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Garmin Fenix 5x and custom maps

Garmin Fenix 5x and custom maps

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A good GPS can save your life out in the wilderness. I always carry one with me when heading out climbing or hiking. But GPS units are somewhat notorious for being expensive, heavy, burn through batteries, and often have clunky UI’s and features. Some units charge you money for map updates. Things are getting slowly better.

I currently own a handheld Garmin Oregon, but had a friend who has the Fenix 5x watch. I was amazed how well the interface worked and the quality of the GPS. The Fenix 6 was just announced, and older units went on sale. I recently saw the Fenix 5X on sale for $299 during an early Black Friday sale and couldn’t pass the opportunity up.

The next question is – how are the maps for hiking. The default watch now comes with Garmin’s excellent maps and are upgraded regularly for free. My well-healed hiking friend says he has yet to find a trail in the Pacific Northwest that’s not in the default maps.

I was even more happy to learn that the Fenix 5X allows you to upgrade your maps yourself – including open map packs and systems. I tried out the maps on GMap – which include more details and topo features than the default maps. Using the free Garmin BaseCamp software package, you can copy the free maps from GMap into the tool’s list of maps, then load those maps onto your watch. I found the process to be really smooth and worked without much fuss.

Follow the directions/links on the Hiking Guy’s website for instructions on how to upload maps too.

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Best capsule hotels in Japan

Best capsule hotels in Japan

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I found this to be an excellent list of genuinely good capsule hotels in Tokyo. They refer to ones I’ve seen reviewed consistently well by other sources. The following 3 in particular:

9h nine hours

Very modern capsule hotel experience – but found it really, really minimal for my tastes. No frills beyond lockers/showers. The capsules themselves seem like they might be overly claustrophobic as you basically seem to be sleeping in a giant bathtub.

First Cabin

On the top end of the capsule hotel experience with an airline themed experience. especially if you pick a first class cabin. The sliding door doesn’t lock and is almost as much as a hotel makes it a good high-end choice if in a pinch.

Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado Premier Tokyo

This was a surprise for me. Cheap, but the building comes with all kinds of amenities – including massage chairs, some spa services, and onsen soaking pool. The one in Shibuya seems particularly nice.

What sold me was the individual temperature controls and much more spacious pods. The decor and use of wood feels decidedly like your dad’s era Japan – but looks to be one of the quaint points to me.

Glass bottom night canoeing

Glass bottom night canoeing

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It’s no secret that Eastern Oregon is a fantastic, barren landscape full of plains, deserts, mountain ranges – and most of all – solitude. The Wallowas Mountain area is located in the far NE corner of the state and is a wonderful area to get away and enjoy the outdoors far from big city tourist.

JO Paddle (which stands for Joseph, Oregon), a family-run paddling outfitter that launched in fall 2018, offers a guided two-hour Wallowa Lake Monster Expedition that takes visitors out under the cloak of darkness, with just the lights of the glass-bottom kayak to illuminate the way.

Learn more here: https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/destinations/lakes-reservoirs/glass-bottom-kayak-tours-wallowa-lake/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=social&utm_content=OrganicPost&utm_term=TravelOregon&fbclid=IwAR09CFAWeJACP1CgHzk-PM4UxkpDYUPhSMhnhWKhAFTZDieI2_x5khgD6to

Mysterious Lodging in Kyoto

Mysterious Lodging in Kyoto

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Mysterious Lodging is a recent guest house that opened in Kyoto. The building houses 11 themed rooms each costing 7,500 yen (US$70) per night, each large enough to fit up to two people.

On the wall of the Horror Room is a dial that adjusts the level of uncanny occurrences produced, starting from the “off” position where nothing happens and all the way to “3” where even the bravest of souls would think twice about staying. The real fun begins after 7 p.m., however, as that is when maximum-level scariness begins

Room of Plenty has the walls completely covered with numerous buttons and switches. Hitting the switches produces different sounds, allowing customers to experiment and combine different elements to enjoy a delightful auditory playground.

The Room of Scenery projects more than 20 surreal videos onto its windows.

Learn more about all their different room here: https://soranews24.com/2019/09/16/mysterious-guest-house-opens-in-kyoto-features-11-different-bizarre-rooms-full-of-oddities/


Eternal Flame Falls

Eternal Flame Falls

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About 30 miles south of Niagara Falls, just below the Canadian border in northwestern New York, inside Shale Creek Preserve about a half-hour drive south of Buffalo, lies a hiking trail with an unusual payoff, if you can find it: Eternal Flame Falls, a waterfall tucked away in a grotto that contains a natural “torch” about 8 inches high.

The ground at the base of Eternal Flame Falls emits a steady supply of natural gas, which rises from deep below the surface up through fault lines and into the open air. This, in turn, is what lights the flame, found on the waterfall’s right-hand side about 5 feet up from the creek bed.

The flame is visible year-round, but the waterfall can run dry in the summer and often is only fully flowing in the spring. If you go right after there’s been some decent rainfall, you’ll get to enjoy the waterfall’s full effect.

The flame stays lit on its own, but bring a lighter just in case — occasionally it goes out, in which case it’s your duty as a good citizen to relight it. It ignites quickly, with a distinct “pop,” so maybe try one of those extra-long candle lighters if you’re nervous.