iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Just when you think they could not possibly make Reservation.gov worse.

Now, a group of U.S. representatives is demanding answers. This month, 13 members of Congress sent a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, asking him to explain his agency’s policies on collaborating with immigration arrests and questioning why the agency would divert time and money to support immigration enforcement when public lands are more under-resourced than ever. Among other questions, the letter requests that Schultz detail any agreements the USFS has for sharing visitor and reservation data with ICE and list all immigration actions that Forest Service rangers have taken part in. (Backpacker contacted the USFS for comment and had not received a response as of the time of publication.)

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Jolene, harlot that she is, has laid an egg sac out of wedlock.

female black widow in a jar, guarding an egg sac

120

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Really struggling with who to cheer for in this bracket.

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I should not have to dress like a construction worker just to avoid being killed by a driver.

norman rockwell painting of man standing up at town meeting

1346

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I'll yell about this for the rest of my life, but you cannot put John Yoo on your show or quote him in your article without mentioning that he wrote the Torture Memos, especially when a growing swath of the voting public was not alive when he did it.

Yoo was the author of the controversial "Torture Memos" in the war on terror. As the deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the Department of Justice, Yoo wrote the Torture Memos to determine the legal limits for the torture of detainees following the September 11 attacks. The legal guidance on interrogation authored by Yoo and his successors in the OLC were rescinded by President Barack Obama in 2009.[3][4][5] Some called for investigating and prosecuting Yoo under various anti-torture and anti-war crimes statutes.[6][7][8][9]

121

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Not yet Arachtober stateside but let me celebrate early with this picture of two long-jawed orbweavers I saw going at it at UW Madison. You can see the male holding the female's chelicerae open with his so she doesn't eat him while they mate, a strategy particular to them and a few other families.

110

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Got to spend a few days on the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, and in addition to containing moths, the foliage was beautiful.

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Got the macro lens out to take some footage of Jolene the Pet Black Widow for a video I was making. Look at this girl!

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Showing my black widow the music video for Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai

Black widow in bottle in front of tv playing music video for Virtual Insanity

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Teaching my black widow about the history of the labor movement

Black widow in bottle with The Hammer by Hamilton Nolan sitting in front of it

Black widow in bottle with The Hammer by Hamilton Nolan sitting in front of it and finger pointing to page

122

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

What did I name her? Black Velvet, obviously.

Black widow in whiskey bottle with remains of label reading "Black Velvet"

110

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Found a mature female black widow on my run this morning and managed to catch her in a discarded whiskey bottle. Will bring her to the bug zoo later (they use widows as interpretive animals) but first I'm gonna show her a bunch of new stuff. First stop: breakfast.

120

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Here's the thing: I don't think it's that their plan was necessarily wrong, it was just wrong for them. They planned on being up there eight hours, and a stronger and better-prepared team probably would have been. The FKT is currently sitting at 1.5 hour for men and 2 hours for women. But...

FKTs for Mt. Shasta: 1 hr 28 min 58s for men (Jack Kuenzle) and 2h 0m 10s for women (Sarah Burke)

121

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Happy 6th anniversary to the most Denver weather forecast that has ever Denvered.

Three-day weather forecast showing temperatures dropping from a high of 98 to low of 27.

010

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Just pointing out here that it's still Lake Ontario on Gaia GPS, and if you sign up you will be funding my and Backpacker's work 👀

Screenshot of Gaia GPS showing Lake Ontario

001

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

When I tell people I'm into spiders, a lot of them ask questions starting with "are there black widows in..." Let me stop you there: yes. They are everywhere. I set a five minute timer earlier today and found three of them.

010

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

POV: You are an NFL team owner in April but the NCAA has replaced all college football players with bugs.

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

A peek inside a journalist's to-do list.

Draft the worm story / draft the tarantula story

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Missed the bus to this mornings group hike at #ORshow and made the questionable decision to skate 4 miles there, which is how I ended up at Mayor Jacob Frey's opening remarks with a board on my back. Sometimes outdoor journalism is like normal journalism but let me tell you: sometimes it is not.

Mayor Jacob Frey cutting the ribbon to open OR

120

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Got to see my old colleague, @backpacker-mag.bsky.social legend Kristin Hostetter, moderate a panel on how outdoor brands can better serve women and Gen Z. Great to get to hear what these thoughtful speakers had to say.

Panel on a stage in front of an audience

020

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

On my way to Minneapolis to speak at Outdoor Retailer on Thursday. First time in the city--where are my Minnesota folks at?

Backpack with skateboard sitting on bus seat

010

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Frederick, aka Fred, aka Freddie Krueger, with her tipped ear (snipped 15 years ago) and her lion cut (brand new)

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I did, actually, witness an insurer trying to kill my mom. I was 17 and walked in on her crying after they told her the surgery to remove her breast cancer was not covered. My dad's law firm had a professional appeal & won, but I think often of the people whose cancer metastisized while they fought.

he killed some random guy. i genuinely wonder if some of you had no mom or dad to give you some sort of moral compass. was morality just absent in your home. are you just a feral animal

shot a random dude. that is not cool or funny in my opinion

can i shoot your family members, are you cool with that

not an art thief
@famousartthief.bsky.social
· 12h
gonna gun down your mom in the name of justice, i assume you are cool with that

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I made this when I was reading Gene Wolfe but you know what, it works equally well here.

I am going to create a science fantasy series that is so Catholic

010

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Do I believe someone would intentionally start a wildfire to win a bet on Kalshi or Polymarket? Absolutely. Beyond the shadow of a doubt. People have started wildfires for far smaller amounts of money.

Former Firefighter Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Wildland Arson Fire on Federal Land
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Share right caret
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Benjamin Cunha, 33, of Placerville, was sentenced today to five years in prison for arson, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. In addition, United States District Judge John A. Mendez ordered Cunha to pay $246,862 in restitution to Cal Fire.

According to court documents, Cunha, a seasonal CAL FIRE firefighter from 2001 to 2003, admitted to setting at least 30 wildland fires during the summers of 2006 and 2007. Two of these fires burned onto federal land. Cunha indicated that his motivation for setting the fires was to overcome boredom, to earn overtime pay for fighting the fires, and to impress his peers.

“As he admitted in his plea agreement, this defendant set a multitude of fires with a callous disregard for the danger to life and property that he was inflicting,” said U.S. Attorney Wagner. “Today’s sentence is a just result that takes a serial arsonist off the streets.”

“Benjamin Cunha set over 30 fires in El Dorado and Amador Counties. ATF worked with our local partners and utilized several resources to perfect an investigation for federal prosecution,” said Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder. “Cunha had no consideration for CAL FIRE fighters’ safety when he set the fires, placing them in grave danger during the fire suppression efforts.”

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I'm gonna be the dissenting voice here: He's exaggerating (please clean yourself) but this isn't totally off-base from what healthcare professionals we've spoken to for Backpacker's many, many poop-related stories have told us in the past.

Pay attention to your bowel health.
“A well-formed, hydrated stool should leave little stool behind on the tissue paper,” says Dr. William O. Roberts, a backpacker and professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Minnesota. Maintain good bowel function by drinking enough water and eating backpacking-friendly fiber, such as dried fruit and nuts. Roberts even brings packets of Metamucil on his trips. The smooth texture orange flavor doesn’t taste any worse than Tang, he says, and at about 90 calories for two tablespoons, it’s got the same calorie load.

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Enjoying the best adaptation of The Odyssey, and by that I mean all the comics that @smbccomics.bsky.social made about it.

Man: Captain, we're about to pass the island of the sirens!

Odysseus: I order you to tie me to the mast!

Man: There. Though, honestly I don't see why you can't just use your will to resist the sirens.

Odysseus: Sirens? What sirens?

Man: Uh...

Odysseus: I order you to spank me!

024534

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Argentina is one of the world's most Jewish countries; it has roughly the same population as Spain but more than ten times as many Jews. Setting aside the current governments' politics, any Jew in the world is vastly more likely to have a personal connection to it, be it family or acquaintances.

A table showing Argentina having the world's 7th-largest Jewish population, with 175K Jewish people

A table showing Spain as having the world's 24th-largest Jewish population, with 13K Jews.

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

This is a very interesting story. I do want to point out that there's a really obvious reason why Jews in general, from anywhere, might gravitate towards supporting Argentina over Spain.

The history of the Jews in Argentina goes back to the early sixteenth century, following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Bad picture but I caught this one while it was carrying off what looked like a yellow sac spider at the Denver Zoo.

wasp carrying off yellow sac spider, trapped under cup lid

000

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Pompilidae are a family of wasps that parasitize spiders, and once you start noticing them, you'll see them constantly. Here's one dragging off an unlucky, paralyzed wolf spider in the Colorado mountains to be food for its larvae.

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

We're erasing Argentina's long and proud tradition of naming random businesses after them. I spent part of my 21st birthday eating ice cream at Heladeria Malvinas.

Heladeria Malvinas, an ice cream store with a picture of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands on the sign.

130

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I had seen The Wilderness Society's map circulating on Facebook so I reached out to them to ask about it. Then, SUWA sent us their own, derived from a map released by the White House Press Office. They both match and seem to be consistent with what's trickling out via official sources.

121

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Here, btw, is the point of contention in the lawsuits against Trump's changes to Bears Ears. The Antiquities Act does not explicitly give the president authority to shrink or abolish national monuments, only to designate them. Trump's EO on left, law text on right.

WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act also permits the President, in the President’s discretion, to alter a prior declaration of a national monument by finding that objects identified in the prior declaration either are no longer deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, or never were; and

SECTION 2
That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected: Provided, That when such objects are situated upon a tract covered by a bona fied unperfected claim or held in private ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object, may be relinquished to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the Government of the United States.
(16 U.S.C. 431)

No further extension or establishment of national monuments in Wyoming may be undertaken except by express authorization of Congress.
(16 U.S.C. 431a)

100

Adam Roy @adnroy.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Notably, this executive order turns the Indigenous, 5-member Bears Ears Commission, which had a rep from each of the tribes who lobbied for the monument's creation, to a 15 member committee where they're in the minority. The rest are reps from local towns and counties or appointed by the governor.