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. Ben Lawhon from the Leave No Trace Center gives some additional tips for low-impact snow camping. WildeBeat members can download the entire, unedited interview with Mike Clelland from our WildeBeat Insiders web site. Show number 120 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,395,617 bytes] Show number 120 script Supplemental information… JOIN NOW — Help us help more folks to appreciate our wild public lands.

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 Lake Hut in Yosemite National Park. He wraps up by talking to Ben Dodge, the Executive Director of the Tenth Mountain Division Hut Association in Colorado. Ben mentions Vance’s Cabin as being a typical hut in the system. Show number 111 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,398,848 bytes] Show number 111, extended high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 11:41; 11,220,616 bytes] Show number 111 script JOIN NOW — Help us help more folks to appreciate our wild public lands.

Flounder Methods that Work
Somewhere back in my years I got hooked on flounder fishing. I guess it may have been the way my wife prepares the real butter saut ed filets with toasted…

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 we can watch and listen to bats on our own wilderness adventures. Curt indicated that the level of environmental threats to bats are unknown. We don’t know enough about them to know whether they are endangered. We do know that forestry practices and pesticide use is adversely affecting their populations. You can find more information on the web site of the Bat Conservation International organization. WildeBeat members can download a bonus recording of an entire evening bat walk from the WildeBeat Insider web site. Show number 110 [MP3 format; length 9:57; 2,391,327 bytes] Combined show numbers 109 & 110, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 18:25; 17,695,627 bytes] Show number 110 script Show numbers 109 & 110 combined script JOIN NOW — Help us help more folks to appreciate our wild public lands.

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. What is pastoral paranoia, and how do you cure it? Heather Menicucci says that it’s all in getting a dose of nature and discovering what you’ve been missing. Heather invites you to share your fears about getting out of the city and into the wilderness at her blog, Let’s Get Primitive. We invite you to share your story about how you got out of the city and discovered camping and nature by calling our toll-free comment line at 866-590-7373. Show number 114 [MP3 format; length 9:54; 2,380,451 bytes] Show number 114, extended version [MP3 format; length 15:15; 7,326,689 bytes] Show number 114 script Show number 114 script, extended version JOIN NOW — Help us help more folks to appreciate our wild public lands.

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