Some interesting discussion was had in the halls of our nation’s capital the other day regarding the state of our National Park System.  Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, was invited to speak before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee about ways we can invest in our national infrastructure and stimulate the economy at the same time.   According to Mr. Kiernan:

"As much as $440 million worth of road projects in our national parks are ready to go to construction, and can rapidly produce as many as 7,000 jobs while also renewing our national heritage and helping to revitalize our national parks for our children and grandchildren."

There have only been two efforts in the past century to significantly build up and protect our National Parks and those efforts “transformed the national park system into one of the most popular vacation destinations for both American families and foreign tourists”.   

Investing in our national parks creates jobs, it brings in additional tourism dollars to the economy and it makes America beautiful.  You could also easily argue that a National Park is one of the great educational resources of our nation, providing the opportunity for millions to learn about the wonders of our planet first hand.   Let’s hope that Tom and the NPCA are successful in getting some of our tax dollars reinvested in the National Park System. 

How About Some Economic Stimulus for the National Park System? | National Parks Traveler

As the founder and Chief Everything Officer of Trek Light Gear I'm always doing my best to spread the word and build up the Trek Light brand in any way possible.  While it was easily the largest sponsorship we've ever done, sponsoring the Monolith Music Festival was an easy decision for me to make.  I had attended the festival in its inaugural year last year and impressed would definitely be the first word that comes to mind.   If you've never been to Red Rocks before, let's just say it was nearly impossible for me to imagine how anyone could put on a FIVE stage festival at the venue without making people walk all the way to the parking lots for a stage or causing such an overload of sound that the bands would have to constantly compete to be heard over one another.  Red Rocks is known for its incredible natural acoustics, why would anyone expect to be able to host a multi stage music festival there?  So, I attended the first year with complete curiosity and also the feeling that it would likely go down in history as the one and only year that anyone ever attempted to do such a thing.  I can happily say that not only was the first Monolith Festival a success beyond my expectations, it got even better in its sophomore year.

Enough cannot be said about Josh Baker, Matt Fecher, Esurance, AEG Live, Madison House, and all the folks that worked to put on the Monolith Festival this year.  The outdoor stage schedules were planned with near perfect precision to make sure that there were no more accidental 'battle of the bands' that occasionally cropped up last year.   Every show I saw felt intimate and everyone that I talked to was having nothing short of a fantastic weekend.  The music lineup is a lot like the SXSW Festival, every set brings with it the possibility of discovering some new talent or seeing your favorite band put on a show like you’ve never seen – even the established bands are usually playing their first ever Red Rocks show.  The magic of Red Rocks is hard to beat, but when you add 4 more stages, including an acoustic stage, indoor rooms that provide the sound and atmosphere of a small club and, of course, the coolest hammocks on the planet, it all adds up to a weekend that should not be missed.

Speaking of hammocks, if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say 'Why can't you guys be here at every Red Rocks show?' I'd probably be writing this blog from a cabana on the beach somewhere.  We put a ton of smiles on the faces of people who couldn't believe that after climbing all those high altitude steps all day there were actually hammocks setup at the top to relax in.  To top it all off, the hammocks were setup directly in front of the New Belgium stage so you could relax in a hammock while listening to great bands and staring up at the giant rock monoliths that give the festival its name.

The Eco Totes were also a huge hit at the festival and it was hard to look into the crowd without seeing at least one person carrying one of our signature compact reusable bags.  The bags were printed with a custom design by Todd Roeth, and they were a great example of the impact that the bags can have when incorporated into an event.   People used them to carry around the T-shirts and CD's they purchased without needing to waste any plastic and you can bet they'll continue to use them long after Monolith is over.     (If you own a company or put on an event, don't hesitate to get in touch with us and find out how we can create a co-branded Eco Tote for that gets your message out in a way that can't be beat!)

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Trek Light booth and allowed us to show you why our lightweight hammocks and reusable bags have earned their reputation.    We certainly plan to be back at the Monolith Festival next year, and you should be too.

Click the link for more pictures from the weekend…

More...

It was just announced that TrekLightGear.com was awarded the prestigious Standard of Excellence WebAward in the Small Business Category!   It’s great to see some serious recognition for Keely Franks and the entire team over at eMedia EFX for putting together what can now officially be called an ‘award-winning website’!

It’s been about 4 months since we launched the new website and there’s still plenty to come as we grow and continue to improve the TrekLightGear.com and Trek Life experience.   I’m looking forward to building on the great foundation we’ve started and I would love to hear your feedback on the site design.   We are always looking for more people to join the conversation going on in the Forum, so if you haven’t already done so go and register for a free account and start connecting with the Trek Light community.  

If you’ve got any suggestions or feedback regarding TrekLightGear.com, please leave a comment below!

We don’t do too much in the way of traditional advertising at Trek Light Gear and so when we do put an ad together, we like to make it count.   The ad below will be printed full page in every program guide handed out at the Monolith Music Festival as well as in The Marquee (a fantastic and FREE music magazine available in Colorado) and I’m thrilled with the way it came out.   A million thanks to Jon Fogel over at Gravity Creative in St. Louis for putting together an ad that captures about as much of our spirit as could possibly be done on one page.

Check it out:

We’ll be at Red Rocks all weekend long, hope to see some of you there!

Our good friends that are putting on the Monolith Music Festival have just released a fun widget game that allows you to guide a green-powered rocket ship “to recycle goods and blast away harmful waste from Red Rocks, while music from Monolith performers Passion Pit, Port O’Brien, Chain Gang of 1974, and Hearts of Palm rock the park."  

You can win a pair of ALL ACCESS PASSES to the 2008 Monolith Festival in addition to amazing daily prizes including VIP Gold Passes and lightweight hammocks from Trek Light Gear. That's right, they're giving away hammocks to the daily high scorers so if you've been waiting for the right time to get your hands on some Trek Light Gear, maybe you should head over to the Monolith site and try your luck at the Trash Blaster game!   While you’re at it, check out the great lineup and set aside September 13th and 14th to get your dancing shoes on and head over to one of the most beautiful music venues in the world for a five stage music festival that can’t be beat!

Link: Trash Blaster

We're proud to announce that Trek Light Gear is partnering up with the great Monolith Music Festival at Red Rocks, the weekend of September 13th & 14th.

There will be hammocks hanging backstage for the artists, in the VIP lounges and a whole lot more!  The Trek Light booth will also be setup at Red Rocks for all the fans so you can take a break after climbing all those Red Rocks steps and chill out in our amazing hammocks.  Don't forget to pick up some Eco Totes so you can bring home your new CDs and T-Shirts from the Merch Booth without wasting plastic! 

(We should also take this time to remind you that Trek Light’s lightweight hammocks can be hung between two cars, RV’s, Jeep’s or wherever you can find to points strong enough to support your weight.  So don’t wait until the festival to buy your hammock, bring them with you and tailgate in style!)

Check out the great lineup on Saturday and Sunday and get your tickets today.  Everyone who purchases a VIP ticket to the event will also get a free Eco Tote in their VIP package along with all the other great benefits (like hanging out in a hammock in the VIP lounge while listening to the show!).  The Monolith festival is in its second year and if last year was any indication this year's festival is bound to be an event you won't want to miss!

The great folks behind the Monolith Festival (along with help from festival partner Esurance) have completely impressed us with their efforts to ensure that this year’s festival is as green as possible.  The event itself will actually use carbon offsets to be a completely carbon neutral festival, and the list goes on to include everything from great carpooling initiatives, biodegradable concession supplies, and even the Monolith Reforestation Project!

We know there’s nothing better than relaxing in a hammock while listening to great music and there’s no argument that Red Rocks is easily one of the most breathtakingly beautiful music venues on the planet.   We’re extremely proud to be partnering up with the Monolith Music Festival this year and whether you live in Colorado or you’re flying out for the event we hope to see you there and show you why every experience can be a little bit better with Trek Light Gear.

As reported by CNN, one of the 'more popular and photographed arches' in Arches National Park collapsed this week.   No one reported seeing it collapse and luckily no one was hurt.  The article also says it was the first collapse of a major arch since Landscape Arch fell in 1991, but I’m pretty sure that Landscape Arch is still standing (I saw it only a few years ago) even if it did drop a few big pieces back in '91.  The Wikipedia page seems to confirm that it is still standing. 

I'm glad that I got to see Wall Arch before it collapsed along with so many of the other great formations at the park.  If you haven't been to Utah or you've got some National Parks on your list that you've been putting off for a long time, hopefully this is a good reminder to get outdoors and see what you can.  The same forces that created so much of our beautiful landscape are certainly capable of changing it at any time. 

While there are still plenty of other arches and interesting rock formations to keep visitors going to Arches for a long time to come, it’s a stark reminder that many of the rock formations that have become iconic parts of our landscape are really not to be taken for granted.  As my father said today: “First the Old Man of the Mountain and now this?”

I just came across this miraculous contraption and I know I’ve finally found the solution for making coffee on my next backpacking trip.   The GSI H2JO.  It only weighs 1.8 ounces, attaches right onto any wide mouth water bottle and includes a screened filter for the grounds.   All you do is add boiling water and you’re set with no mess to clean and no picking coffee grounds out of your teeth.  Sold.

When it comes to coffee I consider myself to have a slightly below average addiction but nevertheless I’m a big fan.  I don’t have to drink it every morning, but there’s plenty of mornings when I do.   Often (during the colder months) I’m drinking it as much for the morning warmth as for the caffeine.  During the summer I’ll usually just drink it on an ‘as needed’ basis depending on how alert I need to be in that first hour after waking.    I’ll also sometimes get a cup in the middle of the day to combat those long hours, but I’m definitely not in the ‘can’t function without coffee’ demographic.  The caffeine aside though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t just love the taste of coffee, especially if we're talking about an iced coffee during the summer.   

One time when I feel like I need a cup of coffee in the morning is when I’m camping or backpacking.  Whether it’s waking up and knowing I’ve got a big day of hiking in front of me or just sitting around the campfire from the night before with some beer-induced cobwebs in my head, there’s nothing like a nice cup of coffee when you’re waking up in the woods.

When it comes to car camping, getting your fresh coffee fix can be simple with the right equipment.   There are a number of metal coffee pots that you can put right on your camp stove or fire pit and brew some ground coffee with minimal fuss.    But backpacking is another story.  When every ounce counts it’s impossible to justify bringing along a coffee pot that can brew and filter the grounds and so I usually end up with no choice but bringing along some instant coffee.  Amazingly, there’s a few words in the English language that sum up both how instant coffee tastes and how it makes me feel.  I’ll refrain, but let’s just say I’d be perfectly happy to never have a cup of instant coffee again.

I’d be curious to know if anyone has tried the GSI H2JO but I can’t imagine how anything could prevent it from being awesome.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I’m going to go get a cup of coffee.

(Sorry for the lack of blog posts as of late, Trek Light Gear has been keeping me busy and I promise to make every effort to make blogging a more frequent affair)

I came across this article yesterday which had some great parts worth sharing:

“The next time you’re out of gift ideas for someone, maybe you’ll consider a hammock.  

“I couldn’t imagine a better Mother’s Day gift,” says Cranch, 56, the program director of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program in Fresno, Calif. “It’s total relaxation” when you’re in it.

Tom Boehm of Madera, Calif., also received his first hammock as a gift. His wife, Tammie, gave it to him almost a decade ago for his 40th birthday.

“It kind of surprised me, but it’s a pretty cool idea,” says Boehm, 49, co-owner of S&J Lumber in Madera. “I never really thought about having one, but I really like it and use it quite a bit.”

As Cranch and Boehm have discovered, once you’ve experienced the weightless, rocking sensation that comes with resting in a hammock, you might not be able to do without this leisure activity again.”

I especially got a kick out of the part about how hard it can be to get in and out of a hammock:

“Once you’ve found a hammock to your liking and put it up properly, getting in and out of one can be a balancing act if you’ve never attempted it before. 

John O’Connell, the executive vice president of sales and merchandising for Long-Island-City, N.Y.-based 1800mattress.com, has found himself on the ground trying to get into a hammock.

The company sells one style of hammock in addition to mattresses. The hammock had just been set it up in the showroom.

“I said, ‘This is kind of neat.’ I never sat on one before, and the whole thing flipped. I just didn’t really read or listen to the instructions.”

Now he knows. Stand with your backside facing the hammock in the middle of the hammock. Then “I pull the edge to the back of my knees, position myself in the center, spin my backside and then lay (down) my feet,” he says. “If you don’t do it that way and sit in the center, you’re going to flip.”

Any newcomers who want to climb into the hammock at Cranch’s family cabin will get tips on using it first.

“We give people a quick tutorial about getting into it,” she writes in an e-mail. “Aim your fanny at the very center of the hammock. Sit down, then quickly fling your arms and legs into position and make minor adjustments in balance with your fanny.

“I can’t tell you how many people have been ejected on their first attempt at getting into the thing, but once you have the knack, it is heavenly comfortable.”

Obviously they’ve never experienced the joy of the Trek Light Gear No-Flip hammock design.   I’ve met so many people who are genuinely afraid to get in a hammock because of the number of times they’ve been dumped on the ground by other hammocks.   To me a hammock shouldn’t be about keeping your balance or needing an instruction manual to get in it without getting hurt.   How are you supposed to relax when a wrong movement can send you flying on the ground?

In the last three days we’ve had over 5,000 7,000 people visit the blog from StumbleUpon.   That’s a huge spike in traffic for the blog and I figured it’s a good opportunity for me to welcome you and let you know what you’ve stumbled upon.

Trek Life is one of those company blogs that strives not to be a company blog.   The blog exists as an extension of Trek Light Gear, an outdoor gear company based in Boulder, Colorado.   We definitely will talk about topics that directly relate to our products from time to time, from the benefits of compact reusable bags to why you should own a lightweight camping hammock.   But we’re not here to market our products or give you a sales pitch in every blog post, we’re here to connect with our visitors who share a passion for the outdoors.   That passion for the outdoors can cover everything from saving the environment to learning about how to stay warm on your next hiking trip.   Maybe you’re an aspiring outdoor chef looking to learn some camping cooking tips, or you’re curious to know how hammock therapy is helping premature babies.  We’ll always do our best to provide you with quality content to help you ‘Trek Lightly’ on this planet.

We just launched the blog in May of 2008 so we’re really just getting rolling and we hope you like what you see so far.  If you’d like to get more involved and expand the conversation you should visit the Trek Life Forum as well.   You should also go ahead and subscribe to our RSS feed so you’ll be able to stay current with all the latest Trek Life postings without needing to check the blog every day.

P.S.  As a special welcome to our StumbleUpon friends I’d also like to offer a coupon code for 10% off anything in the Trek Light Gear store.  Just enter the code STUMBLE0708 during checkout, the coupon will be only be valid for one week so if you’re reading this post go ahead and take advantage of the offer now!