It’s Monday, and just like that, we’re on the cusp of a brand new month. The Autumnal Equinox is now a mere 22 days away.
I have really been enjoying the end-of-summer weather. Cool nights and mornings bracket warm days that are still shorts weather but not unbearably hot. Mother Nature has taken the edge off, and I am here for it.
As someone who spends a lot of time doing outdoor things (running and hiking, mostly), I am always in search of easy, high-energy food that tastes good, packs easily and keeps me going.
This is the very definition of trail mix – the base of which is a blend of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, that can be embellished with the addition of chocolate, granola, pretzel pieces and a whole plethora of other things, that have long been a favorite of outdoor enthusiasts everywhere.
Today, for no particular reason that I can find, is National Trail Mix Day, the mere existence of which got me wondering: Who invented this sustaining and delicious concoction? The answer, as is so often the case with good things, is complicated.
Native people consumed mixes of nuts, seeds, fried fruits and dried meat (usually Buffalo) thousands of years ago. An offshoot, a calorie-dense block known as pemmican, which combines dried meat that is pounded into a fine powder with rendered animal fat and berries. This was another North American indigenous staple that was adopted by European fur traders, voyageurs, and Arctic explorers because it was easy to carry and resisted spoiling for months or even years.
In 1910, an American travel writer and librarian named Horace Sowers Kephart penned a popular tome called The Book of Camping and Woodcraft, that included a recipe of sorts of trail mix (though he didn’t call it that), writing: “A handful each of shelled nuts and raisins, with a cake of sweet chocolate, will carry a man far on the trail, or when he has lost it.”
Kephart’s other claim to fame is that he was instrumental in helping to start the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
There’s another story that attributes the creation of trail mix to two California surfers who blended peanuts and raisins together in 1968 to help fuel their long days chasing waves. But a decade earlier, Jack Kerouac’s novel The Dharma Bums references the term “trail mix”, as two characters prepare for a climbing trip up the Matterhorn, which shoots the surfer myth (ahem) out of the water.
Whether you know it as trail mix, gorp (which some say stands for “good old peanuts and raisins), or even scroggin, which is what the Aussies and Kiwis call this delightful mix, there’s no denying that the right ratio of fats, carbs, and simple sugars can help fuel you for a wide range of activities. If you’re allergic to nuts, though, you might be out of luck.
Speaking of mixes, we’ll see a melange of sun and clouds today, with a highs peaking close to 80 degrees.
In the headlines…
U.S. forces attacked two Iranian rocket launchers attempting to disperse sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said on Sunday.
Centcom wrote on the social platform X that U.S. forces took “limited, precise action” against IRGC minelaying forces posing an “imminent threat” in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post on Sunday, President Trump said he would use the oil from his deal in Venezuela to refill the United States’ stockpile of oil, but that’s something of a pipe dream — at least in the short term.
“The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States,” the president added.
“One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding the SPR was “virtually emptied” under former President Biden.
Calling it the “BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY” in a post on Truth Social, the president said that the agreement would “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans”, but did not outline how soon that would happen.
Freedom Fuel gas stations, which the Trump administration promoted last month, sold fuel that its supplier never paid for, a lawsuit filed earlier this month claims.
President Trump raged at “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker Sunday for casting aspersions on his endorsement record — saying she should be reprimanded by the FCC.
Rep. James Clyburn said he supports Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed after he apologized for comments he made following an attack on a Detroit-area synagogue, adding that “all of us deserve second chances.”
Trump praised NASA for launching its dark universe-seeking space telescope, writing on Truth Social: “Congratulations to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, and the Great Patriots at NASA, on a successful launch. This is THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!”
Trump said he does not want U.S. businesses to import Canadian goods amid continued tariff tensions between the two countries.
Google has updated its Maps application, labeling Lake Ontario as Lake America for users in the United States, following an executive order signed by President Trump last week amid an escalating trade war with Canada.
The leader of the Seneca Nation in New York is criticizing Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” saying it violates a more than 225-year-old treaty and shows a “blatant disrespect” for the Indigenous people who gave it its original name.
A prosecutor in the New York AG’s office sent an agency-wide email to hundreds of colleagues claiming that he had been instructed by his supervisor “to find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to allocate another $36 million in state funding for crime victim services weeks after rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs and child advocacy organizations warned they would face layoffs without additional funding.
The new state budget is pouring $1.2 billion into daycare assistance, after previous funding ran out in a matter of months.
The Bills’ stadium drama has now gone from the stands to the field. They are tearing out and replacing the grass at Highmark Stadium ahead of their first three home games in Weeks 2-4.
A TU investigation found uneven progress on law enforcement oversight, diversity, use of force and racial disparities — and few ways to know whether reforms worked – since George Floyd’s death in 2020 sparked widespread protest and cries for reform.
The news of Dolly Parton’s death this week was met with musical tributes, heartfelt messages and, across some New York roadways, Dolly-inspired safety slogans.
The Hochul-approved highway traffic signs honoring Parton displayed across New York appeared to violate federal guidelines that discourage distracting messages.
Hochul pledged on Friday to increase security for synagogues and Jewish communities across the state ahead of the High Holidays, during remarks she delivered at Shabbat services at the Central Synagogue in Manhattan.
The governor has pardoned six people who completed their prison sentences for drug, firearm, assault, bail jumping or impaired-driving offenses and have remained crime-free for significant periods of time.
NY Creates, the nonprofit entity that owns and operates Albany NanoTech, is part of a newly created quantum computing research institute led by Princeton University that was awarded $27.9 million by the National Science Foundation.
By suing the UFT over pay raises for paraprofessionals, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is eager to burnish his pro-worker bona fides, has scrambled conventional wisdom and left himself in the strange position of being praised by some of his most committed critics.
Tenant complaints have surged 25% this year compared to last year in New York City, as critics warned Mamdani’s war to squeeze landlords — and seize private property — is escalating.
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America approved a resolution on Saturday to begin paying full-time salaries to its elected co-chairs Grace Mausser and Gustavo Gordillo.
Gordillo’s web of lies is unraveling fast after getting caught faking his address, his job, and apparently now — his own family’s immigration story.
Two NYC Democratic Socialists of America leaders have been caught living the ultimate capitalist dream, with one quietly collecting millions in real estate flips and another nesting in a sleek $500,000 Brooklyn apartment.
Hundreds of people gathered near New York City’s popular Washington Square Park Sunday to judge a Mamdani look-alike contest. The winner, Amadeo Fusca, was the crowd favorite, wearing a jersey for the NBA champion New York Knicks underneath a suit.
Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji is once again jetting off to Europe for a posh, Islamic- centered women’s retreat.
Retired Port Authority cops have joined the ranks of Sept. 11 survivors demanding Mamdani and Hochul keep away from the 25th anniversary ceremony.
After a month-long outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side sickened almost 100 New Yorkers and killed 11, a package of New York City Council bills is aimed at increasing water tower cleaning and transparency on infections.
A 65-year-old woman whose leg was broken after a mentally ill stranger shoved her onto the Bronx subway tracks in an unprovoked attack blasted city leaders for failing to protect riders as the number of assaults in the subway system has spiked by 10% this year.
Congressional nominee Brad Lander got blasted by protesters outside Madison Square Garden Saturday, where an Indian Hindu-nationalist leader — who was recently condemned by Mamdani — was giving a speech.
When a high-rise project became dangerously unstable last month, prompting the shutdown of two Midtown Manhattan blocks, it revealed just how much the city had come to rely on converting old office buildings to deal with its housing shortage.
A recent spate of subterranean exploring has piqued the curiosity of New Yorkers — and concerned officials who warn of danger underground.
A fox that may be infected with rabies is on the loose on Staten Island, officials said.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is facing a growing backlash because of its plan to honor John Galliano, the accomplished British fashion designer who was convicted of a hate crime by a French court in 2011 for his antisemitic outbursts.
A nurse at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn was struck and killed by a car in Sunset Park on Saturday morning, marking the fifth fatal hit-and-run in the city over the last two weeks.
Hudson Valley and Capital Region weather is not looking great for the last week of summer vacation.
As families across Albany prepare for the start of the academic year, two community events in the city focused on easing the back-to-school burden by providing free supplies, services and support.
Saratoga Race Course will close its summer meet with Fan Appreciation Week, featuring ticket deals, food specials and a Labor Day flannel shirt giveaway, according to NYRA.
Saturday’s blockbuster 14-race DraftKings Travers Day card at Saratoga Race Course, highlighted by Leading Change’s victory in the 157th running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers, generated a wagering handle of $60,863,320.
Squashed lanternflies are now a common sight in the lower and mid-Hudson Valley, but the insect’s infiltration has not overtaken the Capital Region. It’s only a matter of time before they make their way north.
A 33-year-old Albany woman is facing a litany of charges after State Police say she took a violent and destructive road trip Friday from Albany to Guilderland.
The Albany New York Nepalese Society is raising funds to support relief efforts in Nepal, where catastrophic floods killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing as of Friday afternoon.
National Grid was working Friday to restore service after a power outage impacted part of Crossgates Mall.
Schenectady’s school safety cameras, which were budgeted to account for more than $2 million in revenue for the city this year after it was approved last October, haven’t been set up due to months of logistical delays.
Two weak tornadoes carved through a community just north of Saratoga Springs last week.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
