Well, since our home on wheels is currently parked in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and the mother of all storms is rapidly approaching, we have to try to open the door against 50+ mph winds, then walk around in said wind...

Obviously, a person has to adjust their BOB (and other kits) to suit their local conditions and weather situations. I was watching Ron Hood's video on his BOB and I picked up a couple of pointers. I think I'll add some bear spray to my kit - never know when you need it to fight off some ravenous dog, etc.

You make an excellent point. Sometimes following a stream will get you into more trouble than you can get out of. My grandparents had some land that had a large swamp on the backside of it and I used to hang out there quite a bit. It's not really an easy place to maneuver in at all (but for snakes it's hard to beat!). As you stated, all the streams in the area eventually wound their way into the swamp, so anyone following them trying to find civilization would actually find themselves in muck chest deep in some places. That's a great thing to keep in mind for people thinking about following a stream.

Another thing to think about is predators at the stream drinking or hunting. What are the odds that someone following a stream will wander up on a bear or mountain lion? I'm sure it's not unheard of but coming from an area where both are really rare (most people don't even think they exist here although they have been seen by conservation officers that I have talk to) I have to say I don't really know what the incidence of occurance would be. I wouldn't want to round the bend and inadvertently seperate a mother bear from her cubs. I don't know what the likelihood of that is but I certainly wouldn't want to be the one guy in history to do it.

Boacrow - "At 6k, is there any oxygen loss to contend with? "

I moved from Scottsdale (~1000') to Colorado Springs(~6000'). Initially any type of exertion caused hard breathing. I could no longer jog for any distance. A doctor at the Olympic Training center advised me to monitor my red blood count. It took 6 months to stabilize. I then moved to Woodland Park (~9000'). Jogging every day at HP in Colorado Springs and once a week at Woodland Park, it took another 6 months for the red blood count to stabilize.

I was in shape. I hunted every year on Stewart Peak south of Gunnison. Camp was at 11,000' We hunted the same area for 17 years. One year I let myself get dehydrated on a hard climp. I got pulmonary adema (altitude sickness). We were able to treat it at camp and I was ok in a day.

Over the 17 years we saw altitude trigger a number of health problems for our camp. If you have any health issues, ask a doctor if altitude is a problem. In most cases it isn't - walk slow and work slow.