Sometimes I wake up and I don’t know if it was the mountains calling me…or if my kids just woke up super early.
That is why God created coffee. ☕
Purchase here…so I can buy more coffee.
Is That the Mountains or My Kids?
Coffee can help…
Tag: patagoniadad
John Muir on the Beauty of Fall
Muir reflects on the singular, counterintuitive life-affirmation of autumn:
In the yellow mist the rough angles melt on the rocks. Forms, lines, tints, reflections, sounds, all are softened, and although the dying time, it is also the color time, the time when faith in the steadfastness of Nature is surest… The seeds all have next summer in them, some of them thousands of summers, as the sequoia and cedar. In the holiday array all go calmly down into the white winter rejoicing, plainly hopeful, faithful… everything taking what comes, and looking forward to the future, as if piously saying, “Thy will be done in earth as in heaven!”
Amen. 🍁 🍁 🍁
WHY you should BUY a HAMMOCK
Summer fun…
This is another one of those videos that may not have some great story arc or video footage…but years from now I will watch it again and smile from ear to ear.
Happy Early Father’s Day
To all the Dads…
I know that Father’s Day isn’t until the 21st, but since I’ll be out camping with my family that day…Happy Father’s Day!!
Funny enough I was talking to my mom recently and asked her about the first time I went camping as a kid…thinking we had started when I was about 7 or 8. She laughed and said that my younger brother was still in diapers when we first camped (we are 20 months apart).
My mother told me that she just stripped us both naked and we played in a creek for a whole day in the Sequoia National Forrest. And she got to read a book for the first time in 5 years.
Hearing that just made me smile and realize even more how much a part of being in the outdoors is a part of me.
Being with my mom and dad camping are some of my fondest memories of my childhood, so I am incredibly excited to start forming those same memories with my own kids.
If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you know that my handle is @patagoniadad (or a slight variation)…and I’m proud to have that dad part of me out there.
To all the fathers out there that are trying make sure they keep their kids alive, fed, happy, and socially well-adjusted…thank you.
Happy Father’s Day.
Cherish the Moments You Get
This is why I vlog…
This video may not be my best…but it’s why I make them. For the memories.
Capturing a Memory: A Day at Home
I was surprised at how much I liked this…
I got this “Day at Home” idea from Cody Wanner when he did his own home/first person POV video.
When I tried the whole concept, I just went with a GoPro and was not really pleased with the initial footage. The quality was grainy, shots were kind of wobbly, the colors weren’t my normal quality…the list goes on.
But when I decided “I’m going to capture this memory!” and just threw the footage in the final cut pro x, found a wistful song that I liked, and started editing…it was like magic. After about 5-10 minutes of editing I already knew that this was going to be one of my favorite videos I’ve made to date.
Even if it doesn’t get any views on YouTube…I am SO HAPPY I made this video.
The nostalgia I already feel when I rewatch this is powerful and I know that nostalgia will only grow in the years to come.
I can’t encourage you enough to try and really capture memories of your family. Memory is a fickle thing and little treasures like this are worth the effort.
Favorite Hiking Headwear and AdHoc Face Mask: the BUFF
Such a simple thing can be so useful…
I discovered Buffs quite a few years ago when I was hiking and camping a lot more. (translation: “before kids”)
These are great for a variety of things while you’re outdoors. So much so, I even had one stolen out of my Jeep once. (I used to keep it unlocked when it had a soft top)
With COVID-19 everywhere and CDC guidelines recommending face masks in public; I thought that sharing the versatility of the Buff would be perfect for those who can’t get their hands on a medical grade mask.
You can get them for a pretty reasonable price too.
Links of the Week (3/23/2020)
Climbing will be in the Olympics…you pumped?!
The inclusion of climbing in the Olympics is new, but the topic itself has been around for decades
Over 10 years ago I knew this would eventually happen. Glad to see it here.
Climbing in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics: How We Got Here and What the Future Holds
Climbing will premier in the Olympics on August 4 at the Aomi Urban Sports Park in Tokyo, Japan. Prep for the venue is well underway.
First Look: The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Climbing Walls
There will be a total of 40 climbers (20 men and 20 women) competing at the Tokyo Olympics, and each country attending the games has been given a maximum quota of two competitors per gender. The climbers who have already qualified for the Olympics were selected through a series of Olympic qualification events, including the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Championships this past summer in Hachioji, Japan, and a more recent combined contest in Toulouse, France.
Meet the Athletes Climbing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
The sport of climbing and cinema go back a long way and there are dozens of great films to see, both from Hollywood and from climbers themselves.
The Hollywood climbing films range from sorta realistic to the absurd to downright cheesy. And the library of classic real climbing films is big.
Lists like these are always fun. I think I’ve seen about half of these and my two favorite are probably Return to Sender and Cliffhanger. 🤣
25 Must-Watch Real and Hollywood Climbing Movies – Gripped Magazine
How to Apply for the Patagonia Affiliate Program with a WordPress Site
This can be a little tricky…
When I started chipping away at finding affiliate programs that are a good fit for this blog, one of the first ones I had thought of was Patagonia. If you have been here from the beginning, you’ll know that the site name started off as PatagoniaDad. In fact I still have the http://www.patagoniadad.com url pointing to this site, and most of my social media handles are some version of @patagoniadad.
As a climber, I have long been a Patagonia fan. I used to live where the flagship store is, knew people who worked there and designed clothes for them, love the gear, and really respect what the company stands for. The group of people I used to work out with at my last gym, would joke with me all the time about how many different jackets of theirs I own. All that aside, I’ve bought many things from them and I have been meaning to do reviews on their stuff for a while…affiliate or not.
AvantLink is the company that handles Patagonia’s affiliate program and their verification method seems pretty standard as I learn more about how affiliate stuff works. The quickest verification method is to install some javascript on your site’s home page, click one of their links that will check to see if the script is there, then viola!…you are verified and one step closer to being approved. However, even with a WordPress premium plan, you can’t install plug-ins that would allow javascript (that requires a business plan)…so you have to do a little work around that Avant Link walks you through.
They have a specific call out for WordPress users like you and I:
WordPress: WordPress is the most popular ‘do it yourself’ website editor.
In order to get the JavaScript verification script integrated, you have to write a blog entry, select “Text” instead of “Visual” editing, and then use the “<code>“ and “</code>“ tags to surround the script. That way it will not be visible, but the confirmation script (which searches for the embedded script) would then be able to find it.
AvantLink Support Site
Below is what that looks like.
You probably don’t see anything…maybe a small “play” icon. [Correction, it looks like a link…that doesn’t really work] When you are pasting in the javascript to your site, you will have to click the page editor menu (top right of your WP blog post editing page) and switch from Visual Editor to Code Editor. Paste in the javascript they provide, put <code> in front of it and </code> at the end, then switch back to Visual Editor.
Boom! The verification javascript is there. You do have to post it to your home page…so if that is a blog post like this, then you will have to post it. And from what I understand, it can’t be behind a “read more” link, it has to be visible ON the home page. Now click on the verification link and wait. They say that once it is verified that you can delete the script…but I’ll probably leave mine here since I used it for a blog post.
I will update this post once I get some sort of response on what happens and if it works.
If you are curious about some of the good affiliate program sites I’ve found feel free to drop a comment. AvantLink seems like one that has good core values and is looking for quality over quantity. Just my style.
Scott from California 