Another Social Media Luddite Bites the Dust

When I first started this blog, it was intended as more of a personal blog to document my outdoor life and have a medium to vent my gram geek obsessions.  But as of late I have been interacting more and more with readers of this blog and also viewers of my Youtube channel.  At times people ask the same question, or want an update, or just want to give feedback, so I figured it's time to expand into a Facebook page.  So if are interested in what will hopefully be smoother interactions--I find the comment section on this blog a bit clunky to communicate with readers, for instance--and want updates and such, check out Cesar and the Woods on Facebook here.

I will also post stuff there that perhaps does not merit a full blog post.  You know, the odd pictures of gear or day hikes and such.  But what finally pushed me over the edge was this past weekend I got a nasty bit of the flu.  I had intended to take a day hike this weekend and shoot a follow up video on the Borah Dimma bivy, but obviously that didn't happen as I lay shivering in bed much of the weekend.  And I felt bad because I had told a few people in comments and on the UL sub-Reddit that I would have this video up soon.  If only there was a way to give quick updates to my readers/viewers...

Now keep in mind that in the past I said I wouldn't get a Facebook page, and in fact up until somewhat recently I was on a Facebook boycott.  It wasn't until last year that I finally broke down and got a smartphone, to give you an idea of my leanings as a Luddite when it comes to certain things.  But pressure from family, friends, and even work finally got me to give in and accept that a smartphone is an important tool in modern society.  That being said, I am glad I waited until finally getting a smartphone, as I got to skip over all the frustrations of the early versions of smartphones.  And I must admit I am quite happy with my fancy, newer smartphone, which has a decent battery life and camera and other bells and whistles.

So this post is short and sweet.  Hopefully I'll see you on my Blog's Facebook page.  Feel free to drop me a Like and ask questions, give feedback, or even offer constructive criticism.

Happy trails to you all, and I hope that you are as excited about spring as I am.  Flowers, greener woods, sunnier days, and where I live less rain than other seasons makes for one of my favorite times of the year.

Borah Gear Bivies Double Reviews: Long Term of Cuben and First Impressions of Dimma

This will be two reflections on two different bivies that I own, both made by Borah Gear.  One will be a long term review of their Cuben bivy, which I (and at times friends that I loaned it out to) have been using pretty regularly for about three years now.  Hard to give an estimate on how many nights.  But I would say at least 40, maybe over 50 nights out of use, plus a handful of times friends have borrowed it to use.  In the above picture, it is the one on top.  

I have written/spoken about this bivy quite a bit in the past, and if you are interested in checking that out for more context/history, here is the first time I showed off the key central vent modification, and here is a video I did showing off the bivy paired with a poncho/tarp.  Here's a picture of the Cuben bivy and tarp combo in question all set up:

Zpacks Arc Haul First Impressions Review

Back in August of 2014 I wrote up a big review of all 5 of my Ultralight Backpacks, and in this text I said the following:

I currently have no interest in buying any other backpacks until I run one of these five into the ground, or if one somehow gets very damaged, etc.  And I'd probably just buy an identical or very similar replacement.  Of course things and minds can change, but I doubt that I am going to want/need another pack for a long, long time.

And at the time that is how I felt.  I really was completely happy with my packs and felt no need to buy another one.  But one can never foresee just how things will change as time goes on, and all of a sudden I found myself in a situation where I could kill several birds with one stone by replacing my Arc Blast with the newest/current version of the Arc Haul.  So first allow me to explain the thought behind buying the Arc Haul.

Winter 2015 Updates, and Long Term Future Plans

Salutations and happy holidays to anyone that may be reading this.  Been a while since I wrote an update, so here we go.  

As I expressed in other posts and vlogs previously, how often I make content is going to change due to a variety of factors.  Some of which I will spare you, but the most relevant factor is that I've accomplished a lot of my hiking goals in and around where I live.  I really wanted to explore and take advantage of the great network of trails here in south-west Sweden, and after starting on Sweden's E1 trails almost two years ago, I've managed to section hike all the way into a more isolated part of central Sweden.  I only have about 120-150km left of the E1 trails for me to complete, which I plan on doing in spring or summer 2016, and hopefully with some friends and family.  Most of my hiking adventures are solo, so it will be a nice change of pace, though I do get out on my fair share of weekend trips with friends closer to home.

So in between my more involved trips--which in the future are beginning to resemble proper adventures again rather than more leisurely backpacking trips close to home--what I've done to scratch my outdoors itch is to return to familiar trails and woods nearby.  I've not documented them on my blog because, well, I thought it would not really be of interest to my readers.  I've already documented a lot of these trails anyhow.  Most of the trips since my last E1 hike have been more appropriate to document on my private Facebook page for friends and family than here.  So I have been getting out there, I am just waiting to document more relevant and interesting adventures and reviews.

So what is in the works, then?

Return to Bohusleden: Section Hike of Parts of Stages 9-7 Plus Side Trails

 
There I lay in bed daydreaming in the middle of the week of what to do with the coming free weekend, as I often do.  Various brainstorms cross my mind, all of them having to do in one way or another getting outside into the woods.  I'm leaning towards a more bushwhacking type trip that is more focused on picking wild edible mushrooms, seeing that it's supposed to be high season for a lot of yummy mushrooms (though this year has been rather so-so thus far).  But then again, there are several stages on trails that are not too far away from where I live that have been beckoning me to return.  I couldn't make up my mind, but I did decide to call my good friend Tomas, who is one of my more reliable friends when it comes to getting out into the wild.

I go back to thinking about other things I have to do during the week, when several minutes later, what do you know--Tomas calls me.  And he immediately suggests we go backpacking this weekend without me having to say anything.  I love moments like this.  So we debate the various options, until we reach a complication: hunting season.  Moose season began recently, and that kind of killed (no pun intended) the idea of going on any type of bushwhacking or off-trail type trip in the woods where there is hunting going on.  One does not want to get shot picking mushrooms, after all.  Tomas has an insightful observation, however: no hunting allowed on nature reserves.  This pretty much made up my mind of where to go, and I told Tomas to trust me, I know a great place to go then.