Air provides all the support new tent needs Golden Road Bike Tour set

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It’s graduation season, time to reminisce over the past several years and look ahead to the next great adventure. If you’re a parent of a college graduate, you cross your fingers and hope for the best for your child — and hope that big tuition bill will somehow evaporate!

I find myself scratching my head wondering how the past 21 or so years have gone and how they went so quickly. It seems like only yesterday my wife and I were bringing a squirming little bundle into the house wondering just what we’d gotten ourselves into. This weekend we drive to Providence, R.I., and watch her march across another stage to collect her degree and an honors award and out into the real world!

Suddenly I feel old! But not too old to think about being outside, even though it’ll be a couple of weeks before I can be out there.

In the meantime, I’ll have to be content with passing along some information about a new tent I got to see first hand, some advice to boaters who may be on the ocean waters in the coming weeks, and a couple of items about upcoming events. One’s the Acadia Mountain Guides Mountains and Sea Camp July 15-21 where campers will rock climb, surf, paddle, hike, and mountain bike on a journey along the Down East coast of Maine.

The other is the Katahdin Trails Alliance first-ever Golden Road Bike Tour and Race June 1-3. More about that below.

First, let me tell you about a tent that defies convention. Brad Ryder at Epic Sports called me Tuesday morning to introduce NEMO Equipment’s air beam-supported, single-walled, two-person tent, the Morpho AR. The New Hampshire company that makes this innovative tent threw out the book on design as well as the poles which support a typical tent.

This two-person tent, which packs slightly larger than a large loaf of bread, has no poles. Instead, two air-inflated arched beams provide the support necessary to keep this tent taught in the most severe weather. It’s a single-wall tent, mostly, with a screened vestibule area out front that has its own zip-down fly.

There are no poles to bend or break or to make it tough to pack. It comes in its own compression stuff sack and has a foot-actuated air pump that inflates the two beams in 25-30 compressions to 9 pounds per square inch. You wouldn’t think an air beam would be strong, but it’s more rigid than all the other backpacking tents set up at Epic, and should it be crushed down, it simply pops back up! Nothing gets bent or broken.

At around 5.4 pounds, give or take depending on how much you take with you, and $395 it’s not the lightest nor the heaviest of tents in its class, but it’s near the top of its class in price. The good news, though, is that prices in the NEMO tent line have come down considerably since last year.

Other tents in this price and weight range include the MSR Hubba Hubba ($300 and 4 pounds), the Marmot Aeolos ($335 and 5 pounds, 12 ounces), the Mountain Hardware Haven 2 ($325 and 5 pounds, 7 ounces).

While Ryder hasn’t picked up the NEMO tent line yet, he’s considering it. In the meantime, if a really different concept in tent design piques your curiosity, hop on down to Epic and take a look at this demo. Or, you could go online and check out last year’s line (the Web site is not up to date) and see other air beam tents as well as a couple of others with more conventional pole supports.

Season of seal pups

For you folks venturing onto the salt water, keep in mind it’s the season for seal pups. I got a timely press release from College of the Atlantic the other day.

Should you find what you think is an abandoned pup, don’t assume that to be true.

Rosemary Seton, Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator and a whale researcher at the college’s Allied Whale Marine Mammal Research Lab, says, “If you are walking along the shore and find a baby harbor seal on its own, it is likely not abandoned, but just waiting for its mom to come back with food.

“Harbor seal mothers often leave their pups for hours at a time to forage for food. They may even choose the same beach, leaving a pup day after day while periodically coming back to feed it. Most of the time, the seal pup is healthy. Its vocalizations – that sound so much like crying – are crucial for reuniting mom and pup as the mom identifies her pup by its plaintive hooting calls. Remember, seals are semi-aquatic: they spend a lot of time on beaches, docks, rocks, or even discarded tires,” she said in the release.

“If a mother detects the presence of humans, she will not return. Beyond that, your close presence can significantly stress the pup, potentially causing internal bodily harm.”

Here’s what Allied Whale asks you to do: leave seal pups alone:

. Do not touch the animal. Seals carry infectious diseases and these can be transmitted to humans and to pets causing severe illness. You can also cause harm to the pup you are trying to aid.

. Do not remove it from the beach. The pup may be resting and awaiting its mom’s return.

. Do not put the pup back in the ocean. They are babies; they need rest like all infants.

. Do not pour seawater on the pup. They do not need to be wet.

. Do not try to feed the pup. It is still nursing. Its mother’s milk is better and is different from cows’ milk.

And finally, COA reminds us: “… it is illegal to touch, harass, or harm any marine mammal in the United States.”

If you feel a pup does need assistance, call Allied Whale, COA’s marine mammal research lab, at 288-5644. On weekends, evenings, and holidays, call the stranding cell phone: 266-1326.

Mountains and sea camp

Here’s another possibility for instruction and fun for the younger set in the outdoors. Acadia Mountain Guides Mountains and Sea Camp runs July 15-21. Campers learn rope skills and rock climb on the sea cliffs at Acadia and hike and bike over Acadia’s rocky summits and historic carriage paths. Then they head up to Baxter State Park and climb Mount Katahdin. Then it’s back to Acadia to learn about edibles from the sea. There is space for 10.

Another session takes campers inland to the Katahdin and Moosehead region to boat, rock climb, hike, raft, and camp next to rivers and lakes. The early part of the week is spent on the Appalachian Trail in Gulf Hagus.

For more information on the various camps visit acadiamountainguides.com on the Web.

Golden Road bike race/tour

Here’s a first for you bicycle fans. It’s the first-ever Golden Road Bike Tour and Race June 1-3. It’s sponsored by Katahdin Trails Alliance in cooperation with Katahdin Forest Management LLC.

Friday evening there’s a “Welcome Bikers” party. Saturday there’s a 30-mile tour from Ambajejus and Millinocket Lakes to Ripogenus Dam and Gorge. And on Sunday there’s a just-for-fun starting at 9 a.m. with prizes awarded.

A schedule of events is online at katahdintrailsalliance.com.

Single registration packet is $25, family packet is $40 with group rates available.

For more information or to register, send an e-mail to stan.extreme@gmail.com or write Katahdin Trails Alliance, P.O. Box 248, Millinocket 04462.

Warm water clinics

Looking to learn what you need to know to be a safe paddler? Want to learn how to exit your kayak in the event of a capsize? Better yet, want to learn how to get back into your boat or help your partner do the same? There’s no better place than a nice warm pool.

Karen Francoeur, owner of Castine Kayak Adventures, is conducting two clinics at the Old Town Y on Stillwater Avenue, one today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the other Friday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The fee is $50 if you bring your own equipment, or you can shell out another $15 and rent a boat. Call 866-3506 or check out castinekayak.com for more information.

Jeff Strout’s column on outdoor recreation is published each Saturday. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.