Filed under: Bicycles | Tags: Anybody's Bike Book, bikes, book, Rick Morrall, Tom Cuthbertson, vintage
Recently while cleaning out our wood shop at work a friend found this old copy of Anybody’s Bike Book and he kindly dropped it on my desk as a gift. This classic bike book written by the late Tom Chuthbertson and illustrated most excellently by Rick Morrall was originally published by 10 Speed Press in 1971. This book was actually the first book published by 10 Speed Press out of Berkley CA and was the inspiration for the press’s name.
Despite the cover being pretty rough and smelling like a wet oak barrel from being around cut wood too long the pages inside are in pretty good shape. Written as a guide for fixing bike, its intent was to demystify for the average Joe the art of maintaining and repairing one’s own bike, “Bicycles are not monstrous machines which only wizards can understand.” The book pretty much covers all one needs to know about bikes, at least at the time which it was written, everything from advice on what type of bike to buy to how to service your rear derailleur.
Great book , if you find a copy pick it up. Rest of the images can be found here.
Filed under: Angling, Fly Fishing | Tags: brook trout, fly fishing, Rapidan River, red bud, Shenandoah National Park, Spring, virginia
In search of some much needed respite and escape I headed to the hills this past week to a favorite blue line of mine for some Spring brook trout. The redbuds, which came out early this year along with every other blossom, still occupied the understory with their fuchsia blossoms and the hyper-green of the leaves had just started poking out. Classic early springtime in the Shenandoah.
There hasn’t yet been enough rain but there was still plenty of water holding hungry trout. The day started off slow with grey skies and a light rain essentially killing any dry fly action. I switch to a dry and dropper rig. By afternoon the grey gave way to pockets of sun, the temperature rose enough, and the parachute blue winged olive was back at the end of my number 7 tippet.
Not sure what it was about the day, but not long after the sun shined through the clouds I hooked into several of the largest brook trout I have caught on this stream. They don’t get very big in the small waters of Virginia, anything at or over 12″ is considered large for a native…these we monsters…the tip of my 4wt. full flex rod bent like a willow’s branch under the fight of these beautiful fish. I can only hope to have another day like this one again this Spring. After a few hours of great fishing I quit while I was ahead, I smoked my cheap cigar, drank a little bourbon, and headed for home.
Filed under: Listen | Tags: banjo, bluegrass, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Foggy Mountain Boys, Lester Flatt
Earl Scruggs (right) with Lester Flatt
If you haven’t yet taken a moment today to honor the loss of the world’s premier banjo player I am providing that here. Take a moment and listen to just a bit of the musical genius that was Earl Scruggs. A pioneering banjo player, Scruggs transformed not just bluegrass but all of music.
Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt with the Foggy Mountain Boys
Earl Scruggs with Doc Watson
Filed under: Eats, Wilderness Heroes | Tags: Euell Gibbons, foraging, Stalking the Good Life, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, wild food
“Now is the time to stop writing about nature and get out into it. It is the season for research and exploration, a time of taking in, not putting out, and I revel in it.”
- Euell Gibbons, Spring, Spring, Spring!
The Spring Equinox may still be a few days away, but around here the season changed weeks ago. Spring has sprung. Spring is the best season for gathering wild foods, and while there may be many experts and many book on the subject if you have any inclination to consider gathering wild things to eat this spring then you should probably consider Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons. A seminal piece of writing on the subject, the book discusses not just how to search and collect wild asparagus but a whole range of other things to eat.
An avid outdoor man, naturalist, and forager, Gibbons wrote articles for both for National Geographic and Organic Gardening and Farming magazines. He is widely considered the father of the wild food movement and while his books are informative as he continued to write his writing became a bit more philosophical then instructive. Anyways it is spring and you probably shouldn’t actually be reading you should gathering wild ramps by a stream somewhere, but but if you need some information and inspiration on the matter Gibbons is your guy.
Its spri
Filed under: Angling, The Great Outdoors | Tags: Abercrombie and Fitch, fishing, fly fishing, outfitter
I picked up this great old catalog from Abercrombie and Fitch at a used book store a little while ago. Originally published in 1968, back when Abercrombie was an actual outdoors outfitter and did more then sell teenagers questionable clothing. The catalog contains not just fly and spin fishing gear but everything the fisherman would need for a multi-day expedition into the wild.
If this catalog was published today I might have to buy “E” in the picture below, the electric wading boot dryer.
If you are interested in the rest of what I have scanned, you can check them out here.
Filed under: Bicycles
Went for a winter ride with my brother a few weeks back. We rode the woods of our formative years, the trails we learned how to ride on and which we know by memory. It was good to breath deeply some winter air and to loosen the legs muscles, for spring is just around the corner and there will be more riding to do. One shouldn’t wait for spring to get back into the saddle.
Filed under: Angling, Fly Fishing, Friends | Tags: Hardy, House of Hardy, Moldy Chum, Vintage Fly Fishing
Came across these House of Hardy cataloge covers from one of my daily reads today. Total re-post rip off here but I couldn’t help it, these covers are just so nice. Every once and awhile MoldyChum posts some great vintage fly fishing finds. More on Hardy, one of the most venerable names in fly fishing, can be read here.
I love the last cover from 76, it definitely has a Whole Earth Catalog feeling to it. A few more can be found here.
Filed under: Friends, Photos | Tags: Documerica, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA
Photograph by David Hiser
Getting back to some normal inspiration around here… the other day I came across a great site from NY Times Green Blog. The site is called Daily DOCUMERICA, and it is a collection of early 1970′s era photographs from dawn of the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1971 the newly created EPA announced a photodocumentary effort to capture the great changes taking shape in the American landscape. Have a look and follow on tumblr for some daily EPA inspiration.
Photograph by Erik Calonius
Photograph by Deborah Parks
Photograph by Charles Steinhacker
Filed under: The Great Outdoors
It is with great sadness that I have to explain the reason for the lack of posts as of late to The WildWood. My father, an infinite source of inspiration and a rock in my life, passed away just before the New Year. It was a shock and still is to myself and my family. He will forever be with us in memory.
In his memory I wanted to recall one of the last experiences we shared together. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and we had just sent the ladies out to go shopping. Myself, my brother, and our Father headed over to the woods for a walk . These were the same woods that I had spent my youth running around in, exploring, pushing over dead trees, and riding bikes. The leaves had all finally fallen from the trees and the sun had settled into its low hanging winter position, casting long shadows throughout the forest floor. It was a gentle walk, first past the old graveyard along some single track and then onto the creek crossing. Periodically along the way we stopped to chat about nothing extraordinary. At one such stop my father tilted his head back and let out a loud primal screech echoing through the woods, seemingly just to make sure he was still alive. At another stop we took a piss on a fallen log. It was as if the further into the woods we walked the more we reverted to some wild place inside.
When we finally reached the creek we stopped to sit on the rocks while the dog sat in and drank from the stream. We sat there awhile, not saying much, just enjoying each others presence. Before we left however we spotted down stream a beautiful and large fox with a big red tail. It was a rare sight for the time of the day, and in all time I had spent in these woods had never seen a fox like that. For several moments we were transfixed by its presence and then it continued down stream. After the encounter we made our out way out of the woods, satisfied with the time we shared and for having witnessed the beautiful fox that day.
The day after my father passed away I went out for my regular morning walk with the dog. When we got close to the woods I began thinking about that last walk I shared with my father. I was glad that one of the last memories I had with him could have been that time in the woods. Just as I was remembering that last walk a motion at the tree line caught my eye. At that moment a large fox, maybe the same fox, stepped out of the woods. Unfazed by my presence or my dog going crazy, the fox gingerly crossed the the street in front of us and was gone just as quickly as he appeared.
Last year I resoluted to spend less time reading about the outdoors and simply spend more time outside and in the woods. In this New Year I am going to double down on that resolution. I’ve gotta get back into the woods to walk, to fish, to breath… and I have got to see that fox again.
Filed under: Craft, The Great Outdoors | Tags: camping, Nessmuk, outers, Woodcraft, woodlore
I picked up this old copy of “Nessmuk’s” Woodcraft and Camping at a used book seller recently. This book is a true classic containing essential knowledge for woodcraft and woodlore. If you are looking for a little inspiration to become an “outer” and start roughing it or maybe just spending a little more time outdoors this is for you. If you want to know more about Nessmuk and who he was check out this previous post.
