The Desert Dog Journal
What to Bring for your Dog on a Hike
Here is a quick rundown of gear to consider if you take your dog hiking.
Hiking Recipes
I haven’t talked about food for a while so I thought I’d review a couple of meals from my latest hike. Last summer I went on a drying and baking binge and I’ve had an assortment of foods hanging around in the freezer that hadn’t been sampled for quite a while. As I was packing [...]
Springtime in the High Desert
Yes, I completely dropped off the face of the blogasphere for six months. Work, family, chores, and all of life’s other little pleasures swamped me. Every week without a post makes it just that much harder to go back and next thing you know you’re wondering why your readership is still growing when you haven’t [...]
Montana Wilderness Training, Part 2
With our base camp established somewhere over 8,000′ and a well earned night’s sleep behind us, it was time to get down to the business of training. The next several days were spent on alpine travel and rescue, avalanche awareness, climbing, and some good old winter hiking.
Montana Wilderness Training, Part 1
In May 2007, my squadron sent a team to Montana for cold weather and high altitude training in preparation for an Afghanistan deployment. This was truly one of the highlights of my Air Force career.
Best Tucson Whiskey Stores
A large part of enjoying whiskey is actually finding it. Now I love a good whiskey hunt as much as the next guy, but some of you actually have to work for a living and can’t spend time running all over town looking for the perfect dram. So I thought I’d share the best establishments I’ve found for buying whiskey in Tucson. If all you are looking for is a Glenlivet or Johnny Walker, then any supermarket or corner beverage store will fill the bill, but if you’re looking for something new then check out these stores.
Gear Reviews
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Hiking Report: Hiking Stove Review (Nov 26, 09)
Here is a quick comparison of my backpacking stoves. Super Cat, Svea Optimus, MSR Dragonfly, and MSR XGK.
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Field Test: Osprey Kestrel 48 Backpack
I’ve been anxious to give my Osprey Kestrel some field time, but I’ve been unable to break away for an overnight trip. This weekend I planned to make a day trip to Redfield Canyon Wilderness so I decided to pack the Kestrel as if it was a two day trip and see how it did. [...]
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Gear Review: FoodSaver V3840 Vacuum Sealer
I’ve only been using my vacuum sealer for a couple of days and I’ve already decided that this is a “must have” item. My wife picked up a FoodSaver V3840 Upright Vacuum at Costco last month and I unpacked it this week during my latest food drying marathon. The sealer was selling for around $140 [...]
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Gear Review: Nesco FD-35 Food Dehydrator
Let’s face it, store bought camping food is expensive and a bit dull, but weight is a constant factor on the trail. So what is the alternative? Dry your own food! Here is my review of my first dehydrator, the Nesco FD-35.
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Whisky News
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Best Tucson Whiskey Stores
A large part of enjoying whiskey is actually finding it. Now I love a good whiskey hunt as much as the next guy, but some of you actually have to work for a living and can’t spend time running all over town looking for the perfect dram. So I thought I’d share the best establishments I’ve found for buying whiskey in Tucson. If all you are looking for is a Glenlivet or Johnny Walker, then any supermarket or corner beverage store will fill the bill, but if you’re looking for something new then check out these stores.
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St George’s English Whisky
The rising popularity of malted whiskies, especially single malt barley spirits, is evidenced in the growing number of distilleries and labels that have been cropping up over the past few years. Several mothballed distilleries in Scotland have reopened for a total of five new distilleries since 2005, with as many as another half a dozen [...]
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Macallan 12 Year Old Revisited
Been a bit under the weather the past week, so I’ve fallen a bit behind on my posts, but I thought you might enjoy this. This is a repost of my famous Captain Crunch whisky review of a Macallan 12 year old single malt. As you’ll see, everything is better with a little Crunch.
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Podcast: Interview Stranahan’s Master Distiller, Jake Norris (12/2/09)
I thought I’d do something new for Whisky Wednesday this week. I enjoyed my tasting of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey (CLICK HERE) so much last week that I wanted to know more about the people behind this unique American single malt whiskey. So I contacted the folks at Stranahan’s and asked if they would grant me [...]
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Hiking
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What to Bring for your Dog on a Hike
Here is a quick rundown of gear to consider if you take your dog hiking.
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Hiking Recipes
I haven’t talked about food for a while so I thought I’d review a couple of meals from my latest hike. Last summer I went on a drying and baking binge and I’ve had an assortment of foods hanging around in the freezer that hadn’t been sampled for quite a while. As I was packing [...]
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Springtime in the High Desert
Yes, I completely dropped off the face of the blogasphere for six months. Work, family, chores, and all of life’s other little pleasures swamped me. Every week without a post makes it just that much harder to go back and next thing you know you’re wondering why your readership is still growing when you haven’t [...]
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Montana Wilderness Training, Part 2
With our base camp established somewhere over 8,000′ and a well earned night’s sleep behind us, it was time to get down to the business of training. The next several days were spent on alpine travel and rescue, avalanche awareness, climbing, and some good old winter hiking.
- More from Hiking
Real Estate
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3 Things You Must Do Before You Look for a House
For today’s Real Estate Report, I will focus on the three things a home buyers should do before they get in the car and start looking at houses. Most people and Realtors start out with price and location, but this is your house so you need to go a lot deeper than that! This video will show you how to take some of the stress out of home buying so you can focus on what is most important–buying the right house for you!
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Monday Real Estate Report (Nov 23, 09)
Inaugural episode of DDTV! Tucson Real Estate Update; Football Recap; Revisiting the Macallan 12 Year Old Single Malt (this time with Captain Crunch); Tucson Market Charts; My house as an example of what Sellers don’t want to do (see my green pool); More tips for home Sellers.
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Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Workbook
Are you falling behind in your house payments, or are you a Realtor or investor that works with distressed homeowners or homeowners facing foreclosure? If so then you need to be familiar with the resources provided by the local government. Here in Arizona, both the state and Pima county have counseling and assistance programs for [...]
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Investing in Real Estate with Your IRA
Many investors are surprised when I tell them that they can buy real estate in their IRA. The big brokers and mutual fund companies don’t advertise this fact because frankly they don’t want to lose the business. Actually, you can invest in almost anything with your IRA as long as you follow the IRS rules. One [...]
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Other Recent Articles
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Review: Insight Firearms Training
Well, I had the opportunity to do something a bit different last week. I was invited to attend the Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Course at Insight Firearms Training in Prescott, AZ, and since I’ve always enjoyed shooting and firearms I could hardly turn down the offer! We used Insight for marksmanship and basic tactics training [...]
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Cool Video for Adrenaline Junkies
Great, one more thing I need to try before I die! Here is a cool white water kayaking video. CLICK HERE!
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Tucson Tuesday: High School Football Playoffs (Dec 1, 09)
Here is a quick preview of the Division 4A High School Football championship matchups for this weekend. The games are at 2:00 and 6:00 PM at the University of Arizona stadium.
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Homemade Stoves
For those of you interested in history, Tomahawk has an interesting post on his site concerning homemade stoves. You can check it out by CLICKING HERE. The rest of his site is pretty good too.
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Weekly Wrap Up (Nov 27, 09)
Shackelton’s Whisky; This Week in Stocks; Whisky Leadership; Evolution Disproved (sort of); Quote of the Day
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Whisky Wednesday: Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey (Nov 25, 09)
Going Whisky Hunting; Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Review; Whisky Word of the Day For the Podcast of my interview with Jake Norris, Stranahan’s head distiller, CLICK HERE. Stranahan’s Colorado Whisky Surprisingly good for a two year old. Very complex and spicy with a cinnamon and herbal influence. Not Scotch and not Bourbon, just a good solid [...]
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Lost Hiker Does it Right
Here is a link to the story of Ross Mason, a hiker that got “lost” in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico earlier this month. Ross was a little unprepared for the trip, had a little bad luck, and took one wrong turn on the trail. Like most hikers unfamiliar with the desert, he underestimated [...]
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DDTV: Tucson Tuesday (Nov 24, 09)
Tucson Weather; BB Gun & Kids Study; The Phoenix Monkey Man; Arizona Budget Woes; and, What I’m Thankful For
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Tucson 2nd Annual Whisky Weekend
Hey all you Tucson Whisky Maniacs, the 2nd Annual Whisky Weekend is being held at the Hotel Congress on December 17-19th. Click Here for Info. No I’m not sponsoring it and I’m not making any money off of it. I’m just excited. If you’re going leave a comment and I’ll look for you. Maybe set [...]
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Tanque Verde Wash
One of the great things about Tucson is that there are some fantastic places to walk. During the summer, the washes (dried stream beds for those of you from wet places) are pretty unbearable but now that the weather has cooled they are a great place to put in some miles. They are easy walks [...]
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What Happened to this Site?
Hey, Everybody! As you can see Desert Dog Journal has undergone a major facelift. I was juggling too many sites and decided to combine my passions into one mega site. The focus has shifted to hiking and whisky (especially single malt) with a little real estate thrown it. As always feel free to comment and [...]
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Whisky Word of the Day: Angel Share
Have you ever talked to a whisky warrior, someone really fanatical about whisky, and wonder what the hell he was talking about? This video series is your personal Whisky Rosetta Stone. Listen, learn, and impress your friends. Today’s word is “Angel Share”.
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