This weekend marks Michael Williams fifth year organizing The Pop Up Flea in New York City. As folks flock to the city from as far away as Europe to see the latest fashion trends of American iconic clothiers; Filson is proud to join the mix. Should you be lucky enough to be in the area, we invite you to swing by our booth to see both legendary and new Filson items. The shop is setup at 443 W. 18^th Street (near 10^th Ave.). As always, the weekend will be filled with exciting events and welcoming faces from your favorite companies. See you there! For more info, visit http://www.acontinuouslean.com.

Growing up in a family of hunters & fishermen has lead Kristen Monroe of OutdoorNews.com to have passion for the outdoors. When she was young she loved waking up at the crack of dawn to go fishing with her older brother and dad. Although she was only allowed to fish for bluegills as a young girl she couldn’t wait until she was old enough to cast for her first bass. Now she and her husband are looking forward to taking their own children fishing and sharing passion for the outdoors with them.

Shooters at the AGLOW Conference

I don’t do it to get rich. I don’t do it for fame and glory. I share my passion of the outdoors with hopes of inspiring others. Being an outdoor writer is a not an easy gig. It’s somewhat competitive and there are many fantastic writers that have been in the business for many years. Thankfully, I have surrounded myself with good and talented people that help me along the way. Recently, I attended The Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers’ (AGLOW) 56th Annual AGLOW Conference at Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Missouri.

As I pass my outdoor experiences on to my readers, I look to tenured writers for support and advice. I can give credit to Berdette Zastrow, past President of AGLOW. If it wasn’t for her, I would not be where I am today. Zastrow said, “I’m an outdoor writer because I love sharing the outdoors with others. They can laugh at my mistakes and hopefully learn from them. I can share information which will help other anglers and hunters in the field. I mentor new anglers and hunters and carry it forward in my articles.”

Kristen Monroe Trying the New Browning 725 Citori

Outdoor writers, manufacturers and tourism departments congregate to network at the annual AGLOW conference. Writers mingle with old friends, expand their audiences and discover new ideas. Corporate members display new products and meet members of the media to help spread their message. And finally, tourism departments proudly display exciting hunting and fishing destinations. Of course we hunt, fish, shoot, and learn during the day. At night time, laughter can be heard echoing across the lake, and the sound of glasses clinking together is not uncommon. AGLOW is a tight knit group and the members truly work to help each other out and have a great time while doing it.

National Shooting Sports Foundation sponsored an explosive shooting day at Ozark Shooters. Trying a wide verity of shotguns,

crossbows and handguns is a real treat- perhaps my favorite activity at the conference. Shooting with some of the best manufacturers and their professional representatives has its advantages. Matt Rice representing Smith and Wesson helped to improve my handgun grip a bit. Brad Boner from Hawke Optics set up the new Mathews crossbow over 300 times so different media members could check out their new scope. I could not believe he was still smiling as he cocked bolt number 300. It felt good to hit a bear right in the bullseye at 60 yards–shooting crossbows is a ton of fun.

Kristen Monroe at the AGLOW Conference

A few of us went pheasant hunting at Down Home Huntin’, and many others grabbed their rods and cast with Branson’s top guides. Some fished for bass on Table Rock Lake. Others wet their line from Hobie Kayaks for rainbow trout on Lake Taneycomo. Everyone knows passing on outdoor heritage to family and friends is crucial to keeping the outdoor dream alive. A good outdoor writer knows how to enrich someone’s outdoor world; sharing tips, emotions, and adventures. Maybe you too could become an outdoor writer and share your outdoor dreams.

Filson Life guest blogger Dennis Lynch, knows  good horses when he sees them. If you’re planning on throwing some cash down this Saturday on the Kentucky Derby or just want to be able to “talk shop” at a Derby Party, take some advice from Dennis. We’re going with, Bodemister! Let the races begin and best of luck.

International intrigue, rivalries, princesses and paupers all come together this Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky in hopes of grabbing the most sought after prize in thoroughbred racing… The Kentucky Derby.

They spring the latch at 6:24 pm and the hopes and dreams of hundreds will be sailing past the stands along with the horses. The winner gets $1,459,600 out of the total pot of $2,196,500 but that’s not the real prize everyone is after. “Just win, baby” is what it’s all about!

Following are snippets on the 20 horses scheduled to start this Saturday, hopefully enough to increase your appetite for the sport, intrigue and of course the chance at financial gain.

In post position order:

#1 Daddy Long Legs- Aidan O’Brien , Ireland’s leading trainer brings this guy across the Atlantic, only one race on dirt—busto- probably not

#2 Optimizer-  79 yr. old 4 time Derby winning trainer D.W. Lukas tries to become the oldest to ever train a Derby winner- I hope he tries next year at 80

#3 Take Charge Indy - Cajun jockey Calvin “ on the rail”, Borel guides this regally bred colt who is a live longshot- don’t overlook this one

#4 Union Rags- Mrs Phyliss Weyth a du Pont heiress and JFK intern, who sold this colt once for $145,000 only to find him and buy him back for $390,000 has a true love story going with this colt-Don’t miss this story and he’s going to run “Off the screen”

#5 Dullahan – Louisville homie, Dale Romans wants this race bad and he has the most “fun loving” group of owners in the field—this one is LIVE

#6 Bodemeister - This once removed name sake of skier Bode Miller, Trainer Bob Baffert named his son after Bode and the horse was named after his son—owned by Asia’s largest non-alcohol beer distributor- big chance here and probable favorite

#7 Rousing Sermon- California connections headed to Louisville will need a sermon Sunday morning to pick their heads up

#8 Creative Cause -Beat “Bode” last time –shows up every race- use him!

#9 Trinniberg- Father/son combo team up as trainer/owner respectively, named after their native land of Trinnidad-great story but this guy will be looking for a cab at the head of stretch

#10 Daddy Knows Best- Top trainer and jock, this is a real sneaky longshot –listen to your Daddy

#11 Alpha- Great trainer owner by one of the world’s richest men-money can’t buy everything-looks too skinny

#12 Prospective- Florida bred trainer brings this one in from the Sunshine State-possible

#13 Went the Day Well- Sounds like a British movie starring Anthony Hopkins- owned and trained by last year’s winning owner and trainer-lightning won’t strike twice

#14- Hansen-Last years champion, owner tried dying this white horses tail before last race-racing officials said no—they will feel blue after the race

#15 Gemologist-Top trainer Todd Pletcher brings this undefeated colt into Louisville – he ain’t done nothing wrong!

#16 El Padrino- Another Todd Pletcher trainee- going the wrong way

#17 Done Talking- Kinda Cinderella story but this guy is Done Talking and Done Running

#18 Sabercat-Top trainer in Steve Asmussen but looks overmatched here

#19 I’ll have Another- Outside post but his guy always shows up-might be bellying up to the bar saying “Ill have another “ after the race

#20 Liaison- Bob Baffert or not- stick a fork in him he’s done

Top pick- Union Rags

Best of rest- Take Charge Indy, Bodemeister, Creative Cause, Daddy Knows Best, Gemologist, I’ll have Another

*these picks are worth exactly what it cost to read them

Have fun, enjoy the spectacle and the beauty of these wonderful animals!

Dennis Lynch was bite by the horse bug at an early age. He has never had a job that was not associated with horses – he gets to work outside, wear comfortable clothes and watch thousands of horses develop from foals to stallions. And in his opinion, there is no better life than this. In his latest post for Filson Life, Dennis looks back on a famous equine event that you won’t want to miss after reading this.

What makes runway models like Tyra Banks and Cindy Crawford so famous and sought after?  According to Google, requirements for a Runway Model include:

• At least 5’9”
• Slim Build
• Great Hair
• A magnificent complexion
• Straight White Teeth
• A Professional and Unique “Look”

Well, at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Yearling Sale on September 10, 2011, the requirements for success in terms of high selling price included:

• 15.2 hands at least
• Rocket ship body
• Hair Coat: “Slick as a Seal”
• Well Developed Muscle Condition
• Teeth- “No Parrot Mouth”
• “The Look of Eagles”

If anyone wants to experience an event more exciting, interesting and a helluva lot more fun than a fancy-schmancy fashion show in Milan, Paris or New York, come to a Thoroughbred Yearling Sale in Kentucky. It is here that you will find more than 4,300 Thoroughbred yearlings for sale.

Bring your Filson Travel Vest because you’re going to need all 20 something pockets! You’ll need pens, pencils, sunglasses, reading glasses, barn lists, consignors lists, catalogues, iPads, measuring sticks and a million other things.

Some of the best pedigreed equine athletes are spread out over 44 barns of beautiful rolling Kentucky bluegrass countryside.  There are hundreds of sellers, thousands of grooms, show people, farriers, horse chiropractors and even a few “horse whisperers.”

The characters you will find in the barn and sales arena rival anything in the fertile imagination of Damon Runyon.  Names like “Snake”, “Raggedy Ass Dilger”, “Smiley Pete”, “Indian Charlie”, “One-eyed-Pat”, “The Cornbread Mafia”, “Bad Cat Sweezey”, “Baby Head”, “Snitch Jr.” and The English gentleman Sir Robert Phillip Terence Collier (a.k.a. “Cocktail Clarence”) are just a few that will wander into your sights while just sitting on a bench watching the activity.

Billionaires, Heads of State, Arab Sheikhs, captains of industry and heiresses all intermingle trying to ply each other out of insider information concerning who’s the best horse in the barn and how much money you are thinking about spending.

You can communicate with the French, Germans, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, or South Americans if you can just talk “horse.”  Probably the biggest language barrier is with our UK friends, who have been doing this horse deal for a few hundred years longer than us Yanks but refuse to update the Queen’s English and change head collar to “halter,” “box” to “stall,” “yard” to “barn area,” a “bit of give to the ground” to “yielding turf” and “kidney blankets” to whatever they are. Yet whoever they may be, horses attract the world’s most fascinating people.

I don’t care if you have been around the world and to the Arkansas State Fair twice, because if you haven’t experienced a horse sale in Kentucky, “you ain’t never been nowhere and you ain’t never done nothing.”

Let me know if you’re coming and I’ll give you the “cook’s tour” and don’t forget your Filson travel vest– you’re going to need it!

It’s so nice to see Filson friend and guest blogger, Dennis Lynch, featured in equine pubs Paulick Report and Bloodhorse.

As outdoorsmen and fisherman, Filson is proud to support the Save Bristol Bay road show. We’re thrilled that they began their tour right here in our home city. If you couldn’t make it to the event, the organization has provided us with a informative recap of the event.

The Save Bristol Bay Road Show had an auspicious start in Seattle Monday night at the Leif Erikson hall in Ballard. Nearly 300 Washington residents including fishermen, Alaska Natives, and sportsmen turned out to watch the award-winning film Red Gold and get engaged in the campaign to stop Pebble mine.

Most of the people in the crowd signed thank you letters to Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray for their support of the fishing industry.  Those letters were then used during a drawing for some great gear giveaways, including three $50 gift cards to The Fly Shop and an Orvis fly rod and reel worth $500.

Snopac Products, a family-owned, Seattle-based fish processing company showed up with three generations of family members in tow, and they donated the Bristol Bay sockeye that was prepared as delicious salmon chunks by Christine Keff of Flying Fish and as salmon cakes by Wayne Johnson of Andaluca. There was also a lot of appreciation for the four delicious beers from Pike Brewery Co.

The crowd was also wowed by angler extraordinaire, Kate Taylor, of Rogue Angels blog fame. Kate literally flew in from four months of guiding fly fishing trips in Bristol Bay, hopped in a cab at the Seattle airport and came to the event to speak out on behalf of lodge owners and fishermen whose jobs depend on Bristol Bay.

At the very same time this group gathered in Seattle to talk about the importance of Bristol Bay to the Washington state economy and way of life – Alaskans celebrated as the Lake and Peninsula Borough in Bristol Bay announced the results of a recent ballot initiative that gives local people a say in how large mines in Bristol Bay will be developed.

On the lighter side, people enjoyed posing at a fun photo booth, with props ranging from feather boats to fishing waders and a net. Plenty of No Pebble stickers went home with the crowd and should be making appearances all over Seattle.

The Save Bristol Bay Road Show continues in Portland, Corvallis, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Denver this month, spreading the word about the proposed Pebble Mine. Learn more or RSVP at:

www.savebristolbay.org/roadshow

National Communications director of American Rivers Amy Kober takes us behind the scenes of the Elwha Dam removal and its effects on the state and river.

A chunk of Elwha Dam sits on my desk. It looks like just another hunk of gray concrete, but when I see it I think of a blue-green rushing river, big spawning salmon, and lush old-growth forests deep within Olympic National Park.

I was lucky – and humbled — to be there when removal of the two dams on Washington’s Elwha River began a couple weeks ago. It’s the biggest dam removal project in history – the river’s Glines Canyon Dam is 210 feet tall. Tearing down these dams will restore more than 70 miles of habitat for salmon and steelhead in the Elwha and its tributaries.

American Rivers and our partners worked for more than 25 years to restore the Elwha – so this is a wonderful victory. We will get to watch a river come back to life before our eyes.

Watch a video about this inspiring river restoration effort.

Here are some commonly asked questions about the Elwha.

Why is the Elwha River special, and why is this dam removal significant?

The Elwha flows from the heart of Olympic National Park to the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Puget Sound. Eighty percent of the river is protected within the park, so most of it is wild and pristine. The river was once home to all six species of Pacific salmon and steelhead and has been home to the Klallam people for millennia.

This is the world’s biggest dam removal, and one of biggest and most significant river restoration efforts we’ve ever seen. We will witness a river coming back to life, with great benefits for salmon runs, the tribe and community. The lessons we learn on the Elwha will inspire other river restoration efforts around the country.

How have the dams harmed the river?

There are two dams on the river – Elwha Dam (108 feet tall, built in 1913 just five miles from the river’s mouth) and Glines Canyon Dam (210 feet tall, built in 1927, several miles upstream of Elwha Dam). Both dams were built without fish passage, and completely blocked salmon from historic habitat.

How long will dam removal take?

The dams will be removed over the course of 2.5 to 3 years. The project is designed so that the enormous amount of sediment trapped behind the dams is released gradually, so as not to choke downstream salmon habitat.

What are the benefits of removing these two dams?

Dam removal will restore the river, from mountains to sea, opening access to more than 70 miles of salmon habitat. Salmon runs are expected to grow from 3,000 (current) to more than 300,000 a year. The entire web of life will benefit, from eagles to black bears to orca whales (137 different species depend on salmon). The lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, whose reservation is at the mouth of the river and who depends on the salmon runs, will have a significant piece of its culture restored.

Dam removal and river restoration will bring hundreds of millions of dollars of economic benefits to the community, from restored fisheries to recreation and tourism. The river will serve as an unprecedented laboratory for scientists to study how a river comes back to life – learning valuable lessons we can apply to other rivers around the country.

Will any electricity be lost as a result of dam removal? Why get rid of dams that are making money and creating cheap energy?

The amount of electricity generated by the dams (about 19 mw) was minimal compared to both the region’s needs and its power production capacity. The dams provided power equal to about one half the energy needs of just one local company, the Nippon Paper Industries mill. The mill is currently receiving all of its power from the City of Port Angeles via the regional electrical grid. The mill is seeking to construct a power facility at the mill that would exceed the amount of power the two dams produce on average.

Is American Rivers opposed to all dams?

No – dams can provide useful services and hydropower dams will continue to be an important part of the nation’s energy portfolio. American Rivers has supported the continued operation of hundreds of hydropower dams across the country. Dam removal makes sense when a dam has outlived its usefulness, is unsafe, or when its costs outweigh its benefits.

How many dams have been removed nationwide?

American Rivers has dubbed 2011 ‘the year of the river’ because the nation will soon reach the significant milestone of 1000 dams removed nationwide. This demonstrates great support and momentum for restoring rivers. The earliest known removal on our list is 1912. We expect roughly 50 dams to be removed in 2011.

What are some other big dams slated for removal in the near future?

Preparations are underway to remove Condit Dam (125 feet tall) on southwest Washington’s White Salmon River. The main blast at the dam is scheduled for October 26. Removal of dams on Maine’s Penobscot River begins next summer, in a major effort to restore Atlantic salmon and other fisheries.

These double tin pants have been around for 16 years! Filson fan Quinten still swears by the durability and functionality.

What’s your favorite Filson product? Share a photo of you in your favorite Filson on our Facebook page today.

The Cino Heroica is right around the corner and what better way to prepare for this event than to get to know a veteran rider, Chris Sauve and a brand new rider, Earl Craig. These two gentlemen truly exemplify the celebration of life through cycling. So let’s see what they have to say!

Chris Sauve

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I am a former Canadian lawyer who has lived in Kalispell, Montana for 16 years now with my wife and two daughters. I am a stay at home parent, keeping myself busy doing laundry, dishes, housework, cooking, home remodel, gardening, as well as the president of two boards, one of a Montessori school and the other of a private group of landowners of commercial property at the Whitefish Mountain Resort.

How did you get into this type of bike riding?

Through my friends, Reed Gregerson and Craig Christophersen, the two main instigators of the first Cino Ride over 5 years ago. When I first arrived in Kalispell, Craig was one of the first friends I made. Back then he had a funky coffee shop called “The Coffee Bar,” and we rode a lot together. He showed me many of the great rides available in the Flathead Valley.

Tell us about the bicycle you’re riding (make and year.) Provenance?  Any notable things you’ve done with this bike?  Is it a “heroic” bike?

In the Cino, I ride a steel frame, 1984 Miele road bike which I bought new in 1984 while living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Miele bicycles were originally, quality Italian style road bikes, manufactured by the Guvin Company in Mississauga, Ontario. Later the company diversified to produce a wide spectrum of bicycles including children, city and mountain bikes. In the early 1990s, cheap Chinese bicycles became Guvin’s main competition and subsequently caused Guvin to go into bankruptcy ceasing operations in 1996.

Why are you doing this ride and how did you hear about it?

I do this ride because I love riding my “old” road bike and riding it in a setting similar to (if only vaguely) the great road races of Europe in the early years of road racing. It’s fun and exciting to physically realize a small fraction of the pain and dedication the early heroes of European bike racing went through to achieve their goals. Today, of course, technology, nutrition and road construction/design have changed all of that. Quite frankly, when you ride these (mere) sixty miles (each day), you cannot finish without some sense of accomplishment and, we hope, connection to an earlier cycling time. The heroes of yesterday laid the foundation for the joys that are road cycling today, for so many people.

What do you think will be the most difficult part of the ride?

The most difficult part of the ride is not, in fact, climbing Brown’s Meadow Pass and the other challenging climbs of the ride, but is, in my opinion, the downhill portions of the ride. With road bike tires, steel frames and NO shocks, the ever changing conditions of sand, gravel and rock present a technical challenge to the riders and demand their constant attention.

What are you looking forward to the most?

The thing I look forward to the most on the ride is the camaraderie of the Saturday afternoon/evening in Hot Springs with all of the riders. We share stories of the first days’ ride and enjoy the quaint beauty of Hot Springs, including the natural hot baths. We cap off the evening with a group dinner where for the awards are presented that have to do with the spirit of the event, which include but are not limited to:

• The Eddy Merckx – First in to Hot Springs from lunch. Awarded a free dinner.
• The Fausto Coppi – Most stylish rider.
• The Antonin Magne – Most Heroic/Unselfish rider.
• The Jacques Anquetil – That individual who most shows an unbound passion for life and everything Cino. Eg. You get in some fights and close down the bar in Hot Springs drinking and telling racing stories, and whip everyone going up the big climb the next day. Or something like that.
• The White handlebar Tape Award – One who most exemplifies the spirit of Cino.
• Oldest bike
• Most times participated in Cino Heroica
• The “I’m glad I’m not riding this guy’s bike” award

What do you like to do when you’re not riding a bicycle?

I enjoy having time with family as well as biking, skiing and gardening.

Earl Craig

Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Earl Craig.  I am a farrier—I shoe horses for a living. I also enjoy reading (novels and poetry), writing, cross-country skiing, and bicycling. I love classic objects/machines that work and never go out of style—my hammers, my anvils, my old typewriters.

How did you get into this type of bike riding?

I rode BMX when I was a kid and mountain bikes after that. But then I got into horses, horse packing, and eventually horseshoeing, and I somehow (for a while) lost interest in bicycles.  Mountain bikes seemed to get uglier and uglier every year. The more “advanced” they got (full-suspension bikes with obnoxious graphics and plastic components) the more destined for a landfill they seemed to me. And yet I do live on a dirt/gravel road in an area full of dirt/gravel roads, so when I heard about this Cino ride I decided to try riding these roads on my Raleigh, which proved to be a challenge but also pretty damn fun. This will be my first year trying the Cino Heroica ride.

Tell us about the bicycle you’re riding (make and year). Provenance?  Any notable things you’ve done with this bike?  Is it a “heroic” bike?

I think the bike is definitely “heroic.” It’s British made, a 1975 Raleigh Super Course with a beautifully lugged steel frame (Reynolds tubing.)  Paint color: a glorious root beer brown. It’s currently set up as a single speed (freewheel on one side, fixed gear on the other). It has handlebars known as “mustache bars,” which I absolutely love, and a leather saddle by Brooks, which I also love.

Why are you doing this ride and how did you hear about it?

I heard about the ride from my friend Bruce Rinnert, the original owner of the Root Beer Raleigh.  I guess I’m doing this ride because it suits me. I have ridden a horse across Montana. I completed a graduate program in English using only an Underwood manual typewriter. I’m not really a polar fleece and plastic kind of guy. I like cork, metal, wool, and sometimes Bakelite. I think we should bring back Bakelite. This ride celebrates a simpler, saner era. And that appeals to me.

What do you think will be the most difficult part of the ride?

Sixty miles, one-way. This worries me. I love bicycles but I have to be honest, I’ve never ridden sixty miles on one. Let alone on dirt with no gears and skinny tires.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Just getting out and trying something new. Not to mention rolling quietly into Hot Springs Saturday afternoon (I hope I do that!)—Rolling quietly toward that first cold beer. And the people, I know I’ll meet some great people on this ride.

What do you like to do when you’re not riding a bicycle?

Shoe horses. Read. Travel. I’ve also been getting into horseshoeing contests these past few years—making horseshoes from barstock in a coke fire, usually with the assistance of a striker (person wielding a sledge hammer). I’m not a Luddite. I own a computer. I own a cell phone. But when the power goes out I’ll have plenty of things to keep me busy.

We are getting ready for a big weekend of shooting, great company and the great outdoors at the Filson Masters Tournament and the 9^th Annual Western Open, on August 4^th through the 7^th. The Masters will be a 200 target main event and 100  target preliminary event. The winner in each NSCA class will be awarded with a custom made Filson “master’s green” shooting vest with the logo seen above. We are also excited to have Andy Duffy on the grounds! He’s always reminding us of the core basics of the sport and that our youth is how the sport is sustained. More updates to come with live photos on our Facebook and Twitter channels!