Gear Abby: Sexy Elk, Big Decks & Women Adventure Writers!
- colin7931
- 15 minutes ago
- 38 min read
In the latest episode of Gear Abby, host Shawnté Salabert wanders from bookshelves to snowfields to elk harems to satellite signals. “Sexy Elk, Big Decks & Women Adventure Writers!” serves up exactly what it promises: big feelings about representation in outdoor literature, practical beta for winter curious folks, real-talk wildlife etiquette, and a surprisingly heartfelt ode to non-phone electronics in the backcountry.
Question 1: Where Are All the High-Stakes Adventure Books by Women?
Listener Jordan F. writes in searching for “page-turner” adventure books written by women. Something with the high emotional and physical stakes of Wild to impress their outdoorsy girlfriend.
Shawnté responds with a full-blown mini syllabus of high-octane, woman-authored adventure reads, spanning grief, risk, big landscapes, and complicated relationships. Check out the footnotes for the full list of recommendations.
Colin also reminds listeners that Shawnté literally wrote the book on a certain iconic trail: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California by a one Gear Abby herself, Shawnté Salabert!
Question 2: Can a “Bigger Girl” Actually Enjoy Snowshoeing?
Next up, Snow Princess in Training writes from her new snowy home. She wants to try snowshoeing but worries that, as a “bigger girl,” she’ll just sink into the snow and feel out of place. She shares her height, weight, and shoe size, hoping for specific guidance; and maybe a little reassurance.
Shawnté tackles the emotional side first:
Yes, snowshoeing is absolutely for you. Bigger body = more flotation considerations, not a disqualification.
You belong in winter spaces just as much as anyone else—no shrinking yourself to fit some imaginary snow-bunny aesthetic.
Then she dives into practical gear and sizing:
Look at the weight range (you + pack) listed on snowshoes.
For casual outings on packed or semi-packed trails, you can often go slightly smaller in size for better maneuverability—especially if you’re not breaking trail in deep powder.
Consider buying used snowshoes via secondhand gear sites (Articles in Common, Geartrade, etc.) to keep costs down and experiment with what works.
Expect some sinking even with the “right” snowshoe. This isn’t cartoon-level walking-on-clouds snow travel.
The core message: with the right expectations and a little gear homework, snowshoeing can be joyful, accessible, and confidence-building for all body types.
Question 3: Elk on the Trail: Push Them Along or Go Around?
Listener Phil writes a beautifully detailed email about encountering a herd of about 15 elk during an after-work mountain bike ride. After quietly watching from a distance and then gently encouraging the herd to move on, he later meets another group who bushwhacked around to avoid disturbing the animals.
His question:
“Is there a correct etiquette in this situation? Is it better to push the wildlife along and stay on trail, or head off trail and leave the elk alone?”
Shawnté uses Phil’s story to talk through the messy reality of wildlife encounters:
Baseline rules:
Give wildlife plenty of space, especially during sensitive seasons (calving, rut).
Avoid direct approach, running, yelling, or anything that spikes stress.
Staying on trail vs. going off:
Going way off trail can damage fragile vegetation and create user-made routes.
Calmly making noise and slowly advancing (like Phil’s group did) is often acceptable if you’re still giving the animals time and room to move.
Read the room (herd):
If animals look agitated (heads up, posturing, vocalizing, or moving toward you) it’s time to back off and wait.
Sometimes the best move is to just sit, snack, and let wildlife wander off when they’re ready.
Along the way, Shawnté and Colin gleefully veer into talk about elk harems, rut-season “sexy elk,” and the general chaos of animal mating. The conclusion: etiquette lives in the gray zone. Your job is to minimize stress for wildlife while also minimizing your own risk and impact on the landscape.
Question 4: What’s the Best Non-Phone Electronic for Backcountry Trips?
Finally, Recovering Luddite in Maine asks:
“In your opinion, what’s the best electronic equipment to carry on a backcountry trip that’s not a phone?”
As someone who would happily sit by a stream with snacks and zero gadgets, Shawnté sympathizes; but still gives two strong answers:
1. The Safety Pick:
A satellite communication device (like the Garmin inReach Mini) is her number-one choice.
2. The Fun/Comfort Pick:
Depending on your style, Shawnté makes space for “nice-to-have” electronics like:
A dedicated headlamp that doesn’t depend on your phone battery.
A small camera if shooting photos helps you connect more deeply to place.
A simple GPS watch or unit if you geek out on tracking routes and stats.
The through-line: choose electronics that either keep you safer or meaningfully enhance your experience, not just more screens for the sake of screens.
The Takeaway
As always, Shawnté and Colin leave listeners with permission to be curious, imperfect, and fully themselves. Whether they’re curled up with an adventure memoir, clomping around on snowshoes, navigating elk drama, or clipping a tiny satellite beacon to their pack “just in case.”
Footnotes (aka Episode Bings):
Meet your best new hiking pal, The Gimp!
Can confirm.
Listeners! Is Wild Divisive? Weigh-in in the comments! deargearabby@gmail.com
The Books of Heather ‘Anish’ Anderson: Thirst & Mud, Rocks, Blazes
The Books of Katie Arnold Running Home & Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World
Adrift by Tami Oldham Ashcroft
She said ‘deck’ size. Don’t make it gross. We’ll do that for you.
See? Told ya.
The Banging Elk, new band name.
The Rut is what the groupies of The Banging Elk call themselves.
We swear we’re not making this up. Click here to learn more about your local Elk Harem.
Click Here To Listen On Your Favorite Podcast App Or Just Click The Player Below!
Episode Transcript:
Shawnté Salabert
00:00:00.240 - 00:02:05.010
Hello my outdoorsy friends. It is your favorite time of the week. Time to head to the official Gear Garage of Gear Abbey. That's right, Garage Grown Gear.
Garage Grown Gear, AKA GGG is here to make sure all of you that's All Gear. Abby's outdoorsy friends can get the newest outdoor stuff that they need for their next adventure. What kind of stuff, you ask?
Well, here's some examples. Are you a backpacker like me? Ditch the Smart Water bottle and pick up a knock outdoors Through Bottle.
My dream bottle and I never thought that's something Through Bottle is a reusable version of the fan favorite single Use bottle and works with most filters, bottle caps and yes, you guessed it, bidets. Alright, are you tired of bruising your hands or wrecking your shoes on stubborn stakes when setting up your tent?
Then pick up a tent stake pusher from Cam's Backpacking Gear. Not much more to say about that one. It's all in the name. And finally, tired of wool getting all the sock love?
Trade your merino for alpaca and pick up a pair of hollow trail socks before your next hike. I have used them. They are delightful. You know what? Whatever you' Garage Grown Gear and Gear Abbey are the perfect outdoor combo.
So get shopping by heading over to garagegrowngear.com right meow. While daydreaming about future backpacking trips, I had an epiphany. Maybe I could have an even better time out there if I lightened my pack.
That's when I decided to try out my very first trekking pole tent. Gossamer gears the One. And honestly, it was a match made in ultralight heaven.
Weighing in at just 18 ounces, the one sets up in minutes using just trekking poles and a handful of stakes.
And what's cool is the One didn't just lighten my pack, it actually simplified my camp setup so that I had more time to enjoy the natural beauty all around me and allow me to spend more time with my favorite bidet. Gossamer Gear designs products for people on the move rooted in a legacy of simplification.
Their philosophy is that taking less allows you to do more. And if you want to test this philosophy yourself, head over to gossamergear.com and use code GearAbby at checkout.
Save $20 on your order of $100 or more.
The Gear Abby Theme Song!
00:02:08.770 - 00:02:25.570
You got questions going out of your mind. Someone with answers. Now that's hard to find, like the what and the why in the house stuff works or just where to go to avoid all the Jerks.
She's Gear Abby. Gear Abby. Gear Abby. Advice that doesn't suck.
Shawnté Salabert
00:02:26.050 - 00:03:19.350
Gear Abby.
Hello there, my outdoorsy friends, and welcome to Gear, where we tackle the controversial, weird, obscure and taboo topics that other outdoor podcasts refuse to touch.
I'm outdoor educator and writer Shantae Salibair, and I'm here to answer your burning questions about our relationships with outdoor people, products, places and pastimes. And I want them all because remember, there are no dumb questions, just smart advice. Here's how it works.
If you've been listening, you know, you're going to send questions over to DearGiraBbyMail.com and I'm going to answer a coup each week here on the show, along with my trusty sidekick, my partner in gear, the producer of Gear Abby, and everyone's favorite Marvel character, the Enforcer. If you listen to a couple episodes ago, you know what I'm talking about. Otherwise you're very confused. Colin.
Colin True
00:03:19.350 - 00:03:30.430
True. Are we actually answering like weird and obscure and taboo? I guess we've had a couple taboo topics. I was thinking about that.
I'm like, it's pretty like there's a lot of stock questions here from our listeners, which is okay, by the way.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:30.430 - 00:03:31.670
But it's, Are they based?
Colin True
00:03:31.670 - 00:03:32.470
We can stand a little.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:32.470 - 00:03:38.890
Are they, are they going to annoy me? Are they going to challenge me? You know, yeah, we can use a.
Colin True
00:03:38.890 - 00:03:41.290
Little more weird and obscure and taboo. Bring it on, people.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:41.290 - 00:03:51.850
You know, I want, I want it to get weirder around here. We've already, you know, I, I really appreciated that we had a sexy times question. We've had a lot of poo questions.
Maybe we could diversify our bodily fluids.
Colin True
00:03:52.250 - 00:03:54.090
It's a little taboo, I guess on some places.
Shawnté Salabert
00:03:54.090 - 00:03:58.570
It really. It is. It isn't. You know, a lot of places people don't like talking about it.
Colin True
00:03:58.970 - 00:04:09.210
I want to hear like, you know, what are the ups, the pros and cons of hiking a long, doing a through hike in a gimp outfit? Like, that's really what I want to hear. Shantae, break that down. That's what I want to get into.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:10.010 - 00:04:13.130
I, I don't know how to respond to that. Colin, you've.
Colin True
00:04:13.290 - 00:04:15.850
You better start workshopping because someone's going to write it in now.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:16.170 - 00:04:20.570
And if I get the email from you from like myrock fight at Gmail, I'll know not to answer.
Colin True
00:04:20.650 - 00:04:23.050
I don't know what you mean. I just said what a coincidence.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:23.210 - 00:04:38.870
Oh, interesting email we've got here. Oh, man.
Well, I know this, this episode we record a Little ahead of time, but I know this is going to come out on Thanksgiving and tomorrow is that very special holiday known to all the REI faithful as Opt outside. So are you going to get outside, Colin?
Colin True
00:04:39.190 - 00:04:42.590
In my gimp outfit? Yeah. Happy Thanksgiving to me.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:42.590 - 00:04:45.830
Maybe to describe this for people who are not familiar with what that is.
Colin True
00:04:46.310 - 00:04:48.550
No, I think they should. I think that's universal.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:49.030 - 00:04:49.510
Google it.
Colin True
00:04:49.510 - 00:04:52.430
Go. What? Yeah, go watch Pulp Fiction, everybody. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Shawnté Salabert
00:04:52.430 - 00:05:02.070
No, I, I'm. Yeah, no, I don't know. You know what, we're going to switch topics because also I do want to say yesterday was another special day.
It was women led Wednesday.
Colin True
00:05:02.470 - 00:05:04.430
Now let. Now this is something to celebrate.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:04.430 - 00:05:29.070
This is. It really is. It's an initiative if you're not familiar. It was started by Cassie Abel, the founder of women's technical wear company Wild Rye.
They make amazing like bike shorts and stuff and it was founded. She started it to encourage people to support and spend their money with women owned businesses and brands which you know, the name kind of implies.
It's really awesome. The website's great. Head over there. Women led Wednesday.com and make it rain people.
Colin True
00:05:29.870 - 00:05:38.630
Literally hundreds of brands and companies all owned by women. It's amazing. It's. It's up year round but I know this is the time of year when it gets a lot of attention.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:38.630 - 00:05:38.870
Yeah.
Colin True
00:05:38.870 - 00:05:40.290
They try to go Cassie and team.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:40.290 - 00:05:43.330
I know they're great. And that's not an ad. That's just us being like these are amazing.
Colin True
00:05:43.330 - 00:05:45.290
No free ads here in gear, Abby. Except for these guys.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:45.370 - 00:05:48.210
But Wild R if you want to advertise or.
Colin True
00:05:48.210 - 00:05:49.290
And gimp outfits.
Shawnté Salabert
00:05:52.250 - 00:06:19.870
Well, Colin, you know, I like that we started out with a little, you know, latex. Latex clothing. Not, not a technical, not a piece of technical gear.
I mean maybe, maybe Lloyd will open up the doors of garage grown gear and, and push over some Dyneema and make room for latex. I don't want to. I don't know. I don't crystal ball for that, you know. But in the meantime since we've gotten slithery with it. Is it slithery? Is it.
Colin True
00:06:19.870 - 00:06:22.350
I think you could use the word slithery in this. Yeah, for sure.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:22.350 - 00:06:22.870
All right, great.
Colin True
00:06:22.870 - 00:06:31.030
And you know, no, a lot of good ideas for Lloyd here but he's. Garage door gear does not specify in the title. That has to be outdoor gear. So you know, it just has to be made in a garage segments.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:31.270 - 00:06:34.350
It could be worn in a garage. I know.
Colin True
00:06:34.350 - 00:06:35.870
I don't know where you do Your thing. It's fine.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:35.870 - 00:06:40.550
I don't either, man. All right, before we go too far down this road, let's kick things off with a question.
Colin True
00:06:40.630 - 00:06:42.230
Thank God. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:42.230 - 00:06:43.810
Help me. Help me. Help you.
Colin True
00:06:43.810 - 00:06:58.690
Help them Play this for grandma at dinner. Okay? All right, here's the first question for today.
Dear Dear Abby, my girlfriend and I started listening to the show recently, and she suggested that I ask you this question. Do I have to say lol? I hate lol.
Shawnté Salabert
00:06:58.690 - 00:07:01.410
Lol. You have to say it if it's in the email.
Colin True
00:07:01.730 - 00:07:09.570
Damn it. Okay, then I ask you this question lol. Why do you have to write LOL there? Everybody does it. It drives me nuts.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:09.570 - 00:07:11.250
We don't kink shit about this podcast.
Colin True
00:07:11.730 - 00:07:13.090
There's something kinky about that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:13.090 - 00:07:13.650
You don't know.
Colin True
00:07:14.290 - 00:07:22.430
I most read books by men, embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize this until my girlfriend pointed it out. So I'm trying to read more by women authors.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:22.430 - 00:07:22.830
All right.
Colin True
00:07:22.830 - 00:07:32.830
I read Wild and actually enjoyed it. Can you recommend any other adventure books by women that are kind of similar? Thanks so much. Sign Jordan F. Well, Jordan, we got.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:32.830 - 00:07:42.510
An F. We got. We. We've got everything. Thank you, Jordan, for writing in. You can. Listen, people. No matter how Colin reads these, it's.
You can write whatever you want. Okay.
Colin True
00:07:42.910 - 00:07:43.590
Certainly, please.
Shawnté Salabert
00:07:43.590 - 00:08:18.150
And I make him read it. So put a lot more LOL in there from here on out. Maybe some TGIFs, and, you know, I don't know. You just roll with it.
But, Jordan, your local bookstore is about to love you, and so is your girlfriend, if she doesn't already. And honestly, I'm a book nerd. We do not have enough time on this podcast to go through all the outdoorsy books that I love by women alone.
But I'm going to get you started with a few gems that might hit some of the same, you know, adventurous memoir buttons that Wild did for you. I also appreciate that you're not a Wild hater. See, people? Jordan likes it. You should read it.
Colin True
00:08:18.950 - 00:08:21.790
Is there really backlash on Wild? Is it like. Is it truly, like.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:21.790 - 00:08:26.790
I think it's really limited. It's like the trail snobs. They're like, it's not a book about hiking.
Colin True
00:08:26.790 - 00:08:37.030
Oh, so it's more your kind of through hiker, like, community? No, that community, like, that's where the. The hate sort of exists because, like, oh, she didn't do the whole thing or what? Like, that kind of stuff.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:37.110 - 00:08:41.110
People just need something to do in the off season when they're not hiking, so they got to Find. Yeah.
Colin True
00:08:41.110 - 00:08:41.430
Okay.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:41.829 - 00:08:42.469
Pissy about.
Colin True
00:08:43.589 - 00:08:49.029
It's classic outdoor, though, right? Because it's like. It's like, look, the book really wasn't about her being a through hiker.
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:49.109 - 00:08:50.629
Yeah. And they're mad about it.
Colin True
00:08:50.949 - 00:08:56.309
Did you read the parts of the book where she wasn't on the trail? Maybe revisit some of those?
Shawnté Salabert
00:08:56.469 - 00:11:02.690
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I got some other books for you. All right. Both Jordan and the Haters.
I'm gonna start with a newer one that I read about a month ago, which is Bridget Crocker's the River's Daughter, if you've ever listened to Open Container Podcast, it's also part of the Rock Fight Network, my little club that I'm in. And Doug Schnitzbahn talked with Bridget on there, and that was a fantastic conversation. So her book is essentially Wild on Water.
She writes about how paddling and working as a river guide helped her navigate kind of this cycle of abuse within her family and just various men as a young person. Excellent book. And I'm actually right now reading Pure land by Annette McGivney. This is not an old book, but older. And it's actually.
It's going to hit a couple buttons for different people because it's a true crime book about a murder in the Grand Canyon that kind of cleverly also contains memoir about how investigating that crime and the people involved in it sort of churns up, you know, her own childhood trauma and how she's moving through that. Great book. And if you want to, like, stick with the hiking genre. Heather Anderson, also known as a niche on trail, has written two great ones.
There's Thirst, which is about her experience pushing through literal and metaphoric pain to set an FKT on the pct. Lots of acronyms here. And Mud, Rocks and Blazes about doing the same on the Appalachian Trail. Heather is very accomplished.
Other likes to write about it. And then I'd say if you like cold things, if you like. If you like dogs.
Another favorite is Blair Braverman's welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube, which I actually read on the Colorado Trail. And I swear I would read it every night in my tent.
And I think I got colder every night just reading it because the whole thing is set in, like, the far north. Yeah, a lot of people actually know Blair because she tweets, or whatever the hell it's called now about sled dogs on social media.
She and her partner have a ton of them, and you'll be delighted to know that sled dogs make an appearance in this book, as does her I would describe it as like an exploration of the harsh landscapes, both outer and inner. Dun dun Dun.
Colin True
00:11:05.170 - 00:11:07.690
Brought you trailers for all these books right now from Gear Abbey.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:07.690 - 00:11:19.490
No, seriously, where's my kickbacks from these publishers? Katie Arnold, fantastic memoirist and I loved both of her books.
You might know her from the Raising Rippers column that Outside used to do about getting outside with kids.
Colin True
00:11:19.970 - 00:11:21.330
Another Open Container alumni.
Shawnté Salabert
00:11:21.330 - 00:13:21.850
Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah, she talked about. Well, I'll tell you in a second.
First there was Running Home, which is about her using ultra running as a way to move through the grief she experienced after her father died. And then her newer book, which Doug did interview her for, on Open Container is Brief Flashings in the Phenomenal World.
And it's kind of about her path to healing and Zen meditation and just the concepts of Zen after an absolutely terrifying river accident. So you get the action, you get the healing. Seems to be a theme in a lot of these books.
So I could keep going, but I'll say there's Brie Lohan wrote Found and Pickets and Dead Men, two amazing books that detail her work as a climbing ranger and in Search and Rescue. So those ones are a little more slightly different subject, but she still goes internal.
Steph Davis Learning to Fly is about how she turned to base jumping and skydiving as a means to handle grief. Like, excellent book again, but I want to wrap it up with two older books that I love that I think will tickle your fancy. Will it tickle your fancy?
I don't know. Because we don't kick shame. Tammy Oldham, Ashcraft's Red sky in Morning and that's morning. Like you're sad, not mourning. Like it's.
It's a.m. the morning. This is capital T, Capital M, Morning. What if you're morning in the morning? I've done that. But it is.
It's a survival story about her experience navigating alone in the Pacific Ocean for 41 days after her fiance was lost to the sea during a hurricane. It's tough and she handled it like a pro. And her story was turned into the movie Adrift that came out in 2018 with Shailene Woodley.
And finally another book turned movie. This is Robin Davidson's classic tracks about the nine months.
Nine months she spent walking across the Australian desert with a couple camels and a dog. And it is an adventure classic. So I could go on and on and on and on. I truly could.
Colin's looking at me like, please wrap it up, but this should be enough high stakes Estrogen to get you through the next year and win your girlfriend's endless adoration.
Colin True
00:13:22.650 - 00:13:38.430
And Jordan, because, you know, Gear Abbey is a humble person. The most famous book hero.
The podcast, written by Adventure Book, written by a woman on this podcast is Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Southern California by Chante Salibare. If you don't own it, you're not a fan of this podcast.
Shawnté Salabert
00:13:38.430 - 00:14:18.810
That's right. Damn it. Oh, my gosh. Thanks, Colin. Thanks for the plug. I really could. I really could just do a whole podcast. Book recommendations.
So if we decide, you know, we're, you know, audience people, good listeners, my outdoorsy friends, we are ruminating on possible, like, extra episodes, bonus episodes that don't follow the same structure as our weekly episodes.
So if you have anything, like bigger topics that aren't necessarily questions that you want us to cover, let us know because we're kind of spitballing, brainstorming, seeing what we think. But yeah. So, Colin, we just have to think. I mean, we could do a whole podcast on Vertical Limit.
Obviously that's going to be your Christmas presentation.
Colin True
00:14:18.810 - 00:14:19.370
That's gonna happen.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:19.370 - 00:14:27.660
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys think we're joking about that, but. Yeah. But I suppose we should move on and do another question.
Colin True
00:14:27.820 - 00:14:40.380
Yeah, no, actually, a whole episode of book recommendations would be great if people were into that. So, yeah. DearGearAbbyMail.com Send it in. Let us know what you think. Our next question, though, is, funnily enough, starts, Dear Gear Abby.
Like, I just.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:40.380 - 00:14:40.860
Wow.
Colin True
00:14:40.940 - 00:14:41.900
Like our email address.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:41.900 - 00:14:44.140
Really incredible. What Synchronicity.
Colin True
00:14:44.540 - 00:14:46.780
Amazing. Hi.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:47.340 - 00:14:47.820
Hi.
Colin True
00:14:48.150 - 00:14:51.430
There's a period there. I want the period. I want to honor the punctuation.
Shawnté Salabert
00:14:52.150 - 00:14:53.990
I'm glad you're reading this one correctly.
Colin True
00:14:54.630 - 00:15:21.710
That's right. There's no LOL in here, so it's okay.
I just moved to a state that gets a lot of snow, and I want to try snowshoeing at one of the local parks, but I don't know where to start. I'm a bigger girl, so I'm not sure that this sport is for me. To be honest, I don't want to just sink in the first time I try it.
Any tips on how to get started and how to pick out snowshoes? That would work for me. I'm five seven, 190 pounds, size nine shoe, if that helps. Signed Snow Princess in training I like.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:21.710 - 00:15:28.350
Thank you. Thank you for sending your specs. Snow Princess. Hell, yeah. You can snowshoe if you want to snowshoe.
Colin True
00:15:28.430 - 00:15:28.990
Damn right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:28.990 - 00:15:35.630
Yeah, that's right. Get at it. This is for you. This is for, you know, anybody who's interested could try it. I love.
Colin True
00:15:35.630 - 00:15:48.800
I understand her specific questions. Although snowshoeing is sort of some. One of my favorite things and I'm sure I did the same thing.
Well, it's one of my favorite things, but it's also one of my favorite kind of. I think it's kind of a funny outdoor thing if you're like, man, I want to get into snowshoeing. I'm like, you mean like walking?
Shawnté Salabert
00:15:49.440 - 00:15:50.560
Window walking.
Colin True
00:15:50.560 - 00:15:59.999
It is all it is. I mean, right. But I also understand it's weird and they put these weird devices on your feet. So I understand the trepidation, but it is funny.
Once you then try it, you're like, oh, yeah, I'm just kind of walking around out here.
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:00.080 - 00:16:06.240
Right. It's like walking in snow. It really is. And you're in with awkward flotation devices. That is the whole.
Colin True
00:16:06.240 - 00:16:10.530
It's like their shoes for snow and.
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:10.530 - 00:16:17.810
You strap them to your feet and then you just move in them. Yeah. I mean, really, that's what it's about. Colin nailed it. We should actually go snowshoeing sometime.
Colin True
00:16:18.450 - 00:16:19.210
I would love that.
Shawnté Salabert
00:16:19.210 - 00:17:39.440
All right. Well, as far as getting started, really, it's just about getting some snowshoes.
I mean, a learning how to move around in them and then picking somewhere to go and go walk around in it. Uh, so let's talk about how to pick out a pair.
Before you go too far down the frosty and financial rabbit hole of investing in a pair, I would say first of all, see if there's anywhere near you that you can rent snowshoes or see if you know somebody who would lend you a pair.
Or if you've got a buy nothing group on Facebook in your area, ask if anyone's got a pair or even keep an eye out in thrift stores or like those sporting goods shops that have used selections. I think, you know, snowshoes can be pricey, but I think.
I think it's a good idea, too, to test out different kinds and see what you like if it's possible. And if it's not, okay, that's fine.
If you're buying new, I do recommend that anybody new to snowshoeing, no matter your weight or your body size, focus on a few things. So that's going to be deck size. I had to really enunciate that.
Deck size, load rating, traction bindings, and of course, how and where you plan to use these things. So let us talk about. I'm glad I'm See if I was kiwi and I said dec rating then Colin would be laughing because it sounds.
Colin True
00:17:39.440 - 00:17:40.280
That's for our only fans.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:40.280 - 00:17:47.800
Deck rating. Okay. Yeah, yeah that's our only. That's one of our other side projects this year, 2020.
Colin True
00:17:47.800 - 00:17:51.360
You gotta make money somewhere around here. Sorry listeners, it's only me.
Shawnté Salabert
00:17:51.360 - 00:18:13.460
All right, calling the enforcer. Enforcing bad things. So snowshoe deck is basically the platform you're going to be strapped into.
This is the part everybody thinks looks like a tennis racket because you've, you know, you're imagining snowshoes of the olden days where there's just some like fur trapper rolling around in the snow. Maybe not rolling around, you don't know.
Colin True
00:18:13.460 - 00:18:15.380
Actually they work very well.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:15.380 - 00:18:27.300
Yeah. And some tennis rackets. So they are a lot better these days. They don't look like that.
But with the deck, the larger this, you know, you just can't reach a dick now.
Colin True
00:18:27.300 - 00:18:28.260
That's all you can say.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:28.980 - 00:18:29.460
You can't.
Colin True
00:18:29.460 - 00:18:34.300
I'm not even, I'm not even laughing. You're cracking yourself up. I know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:34.300 - 00:18:49.740
This is so bad.
Sometimes I do feel like I devolve into a 13 year old boy and I'm sometimes not sorry about it but basically the larger and longer the deck is and the more it's true. It's true.
Colin True
00:18:51.660 - 00:18:55.180
If you hadn't said the kiwi thing I would not have even gone here.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:55.260 - 00:18:57.020
All you need is a large long.
Colin True
00:18:58.140 - 00:18:59.370
Oh my God, that's hilarious.
Shawnté Salabert
00:18:59.920 - 00:19:15.280
Sorry. Composing myself.
The larger, longer, more stable the deck is, the more flotation it's going to offer and flotation is what's going to keep you above the snow, not in it. So every snowshoe actually has a recommended load. What? Colin can't he.
Colin True
00:19:15.680 - 00:19:21.280
I saw it coming up and now you had to put load right after that previous sentence.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:21.840 - 00:19:26.320
Listen, this is how things call in. Clean it up buddy. Okay.
Colin True
00:19:28.640 - 00:19:30.120
Well that is rich Girebi.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:30.120 - 00:19:43.500
That's right. That's right. My show. So yes, the, the load rating is. This is basically saying how much can these things handle? Can't stop to figure.
Colin True
00:19:43.660 - 00:19:44.020
Wow.
Shawnté Salabert
00:19:44.020 - 00:20:28.920
I don't. You know what, honestly I thought snowshoes. This is a very innocuous question but we're going down a deep, dark dirty path here.
So apologies to all of you. Serious heart apologies to you princess.
Hopefully you're hanging in there with us because basically this recommended load is going to help you, you know, figure out which one is best and figure out, you know, so you're going to basically figure out a how much weight you're going to be carrying in a pack and add that to your body weight and then you're going to choose a snowshoe designed for that capacity.
So they generally have a range that you can read on the, you know, packaging for the snowshoe or you could talk to a sales associate if it's a place that sells snowshoes. But basically you're going to look for something that can handle your weight and then the addition of anything you're carrying.
Colin True
00:20:29.240 - 00:20:35.980
And any website friend of those manufacturers will probably have like a little chart to be like, here you go. This is the weight you have and this is the size you need and blah, blah, blah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:35.980 - 00:20:54.980
This is your dick load. So Tubs, Atlas and MSR all make, you know, aluminum and composite snowshoes that can support more weight than some of the cheap plastic varieties.
So definitely look for a solidly made snowshoe. You're not going to want to cheap out on this. That's why I was like, if you can rent first or borrow, maybe try that.
Colin True
00:20:55.460 - 00:20:57.860
I've had the same pair of snowshoes since 1999.
Shawnté Salabert
00:20:57.860 - 00:20:59.940
That's amazing. Yeah, they last forever and they're great.
Colin True
00:21:00.100 - 00:21:08.470
And I'm sure there are lighter one, whatever, but they're awesome and they work great. And I don't go out nearly often enough to justify I dropping a couple of hundred bucks on another pair of snow shoes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:21:09.750 - 00:22:14.310
You can also, if you're looking for a bigger deck and who isn't, you can opt for a longer model for more stability and fluffier snow. And MSR actually makes removable tails that kind of clip onto the back of your snowshoes to do just this.
And it gives you a bit more flexibility since you could take them off for a lighter load, a smaller person, or just if you're walking in more compact snow where you don't need as much of that flotation to keep you above it because. Because it's packed down. I've used those before. They're.
They're a great addition and it's wonderful for people who do things like backpacking in the winter because you're going to have a heavier load when you're doing that versus just going out on a little day snowshoe jaunt with your buddy Colin. You know, another thing to look for when you're looking at snowshoes is the bindings. These are the things that keep your foot in the damn thing.
They usually have a strap around the back, around your heel and then something over the front of the foot.
So I have a pair of Yukon Charlies that have kind of a dummy proof ratcheting binding that I can just lock in, tighten or loosen with one hand, making it really easy to click in even with puffy gloves on. So I love that. I want it to be dummy proof.
Colin True
00:22:14.709 - 00:22:18.310
Could you tell us a little bit about Yukon Charlie's deck size or is that a.
Shawnté Salabert
00:22:18.470 - 00:24:55.360
It's so big. It's a good size. It's a good size deck. It's the right size for me and that's all that matters. Okay. Okay. And it works, really.
It's about performance really. So my least favorite. Keeping it together, man. I'm keeping it together. My least favorite bindings though are the ones that have the.
These kind of rubbery buckles since honestly, yeah, they come undone really easily and I think they break off surprisingly easily. And they're usually on the cheapest shoes though, you know.
So if you're looking for something affordable, I get it, you may want to get a replacement buckle, you know, set of straps if you're going to get some of those cheaper snowshoes just because there's a high likelihood. And as a clumsy ADHD girly who is hard on her gear, I am speaking from experience here.
So, yeah, so we got dick size, we've got binding, and then traction is another thing you want to look at. So this really depends on what kind of snowshoeing you're going to do.
If you're just going to be on mostly flat ground, which is what a lot of people are going to do, the moderate cleats that are found on most basic snowshoes are going to be just fine.
But if you're going to be in the mountains, you're going to be on a lot of slopes going uphill, downhill especially uphill, you're going to want to pair with a more aggressive crampon. Those are the pointy teeth underneath. And you're going to want a pair that have a heel lift built in.
And so that's something when you're going uphill that kind of pops up and it helps support your foot and it just, it helps reduce fatigue when you're going uphill. So they are well worth it if you're going to do any snowshoeing in mountains.
Also another thing people don't think about, you're going to want a pair of trekking poles if you don't already have them.
Um, and these are gonna help you spend less time on your butt in the snow, which, you know, it's it's part of learning how to snowshoe as being one with the snow. But you wanna try to minimize that and you also wanna have what's called snow baskets for those.
And these are basically tiny snowshoes for your trekking poles. And they just help, they don't sink into the snow and become useless.
So as for learning how to snowshoe, as Colin said, snowshoeing is just walking with big, clunky, weird things on your feet. Feet. So you're going to strap them on, strap on those big decks, find some snow. Colin's just losing his. Find some snowy ground and just start moving.
You're going to want to exaggerate your foot movements though.
So lifting your knees a little more dramatically than you normally would and keeping your feet spaced a little further apart just so you're not clanking, you know, clanking your snowshoes on each other and tripping over yourself, which again, I have a lot of experience doing.
So the hardest movements to me are always the turns, which always make me feel like they're that scene in Austin Powers where He's making the 19 point turn to get his car turned around in the hallway.
Colin True
00:24:55.360 - 00:24:57.920
I'm like, easier than skis though.
Shawnté Salabert
00:24:57.920 - 00:25:19.380
That's. Oh yeah, so much easier. Shorter deck, you just want to like fling your leg out into the atmosphere and circle around that way.
Just try not to trip on yourself is the big thing here.
But I'd say listen, go have fun out there, princess, and don't be afraid to fall down, to look silly and to laugh at yourself because you're going to be lumbering around like a winter wonderland, Frankenstein the first few times you do this.
Colin True
00:25:19.690 - 00:25:43.970
Yeah. While you were talking, I looked on geartrade.com there's a ton of snowshoe options on gear trade. All very affordable, I would say.
My advice, princess, I think would be don't worry about spending too much and even going a little smaller because if you're just going to be out there like doing the more casual version of it, even if you have one of the biggest snowshoe you have, you're still going to sink a little bit. I think that's sort of a little bit people don't think you're not just going to like, you're not like walking on the very top layer of snow.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:43.970 - 00:25:44.570
Not snow.
Colin True
00:25:44.570 - 00:25:58.780
Exactly.
And so, and also as you then learn and then if you decide, kind of like Shantae was saying, like if you're going to do things more aggressively, like, oh, I actually I'm going out in deeper snow, I will need a larger set of snowshoes. It'll be more comfortable if they're a little smaller and you'll get all the traction and flotation that you need. So, yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:25:58.780 - 00:26:46.140
Wow. Useful advice. Oh, man. That question just reminded me that I actually. This is embarrassing after you told me you've had your snowshoes for 305 years.
I actually need new snowshoes because I jacked up the bindings on mine last year and I think they're beyond the point of repair at end. The. At this point, I'm always a big fan of just repairing gear, but this I may. I may need to get some new ones.
I have had them for a decade, so that's decent, but they can, they really can last a long time. You know where you can look for used gear?
I did not Google this in the middle of our session like you did, Colin, but Articles in Common is a great website that you can look and find used gear and I. At some point we got to have Emmy on here and to talk about it. The founder is super cool, but not today. Today we're not today.
Today we're gonna do a third.
Colin True
00:26:46.460 - 00:26:49.340
We could call her and just wait for her to show up.
Shawnté Salabert
00:26:49.900 - 00:26:52.300
One day. One day. But let's. Let's do another question.
Colin True
00:26:52.860 - 00:27:38.980
Okay, this question is. Okay, next question. Dear Gear Abby, I was get. This is a long one.
I was getting in an after work mountain bike ride when I came across a herd of elk on the trail. A small group of about 15. A pair of riders had stopped in front of me and we all watched the herd milling about from a good distance.
After about 10 minutes of watching, snapping photos and enjoying this rare encounter, we all decided that we should probably get back to our ride. We started to make some noise, ding a bell and generally moved down the trail toward the elk. The herd quickly got the hint and moved on.
As we got further down the trail, we ran into another group of bikers that just completed a hike. A bike across the clearcut in order to avoid spooking the elk. This begged me to ask the question and this is the question. Giraby.
Shawnté Salabert
00:27:38.980 - 00:27:44.420
Okay, great. It's like, is this story time? Are we just being regaled with stories? This is a great.
Colin True
00:27:44.420 - 00:28:08.580
This is a lovely email. Is there a correct etiquette in this situation? Is it better to push the wildlife along and stay on trail?
And I'll interject and potentially have them charge at you if they don't like what you're doing or head off trail and leave the elk alone. But now, again, I'm interjecting, now you're off trail, which is never. Which is typically frowned upon. So that is from Phil. Thank you, Phil.
Thank you for a great email.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:08.580 - 00:28:12.480
Thank you for that very thoughtfully crafted email that Colin read weirdly slowly.
Colin True
00:28:13.120 - 00:28:14.000
I was enjoying it.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:14.000 - 00:28:16.120
I thought you were. You were, like, savoring each word.
Colin True
00:28:16.120 - 00:28:17.120
Yeah, that was good.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:17.120 - 00:28:21.760
Really having. I. I like that you really have a unique experience with each question on this podcast.
Colin True
00:28:22.400 - 00:28:26.880
I was waiting for Phil to, like, say, well, then we hopped on the elk. Yeah, like, it was, like it was a bison.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:26.960 - 00:28:31.680
Listen, I'm just slightly disappointed that this isn't about the mating habits of, you know, elk, since we.
Colin True
00:28:31.680 - 00:28:36.120
We've got a reputation. A little disappointed in you now, Phil. Come on.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:36.120 - 00:28:36.560
Damn it.
Colin True
00:28:36.560 - 00:28:38.860
And then I saw the elk. They were banging.
Shawnté Salabert
00:28:40.690 - 00:29:19.940
I don't even know what that looks like. Maybe I'll Google that later. Maybe not that that. Probably not maybe.
Okay, so I. I've actually, I've had my share of encounters with large non banging wildlife on trails, including some times that I was forced to ponder this exact question because I actually had my own elk situation in Colorado a couple years ago. My friend and I were on a long backpacking trip, and we were just cruising along one afternoon when we actually encountered a herd similar to you.
We were on our feet, not on a bike, but we just sort of stood there for a while. We were pretty excited about it until it just turned into this lengthy stalemate. Nobody's moving. You know, the algorithm is kind of.
Colin True
00:29:19.940 - 00:29:21.700
Looking at you like, hey, we are. We're not moving.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:21.700 - 00:29:22.580
This is our land.
Colin True
00:29:22.660 - 00:29:23.580
What you're waiting for.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:23.580 - 00:29:24.140
Exactly.
Colin True
00:29:24.140 - 00:29:24.500
Yeah.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:24.500 - 00:29:39.310
Very salty elk. So we're just kind of pondering our options between, you know, we're like, what do you think? What do you think?
And then one of them began sort of sauntering with a menacing vibe toward us, and I believe that it had murder in its eyes.
Colin True
00:29:39.700 - 00:29:40.980
So we've had enough of this.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:40.980 - 00:29:41.580
Yeah, we just.
Colin True
00:29:41.580 - 00:29:42.580
Time for you to move.
Shawnté Salabert
00:29:42.580 - 00:30:17.290
Yeah, we decided to kind of abandon the ethical debate we were having, and we just cut a wide path around them. We.
We walked through the forest and it was fine because, you know, the forest there was duff on the ground, so it wasn't like we were trampling wildflowers or something. But here's the thing, Phil.
So Colin kind of, kind of alluded to this, but first and foremost, you want to consider safety when it comes to large wildlife life, yours and theirs. So you never know the temperament of any particular animal until it reveals it. That's right.
And you don't want to discover it the hard way, like all of those Yellowstone tourists who get poked in the ass by a bison do.
Colin True
00:30:17.690 - 00:30:18.690
It's all I could think of.
Shawnté Salabert
00:30:18.690 - 00:31:21.980
That's right. Seriously. I, I. Yeah, same. The first move if you're on a bike is you want to dismount the bike. If you're walking, just kind of stop where you're at.
And if you're with a group of people, stay close together so that it, like, if you're spread out, you're going to sort of look like a herd to them, and that is something that can contribute to them feeling threatened. So you want to keep a safe distance and just quietly observe, you know, which you did for a little while, Phil.
So you did the right thing for a little while. You know, often, honestly, animals, you give them enough time, and they will kind of mosey on their way if.
As long as they don't perceive you as a threat. And that's the big if.
So this is actually why it's never a good idea to try to shoo or push them along, like using a bike bell or yell, yelling at them or throwing things or whatever. You don't want to create a threat. Okay.
So elk, like many large animals, can get real cranky if you encounter them with their babies or during the rut, which is their mating seat. Oh, it's their mating season. We got it there.
Colin True
00:31:21.980 - 00:31:24.140
We got there. So proud of you, gear, Abby.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:24.140 - 00:31:30.020
And you know what? You know that's right. Those elk don't want to be interrupted while they're trying to look all attractive out there, especially if.
Colin True
00:31:30.020 - 00:31:33.440
And you can tell if they're in the rut because that one of them will have their gimp outfit on.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:33.670 - 00:31:47.750
Oh, my God. No. You know how you could tell they're in the rut sometimes is because they will have gathered a harem, which I learned is really. Yes.
That is the word for a bunch of sexy lady elk who've been lured into a life of sin with a bowl. Yeah.
Colin True
00:31:47.750 - 00:31:48.470
Is that legit?
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:48.470 - 00:31:49.190
That's legit.
Colin True
00:31:49.349 - 00:31:58.710
I have so much more respect for elk now. We need to have the. The. The horny animal power rankings for gear Abby. Right now, it's horny salmon versus horny elk. All right, let's see who wins.
Shawnté Salabert
00:31:59.840 - 00:32:05.120
We can't do that. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I was delighted to learn that. I was like, this is the best thing I've learned yet.
Colin True
00:32:05.120 - 00:32:10.800
That's amazing. That is, like, just, like, full on. John's out There Absolutely. Running the planes.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:10.880 - 00:32:13.440
Yeah. And you know what? They're gonna get mad if you interrupt.
Colin True
00:32:13.600 - 00:32:16.240
Hey, ladies, why don't you come and join my harem?
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:16.720 - 00:32:17.440
That's right.
Colin True
00:32:17.840 - 00:32:18.560
Oh, my God.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:18.560 - 00:32:33.900
Yeah.
So if you see some, you know, some elk out there getting all worked up and giving you warning signs, which could include something that, you know, they snort, they growl, maybe stomping around or leaning down into that classic bison butthead, you know, headbutt position. Butt, head, head, butt, whatever.
Colin True
00:32:34.300 - 00:32:35.100
I knew what you meant.
Shawnté Salabert
00:32:35.100 - 00:33:11.580
You know, they're gonna knock you on your feet. You want to back away slowly, but do not turn your back to them. You want to keep eyes on the situation, and you can.
You can back up a little bit, try to observe again. But if they're still acting like furry little roadblocks, especially if they're angry, you got two options at this point. Point.
So the first option, the safest option, especially if you surprise a mama elk and her baby or possibly two mating elk, I don't know, is to just backtrack. Okay? Choose an alternate route. Backtrack the way you came. It's just not worth it to risk being a headline. And this also. But it.
It also can put animals in danger.
Colin True
00:33:11.580 - 00:33:14.780
You know, if we're being unwillingly forced into the harem, you don't want to.
Shawnté Salabert
00:33:14.780 - 00:33:16.900
Be part of that harem. You're not built now.
Colin True
00:33:16.900 - 00:33:18.380
You're part of this now. Let's go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:33:19.980 - 00:34:23.770
You'll have to start a whole new life. Um, but, yeah, this is also the. Obviously the most leave no Tracy option, because you're not just scampering around off trail.
Um, and the other option is what MacGyver, my. My hiking buddy and I did is quietly, you know, sort of scout a way around that avoids trampling vegetation.
And if you've got a bike, walking the bike until you're well past the herd. So really, it's like, exercise some patience, you know, Phil, you said you. You stood there for 10 minutes, which is a good long time.
And honestly, that's. Usually most animals are moving on at that point, especially if they're on a road or a trail.
So try to be patient if you can, and avoid, like, honking, yelling, screaming, because you just don't want them to turn on you.
You know, I think I've also been in situations in the Sierra, though, where it was a big, lazy bear in the middle of the trail, and on my left was a cliff, and on my right was a long drop to a river. So I just had to be patient and eat some Cheetos until he went to go loaf around somewhere else. So there you go, Phil. Be safe out there.
Plus, bonus, we got a little animal mating talk in for good measure.
Colin True
00:34:24.410 - 00:34:30.050
We did. But we've not talked about the most dangerous herd of them all. Which is the marmot herd.
Shawnté Salabert
00:34:30.050 - 00:34:33.890
Oh, that. Just cuddling marmots I found.
Colin True
00:34:33.890 - 00:34:37.690
Sorry. Wait, I forgot you're the danger in that scenario. Not the marmots.
Shawnté Salabert
00:34:37.930 - 00:34:50.929
The marmots are fine. It's me. Oh, man. You know, Colin, as much as I would love to continue bantering about elk harems, who would a surprise and delight to both of us.
Let's dive into the final question.
Colin True
00:34:51.889 - 00:35:05.329
All right, last question for today. Dear Gear Abby, in your opinion, what's the best electronic equipment to carry on a backcountry trip that's not a phone?
Signed Recovering Luddite in Maine.
Shawnté Salabert
00:35:06.609 - 00:35:27.110
Great sign off.
As somebody who hates having to carry any electronics and prefers to just sit quietly next to a stream eating snacks like the little feral dirtbag lady marmot she is, I feel it on a deep level. So I'm going to give you two versions of best here. First, the one that will most appeal to my mom. That's Gear mom to you is.
Colin True
00:35:27.110 - 00:35:27.710
That's right.
Shawnté Salabert
00:35:27.710 - 00:36:02.690
Yeah, it's satellite communication device. It is always clipped to my pack when I'm in the backcountry or on a long hike or a run out of cell phone range.
I use a Garmin Inreach Mini which is paired with my phone. I never really use the GPS tracking on it. That's not really why I have it.
But I do really enjoy the ability to have not just an SOS button for emergencies, which I have thankfully never had to use, knock on wood.
But it's also great because I can send two way texts, which has come in handy in the past where I've had kind of minor injuries and also when I've had to figure out what to deal with wildfires that were in the area.
Colin True
00:36:04.050 - 00:36:05.890
I thought you'd say approaching elk harems.
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:05.890 - 00:36:51.290
You wish. I wish. Do we wish? I don't know. Yeah, but I am gonna.
Like I said, I'm giving myself two answers here because it's my show and even as someone who despises having to bring electronics into the mountains with me, I have to say my E reader, which is a Kindle paperweight that a friend gave to me, is much more fun than my inreach. So best in that way. And honestly, I. I always feel like it's one of the best things in my pack. On a long trip, especially when I'm alone.
So first of all, basically a library at my fingertips. I read three trashy books on the John Muir Trail, New Mopo this summer.
Not, not even embarrassed to say that in my version of a trashy book, by the way, is Steve Barry's series, which are like kind of the Da Vinci Code, so love that.
Colin True
00:36:51.290 - 00:36:53.410
All right, that's. That's disappointing.
Shawnté Salabert
00:36:53.570 - 00:36:53.970
Sorry.
Colin True
00:36:53.970 - 00:37:00.850
Does that just your propensity for like, you know, filthy dots being connected. All right, let's. Let's up our game here next summer.
Shawnté Salabert
00:37:01.410 - 00:37:05.310
Terrible, historical, you know, thrillers. That's what I love.
Colin True
00:37:06.030 - 00:37:08.350
You just don't want to say bad, bad, you know.
Shawnté Salabert
00:37:08.350 - 00:38:16.030
Yeah, that's fine. We can replace that. You're right. Three bad books. No, and. But then here's a good book, Colin.
I actually always, when I do long trips, I carry a copy of Wilderness First Aid Handbook.
And then this summer I also had my own PCT guidebook on me for reference if I needed it in case I didn't remember things, because I wrote that a long time ago. But I borrow it all from Libby, which is the library app. If you're not using it, it's awesome. And so I just sync that with my device before I leave.
And then if I have wifi when I'm in service on a long trip, I'll just download more books. It's awesome. So Infinite Infinite Books. The first aid book actually came in handy, I think it was last summer.
I got a weird bite one day I was about a week into a three week trip and I looked down and I had kind of a circle of doom growing around my ankle. I was like, oh shit. And so I just. Look, I was like, where's the bite section? And should I be taking Benadryl right now or pressing the SOS button?
So I just laid everything around my head. I was like, Benadryl allergy medicine. My in reach just to see what happened. But yeah, that was, that was good for that.
It's also good if you're a hypochondriac.
Colin True
00:38:16.750 - 00:38:19.230
What was it? What was the bite?
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:19.550 - 00:38:26.740
I thought it was a brown recluse bite. And I just got lucky. That was the. That was like the shape of it. It. But it didn't necrotize, which is when the skin.
Colin True
00:38:26.740 - 00:38:32.060
So you think you actually got bit by a brown. Brown recluse. I can't speak right now because I'm so excited about the story.
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:32.060 - 00:38:35.300
I'm so excited about the Al Carom. I got bit by it.
Colin True
00:38:35.300 - 00:38:36.740
Gotta figure out how to get in on one of those.
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:36.740 - 00:38:37.180
Yeah.
Colin True
00:38:37.660 - 00:38:40.900
Wow. And it just. So just. You can get bit and it just ends up being okay?
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:40.900 - 00:38:55.130
Basically, yeah. Apparently not everybody has that kind of devious reaction. I was just mostly localized, and it didn't. Like I said it didn't.
A lot of those poisonous spider bites will start eating your flesh. Luckily, that didn't happen to me. So where.
Colin True
00:38:55.130 - 00:38:58.250
Where do you think it had. Do you think it was? It wasn't like a sleeping situation, was it?
Shawnté Salabert
00:38:58.250 - 00:39:11.530
No, I was crossing a. I felt it when it happened. It was painful.
I was crossing a gnarly log over a creek, and it happened like it must have been hanging out on the log, just waiting for something to bite. So I was the unlucky recipient.
Colin True
00:39:12.170 - 00:39:12.730
Wow.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:13.530 - 00:39:13.970
Yeah.
Colin True
00:39:13.970 - 00:39:14.890
You cheated death.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:14.890 - 00:39:26.990
That's right. Why did I say it in that voice? Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So it's great. If you have weird bites, you can maybe find out what they are before you die of them.
I also.
Colin True
00:39:26.990 - 00:39:28.110
Oh, that's what it is.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:31.230 - 00:39:39.950
Yeah. So hopefully Gear mom still isn't listening to the podcast. I also use my E reader. That is a hard word to say. E reader.
Colin True
00:39:40.030 - 00:39:40.710
E reader.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:40.710 - 00:39:41.550
Just say Kindle.
Colin True
00:39:42.190 - 00:39:42.870
Yeah, there you go.
Shawnté Salabert
00:39:42.870 - 00:40:34.490
Yeah, My Kindle. To store backup documents. So this summer, for instance, I kept a bunch of PDFs on there.
Emergency contacts, my trip plan, a guide for what to do in a lightning storm.
Because if there's one thing I will forget when I'm all exposed in the alpine and there's static electricity in the air, it's what to actually do so that I don't get zapped and turned into a fried, feral dirt bag lady marmot. Well, that's it for this episode of Gear Abby.
Until next time, send your burning questions about your release relationships with outdoor products, people, places and pastimes over to DearGearAbbyMail.com and I'm gonna do my best to answer them or find somebody else who can. And of course, head over to your podcast listening service of choice and subscribe, rate and review to support the pod and personally make my day.
And follow us on Instagram at gearabypod to see terrible, badly produced reels in the meantime.
Colin True
00:40:34.490 - 00:40:36.010
They're good reels. They're good reels. They're good reels.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:36.010 - 00:40:36.390
Subscribe.
Colin True
00:40:36.460 - 00:40:36.700
Subscribe.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:36.700 - 00:40:40.420
Subscribe. Was it the bidet one where I used a pumpkin to simulate?
Colin True
00:40:40.420 - 00:40:42.700
That was amazing. That was the best.
Shawnté Salabert
00:40:43.820 - 00:40:57.020
In the meantime, today's episode was produced by David Karstad and my buddy Colin. True art. Art direction provided by the wonderful Sarah Gensert. I'm Shantae Salibair. And remember, there are no dumb questions, just smart advice.
