Half track lawn mower. Half track lawn mower

Half track lawn mower

For many years, folks asked me: “Don’t you have a company logo?” And we really didn’t, as I just never took the time to come up with one…we just had “Earth Tools” written out in a blocky font, and that passed for a logo.

Finally, though, I decided to put some effort into it, and I hired my sister-in-law Trina Peiffer (my wife’s twin sister) to make a line drawing of the Earth Tools sign we have here at the shop. This sign is made out of a 4-foot length of Eastern Red Cedar log; the letters are carved with a chain saw.

I made this sign about 15 years ago (below is a photo). I figured this was a logo with some “meaning”…not just some arbitrary design. Hope you like it!

HAVING TROUBLE GETTING THROUGH ON OUR MAIN NUMBER ABOVE?TRY 502-484-5550 or 0704

SUPPLY-CHAIN ISSUES

The supply chain issues / delays caused by Covid are pretty much worked out now, BUT.- we STILL get VERY busy in the late Winter Spring, and assembling/shipping wait times increase, just because of the log-jam of Tractor / Implement orders coming in all at once at the last minute. So.- DON’T wait until the last minute to order! If you want equipment for this upcoming growing season, ORDER EARLY! Keep in mind that we ship orders on a first-paid, first-shipped basis. we do NOT offer expidited assembling/shipping of tractor implement orders for an extra charge. We appreciate your business and your patience, and we work as hard as we can to get orders out as fast as possible, WITHOUT cutting corners on the proper equipment setup, prep checkout that we are famous for.

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NEW: REGIONAL DELIVERY SERVICE!!

We are now offering a “regional” delivery service for tractor implement orders within a 400-road-mile radius of our location in Owenton KY. Earth Tools’ owner’s Father-in-law (Charles) will be doing the deliveries. Charges for this service will be a bit more than for shipping by truck freight (call for a quote to your specific location), but delivery will be with a pickup truck (and trailer, if needed) that can get to most any location – unlike a semi-truck. Also, scheduling of the delivery will be more flexible, to better meet your needs. “perks” of this service are that the equipment will be FULLY assembled, and Charlie will show you basic operation of the tractor. Minimum merchandise order for this service: 6500. Call for a delivery quote!

Why are new BCS tractors BLACK or SILVER?

Beginning in late 2017, the BCS factory started a new “paint scheme” for their tractors and implements: The tractors are just painted BLACK, and the BCS-branded implements are painted SILVER. (and in 2023, the tractor bodies started coming through SILVER as well) So, on the tractors, the only blue parts are now the plastic “beauty” shrouds for the handlebars.

WHY?

Because the BCS factory in Italy produces 3 brands of walk-behind tractors on the same assembly line: BCS, Ferrari, and Pasquali (BCS purchased these other 2 companies in the 1990s…and no, this is NOT the automotive “Ferrari!”). Historically, they had different paint-lines for each tractor and implement line (Blue for BCS, Green for Ferrari, and Yellow for Pasquali)…but sometime in 2017, they decided to optimize efficiency by painting all the tractors and implements “neutral” colors and just letting the plastic shrouds and decals delineate what brand tractor it would be. Hence, non-blue BCS tractors started appearing in the USA in early 2018. (We have told BCS that we think this is a bad idea. the blue was a color most people associated with BCS, and now, if the plastic beauty shrouds are discarded or lost, there is no color for brand recognition, and that would hurt them more in the long run than the few bucks a tractor they’re saving by not having separate paint lines in their factory. We’ll see if they ever bring the Blue back. )

Built well enough for everyday agricultural use, this mini-baler produces a 40 to 60 pound (depending on moisture of hay and how tight you roll it) bale measuring 21” x 23”, every 60 seconds. Bales are formed by a series of chain-driven aluminum rollers around the circumference of the bale chamber no belts or bands to dry-rot or need adjustment. The drive chains are much heavier-duty than you would think necessary, no more power than these little tractors have… but that’s a good representation of how the CAEB company over-builds this thing.

An automatic oiling system for the drive chains is standard equipment. The Baler forms “soft-core” bales which allows some circulation of air through the bale center while the outside of the bale is rolled tight to shed moisture if left outside. Bales are wrapped with a self-sticking UV resistant nylon net-wrap.

The number of bales you can make on one roll of net-wrap varies according to the “lap” setting you choose on the Baler: The most common is the “2.5 lap” setting, which will do about 325 – 350 bales per roll and results in a nice, durable bale… but, if you’re not handling the bales much and really want to conserve the netting, the “1.5 lap” setting will get you about 500 bales per roll. The 3.5 lap setting consumes more netting, and would only be used for wrapping very “crumbly” materials like grass clippings or leaves. (For those concerned with the amount of waste generated by the disposable net-wrap: The total weight / mass of material used for the net-wrap is the same or less per pound of hay baled compared to the polypropylene twine commonly used on square balers. [This calculation done at the “2.5 lap” setting for net-wrap…on the “1.5 lap” setting, the amount used will be considerably less in mass than poly twine])

An indicator on the side of the machine tells the operator when the bale is fully formed, at which point the operator pulls a single lever which trips the net-wrapping, wrap-cutting and chamber-opening cycle. The operator then sets the bale out of the chamber, closes the chamber, and resumes baling. As with the hayrake/tedder, the front wheels steer to guide the machine with a steering rod that comes out to the operator. This baler will bale hay, leaves, and even pine needles as long as the material is dry (green hay can be made into silage using the CAEB Bale Wrapper [it is OK for the material being baled to have INTERNAL moisture if you are going to make haylage/silage with the bale wrapper, but EXTERNAL moisture on the material being baled is a problem, as it will cause plugging and can lead to baler damage!]). The baler comes with one roll of net-wrap, a built-in bale counter, automatic chain oiler, parking brake and male a quick-coupling built into the PTO hookup flange. Requires tractor be equipped with female quick-coupling. (NOTE: We randomly test new balers here at Earth Tools before we ship them, to make sure they are working properly…we put ONE BALE through them. So, if you see a bit of hay on your new baler, this is why!)

The CAEB baler works well on pine straw (needles)as well. [Older red baler pictured]

The best robotic lawn mowers for 2023

Like the look of robotic lawn mowers? Browse our pick of the very best, for gardens of all shapes and sizes.

Increasingly popular with UK gardeners, robotic lawn mowers are a welcome, hands-free alternative to traditional petrol and electric lawn mowers. Because a robotic lawn mower is fully automatic, it can be a brilliant option for gardeners who have mobility concerns, are away from home a lot, or simply find mowing a chore. Powered by rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, most mowers are guided by a boundary cable laid around the edge of the lawn, which helps the robotic lawn mower identify where to mow and to avoid flower beds, trees and other obstacles.

While we tested models from a number of different brands, note that all of them offer a range of mowers with varying sizes, capabilities and features.

To compare these robotic models against other types of mowers, see our reviews of the best cordless lawn mowers, the best electric mowers and the best push mowers. And, if you’re looking to give your lawn a bit of TLC, our experts have tested a range of manual and powered aerators and scarifiers. check out the best scarifiers and best aerators reviews. You can also keep edges looking neat with our tests of the best strimmers or pick of the best lawn edging.

Best robotic lawn mowers at a glance

Our expertise

To help you find a robotic lawn mower suitable for your garden, we tested a range of mowers for different size gardens, including gardens with slopes and a complex shape. Each mower is in use for weeks at a time to allow us to assess its battery capacity and cutting proficiency as well as ease of use.

Each mower in our review has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to set up and ease of use, cutting performance, extra features and value for money. Every robotic mower in our round-up below has scored a minimum of four out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.

The robotic mower industry is constantly evolving, with new developemnts and advances, and we are currently testing a number of the latest models ready to update this review shortly. Please check back soon to see the results of our new review.

Best robotic lawn mowers

Husqvarna Automower 405X

RRP: From £1899.00

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

• Unobtrusive colour
• Easy connectivity
• Clever mowing features
• GPS theft tracking

Awarded a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for features, the Automower 405x boasts a huge range of features that help the mower cut well and make the experience easy for the user. These include, three different start points, switching mowing pattern according to where it’s mowing, such as through a narrow passage, frost guard and weather time that automatically adjusts the height according to the grass growth, and its new Rewilding Zone where you can leave 10% of the lawn aside to grow for pollinators.It’s available to buy as a bare mower, which is then installed by a dealer for an additional cost, or with the installation kit included and you install it yourself. Suitable for smaller gardens 600m2, the mower operates with both a boundary wire and a guide wire and unlike some other mowers, has a more flexible docking station, which doesn’t need a wide, clear space around it. ours was tucked neatly into the side of a hedge. It’s also easy to set up via the intuitive keypad or the impressive Automower Connect app, which allows you to change the schedule, adjust the height of cut, check on the mower’s progress and receive notifications, simply and quickly no matter where you are. As an X model, the mower also has a built in SIM so you have both remote and voice controlled control. Our only confusion with set up was working out the scheduling needed, which took a couple of weeks to establish, and that the height of cut on the app is listed as 1-9, when it cuts between 20mm and 50mm.The mower can cope with 40% slopes, which should suit most gardens. The slope in our test garden has a tendency to get muddy and slippery so at the installer’s advice, we used the spiked Terrain wheels which stop the wheels slipping. Only occasionally did the mower fail to get up the slope and when the weather was really wet we simply removed that zone from the work area. The mower cut consistently well and is very quiet, the only perceptible sound is the whirring of the blades as they cut. It occasionally missed spots on the lawn but overall this is a very easy to use and high performing mower.The Automower 405x is just one in a large range of Husqvarna mowers to suit different size lawns. A host of accessories are also available, including a cover for the docking station and wheel brushes, as well as spare parts, from batteries and blades to wheels. Both the mower and the battery come with a 2 year warranty.

Buy the Husqvarna 405X Automower from Sam Turner, Husqvarna and Red Band

The Best Zero-Turn Mowers of 2023

These achieve the rare feat of making lawn mowing fun.

By Roy Berendsohn Published: Mar 1, 2023

When it comes to yard work, zero turn mowers do the impossible. They make lawn mowing fun. They accomplish this by putting unprecedented speed, control and maneuverability at the disposal of the person mowing the lawn. The so-called “zero turn” feature of these mowers converts a grass cutting machine into something akin to an amusement park ride. You steer the machine with two levers—the left lever controls the left wheel, the right lever the right wheel. With that steering setup, you can zoom over the landscape cutting straight lines, curves, or pivot the mower into and out of a corner. What’s not to like?

Read on to understand how these agile grass cutters work, how we go about testing them, and see some candidates that we’ve recently tested as well as some that we haven’t but that we think look particularly promising.

How Zero-Turn Mowers Work

A zero-turn riding mower consists of an operator platform, a frame and wheels, an engine (or battery bank), transmissions (or motors), and a pair of control levers commonly known as lap bars. In gas mowers, the engine powers a pulley system. One group of pulleys drives the blades, another group powers a pair of transmissions–one at each rear wheel. When you move the lap bar forward or back, you are directing the transmission to go faster, slower, or even turn the opposite way. When one drive wheel turns clockwise and the other counter clockwise, the mower pivots. When the wheels rotate at different rates, the mower turns in an arc-shaped path. When the lap bars are in the neutral position, the mower stops. Aside from a parking brake, there’s no other braking mechanism. Battery-powered zero-turn mowers work the same way, but have separate motors to drive the rear wheels and one for each blade inside the mower deck.

When it comes to transmission, most mowers have a Hydrogear EZT—a well-known and cost-effective residential-grade transaxle with a reputation for durability.

Some mowers use a deck stamped from one piece of steel, others use a deck fabricated from multiple pieces and welded together. A fabricated deck can be built from thicker steel at a lower cost than it would be able to be built otherwise. Once you’re talking about stamping metal as thick as 10 gauge (about 1⁄8 inch thick), the cost of stamping such a deck would push up the mower’s price beyond what most people are willing to pay. The decks in the mowers below range from 42 to 52 inches, a typical size in this class of product. When powered by these engines and the Hydrogear, these mowers will deliver a decent cut quality at their rated top speed of 7 mph. Note, however, that cut quality declines steeply if you maintain that speed in very thick grass or on uneven terrain.

As to the electric mowers, they represent the leading edge of the technology in this category. These are remarkable and expensive mowers powered by large-voltage lithium-ion batteries. If you’re interested in reducing mowing noise and simplifying your maintenance routine by eliminating gas and oil, they’re worth a look.

Selecting a Zero-Turn Mower

Everyone would like to select the biggest possible zero-turn mower with the hope of whittling a big grass cutting job down to size as quickly as possible. Reality usually intercedes because these machines are expensive and the wide range of options available today quickly drive up the cost. Roughly speaking, you start somewhere in the range of a mower with a 42-inch deck costing in the vicinity of 3200 to 3500 and move up in increments of 1000 to 1500 until you reach entry-level commercial-grade equipment that costs 7000 to 8000.

Again, speaking in terms of approximation, a mower with a 42-inch deck will cut a two-acre lot (that takes into account that the house, driveway, outbuildings and various landscape features are taking up some of that space). Use a mower with a larger deck to cut anything over two acres. But here’s the caveat. That entry-level ZTR mower (3200, say) with a 42-inch deck will wear out faster and need more maintenance than a mower with a 50-inch deck, a heavier frame, larger engine and higher quality transmissions, and thicker deck with more robust blade spindles, costing 4500.

In the simplest possible terms, you can cut a smaller area with a larger mower and expect more longevity out of the machine (not to mention a nicer mowing experience) or you can cut a larger area with a smaller machine and encounter more maintenance and a mowing experience that will be, we might say, a bit more rugged.

But there are still other factors to consider, in selecting a mower other than deck size and your budget. Larger mowers take more space in a garage or outbuilding. And a mower with a 50-inch or even 60-inch deck, as useful as it might be in getting the job done more quickly, may not fit through a fence’s gate, and it might be more difficult to maneuver in tight spots without creating scalp marks on the lawn from a lot of close-quarter pivoting.

Carefully consider all these factors when shopping for a mower: your budget, maintenance and whether you will perform that work yourself, mowing speed and time, maneuverability and trimming in tight areas, the importance that you place on your comfort while mowing, cut quality, longevity, storage, and access to the landscape.

How We Select and Test

There’s only one way to test a mower, and that’s to cut grass with it. But we also do more than mow.

We raise and lower the deck and adjust the seat. We look at service point access (the air filter, the spark plug, and the oil filter) and how easy it is to remove the deck. We mow approximately an acre with each mower, considering cut and mulching quality while running uphill, downhill, across washboard, and along sidehills. (On sidehills, we’ll mow surfaces pitched up to approximately 20 degrees; manufacturers generally recommend not going steeper than 10 degrees, but we like to be thorough.) We evaluate power and speed relative to cut quality—we investigate whether the mower delivers a decent cut mowing at full speed. When mowing in damp conditions, we look at whether the mower’s tires accumulate grass and how effectively it discharges moist clippings. Finally, we test maneuverability (these machines are, generally, very nimble) and how readily they come to a stop when you back off the lap bar control levers.

The Half Gallon Nightmare and Other Adventures

And suddenly I was being picked up outside the ATC headquarters and driven thirty minutes to a Yellow Deli — an alternative religious community. I introduced myself as Shitwater to our driver, who peered at me in the rear view mirror and said “Nice to meet you, Water.” I thought he hadn’t heard me, so I spoke up louder. “SHITWATER! I GO BY SHITWATER!” He looked at me again, this time, eyebrows slightly narrowed. “Yes… Water.” My friend nudged me from the seat behind me and shook their head urgently. Whoops, I thought. “This valley is the same one you’ll be walking soon on the trail.” He gestured to the mountains outside. I took a mental note of what they looked like in case I needed to escape the cult on foot. “Unless you decide to stay with us!” He smiled. This seemed like it was going to be a stressful and covert zero.

We arrived at the community — a sweeping farmland with three little cabins for hikers and a small bathhouse on the hill. The four of us hikers, CBS (also known as consensual buttstuff), Scout, Lovechild and myself, all piled out of the truck. Our driver turned to Lovechild. “What’s your name?” “Uh, Matthew. I’m from Damascus.” Lovechild said. I started to panic. Lovechild’s name was not Matthew. And he was definitely not from Damascus. Oh god, did I have to make up my own alias? My hiker brain was barely functioning enough to process that I was trying not to be suctioned into a cult for the rest of my life. Though the free food did sound nice.

“Where are you from, Water?” Oh god. I thought. Oh god I can’t do this. I had to lie. What if they used my true hometown to brainwash me to join their cult?! I wasn’t taking any chances. “Um, Harrisburg, Virginia!” I said. I didn’t even know if that existed. “Uh… I mean Perisburg!” At least I knew that one existed. His eyebrows raised.

“What do you do?” He asked. “Um, I do photography for a backpacking brand.” I said, very vaguely. He nodded and the conversation moved past me. I breathed a sigh of relief. Later, Lovechild would tell me that he forgot our friend CBS actually was from Pennsylvania, and thought he was lying to cover his true identity from the cult — and so he started lying too. I laughed at the fear response it had triggered in me, but we were both committed to being Matthew from Damascus and Water from Harrisburg (when he remembered he was from Harrisburg.)

We were separated into men and women’s cabins. “We should’ve told them we were all married.” CBS muttered as he scuffed his feet into the men’s cabin with Lovechild. Meanwhile, Scout watched me as I rummaged through the drawers in our stifling hot ladies cabin for loaner clothes and interesting culty items. I found a bible, a darn tough sock and a full denim outfit. Score!

I stripped and went commando underneath my full denim fit and waltzed out of my cabin, announcing in my best gruff uncle-farmer voice, “I’M DENIM DAN. ” Lovechild and CBS erupted into laughter. I walked spread legged — as if I had twenty foot spurs on and was in a wild western. Scout helped me with an impromptu photo shoot with a flowerpot outside the cabin. It was very rural-chic, as you can see from the pictures below.

As we joined everyone for dinner, I realized not only was I adopting an entirely new alias — I was now in clothes that I was not sure if I was allowed to borrow or not and sweating profusely in all denim. As we ate beef stew, I mixed up Perisburg and Harrisburg and gave up on being a photographer for a backpacking company and was suddenly into watercolors and hoping to illustrate wildlife books someday. Eventually, I lapsed into a half-asleep food coma and decided zoning out was better than continuing my strange aliases.

The next morning, finding a ride back to town was a struggle. After we ate a breakfast of hard boiled eggs — of which I consumed six like a hungry snake (and still violently crave hard boiled eggs on trail, to the point where I’ve eaten deviled eggs from a gas station), we waited in a white van for someone to drive us. Our driver stared at the van and pushed a lawn mower around it as we sat inside. We watched him, perturbed. This strange ritual continued for thirty minutes. I started to crack up at his lackadaisical lawn mowing as we all sat in the van with the key in the ignition. His wife appeared from the house in front of us. “Are you ready to go?” She called and climbed in front. He stopped his lawn mowing ritual and climbed in. We were off, left with only some strange memories of a full denim outfit and an intense craving for hard boiled eggs.

Jenga is hard.

Then I was sitting outside the ATC headquarters again, next to Lovechild, eating strawberries and covering them in whipped cream as hikers passed by and had their halfway photos taken. An eight pound bag of charcoal sat in front of us for our friend, CBS (who was grilling himself dinner). He strapped it to the top of his pack and lugged it for about.3 of a mile before he called us an Uber to the Crossroads Hostel.

There, I played jenga on the floor for a while — and we decided to collaborate and try to get it as high as possible. As this decision happened — a bong was passed around, and I soon also became as high as possible. Every time my turn came around, I thought the jenga blocks had already collapsed. My friends had to call my name to remind me it was my turn, which always seemed to come too fast. I turned to the tower — dumbfounded. It was set up again! I thought it had just fallen. I squinted at it and pulled another block out. It seemed like ten seconds later, it was my turn again, and again, the tower I thought had collapsed was up again! A miracle tower! My stoner brain thought. It was terrifying. My turn kept coming, and the tower kept rising and so did my heart rate. Eventually I just got up and sat next to Lovechild, whispering how I couldn’t comprehend a game of Jenga anymore. He laughed and we went inside to try and make shrimp scampi, which we had gotten the ingredients for before we were both completely fried.

I stared at the recipe for a while, unable to fathom the feat of remembering the instructions while cooking — and before I could even boil a pot of water, I realized we had completely lost the pasta. Which was somewhat an important ingredient for shrimp scampi. The next hour was spent scampering around the house, looking for the sweet blue box of fettuccini. We never wound up finding it that night — but we did find some pasta in the hiker box which worked too. The next morning I stumbled upon the fettuccini — right inside a grocery bag outside the front door where we had left it. I put a hand to my forehead and laughed. Oh boy.

Tubing at 8:00 a.m.

“Want to go tubing?” One of our friends from the hostel asked over eggs. It was 8:00 a.m. “Uh… maybe?” We were planning on doing a twenty out of town buuuut… I had been wanting to tube the entire trail. I looked at Lovechild and raised my eyebrows. “We couuuuld just do a bit less miles today and tube…” “We might be able to make it work…” I called CBS over. “Hear me out…” I began.

And we were on a river. At 8:00 in the morning. Slightly drunk. Entirely happy. Our asses freezing underneath us. The wind started to blow us in the opposite way of the current. It appeared as though this was going to be a more difficult tubing trip than we thought. I began to heckle people who walked along the trail above us, yelling aggressive compliments about how I liked their outfits, and tirades about how tubing was more efficient than walking. This sent us all into bouts of laughter. We kept forgetting where we had to get off. All we knew was there was a green bridge that would appear eventually — and of course we’d wind up on the opposite side of the river where we needed to be. In the middle of our trip, CBS turned to me and asked what my reason for hiking the trail was. I realized I was living it. I had wanted to find people who accepted me for who I was — a rambunctious, extroverted, queer oddball — and I had found the people who did: on the trail walking in front of me, in shelters sleeping next to me and tubing down the river on either side of me. I smiled and told him moments like this.

Making fun on trail

After so many miles, you have to start making fun times for yourself. I’ve realized motivation comes most easily from just being a kid again. Lovechild had a brilliant idea of packing out water guns — and for the next five miles, we were in an intense battle that would make most cowboys tremble in their boots. If you think reaching around your pack for a Smart water bottle is hard — wait until you try reaching around for a water gun to fend off an aggressive opponent attacking from behind. When we passed the next shelter, it was a stand off with CBS and Lovechild and myself, all in the classic triangle of death, arms out, western stand-off style, trail runners kicked out and waterguns at the ready. We erupted into fire, screaming and laughing and getting completely soaked.

The next day, while hiking alone, I came across a playground. It was a couple yards off trail and my feet were hurting, and I debated going down the slide or not. Was it worth the extra energy? I thought. Why the hell not? Was my second thought. I walked over — excited and laughing a bit to myself, and launched myself down the slide with my arms over my head, ULA pack still strapped to my back. I have a celebratory whoop at the bottom. I realized the importance of doing silly things for yourself — just to have fun on your own on trail. I forgot how much slides thrilled me — and I didn’t care if I looked like an idiot — I was having fun!! Lovechild appeared on a bench in the next couple strides, and we took turns violently spinning each other on a merry-go-round until we both almost vomited up our tuna tortilla lunches.

Half Gallon Challenge

Speaking of vomiting — I was not successful at the half gallon challenge. Lovechild demolished his half gallon in a gruesome 9 minutes and 40 seconds. I was not so victorious. Just moments before, I had walked by a bunch of my friends sitting in front of their half finished tubs of dairy hell, rolling my eyes at their distressed fugue states. Their eyes were all glazed over as they clutched at their spoons, plunging it towards their ice cream like a cry for help. I figured it couldn’t be that bad. I was wrong.

Before I went into dairy hell.

Ten minutes later, I was staring down a third of a half gallon left in front of me. My mint chip froth sloshed around in the tub in front of me menacingly. My friends, Shakira and Margaret began to sing along to party music and I danced along to motivate myself (as much as I could in my trying state.) California Girls will now evoke a slight gag reflex in me. Eventually I slammed my spoon on the table and looked up at Margaret. She looked at me with the same plaintive expression I imagined on my own face. There was no way we could eat ourselves out of this. I whispered the magic words. “We could… just quit together.” “YES. ” She smiled. We were free!

We clinked our defeated cardboard pints together and chucked them in the trash. I stumbled over to the water spicket, feeling lightheaded and sat underneath it. I turned it fully on and embraced my watery defeat. I might not have been able to finish a half gallon of ice cream, but I would live to see another day without it all erupting from my mouth — which I consider a victory in and of itself.

Afterwards, we all went swimming in a nearby lake and got yelled at multiple times for trying to do chicken fights (when you stack people on top of eachother to battle in the water.) It was another moment when I was surrounded by friends yet again on trail. Everyone had walked 1,000 miles to get here, had different experiences, different situations that lead them here — and yet here we all were, a bunch of hiker trash drifting around on a sunny day. I couldn’t imagine anything better, or anywhere I could’ve felt at home more. Here goes the next 1,000!

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