Summer Bits and Bobs

Catching up, lake days, upcoming trips, gear talk, and some recs.

Hello there, friends,

This is Skylar and another edition of The Daily Grog newsletter. There are a few new faces around since the raicilla series, so welcome and thanks for following along. How are you? How’s your summer going?

Last week I was at a very special place. The most special, actually.

A few years ago, when I started dating my girlfriend, Steph(anie), I was fortunate enough to be invited to her family cabin in Northern California. But from what I remember, it wasn’t an easy decision for her. Is he special enough to get the invite? Have we been dating long enough? Not just any mere mortal gets an invite to The Cabin. Fortunately, I passed the test and have been invited back each summer. Though honestly I kind of think they keep me around so I’ll haul firewood up the hill to the shed. But hey, I’ll take it!

At The Cabin, days are simple. You wake up to the sun rising and birds chirping (though sometimes a little aggressively). The morning embraces you, while you embrace a warm cup of coffee before walking down to the lake to check the boats. Afternoons are lazy, mostly spent on the deck, reading and conversing with friends and family. Eventually as the day reaches its hottest point, you waddle down to the lake for splashy activities. As the belly turns peckish, the ordained chef of the day prepares the family dinner. Finally, you fall asleep under the stars.

One could not ask for a more perfect existence. There’s more I want to say about The Cabin, but for now know that of all the places I’ve been in the world, none compare.

Other than that, I’ve been in Seattle trying to take advantage of as much hiking, camping, and city time as possible. It occurred to me the other day that this is actually my first Summer in Seattle without COVID restrictions in place! Though I was born and raised in the PNW, there are all sorts of hidden spots up here I’m still getting to know.

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Upcoming Trips

Generally speaking, I do the least amount of traveling during the Summer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). It’s too hot, too crowded, too expensive, and a rather unpleasant experience if you ask me. So if anything, it’s local trips up and down the West Coast.

As August slips away like a bottle of wine¹, I have my sights set on the Fall, when my international travels start picking up again. This September, Steph, myself, and a couple of our friends are headed to England to trek across the North Yorkshire Moors. I’m so stoked because it’s the type of trip I’ve been eager to go on for a while now. Plus, more pubs and cask ale? Yes, please.

The ideation of this trip has gone through quite the journey of its own. The general thought was to 1) go on a trip with our friends because trips with friends are the best and 2) make walking/hiking the primary activity. But where to?

First we were going to head to the Dolomites in Italy, a place I still have yet to visit with many opportunities for hut to hut trekking. But there are four of us, so managing competing schedules and time off was tricky. We were only looking at a little over a week, so we wanted to minimize transit time to maximize walking time. Eventually we settled on England, and a huge factor was the sheer amount of village to village trails all over the country.

We’ll be walking for 6 days, 80 miles, and about 10,000 feet of elevation gain. It’s not too big, but not too small. Each night we’ll be in a new village and staying at a pub or inn, which means we get a nice bed and a big meal. More importantly, we don’t have to carry a tent, sleeping bag and pad, or much food.

After the England trek, I’ll be heading to Munich to see a friend and take part in some Oktoberfest shenanigans. It’ll be my third time at Oktoberfest (3.5 if you count Frühlingsfest, Oktoberfest’s springtime cousin).

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Gear

Incoming gear nerd talk.

Speaking of gear, as I prep for this trip, I’m taking a moment to revisit my gear list. Since time is going to be split between rucking around and city travel, it gave me the opportunity (excuse) to try out a few new items. I also took a peek at serial walker Craig Mod’s recent newsletter with Ben Pobjoy for some inspiration and to see what I might be missing.

First up is the ULA Ultra Camino backpack. At 54 liters and weighs 50.8 oz, it’s almost identical to my normal hiking backpack, the Granite Gear Blaze 60 (which is great). So why get a new bag, you ask? Well mostly because I’m me, and also because the Ultra Camino looks like it might be slightly more functional and adapt to fit different scenarios - something that will perform well both on the trail and in the city. I have some plans for very extensive walking trips in the near-ish future, so I’m searching for something that’ll fit that role.

I’m also a jacket enthusiast turned hoarder. I’m pretty high on an insulated jacket I picked up from Western Rise a few months ago². It hasn’t seen extensive use yet, but from what I can tell during a few walks through Seattle, it’s far warmer than my trusty Patagonia Nano Puff, and more weather resistant.

I’ve also hunting for a rain jacket, but those are tricky. Even though I predominantly travel in Fall to Spring climates, I rarely use a rain jacket - weird, right? So the “usage ratio,” if you will, of a rain jacket is pretty low, compared to almost everything else in my travel kit. And they’re deceptively bulky. So the quest is to find one that takes up an infinitesimal amount space, but can be relied on when needed. I picked up the Versatile Jacket from Japanese outfitter Montbell (only 4.7 ounces, how?!), which seems to fit the bill.

More random kit:

• Altra Lone Peaks - Once you go wide toe box, you won’t go back. Seriously, even if you don’t fully adopt the “barefoot” shoe style, get a pair of shoes with a wide toe box and thank me later.

• A bunch of Merino gear, like this lightweight sun hoodie from Ridge Merino. And a collection of shirts from Unbound Merino and Smartwool. Though it’s not the most durable (especially over long distances with friction from a backpack), Merino wool works so well that the price is well worth it in my book.

• Some Injinji Toe socks are absolutely coming with me on this trip. They look absurd, but getting blisters mid-hike is more absurd.

My wallet is sad, but my heart is happy. I’ll probably pick up a few more pieces over the next few weeks. Maybe I should do a dedicated post about my kit for this trip specifically? Would you be interested?

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Recommendations

I Reviewed Restaurants for 12 Years. They’ve Changed, and Not for the Better. (NYTimes Gift Article) - Man, I have so many thoughts about this essay. You could easily read this as “man shakes fist at sky,” but if you truly think about how far we’ve leaned into convenience, I don’t think he’s wrong. I highly dislike QR code menus and having to make a reservation for every single restaurant. To me, the restaurant experience is theater, all of the props tell me something about the experience I’m about to have. In a way, it seems like dining out faces the same shift that travel has been dealing with. For many reasons, good restaurants have become more accessible and normalized (and even over-normalized) over the last 20 years. Which is a good thing! But that’s also meant the magic and allure of a night out has been ceded to reviews, homogeneity, trends, social media, and reservation gaming, all while continuing to get more expensive.

Why Didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 1) (Podcast, Spotify) - I’ve been a long-time listener of PJ Vogt, back to his days at Reply All, so I was glad when I heard about Search Engine. This is a fun episode that’s about Berghain, a legendary club in Berlin, but more broadly the techno music and post-war life in Germany. Pretty much anything that comes out of Search Engine is great, so explore their archives and find a few good ones.

How to Know If You’re Living in a Doom Loop -

Ted Gioia

is ever the insightful critic of culture and media. “The algorithm is, by definition, a repeating pattern that always looks backward. It does something in the future based on what worked in the past. So the algorithm that recommends music or videos on a web platform will never deliver a totally fresh and new experience for you. It always gives you something similar to what you consumed last week—or last month, or last year. And, as the cycle repeats, the results get less interesting and more predictable.”

The Machine in the Garden - I don’t live in New York, but

Emily Sundberg

’s newsletters are funny, engaging, insightful, and man does she know how to build a community. This long form essay departs from her typically daily emails, but it reflects many of my own feelings about what’s been happening across the board in the online creative world.

On Art After Risk - In a way this is related to Emily’s essay, but from a more visual arts perspective. It asks a broader question though, what happens when art isn’t allowed, or encouraged, to take risks anymore? Who is it for?

Twenty Years Here - I’ve been really digging

Chris Tharp

’s travel writing. His portraits of Korea make me even more eager to visit, if that’s possible. This one about Busan is no exception. There’s a special feeling when a city resonates with your soul so profoundly, and I think he captured that feeling beautifully in this.

A Stalled American Dream -

Chris Arnade

is one of the most insightful travel writers out there at the moment, and he’s not afraid to get into it. I’m a little bummed his tour through the US might be cut short, but if you’re hungry for that type of writing going into this year’s election, take a look at his older work. His archives are fantastic as well.

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Alright, that’s it for now. I’m forever appreciative of your time and attention.

Cheers,

Skylar

P.S. - Since I’ll be ending the trip in Oktoberfest, you bet your ass I’m taking my lederhosen. I got these deer hide bad boys back in 2016 so I really need to make sure I put ‘em to use.

1. Forgive me, I couldn’t help myself.

2. It was the Airloft Hooded Jacket. Sadly it disappeared from their website, so maybe it’s being discontinued or revamped?