My son Andrew has always been a High Tech guy. He has been Mr. Computer in our family since he was four years old when we got our first Apple IIe. He has grown and matured over the years and also gotten more and more high tech. Andrew frequently has to explain to me just what his gadgets are for and what they do.

I am Mr. Low Tech and always have been. I still cut and split my own firewood and the only heat in our house is from a small wood stove. I do most of my gardening by hand. Vicky says that the longer I have things, the more I like them. I told her not to get overconfident, we’ve only been married for 37 years (in 2011).

So how did Andrew and I do on our Rocky Mountain Adventure – Mr. High tech versus Mr. Low tech? We did just fine.

We hadn’t planned to take hiking poles with us on our trip. But my friend Denise Banachowski went here last year and told me we would need them. She went later in the year and still encountered lots of ice and snow. So I borrowed Denise’s hiking poles for Vicky and Andrew and April brought their own. I found a stick that worked quite well. (See first photo)

Our conversation:

Boz: Dad, you need to get some modern hiking poles. They’re great and they make a real difference.

Me: Son, I’ve got this stick that I found and it works just great and the best part, it was free.

Boz: But Dad, if I’m hiking up a steep hill, I can shorten my poles so they are just the right size. (he demonstrated it)

Me: I can too son, watch. I then just gripped my stick lower down and demonstrated that it was now a shorter stick.

Boz: But Dad, my poles have built in shock absorbers that reduce the strain on me with every step.

Me: Mine too Andrew, watch. I then pushed my stick down into the ground and of course, it bent – a built in shock absorber.

Boz: But Dad, I can adjust my poles down to 12 inches and put them in my backpack so I still have them but they don’t take up much room and I don’t have to carry them.

Me: 12 inches? Heck, I can shorten my stick to 6 inches, or to 4 inches, or even less if I want to.

Boz: Okay Dad, show me.

Me: I could if I wanted to son, but I’m not going to. All I’d need is a saw and a little bit of time. But I’m not going to show you because then I’d need to find a new stick.

Andrew followed the Park Services and Outfitter companies advice and purchased “bear mace”. I told him that I hitchhiked all through this country back in ’72 and I didn’t have any bear mace. I slept all over these woods with food in my backpack and never had any bear problems. But Andrew was prudent and purchased the bear mace and packed it in his day hike pack. One day while we were hiking, April yelled, “Hey you’re bear macing me”. We stopped to check and sure enough, the trigger guard had gotten lost and the bear mace was emitting a bit of spray. Mr. Low Tech to the rescue. I found a small fir cone, compressed it, and stuffed it under the trigger. Now it was secure but with the cone situated so that if we needed it, the fir cone would come right out and we would be ready for business. See the second photo. One for Mr. Low Tech.

When it comes to cameras, I thought that was the one area where maybe I WAS Mr. High Tech. I have a brand new fancy camera that Andrew gave me for Christmas. But there I was at lunch up near Banff when I went to get a photo of a raven. I looked over and Andrew was taking the same photo. See the Third Photo. One for Mr. High Tech.