Everybody here was busy getting ready for our SpringOuting, when in our planning meeting, we realized that because the trip was local, we had planned WAY to many activities for this outing, and it would be impossible to get it all done in one weekend. 

So we decided to break up the SpringOuting into two weekends... these interns here at RainyDayMagazine have it SO tough :-)

Our home base for the SpringOuting will be the fabulous Onyx Hotel in Boston.  The Onyx is one of Boston's newly renovated luxury boutique hotels.  We chose the Onyx for its "in the middle of everything" locaton.

This weekend the "urban hikes" will be around the city of Boston (Freedom Trail, North End, etc...).  Next weekend the hikes will be around Boston's Emerald Necklace.

As with the WinterOuting, we have assembled a fantastic collection of gear which we'll put to the test over the next two weekends.

The gear for the 2006 SpringOuting are from the following vendors:

• BeyondFleece: Olympus Jacket
• BioTrainer : Physical Activities Tracker
• Brunton: Echo field binoculars
• Julbo: MicroPore, Dolgan
• Kata Bags: S-312 Sling bag
• Kombi gloves: BackCountry
• Magellan GPS: DirectRoute and Topo 3D maps
• Motorola: RAZR (Verizon VCAST, T-Mobile)
• Nalgene: water bottles (OTG,N-Gen )
• 180s: convertible gloves
• Technica : boots
• Tom Bihn: Aeronaunt

Even though it is the end of April, the weather here in Boston is still pretty chilly.  Normally, we would be wearing a jacket made with PolarTec or some other kind of fleece.  For this trip, we'll be trying a piece of gear from a small company called BeyondFleece.  You can't buy their jackets at your local EMS or CitySports.  They can only be ordered via the BeyondFleece website.

What you get is a custom-fitted jacket with exactly the options you want.  We have had this jacket for a few weeks and most of us have worn it around for various hops out of the office.  We have been EXTREMELY impressed with both the fit and the tailoring of this piece of gear! 

We'll be using the BioTrainer to track our energy expenditure during this outing.  Our goal is to start collecting data using this device to see if what we are calling "urban hiking" is as much of a workout as "real" hiking we do out in the country.

To transport all of our gear, we got some AMAZING bags from Tom Bihn.  The folks at Tom Bihn make some of the highest quality soft bags we have ever had the pleasure to use.  The designs are all unique to them.  They are functional, well engineered, AND great looking.

The weather this weekend in Boston is supposed to be in the high 50's but sunny.  To cut down on all the glare and reflection from Boston's skyscrapers, we'll be sporting mountaineering sunglasses from Julbo.  For those in the know, Julbos are the ones to have when venturing out...whether it is to the top of a mountain or Top Of the Hub.

When we went on the WinterOuting, we brought along the Magellan GPS to help us in the backcountry.  For navigating the streets of Boston, we will be loading the Magellan DirectRoute Street Maps on to our eXplorist 500.

To get everyone back to the hotel bar at the same time, we'll be bringing along the Motorola RAZR.  It would also be a good opportunity to test out the cellular coverage of both Verizon and T-Mobile.

For the sights that are too distant from the hotel, we'll be bringing them closer with the Brunton ECHO field binoculars.  We'll probably get more use out of them next weekend on the Emerald Necklace hike, but we are going to bring them with us for celebrity sightings.

We've decided to do things differently on RainyDaySports in 2006: instead of doing individual FirstUse reviews for each piece of gear, we'll be taking a bunch of gear with us on planned outings and reviewing them as a group.

Our 2006 SpringOuting will be an “Urban Hike” in Boston.  Many cities have beautiful outdoor spaces such as arboretum, parks, and converted railways which are perfect for day hikes and picnics.

Often, we stroll in them for a short period of time and then go back to our daily grind.  We thought...what if we planned a hike in the city the same way we would plan an outing in the country?  What would we bring? Where would we go?

In our planning meeting we realized that because it was local, we had planned WAY too many activities for this outing and it would be impossible to get it all done in one weekend.  So we have decided to break up the SpringOuting into two weekends... these interns here at RainyDayMagazine have it SO tough :-)

For the first weekend, the "urban hikes" will be around the city of Boston (Freedom Trail, North End, etc...).  The next weekend, the hikes will be around Boston's Emerald Necklace.

We have a good list of vendors participating in this RainyDaySports Urban Hike: Spring Outing in Boston (BeyondFleece, Brunton, Nalgene, Magellan GPS, Kombi, etc...)!

Spring Outing:

1. The Gear

2. The Onyx Hotel

3. Hiking the North End

         The Freedom Trail

         Faneuil Hall

         Harborwalk

         The neighborhood

Related Reviews:

1. 180s (ExoLite, Mortise)

2. Brunton Binoculars

3. BeyondFleece

4. Julbo Sunglasses

5. Kata Camera Bag

6. Kombi Gloves

7. Magellan GPS

8. Nalgene OTG bottles

9. Technica Boots