blankets, cans and binoculars, and radios and headphones. All of this gear, and more, can help you leave ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bear Cans Revisited, part 2 This wild places program is part two of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. (Part one is here.) Who makes these things, and how do we know they work? Steve tells the story with the help of: Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest. Allen DeForrest of Wild Ideas, manufacturer of the Bear ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bear Cans Revisited, part 1 This wild places program is part one of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. Why were they invented, who invented them, and how did that happen? Steve tells the story with the help of: Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Tori Seher, a wildlife biologist from Yosemite National Park. Richard Garcia, the president of Garcia Machine, manufacturer ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Autumn Gear 2008 This gear program presents the first of our new series of gear reviews. Now, more than ever, our gear programs depend on your participation. Steve talks to Backpack Gear Test founder and publisher Jerry Goller about the new relationship between Backpack Gear Test and the WildeBeat. Richard Lyon reviews the Ryders Eyewear Intersect sunglasses. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the voluntee ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Keep Me Connected, part 2 In part two of this wild places program, Assistant Producer Kate Taylor presents the pros and cons of using communication devices in the back-country, a topic that has sparked controversy among outdoor enthusiasts. (Here is part 1 of Keep Me Connected.) Listeners respond to part one with their opinions and experiences using communication devices on wilderness trips. Derek Moore, SPOT LLC's manager of marketing and public relations, and Gregg Fauth, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park's ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Keep Me Connected, part 1 In part one of this wild places program, Assistant Producer Kate Taylor presents the pros and cons of using communication devices in the back-country, a topic that has sparked controversy among outdoor enthusiasts. Blogger Paul Magnanti shares an essay he wrote about the issue, and Derek Moore from SPOT LLC comments on his company's device, the SPOT Satellite Messenger. Gregg Fauth and Laurel Boyers, both wilderness managers of national parks, tell how communication technology has changed ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Modern Rain gear This gear program presents reviews of two rain jackets and a poncho. An important part of keeping warm is keeping dry, and the first part you want to protect is your torso. Steve Nelson reviews the Antigravitygear Poncho Villa. Gail Staisil reviews the Outdoor Research Celestial Jacket. Jim Sabiston reviews the Integral Designs eVENT Cruiser Jacket. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website First Skills This skills program introduces our series on primitive technologies. You always see cavemen portrayed as stupid and comical. But what do you suppose they knew that you don't? We hear from Norm Kidder. He's the vice president of the Society of Primitive Technologies. He talks about the society's goal to re-learn, study, and teach stone age skills. Norm explains that using cutting edges and fire were the first technological skills developed by the earliest humans. In addition to the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Trace of Training This skills program introduces the Leave No Trace traveling trainers. This couple spreads the word of Leave No Trace, but then they seem to leave a lasting impression. The Leave no trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches skills to help you keep your parks and wilderness areas in their best possible condition. You can minimize your impacts on these place so that others can enjoy them more, and you can enjoy them in the future. J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler are this year's senior travel ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Wilderness Deals for Wheels This wild places program investigates the relationship of the popular sport of mountain bicycling to wilderness preservation. What do these groups want when they lobby for the protection of wild places? Steve tells the story with the help of: Roger Abeh, a park ranger for the Department of Parks of the City of San Jose, California. John Kramer, the acting Wilderness Manager for the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Forest Service. Ryan Henson, the policy director for the Californ ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Light Lights This gear program presents reviews of LED lanterns and headlamps. In the past few years, the one piece of outdoor gear that's improved most dramatically in performance versus weight is lighting. Larry Kirschner reviews the Coleman 4AA Pack-Away Lantern. Roger Caffin reviews the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp. Tim Tessier reviews the Black Diamond Icon Headlamp. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bad Fire, Good Fire, part 2 This wild places program is part two of a look at the effects of wild fires. Smoky the Bear says, only you can prevent wild fires. But sometimes you can't, and in some ways, that's not all bad. (Part 1 is here.) Wild fires burned through three major wilderness areas in California late last summer: The Dick Smith Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest was burned by the Zaca Fire. The San Rafael Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest was burned by the Zaca Fire. The Orestim ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bad Fire, Good Fire, part 1 This wild places program is part one of a look at the effects of wild fires. Smoky the Bear says, only you can prevent wild fires. But sometimes you can't, and in some ways, that's not all bad. We play a part of a TV news report about a wild fire that burned about half of California's Henry Coe State Park. This park contains the nearest wilderness area to us, the Orestimba Wilderness. Kathleen Good tells us about the largest of last year's wild fires in California, the Zaca Fire in t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Family Hike This outings program tells the story of a 10 year old girl and her parents who went on a hike. With all the emphasis on getting more kids outdoors, it might be helpful to give them a role model. Listen to hear about a great one. Mary "Scrambler" and her parents, Gary and Barbara, hiked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004. Their 2,650 mile journey started April 8th, and they were on the trail until October 25th. They talk about preparation for their journey, stories along th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grizzlies in the Mist This skills program takes a look at the latest in safety advice in grizzly bear country. What if the safest way to protect yourself from a grizzly bear was also safer for the bear? Steve talks to Chris Servheen, the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Chris authored several fact sheets on bears, including the most recent, Bear Spray vs. Bullets—which offers better protection? Chris refers Steve to a scientist who's doing the leading-edge s ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Enchiladas del Sol This skills program is a wrap. Well, really it's about baking fresh enchiladas, in a backcountry camp, without a fire or a stove. Steve returns to visit the kitchen of backcountry cooking author Linda Frederick Yaffe. Ms. Yaffe is the author of the books Backpack Gourmet, Solar Cooking for Home and Camp, High Trail Cookery, and The Well Organized Camper. Our guest backpack gourmet demonstrates a solar oven that portable enough to be carried in a backpack, and simple enough to build fo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Flying Backpacks This skills program presents looks at packing your gear for air travel to a distant trailhead. Air travel can be a hassle if you don't plan ahead and prepare. We hear a phoned-in comment from listener Jeremy Sullivan. He relates a situation when he had difficulty traveling with his camping gear. Steve meets with Robert Cassidy, a hazardous materials specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration. Robert provides a lot of helpful information, but he explains that in the end the T ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website California Snowshoe Trails This wild places program presents a guidebook author's favorite places to snowshoe in California. Yeah, it's spring, but there's still a lot of nice snow up there. Mike White, author of Best Snowshoe Trails of California, tells us what he actually thinks are the very best snowshoe trails in California. He picks trails that start at this trailhead, and at this trailhead. Mike introduced us to snowshoe hiking two weeks ago, in our edition number 129, A Snowshoe Primer. Mike also mentio ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skiing for Skiers This outings program takes us on a patrol day with the Lake Alpine Nordic Ski Patrol. You can have a great time while helping others by joining a ski patrol. Steve joins the patrol skiing in the backcountry near Bear Valley, California. We hear from Charles Schafer, the patrol director for the Lake Alpine Nordic Ski Patrol. His group is affiliated with the Far West Division of the National Ski Patrol. Charles talks about the reason they're out there skiing the backcountry: To provid ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Snowshoe Primer This skills program presents an introduction to winter hiking on snowshoes. If you can hike, you can snowshoe. Steve takes a hike with author Mike White, who wrote the books, Best Snowshoe Trails of California, Snowshoe Trails of Yosemite, and Snowshoe Trails Tahoe. A couple of weeks ago, they hiked out and back a couple of miles in the Tahoe National Forest near Donner Pass in California. Snowshoe hiking is the easiest way to start exploring the wilderness in the winter. Mike explai ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skiing More of Utah This wild places program provides a ski guide's advice on how to get away from the crowds at the very popular ski resorts in Utah. Guest correspondent Kurt Repanshek visited the Mill Creek trailhead in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest near Salt Lake City. There he met backcountry ski guide and guide book author Tyson Bradley. Tyson wrote the book, Backcountry Skiing Utah. Tyson talks about the many mountain ranges in Utah that provide a wide range of exceptional opportunities for bac ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Scared Indoors, part 2 This wild places program is part 2 of an exploration of how mass media might be affecting people's interest in getting into the wilderness. (Part 1 is here.) They came, they saw, they almost bought it; are these the kind of stories that inspire you to get into the wilderness? Do they represent the normal experience of a wilderness visitor? Steve answers this question with the help of: Fitz Cahall, creator and producer of the podcast, the Dirtbag Diaries. Tom Mangan, a newspaper editor ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Scared Indoors, part 1 This wild places program asks how mass media might be affecting people's interest in getting into the wilderness. They came, they saw, they almost bought it; are these the kind of stories that inspire you to get into the wilderness? Steve explores this question with the help of: Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods. Raymond Garcia, a summer visitor to Yosemite National Park. Fitz Cahall, creator and producer of the podcast, the Dirtbag Diaries. Ryan Jordan, founder and publis ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Forest Admission? This wild places program examines proposed rules affecting outfitter guides in the National Forests. Will these rules make it harder, or more expensive, for you to get into forest service wilderness? Steve explores the issue with the help of: Jim Bedwell, Director of Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources for the National Forest Service in Washington, D.C. Todd Vogel, Education and Stewardship director for the Friends of the Inyo, and co-owner of Sierra Mountain Center, a commerc ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Getting Around GPS This skills program discusses things you need to know before relying on a portable GPS receiver. Finding your way there and finding your way home is not always so easy in the wilderness. Steve talks with author Stephen Hinch who wrote the book, Outdoor Navigation with GPS. Stephen is a high-tech executive with technical knowledge of the GPS system and a love of wilderness travel. A GPS receiver can make navigaton easier, but what do you need to know to use it, and what do you need to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Winter OR 2008 This gear program is a report on the Winter 2008 Outdoor Retailer's Expo. What's cool in next year's winter gear? Jason Boyle and Christopher Nicolai report on the most interesting gear they hope to test for BackpackGearTest.ORG. They comment on products by: GoLite, Rab, Patagonia, Mountainsmith, MontBell, Cilogear, Aspen Aerogel, Easton, Garmont, and Teko Socks. As a wrap-up, Backpack Gear Test founder Jerry Goller tells us that they get more gear to review than their reviewers can k ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Calling for Help Revisited This skills program is an overview of some of the ways you can call for help from the wilderness. Have you ever thought about how you'd get help if you needed it? Out of all the different ways you could let somebody know about your situation, some of them work better than others. This is an updated version of our program number 37 of April 13, 2006. Steve talks about simple signaling techniques, like whistles, signal mirrors, and smoke signals, and then discusses various phones and ra ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Sierra Backcountry Ski Trails This skills program is an interview with Marcus Libkind. This is a reprise of our program number 21 of December 1, 2005. Marcus wrote the most comprehensive and widely used trail guides for backcountry ski tours in the Sierra Nevada: Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 1: Lake Tahoe Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 2: Carson Pass, Bear Valley, Pinecrest Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 3: Yosemite, Huntington and Shaver Lakes, Kings Canyon, Sequoia Ski Tours in the Sierra ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Really Cool Camping, part 2 This skills program is an introduction to snow camping. Snow camping is really cool, but it doesn't have to be cold if you know what you're doing. This is a reprise of our program number 27 of January 26, 2006. Mike Clelland is a winter camping instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. He's also the illustrator and co-author of Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book. In this part, Mike talks about kitchens, cooking and nutrition, and staying warm at night. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Really Cool Camping, part 1 This skills program is an introduction to snow camping. Snow camping is really cool, but it doesn't have to be cold if you know what you're doing. This is a reprise of our program number 26 of January 19, 2006. Steve interviewed Mike Clelland, a winter camping instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. He's also the illustrator and co-author of Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book. In this part, Mike talks about clothing, campsite selection, and shelter. N ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Year in Gear '07 This gear program is a wrap-up of Backpack Gear Tests's reviews of 2007. Steve asked the volunteer editors and moderators from Backpack Gear Test to talk about their most memorable reviews. Memorable reviews might be about their favorite gear; but they might instead be about especially thorough or innovative approaches to reviewing outdoor gear. These four people responded: Thomas Vickers1, Ralph Ditton2, Rick Allnutt3, and Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd4. Out of more than a thousand reviews ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Baking in the Sun This skills program is a piece of cake. Well, really it's about baking a cake, in camp, without a fire or a stove. Steve returns to visit the kitchen of backcountry cooking author Linda Frederick Yaffe. Ms. Yaffe is the author of the books Backpack Gourmet, Solar Cooking for Home and Camp, High Trail Cookery, and The Well Organized Camper. Our guest backpack gourmet gives us an introduction to baking a cake with a homemade solar oven. Without fuel or fire, she bakes a delicious ginge ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Camping Together This skills program provides some ideas on how to have a romantic camping trip. Outdoors folks have this image of being tough, and of facing risky challenges in adverse situations. But there's also a softer, warmer type of outdoor adventure. Steve talks with Michelle Waitzman, the author of the book, Sex in a Tent: A Wild Couple's Guide to Getting Naughty in Nature. Michelle talks about how to look for an outdoorsy partner. She tells the story of author Kathleen Meyer's search for th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Three Three-Season Bags This gear program presents reviews of three-season sleeping bags. Three-season bags are those that you would typically use in spring, summer, or fall. Edward Ripley-Duggan reviews the Valandre Mirage. Kevin Hollingsworth reviews the Montbell UL Alpine Burrow Bag. Andrew Buskov reviews the Big Agnes Lost Ranger. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the volunteers at BGT can keep up with. By ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Urban Girls Gone Wild This skills program is an introduction to how life-long urbanites can discover camping. What happens when you take a city girl to the woods? Steve interviews Heather Menicucci, the author of Let's Get Primitive, The Urban Girl's Guide to Camping. Heather talks about the boyfriend who seduced her with the outdoors, how she made the transition from neurotic New Yorker to nature girl, and some of the things you need to know to get out of the concrete jungle and into the primeval forest. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Desert Roadless Traveled This wild places program examines the problems of trying to designate new wilderness areas in the central Utah desert. If it gets overrun by off road vehicles, can it still become new wilderness? This story was provided to us by guest reporter Kurt Repanshek, creator of the National Parks Traveler web magazine. Kurt tells this story of the struggle for wilderness designations in the desert canyonlands of central Utah with the help of: Heidi McIntosh, conservation director for the Sout ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ticket to Half Dome This wild places program examines whether the hike to Yosemite's Half Dome has become too popular to be considered wilderness. Is this national park attraction too attractive? Steve tells the story with the help of the following voices: Thomas Herrera, a Half Dome climber from Stockton, California. Rick Deutsch, author of the book, One Best Hike, Yosemite's Half Dome. Scott Gediman, spokesman for Yosemite National Park. Karen Hamilton, a Half Dome climber from Cobb, California. Laurel B ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Indoor Snow Camping This skills program presents a way to try snow-camping without actually sleeping on the snow, but rather in a rustic backcountry ski hut. This is a reprise of our program number 69 of December 14, 2006. Steve starts out at a volunteer maintenance work-party at the Sierra Club's Bradley Hut in the Tahoe National Forest. We hear from Dick Simpson, the volunteer coordinator for the four huts in the Sierra Club's system. Steve then talks to Howard Weamer, the Hut Master of the Ostrander La ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Creatures of the Night, part 2 This skills program is part 2 of a look at how to appreciate bats in the wild. (Part one is here.) We hear from Curt Black, a technical advisor for the nonprofit group, Bats Northwest. We join Curt on one of his evening bat walks, recorded in Seattle's Green Lake Park, on August 11th, 2007. Curt demonstrates the electronic equipment he uses to listen to the ultrasonic echolocation calls that bats produce. He identifies the call of a silver-haired bat. Afterwards, he talks about how ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Creatures of the Night, part 1 This skills program is part one of a Halloween look at how to appreciate those mysterious flying, furry mammals that dominate the night sky. What do we really know about them, and how can we learn more about them? Steve talks with Curt Black from Seattle, an expert on certain mammals of the order Chiroptera, who tells us why they're fascinating. Curt dispels some common myths that often cause people to fear them. We also hear briefly from Dave Smith, an expert on safety around animals ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Inner-City Outings, part 2 This outings program takes us on a campout with the Sierra Club's Inner-City Outings (ICO) section. This is part two of a follow up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users. (Part one is here.) Steve visits a campout led by the ICO at the Arroyo Seco Campground in the Los Padres National Forest. We hear from: Gabriella, a campout participant and four-year veteran of ICO outings Debra Asher, the national administrator of the Sierra Club's Inner-City Outings La ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Inner-City Outings, part 1 This outings program takes us on a campout with the Sierra Club's Inner-City Outings (ICO) section. This part one of two is a follow-up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users. Steve visits a campout lead by the ICO at the Arroyo Seco Campground in the Los Padres National Forest. We hear from: Gabriella, a campout participant and four-year veteran of ICO outings. Larry Volpe, a fifth-grade teacher and ICO leader. Sergio, a campout participant. Graciella, a c ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bags for the Cold This gear program presents reviews of winter sleeping bags. Winter camping is cool. But it isn't cold if you have a warm sleeping bag to crawl into. Michael Wheiler reviews the Sierra Designs Cirque. Jennifer Koles reviews the Sierra Designs Electra. Andy Henrichs reviews the Sierra Designs Echo. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the volunteers at BGT can keep up with. By becoming a te ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thanks Ranger Boyers! This wild places program is a thanks and tribute to Yosemite National Park's wilderness manager, Ranger Laurel Boyers. Ranger Boyers is retiring from the park after 31 years of service on October 1st. We hear from Mike Tollefson, the superintendent of Yosemite National Park. Mike comments on Ranger Boyers' Career. Steve interviews Laurel Boyers, who talks about her experiences in the span of her career. We understand that Laurel Boyers and her husband, also a park service employee, w ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website It's Soup This skills program is a guide to cooking and dehydrating a gourmet bouillabaisse soup for your backcountry trips. A lot of people think you can't take food this good on the trail. Steve visited the kitchen of backcountry cooking author Linda Frederick Yaffe. Ms. Yaffe is the author of the books Backpack Gourmet, Solar Cooking for Home and Camp, High Trail Cookery, and The Well Organized Camper. Our guest backpack gourmet gives us an introduction to dehydrating our own meals from gour ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ranger Changes, part 2 This wild places program is part two of an exploration on how the job of wilderness rangers is changing. (Listen to part 1 first.) Many people who worked for parks and forests when the Wilderness Act went in effect are still working. Last week, we started out by getting a look at the traditional skills and duties of a wilderness ranger. This week, we find out about the greatest changes affecting their jobs, and changes in the way we interact with them. We hear from: Gregg Fauth, Wil ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ranger Changes, part 1 This wild places program is part one of an exploration on how the job of wilderness rangers is changing. Many people who worked for parks and forests when the Wilderness Act went in effect are still working. We start out by getting a look at the traditional skills and duties of a wilderness ranger. We hear from: Gregg Fauth, Wilderness Coordinator for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Laurel Boyers, Wilderness manager for Yosemite National Park. John Roth, Chief Ranger for Lass ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Next 100 In this program we take you behind the scenes to learn about how we put together our shows. Just what goes into producing an edition of the WildeBeat? From fixing your feet to using your head, from camping in the snow to backpacking in the desert, we've spent two years finding ways to help you get into the wilderness. The WildeBeat is a free public service to help you discover, and get the most out of America's wild public lands. And while the show is free to you, it costs us a lot to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thousand Lakes This wild places program is part one of a visit to the Thousand Lakes Wilderness in the Lassen National Forest. This small, 25 square-mile wilderness shouldn't be judged by its size. The Thousand Lakes Wilderness is just north of Lassen Volcanic National Park, which we explored in our edition numbers 96 & 97. While national parks are high-profile places that attract a lot of attention, nearby national forest wilderness areas are often overlooked. Steve talks with Jan Sorochtey, th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Summer OR 2007 This gear program is an overview of some of the new gear exhibited at the 2007 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. Steve intervews testers from BackpackGearTest.ORG in Salt Lake City, Utah. Andy Mytys comments on the SPOT Satellite Messenger, new tarps by Go Lite, and new products by Sea to Summit. Jennifer Koles comments on the Magellan Triton GPS receiver and National Geographic Topo! maps. Jason Boyle comments on a new eVent® jacket by Rab, new drinks by Cliff Bar, and jackets by ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website What's in Sierra Water? This skills program is an interview about backcountry water quality in general, and about California's Sierra Nevada in particular. Steve interviewed Dr. Robert Derlet. Dr. Derlet is a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Dr. Derlet is also a recognized researcher and expert on the quality of backcountry water in the Sierra Nevada. His latest paper on the subject is titled, Coliform bacteria in Sierra Nevada wilderness la ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lassen National Park, part 2 This wild places program is part one of a visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park. It's been called a little Yellowstone because of its wilderness and its volcanic features. We hear from Steve Zachary, the park's education specialist, about some of the most interesting features of the park's wilderness areas. He mentions the Cinder Cone, the Fantastic Lava Beds, and Boiling Springs Lake. Jean Higham, our normally silent co-writer and co-editor, provides a trip report on her four day hi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lassen National Park, part 1 This wild places program is part one of a visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park. It's been called a little Yellowstone because of its wilderness and its volcanic features. Jean Higham, our normally silent co-writer and co-editor, takes off for four days of solo backpacking in the park's wilderness. Steve talks to Steve Zachary, the park's education specialist, about some of the features that attract people to the park. Of course, one of the most prominent is the peak of the volcano i ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Leave No Trace Revisited This skills program presents the Leave No Trace skills for minimizing our impact on wilderness areas. This is a remix of our show number 4 of July 18, 2005. Steve encountered hikers on the trail last week in the Lassen National Forest, and tested them on their knowledge of Leave No Trace principles. Then we replay portions of our 2005 interview with Ben Lawhon, the education director of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. Ben quizzes Steve on his low-impact wilderness skil ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Keeping Bears Hungry This skills program is a look at the arms race between campers and bears in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. How should you protect your food from bears? This is a reprise of our show number 48, first presented on June 29, 2006. We include excerpts from interviews with Tori Seher, the wildlife biologist in charge of human/bear management at Yosemite National Park, and Laurel Boyers, the Wilderness Manager at Yosemite. They talk about the history of keeping bears from camper's food in ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wool-Blend Socks This gear program presents reviews of wool-blend socks. You probably don't think much about socks, until you find yourself wishing you had different ones. Andrew Buskov reviews the Bridgedale X-Hale Socks. Pam Wyant reviews the Defeet Blaze socks. Kevin Hollingsworth reviews the Defeet Classico socks. Ray Estrella reviews the Wigwam Wool/Silk Hiker socks. If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bay Area Wilderness Training, part 2 This outings program takes us on a Wilderness Leadership Training course offered by the non-profit group, Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT). This part 2 of 2 is a follow-up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users. Steve meets a diverse group of teachers, counselors, and other youth workers on the trail just outside of Yosemite National Park. He talks to: Roger Miller, executive director of BAWT. Hector Nuño, a volunteer youth counselor from San Jose, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bay Area Wilderness Training, part 1 This outings program takes us on a Wilderness Leadership Training course offered by the non-profit group, Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT). This part 1 of 2 is a follow-up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users. Steve meets a diverse group of teachers, counselors, and other youth workers at the Cherry Lake campground just outside of Yosemite National Park. He talks to: Roger Miller, executive director of BAWT. Hector Nuño, a volunteer youth counselo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Listening to Parks, part 2 This wild places program explores sounds in national parks. Do you go to parks for the peace and quiet? Should you expect peace and quiet at national parks? We hear from Kurt Fristrup, a scientist for the Natural Sounds Program of the National Park Service. He plays clips recorded by their audio measuring systems, which were placed near Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park. He describes the greatest sources of noise pollution in the park, and how it can adversely effect visitors a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Listening to Parks, part 1 This wild places program explores sounds in national parks. Do you go to parks for the peace and quiet? Should you expect peace and quiet at national parks? Steve starts out in a relatively remote campground in Yosemite National Park, and discovers some noises he wasn't counting on. He interviews two campers, Maria Mustanen and Bill Garcia, about how they feel about man-made noise in parks. Steve interviews Kurt Fristrup, a scientist for the Natural Sounds Program of the National Par ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Using All Fours, part 2 This skills program is part 2 of our look at the science and skills, myths and fact around trekking poles. Is hiking with poles a trendy gimmick, or a valuable skill?Julianne Abendroth-Smithtalks about the results of research into the effects on the body of hiking with trekking poles. She's a biomechanics professor atWillamette Universityin Salem Oregon.We hear from Jayah Faye Paley, an author and educator, and co-host of an educational DVD,POLES for Hiking, Trekking&Walking. Jayah's web ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Using All Fours, part 1 This skills program is part 1 of our look at the science and skills, myths and fact around trekking poles. Is hiking with poles a trendy gimmick, or a valuable skill?Steve talks toJulianne Abendroth-SmithofWillamette Universityin Salem Oregon. She's a biomechanics professor studying the physics of hiking, and how hiking with various poles and walking sticks affect the body.Steve talks to Jayah Faye Paley, an author and educator, and co-host of an educational DVD,POLES for Hiking, Trekking ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Orestimba Wilderness Updated This wild places program revisits the Orestimba Wilderness of California'sHenry W. Coe State Park. It's an amazingly remote wilderness surprisingly close to the San Francisco Bay Area. A new entrance to the park will make this remote wilderness more easily accessible.Steve rode with backcountry ranger Cameron Bowers on a patrol trip to the wilderness. Volunteer park historian Teddy Goodrich came along. They stopped for lunch and to talk alongRed Creek, in the heart of the wilderness are ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sheep Watering Holes This wild places program looks at a proposal to provide artificial water sources for California desert bighorn sheep. Are we going to have to ruin a wilderness to save them? We hear from Steve Tabor, who taught us desert backpacking skills in edition 34, and helped introduce us to the Sheephole valley Wilderness in edition 81. Steve mentions a plan to build roads and dams in the Sheephole Valley Wilderness to provide water for desert bighorn sheep. Dan Abbe, a wilderness specialist fr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Mountain Rescuers This outings program joins a training exercise of the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU). The rescuers practice their winter alpine rescue skills in the Carson Pass area, just south of Lake Tahoe, California. Most search and rescue teams in the U.S. are all-volunteer. BAMRU is just one example. To find out about the mountain rescue teams near you, you can look at the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). This is a reprise of our edition #32 of March 9, 2006. We followed it with a c ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sheephole Valley Wilderness This wild places program profiles the Sheephole Valley Wilderness in the Mojave Desert. This may be the largest waterless wilderness in the 48 states. We hear from Steve Tabor, the president of the Berkeley, California based outings group, the Desert Survivors. Steve Tabor has extensive experience in the Sheephole Valley Wilderness, and may be one of the first in recorded history to cross it, unsupported, on foot. Dan Abbe, the Wilderness Specialist for the Needles Field Office of the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fighting Animal Terror This skills program looks at how to handle potentially dangerous animals in the wilderness. How afraid of them do you really need to be? Is this something that should prevent you from getting into the wilderness? Steve interviews Dave Smith, a former backcountry caretaker at Yellowstone National Park, and the author of two books, Don't Get Eaten, The Dangers of Animals that Charge or Attack, and Backcountry Bear Basics, the Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters. Dave talk ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Yosemite Snow Vox Pop This outings program is aVox Popwhere we ask: Are snow campers and winter wilderness visitors super-human?Steve recorded the candid thoughts of several skiers, snowshoe hikers, and snow campers atSummit Meadowalong the Glacier Point Road inYosemite National Park. Summit Meadow is abouta mile from theBadger Pass downhill ski area, a popular trailhead forwinter access to the Yosemite backcountry.First, we hear from Howard Weamer, theHut Masterfor Yosemite Park's backcountryski hut at Ostran ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Race in the Backcountry This wild places program asks why ethnic minorities are even more in the minority in wilderness recreation areas. Steve interviewed Doctor Nina Roberts in November 2005. Dr. Roberts is an assistant professor at San Francisco State University in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. An expert on the demographics of National Park visitation, she previously worked for the National Park Service as an education and outreach specialist. The National Park Service has this web page ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website History of Backcountry Skiing This skills program is a look at the evolution and history of the sport of backcountry ski touring in California. Howard Weamer, who also appeared in edition #69: Indoor Snow Camping, has been the keeper or master of the backcountry ski hut at Ostrander Lake in Yosemite National Park for 33 years. Over that time, and in his formative years before, Howard saw tremendous changes in the sport of backcountry skiing. Howard talks about some of those changes, and his experiences in the early ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Indoor Snow Camping This skills program presents a way to try snow-camping without actually sleeping on the snow, but rather in a rustic backcountry ski hut.Steve starts out at a volunteer maintenance work-party at theSierra Club'sBradley Hutin theTahoe National Forest. We hear from Dick Simpson, the volunteer coordinator for thefour huts in the Sierra Club's system.Steve then talks to Howard Weamer, theHut Masterof theOstrander Lake HutinYosemite National Park. He wraps up by talking to Ben Dodge, the Execu ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website WildeBeat Promo Clip This is a 45 second promotional clip about the show.WildeBeat Promo [MP3 format; length 0:45; 792,815 bytes] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Light Lofty Jackets This gear program presents reviews of two lightweight synthetic-insulated jackets. These jackets can serve as lighter, more compressible replacements for the ubiquitous fleece jacket. The reviews are provided by volunteer reviewers fromBackpack Gear Test.Pamela Wyant reviews theBig Sky Products Convertible Sweater. Christine Korhonen reviews theIntegral Designs PLQ Jacket.Backpack Gear Test has more gear to review than reviewers. You can start out by reviewing gear you already own, and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Backcountry Home Cooking This skills program illustrates how easy it is to prepare your own home-cooked meals in the backcountry. Though the commercially-packaged foods are very convenient, you could save money and get exactly what you like by making your own.Steve demonstrates how to make one of his favorite pre-packaged dried meals, a vegetarian spaghetti. We also hear from:John Garrett ofEnertia Trail Foods.Roberta Cobb, who also appeared in our edition number 2,A Gathering of Long Distance Hikers.Mary Howley ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fast Food for the Backcountry This skills program is a look at the dehydrated food options for backcountry travelers. What goes into making these things? Are they real food? Are they good food and good for you? Steve talks to three manufacturers of dehydrated meals: Don Gearing, president of TyRy, Inc. They manufacture Alpine Aire, Richmoor, and Natural High brands of dehydrated meals. Melanie Cornutt, assistant manager of retail products for Oregon Freeze Dry. They manufacture the Mountain House brand of dehyd ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Poop on Mount Whitney, part 2 This wild places program investigates an effect that 20,000 hikers and climbers a year have on the trail to Mount Whitney (14,498'). In order to preserve the environment and scenic beauty of that narrow, rocky canyon, the Inyo National Forest has had to take Leave No Trace a step further. Steve tells the story with the help of: Erika Jostad, Wilderness Manager from Sequoia National Park. Brian Spitek, Wilderness Manager for the Mount Whittney Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Poop on Mount Whitney, part 1 This wild places program investigates an effect that 20,000 hikers and climbers a year have on the trail to Mount Whitney (14,498'). In order to preserve the environment and scenic beauty of that narrow, rocky canyon, the Inyo National Forest has had to take Leave No Trace a step further. Steve walks into the Mount Whitney visitors center, and hears about the new policies that affect every hiker and climber in the Mount Whitney zone. He talks to Deputy District Ranger Margaret Wood, an ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Mount Whitney for Beginners This wild places program presents some tips for climbing the highest mountain in the continental United States, Mount Whitney (14,498'). Steve tells the story with the help of: Scott Morrow, a hiker from San Diego, CA. Mike Noone, a hiker from Huntington Beach, CA. Todd Vogel, the Wilderness Education Coordinator for Friends of the Inyo. Doug Thompson, an owner of the Whitney Portal Store. Stephanie Schmidt, a hiker from Lee Vining, CA. Dean DeBennedictus, a hiker from Los Angeles, CA. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website All Around Lake Tahoe, part 2 This outings program is a follow-up with hikers on the Tahoe Rim Trail. TheTahoe Rim Trail Associationcelebrated their twenty fifth anniversary by leading fifteen people on a through hike of their165 mile trail.Steve talks to:Steve Andersen, the president of the Tahoe Rim Trail AssociationNicole Anderson, the youngest member of the partyGary Hanneman, the eldest member of the partyThe Tahoe Rim Trail Association organizesguided hikes of sections of the trailas well.Show number 59 [MP3 form ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lightweight Solo Shelters This gear program presents reviews of two lightweight solo shelters. The reviews are provided by volunteer reviewers from Backpack Gear Test. Jason Boyle reviews the TarpTent Rainbow. Andrew Buskov reviews the Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape. Backpack Gear Test has more gear to review than reviewers. You can start out by reviewing gear you already own, and then you might be able to get other free gear to review. Read: How to become a tester. Show number 60 [MP3 format; length 9:38; ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website All Around Lake Tahoe, part 2 This outings program is a follow-up with hikers on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association celebrated their twenty fifth anniversary by leading fifteen people on a through hike of their 165 mile trail. Steve talks to: Steve Andersen, the president of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association Nicole Anderson, the youngest member of the party Gary Hanneman, the eldest member of the party The Tahoe Rim TRail Association organizes guided hikes of sections of the trail as well. Show num ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website All Around Lake Tahoe, part 1 This outings program is a visit to the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association celebrated their twenty fifth anniversary by leading fifteen people on a through hike of their 165 mile trail. Steve hikes from Echo Summit along a section of trail shared by the Tahoe Rim Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. He meets the hikers at their mid-trip camp at Showers Lake. From there, he hikes with them to Echo Lake. Steve talks to: Steve Andersen, the president of the Tahoe Rim Trail As ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Volunteer Trail Crew This outings program is a reprise of show number 10, first posted on September 15th, 2005. Steve joins a work day with the High Sierra Volunteer Trail Crew, in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness of the Sequoia National Forest. The crew was camped at Jennie Lake. They cleared fallen trees near Poop Out Pass, and added switchbacks to a steep and eroding trail descending from there to Jennie Lake. Why join a trail crew? For the feeling of making a difference, to be with more experienced outd ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Two Two-Person tents This gear program presents reviews of two two-person backpacking tents. The reviews are provided by volunteer reviewers from Backpack Gear Test. Kathryn Doiron reviews the Coleman Cloudview Two tent. Raymond Estrella reviews the MSR Fling tent. Backpack Gear Test has more gear to review than reviewers. You can start out by reviewing gear you already own, and then you might be able to get other free gear to review. Read: How to become a tester. Show number 56 [MP3 format; length 9: ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Story of Bear Cans, part 2 This wild places program is part two of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. Who makes these things, and how do we know they work? Steve tells the story with the help of: Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest. Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Allen DeForrest of Wild Ideas, manufacturer of the Bearikade. Tom Cohen of Ur ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Story of Bear Cans, part 1 This wild places program is part one of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas the lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. Why were they invented, who invented them, and how did that happen? Steve tells the story with the help of: Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Tori Seher, a wildlife biologist from Yosemite National Park. Richard Garcia, the president of Garcia Machine, manufacturer o ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stuff We Left Out In this program we revisit some of the interesting people who appeared in earlier editions. We play some clips we left out of the earlier shows they appeared in. We were sweeping up our virtual cutting floor, and these were too good to throw out: Edition #10: Volunteer Trail Crew Ken Murray talks about the forest service's ability to maintain recreational trails. Editions #13 and #14: The Wilderness at Night Chad Moore talks about the equipment his night sky monitoring team uses to me ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fueling Yourself, Part 1 This skills program is part one of an interview with Mary Howley Ryan, the nutritional advisor for NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School. She's also the author of the NOLS Nutrition Field Guide. Our body's the engine that powers our wilderness trips. How do we make sure the food we have is enough to support the strength and stamina we need for our travels? Mary talks about why nutrition is important for wilderness trip meals, and about the most important considerations. She t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Wilderness Ranger Experiences This skills program is a reprise of show number 11, first posted on September 22, 2005. It's about the job of being a backcountry ranger in national forest wilderness. It's a frequently romanticized job with lots of responsibility. Three rangers talk candidly about their experiences. Sendi Kalcic and Brent Carpenter are professional backcountry wilderness rangers who have worked in the Desolation Wilderness of the Eldorado National Forest near Lake Tahoe, California. Amy McElvany is ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fueling Yourself, part 2 This skills program is part two of an interview with Mary Howley Ryan, the nutritional advisor for NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School. She's also the author of the NOLS Nutrition Field Guide. Mary continues the interview, talking about how to plan food for a wilderness trip, and about some good choices for food. She pointed to a couple of resources, both in the interview and afterwards in e-mail, including: 24hourfitness.com offers a calculator to help you determine the num ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kid's Nature, part 2 This skills program is part two of a piece on kids in nature and wilderness. Specifically, why they need it and how to get them into it. Steve continues an interview with Scott Graham, author of the book, Extreme Kids, How to Connect with Your Children Through Today's Extreme (and Not So Extreme) Outdoor Sports. Scott talks about how parents can get their kids into the wilderness. Richard Louv, author of the book, Last Child in the Woods, Saving our children from nature deficit disor ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kid's Nature, part 1 This skills program is part one of a piece on kids in nature and wilderness. Specifically, why they need it and how to get them into it. We hear comments by Richard Louv, author of the book, Last Child in the Woods, Saving our children from nature deficit disorder. Richard describes how today's children are being raised mostly indoors, or without contact with the wild and natural world. Steve begins an interview with Scott Graham, author of the book, Extreme Kids, How to Connect with ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rain Pants Reviewed This gear program presents reviews of three different rain pants models. The reviews are provided by volunteer reviewers from Backpack Gear Test. Brian Tannehill reviews the Red Ledge Full Zip Rain Pants. Pam Wyant reviews the Big Sky Products Warm-n-Cozy Epic Pants. Kathy Waters reviews the Integral Designs eVENT Rain Pants. Backpack Gear Test has more gear to review than reviewers. You can start out by reviewing gear you already own, and then you might be able to get other free ge ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Orestimba Wilderness This wild places program explores the Orestimba Wilderness of California's Henry W. Coe State Park. This often overlooked state park wilderness is 23,000 acres, and is rarely visted. Steve rides with backcountry ranger Cameron Bowers on a patrol trip to the wilderness. Volunteer park historian Teddy Goodrich rides along. Along the way they meet Bob Bambauer, a horse camper. They stop for lunch and to talk along Red Creek, in the heart of the wilderness area. The Pine Ridge Associati ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Wild Bird Chase, part 2 This outings program takes us on outings organized as part of the Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival in Arcata, California. Arcata can claim to be one of the top birding locations in the country. In this part, Steve continues on a hike in the Headwaters Forest Reserve in a quest to see a particularly difficult to find, endangered wild bird, the marbled murrelet. Dave Anthon and Julie Clark from the Bureau of Land Management led the hike. Now in an obsessive persuit of the mar ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Getting Fit Feet, Part 1 This skills program is part one of an interview with John Vonhof, the author of Fixing Your Feet. Your feet are your main means of transportation on most wilderness adventures. Some people suffer after a relatively short distance, while others have walked thousands of miles without problems. So how do you keep your feet in top working order? John talks about what motivated him to write his book. He talks about how to choose and fit your shoes properly, how to tell if a shoe is going ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Birdwatching 101 This skills program is an introduction to birdwatching. The wildlife you're most likely to see on any wilderness outing are birds, and they're certainly more interesting if you can tell them apart. In this edition, we hear from Shana Stearn of BirderBabes.com. Shana taught Birdwatching 101 at the Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival in Arcata, California. Arcata can claim to be one of the top birding locations in the country. Shana talks about her Seven S's of bird identificati ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Desert Trail This wild places program explores an alternative to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), a 1,300 mile route called The Desert Trail. This trail runs roughly parallel to the PCT, through the high desert of California, Nevada, and Oregon, and is eventually planned to continue through Idaho and Montana. Ross Edgington of The Desert Trail Association talks about the history of the trail, the development of the route in Oregon, and the current progress toward the trail's completion. Steve Tabor o ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Calling for Help This skills program is an overview of some of the ways you can call for help from the wilderness. Have you ever thought about how you'd get help if you needed it? Out of all the different ways you could let somebody know about your situation, some of them work better than others. Steve talks about simple signaling techniques, like whistles, signal mirrors, and smoke signals, and then discusses various phones and radio technologies. He talks to Caroline Semerdjian at Sprint-Nextel. S ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Surviving the Desert, part 2 This outings program completes our report of our trip with the Desert Survivors. We camped for two nights in the Sheep Hole Valley Wilderness, in the southern Mojave desert. In this part, leader Dave Halligan leads Steve and the group to the top of the Sheep Hole Mountains, and back out the next day. The show ends with a conversation on the hike-out about the desert experience. Show number 36 [MP3 format; length 8:41; 2,086,267 bytes] Show number 35 & 36, combined high-fidel ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Surviving the Desert, Part 1 This outings program takes us on a backpacking trip with The Desert Survivors. We camped for two nights in the Sheep Hole Valley Wilderness, in the southern Mojave Desert. In this part, leader Dave Halligan leads Steve and his group into a camp site and begins a peak climb the next day. In part two, you'll hear the rest of the outing report. Show number 35 [MP3 format; length 9:26; 2,267,766 bytes] Show number 35 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Desert Backpacking Tips This skills program is an introduction to desert backpacking skills. Steve talks to Steve Tabor of the Berkeley, California based group, The Desert Survivors. Steve Tabor dispels some of the fears people have about desert wilderness travel. He shares his considerable experience about gear, water management, and plants and animals in the desert. We'll hear more from Steve Tabor in a future program. Show number 34 [MP3 format; length 9:55; 2,381,346 bytes] Show number 34 script ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wilderness Rescuing This skills program explores opportunities to volunteer as a wilderness search and rescue responder. Steve interviews John Chang of BAMRU, Tim Kovacs of MRA, and Kathy Miller of NASAR. They talk about how you can make a rescuer's job easier if you should ever need them. They talk about the challenges and rewards of joining a search and rescue team. (Hint: There are few better ways to build your wilderness skills.) If you're curious about technical mountain rescue, take a look at ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Mountain Rescuers This outings program takes us to a training exercise of the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU). The rescuers practice their winter alpine rescue skills in the Carson Pass area, just south of Lake Tahoe, California. Most search and rescue teams in the U.S. are all-volunteer. BAMRU is just one example. To find out about the mountain rescue teams near you, you can look at the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). In next week's show, we'll talk more too John Chang of BAMRU and Tom ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Freeheeling Ski Festival This outings program takes us to the Bear Valley Telemark Festival (you might need to turn off Javascript to see this page). One of the key skills for backcountry ski touring is the telemark turn. It's a way to descend larger, steeper hills on skis that are more like cross-country skis. Festival events like the Bear Valley Tele Fest help you get a jump-start on the skills. Steve gives a history of telemark skiing. He talks to a couple of people about their experience at the festiv ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Winter OR 2006 This gear program is a report on the Winter 2006 Outdoor Retailer's Expo. Jerry Goller, Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd, and Steven Nelson of Backpack Gear Test report on the show in general, and the gear they saw there in particular. They commented on gear made by Heat Factory, Jetboil, Arc'teryx, Osprey, Mountain Hardware, Pacific Outdoor Equipment, Kahtoola, Java Juice, Ursack, Icebreaker Merino, and Injinji. Backpack Gear Test has more gear to review than reviewers. You can start out by ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wilderness First Aid Training This skiils program is a mini wilderness first aid class. Bobbie Foster of Foster Calm is a wilderness EMT and professional first aid trainer. She talks us through the most common health problems people encounter on backcountry trips, and what to do about them. She explains the different levels of wilderness first-aid training of interest to non-medical professionals. Standards for wilderness first aid courses is established by the Wilderness Medical Society. To find wilderness fir ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Staying On Top of the Snow This skills program is an introduction to avalanche safety. Gary Bard, an avalanche safety instructor for Mountain Adventure Seminars, talks about easy ways to stay out of avalanches, and describes a rescue. Brandon Schwartz of the Sierra Avalanche Center talks about avalanche forecasting and the Snow Condition Report. Tom Murphy, of the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), talks about avalanche safety education. There's a lot of additonal information abo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Really Cool Camping, part 1 This skills program is an introduction to snow camping by Mike Clelland. Mike is a winter camping instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. He's also the illustrator and co-author of Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book. In this part, Mike talks about clothing, camp site selection, and shelter. Next week in part two, he'll tell you the rest you need to know to get started. Show number 26 [MP3 format; length 8:51; 2,125,032 bytes] Show number 26 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Outdoors Club This outings program is an interview with Tim Bui, the founder of the online social network for outdoors activities called, The Outdoors Club. Long before the current craze of web sites called social networks, the web site outdoorsclub.org was connecting climbers, hikers, and other wilderness travelers. There's a wide range of outdoor activities in their calendar, from beginner classes to major expeditions, and they were doing it back when final vowels were still in fashion. Show nu ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vox WildeBeat for January 11, 2006 This is an introduction to Vox WildeBeat, a new companion podcast feed that's all about your participation. After you listen to what it's about, it's your turn to talk! Vox WildeBeat 1 [MP3 format; length 5:04; 1,217,434 bytes] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Riding Outside the Lines This wild places program is about motor vehicle intrusions into National Forest wilderness. This additional story came out of the interviews for our previous program number 23, Drawing Lines in the Snow. The National Forest wilderness near Bear Valley, California, has a problem similar to a lot of wilderness areas. Some motorized recreation users, in this case snowmobiles, don't respect wilderness boundaries. This kind of thing happens with different kinds of vehicles year-round, b ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wild but not Wilderness, part 1 This wild places program is part one of an exploration of unprotected, potential wilderness areas in California. Ryan Henson, the policy director for theCalifornia Wilderness Coalition(CWC), talks about theirCitizen Wilderness Inventoryproject. Steve mentions theCalifornia Wild Heritage Act, and talks about thedevelopmentthreateningsomeproposed wilderness additionstoJoshua Tree National Park.Steve interviews Bryn Jones, the desert program director for the CWC, to find out some special des ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Drawing Lines in the Snow This wild places program is about conflicts over the use of winter recreation areas in national forests. Backcountry skiers and snowshoe hikers can be disturbed by snowmobilers. But are they actually seeking such different things?Bear Valley, California, is popular with snowmobilers, skiers, and snowshoe hikers alike.The National Forestandthe communityare looking for ways that they can all get along. Find out what happens next…Show number 23 [MP3 format; length 9:56; 2,384,272 byt ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Year in Gear This gear program might give you some holiday shopping ideas. Steve asked three volunteer editors fromBackpack Gear Testto pick their favorites: Rick Allnutt1, Jim Sabiston2, and Edward Ripley-Duggan3. Out of thousands of reviews published on BGT this year, they recommended these:Orikaso Fold Flat Picnic Set1Outdoor Research Airfoil Gloves2Princeton Tec EOS Headlamp3Vargo Jet-Ti Stove1Bozeman TorsoLite Sleeping Pad2MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoe3Tilley TH4 Hemp Hat1Black Diamond Lighthous ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sierra Backcountry Ski Trails This skills program is an interview with Marcus Libkind. Marcus wrote the most comprehensive and widely used trail guides for backcountry ski tours in the Sierra Nevada:Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 1: Lake TahoeSki Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 2: Carson Pass, Bear Valley, PinecrestSki Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 3: Yosemite, Huntington and Shaver Lakes, Kings Canyon, SequoiaSki Tours in the Sierra Nevada, Volume 4: East of the Sierra CrestSki Tours in Lassen Volcanic ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Cucamonga Wilderness This wild places program explores Southern California's most undiscovered National Forest wilderness, theCucamonga Wilderness. The Cucamonga straddles the border between theSan Barnardino National Forest, and theAngeles National Forest. It's the least-visited wilderness in the greater Southern California region.Steve got into the wilderness with wilderness ranger Sharon Barfknecht, and district ranger Gabe Garcia. They met at theLytle Creek Ranger Station, and then day-hiked from theMidd ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Restoring a Park Gone to Pot Photo by Paige FalkThis outings program takes us to California's first state park,Big Basin Redwoods. We explore the problems caused by a five-acre marijuana plantation hidden in the park's backcountry, and follow thevolunteer groupwho provided considerable labor to clean it up.Marijuana cultivation is a growing problem in public lands, especially in the Pacific west. Marijuana demand is increasing, our borders are tightening, and budgets for managing our public lands are being cut. Nati ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lighten Your Backpack! This skills program explores lightweight backpacking. Ryan Jordan ofBackpacking Light: The Magazine of Lightweight Hiking and Backcountry Traveltalks about the lightweight backpacking movement.Steve interviews Don Ladigin, the author ofLighten Up! (A complete handbook for lightweight and ultralight backpacking.).Here are some other useful sources of information about lightweight backpacking:Book:Allen& Mike's Really Cool Backpacking Bookby Allen O'BannonIf you're new to backpacking, re ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wild but not Wilderness, part 2 This wild places program is part two of an exploration of unprotected, potential wilderness areas in California. Steve talks about theNorthern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act. He quotes a statement byCongressman Mike Thompson, and aSacramento Bee editorialabout the act.Steve interviews Ryan Henson, the policy director for theCalifornia Wilderness Coalition(CWC). Ryan talks about some areas which would become wilderness under the act, includingCache Creek, thelost coast of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Winter Storm Warning, part 2 This skills program tells the rest of the story of backpacker Mike Bargetto and his three relatives, who were caught in an unexpected snow storm in October of 2004. The story describes their rescue from theirRae Lakecamp site, in California'sJohn Muir Wilderness.The rescue was lead by Leutenant Phil Caporale, of theFresno County Sheriff'sSearch and Rescue unit. He and Mike tell the story of the rescue from both perspectives.Steve wraps up the show by talking about how you can be better pr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Winter Storm Warning, part 1 This skills program tells the story of backpacker Mike Bargetto and his three relatives, who were caught in an unexpected snow storm in October of 2004. The story describes their hike fromCourtright ReservoirtoRae Lake, and the conditions they encountered there.In part two, we'll present the rest of Mike's story, and some advice for safely enjoying late season wilderness travel.Show number 15 [MP3 format; length 7:33; 1,814,593 bytes]Show number 15 scriptMap of Mike's route [PDF format; 3, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Wilderness at Night, part 2 This wild places program is about the science of night time in wilderness. How does the sky glow from cities, and light pollution in general affect wilderness areas?Steve interviews Chad Moore, a physical scientist with theNational Park Service, and leader of their night sky research team. He talks about measuring light pollution in the parks.Steve talks withDr. Travis Longcore, the science director of theUrban Wildlands Group. Along withDr. Catherine Rich, they edited a book,Ecological ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Volunteer Trail Crew This outings program is a work day with theHigh Sierra Volunteer Trail Crew, in theJennie Lakes Wildernessof theSequoia National Forest.Why join a trail crew? For the feeling of making a difference, to be with more experienced outdoors men and women, to spend time in the wilderness, for the fun and camaraderie, or perhaps just for the food!Show number 10 [MP3 format; length 9:06; 2,187,726 bytes]Show number 10, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 9:06; 8,751,356 bytes]Show number 10 ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Backpacking Cookbook Reviews This gear program presents reviews of two backpacking cookbooks. The reviews are provided by volunteer reviewers fromBackpack Gear Test.Jim Hatch reviewsThe Hiker's Guide to Preparing Home Cooked Meals on the Trail, by Steven Mroz. Steve Nelson reviewsLip Smackin' Vegetarian Backpackin', by Christine and Tim Connors.Show number 9 [MP3 format; length 8:51; 2,125,868 bytes]Show number 9 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ishi's Wilderness, part 2 This wild places program is part two of Steve’s exploration of the mysteriousIshi Wilderness. This wilderness is in theLassen National Forest, in northeastern California.Steve started hiking from theDeer Creek trailhead, and explored a couple of miles into the wilderness. He feels a heightened appreciation for the way the Yahi lived, and discovers another, a modern mystery.Show number 8 [MP3 format; length 6:58; 1,675,099 bytes]Show number 8 scriptPictures from Steve’s hike Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ishi's Wilderness, part 1 This wild places program is part one of Steve’s exploration of the mysteriousIshi Wilderness. This wilderness is in theLassen National Forest, in northeastern California.Steve learns about Ishi from Ira Jacknis, the Research Anthropologist from thePhoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropologyat theUniversity of California at Berkeley. He tells the story ofIshi, for whom the wilderness is named, and talks about how he lived. (Ishi’s life was best documented in a book,Ishi in Two Wor ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Leaving No Trace This skills program presents the Leave No Trace skills for minimizing our impact on wilderness areas. Steve interviews Ben Lawhon, the education director of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. Ben quizzes Steve on his low-impact wilderness skills.Show number 4 [MP3 format; length 7:42; 1,846,149 bytes]Show number 4 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Testing Backpack Gear This gear program kicks-off our future series of outdoor equipment reviews on the WildeBeat. In this show, Steve interviewsJerry Goller, the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief ofBackpack Gear Test.In future shows,testers from Backpack Gear Testwill providehands-on reviews of outdoor gear.Show number 3 [MP3 format; length 7:55; 1,892,229 bytes]Show number 3 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Gathering of Long-Distance Hikers This outings program is a report from the October 1 - 3, 2004 gathering of the American Long Distance Hiking Association West, orALDHA-West.Links to web sites mentioned in this program:Clair Tappaaan LodgeRoy Robinson's Cat StovePacific Crest Trail AssociationShow number 2 [MP3 format; length 8:23; 2,085,535 bytes]Show number 2 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Wildebeat's Inaugural Show Series Host Steve Sergeant explains the purpose and format of the show:I created the Wildebeat to help you explore the Earth's remaining wild places. And to provide useful news and information to people who love wilderness, and love to visit it.Show number 1 [MP3 format; length 5:20; 1,921,232 bytes]Show number 1 script Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wilderness Deals for Wheels This wild places program investigates the relationship of the popular sport of mountain bicycling to wilderness preservation. What do these groups want when they lobby for the protection of wild places?Steve tells the story with the help of:Roger Abeh, a park ranger for theDepartment of Parks of the City of San Jose, California.John Kramer, the acting Wilderness Manager for thePacific Southwest Regionof theNational Forest Service.Ryan Henson, the policy director for theCalifornia Wildernes ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Winter OR 2007 This gear program is a report on theWinter 2007 Outdoor Retailer's Expo. When the outdoor industry gathers, it's a major expedition for the folks at Backpack Gear Test; but it isn't all about the toys.Jason Boyle1, Raymond Estrella2, and Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd3report onthe most interesting gear they hope to test forBackpackGearTest.ORG. They comment on products by:GoLite1,Snow Peak1,MSR1,Primus1,Fox River1,Injinji1,Sierra Designs2,Osprey Packs2,Blue Desert3,MontBell3, andGo Pro3.Backpack ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Counting Up Essentials, part 2 This skills program is the second half of a look at the ten essentials. Are there ten, and why are they essentials?Since it's mysterious introduction bythe Mountaineersearly in the twentieth century, the10 Essentialshave been the list that everyone should know, and few could recite with certainty. In this edition, Doug Ritter, the executive director of theEquipped To Survive Foundation, and Amy Racina, author of the bookAngels in the Wilderness, compare notes on some of their ideas of the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: A Winter Storm Warning This skills program is a reprise of show numbers15and16, first posted on October 20th, 2005. It's the story of backpacker Mike Bargetto and his three relatives, who started out on a casual autumn backpacking trip in October of 2004. The weather was pleasant when they arrived at theirRae Lakecamp site, in California'sJohn Muir Wilderness.Unfortunately, the weather changed drastically, and their only hope was a rescue. The rescue team was lead by Lieutenant Phil Caporale, of theFresno Coun ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reprise: Staying On Top of the Snow This skills program is a reprise of our February 2nd, 2006 introduction to avalanche safety.Gary Bard, an avalanche safety instructor forMountain Adventure Seminars, talks about easy ways to stay out of avalanches, and describes a rescue. Brandon Schwartz of theSierra Avalanche Centertalks about avalanche forecasting and theSnow Condition Report. Tom Murphy, of theAmerican Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), talks about avalanche safety education.There's a lot of addit ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Park Pass Pique This wild places program investigates the new America The Beautiful National Parks and Federal Lands Interagency Recreation Pass. Is this new public lands pass a sneaky price hike, or a great new bargain?Steve visitsMuir Woods National Monumentand buys a newNational Parks Pass. He tells the rest of the storywith the help of:Alex Picavet, the Public Information Officer ofSequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.Jim Bedwell, National Director of Recreation and Heritage Resources for theUnite ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Base-Layer Shirts This gear program presents reviews of three base-layer shirts. A lot of us don't give much consideration to those layers we wear closest to our skin.Kevin Hollingsworth reviews theDrimove L/S Top by Go Lite. Coy Starnes reviews theOutdoor Research Men's Sequence LS Tee. Kathy Waters reviews the women's version of OR's Sequence shirt, theOutdoor Research Women's Essence LS Tee.If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test, read:How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide too ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Out in front on the PCT This wild places program presents an interview with the first of the class of 2007 through-hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to reachTuolumne MeadowsinYosemite National Park.Charlie Guyer and his companions Ryan Kern and Lee Neil started on their hike of the entire length of the trail on March 9th. The majority of PCT through hikers usually start later, around the end of April. These guys are far ahead of the pack, and so they have helpful news on conditions for the hikers who will ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website WildLink Program This outings program is a visit to theWildLink program, a partnership between theYosemite Instituteand theSierra Nevada Wilderness Education Project. This is the first follow-up toour original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users.WildLink is a program to expose teens from low-income, ethnically-diverse families to a wilderness experience.Nina Roberts, Ph.D, assistant professor at San Francisco State University, explains why a program like WildLink is necessary.Steve visited o ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Counting Up Essentials, part 1 This skills program is the first half of a look at the ten essentials. Are there ten, and why are they essentials?Since it's mysterious introduction bythe Mountaineersearly in the twentieth century, the10 Essentialshave been the list that everyone should know, and few could recite with certainty. In this edition, Doug Ritter, the executive director of theEquipped To Survive Foundation, and Amy Racina, author of the bookAngels in the Wilderness, compare notes on some of their ideas of the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Year in Gear '06 This gear program is a wrap-up ofBackpack Gear Tests'sreviews of 2006. Steve asked the volunteer editors and moderators from Backpack Gear Test to pick their favorites; three replied: Ray Estrella1, Rick Allnutt2, and Jim Sabiston3. Out of more than a thousand reviews published on BGT this year, they recommended these:Nunatak Skaha Plus Down Sweater1Nunatak Back Country Blanket1Kershaw Rainbow Leek Knife2SureFire L1 LumaMax Flashlight3Trail Designs Caldera Cone Stove System2Suunto Vector ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Wild Bird Chase, Part 1 This outings program takes us on outings organized as part of theGodwit Days Spring Migration Bird FestivalinArcata, California. Arcata can claim to be one of thetop birding locationsin the country.In this part, Steve talks toRob Hewitt, the festival organizer about the festival and his passion for birding. Steve sees his first bird of the festival right there in the main hall of Arcata's community center; Nichole Monty of theHumbolt Wildlife Care Centershows off her western screech owl,C ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Keeping Bears Hungry This skills program is a look at the arms race between campers and bears in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. How should you protect your food from bears?We include excerpts from interviews with Tori Seher, the wildlife biologist in charge of human/bear management atYosemite National Park, and Laurel Boyers, the Wilderness Manager at Yosemite. They talk about the history of keeping bears from camper's food in the Sierra Nevada, and the destructive effect that human food has on Yosemite's be ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pooch-Packing This skills program is about taking man's best friend camping in the wilderness. Where can you do it, and what do you need to know before you do?Steve gets advice from Charlene LaBelle, the author of theAlpine Publicationsbook,A Guide to Backpacking with Your Dog. Charlene was joined in in the interview with Iris, a very quiet and well-behaved Alaskan Malamute. She talks about how to know if your dog is suited to backpacking, how to train them, and what you'll need to take.Ben Lawhon of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Really Cool Camping, part 2 This skills program is an introduction to snow camping by Mike Clelland. Mike is a winter camping instructor for theNational Outdoor Leadership School. He's also the illustrator and co-author ofAllen&Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book.In this part, Mike talks about kitchens, cooking and nutrition, and staying warm at night. Ben Lawhon from theLeave No Trace Centergives some additional tips for low-impact snow camping.Show number 27 [MP3 format; length 9:54; 2,378,420 bytes]Show numb ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website WildeBeat Promo Clip This is a 30 second promotional clip about the show. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website