Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Minnesota's firearms deer season opens Saturday, November 7. In the 100-series permit areas, most of the north, it runs through November 22; in the 200- and 300-series areas the A season runs November 7 to 15, and the 300-series B season November 21 to 29.

Michigan's regular firearm season opens on its traditional date, November 15, and runs through November 30 statewide, in both the Upper and Lower peninsulas.

Wisconsin's nine-day gun deer season runs November 21 to 29, followed by the muzzleloader season.

Pennsylvania's regular firearms season opens Saturday, November 28, and runs through December 13.

Every state sets its own rules on antlerless tags, permit areas, legal firearms, chronic wasting disease testing and carcass movement, and some changed this year; read the current regulations before you go. All four require hunters to wear blaze orange during firearm seasons, some also allow blaze pink, and the required amount varies by state. These dates are compiled from the states' published season calendars; check the agency page for your zone.

California's recreational Dungeness crab season is scheduled to reopen Saturday, November 7, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's regional fishing pages say. In most of the state it runs through June 30; in Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties, through July 30.

The scheduled date is not a guarantee. In recent seasons the department has restricted or delayed crab traps because of humpback whales and sea turtles near the coast, and state health agencies have delayed openers in Northern California when crab carried unhealthy levels of domoic acid. Sign up for the department's Whale Safe Fisheries notices and check its current notices before you go; you can also call the domoic acid closure line at 831-649-2883.

The daily bag limit is 10 crab with a minimum size of five and three-quarter inches across the shell, and anyone using a crab trap needs a recreational crab trap validation on top of a fishing license.

Texas Monthly's two-day BBQ Fest returns to Lockhart, which calls itself the barbecue capital of Texas, on November 7 and 8. Saturday's BBQ World's Fair runs from noon to 6 p.m. around the downtown square, with barbecue joints, the returning Taco Trail of Texas taquerias, cooking demos, live music and an artisan market. It is free to attend; the magazine asks people to RSVP for updates, and you pay for what you eat. The fair benefits Feeding Texas.

Sunday's Top 50 Picnic at Lockhart City Park is the ticketed main event: more than 35 joints from the magazine's 2025 list of the 50 best barbecue joints in Texas, including all of the top ten, serving samples with live music. VIP tickets are sold out; general admission was still available at $140, with tickets for children 6 to 12 at $40 and children 5 and under free, according to Texas Monthly. Vendors are invited by the magazine's editors; there are no applications.

The picnic is on natural grass and uneven ground, and parking at the park can be bought in advance. Friday, November 6, is First Friday in downtown Lockhart, when businesses stay open late.

Holy Smokes, A Lowcountry Barbecue Festival, returns to Riverfront Park in North Charleston on Saturday, November 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., for its sixth year. More than 40 pitmasters and chefs from around the country will cook across four villages, Traditional, Texas, New School and Coastal, from whole hog to Texas brisket and smoked Lowcountry seafood, and every ticket includes all-you-can-eat access to all four, the Charleston visitors bureau says.

General admission is $95 and includes food and live music, with drinks for sale. VIP is $250, with food and drinks included, extra bites and a private bar. Children 7 to 13 are $25, and 6 and under get in free. Tickets are sold at holysmokeschs.com.

The festival has raised more than $460,000 for Hogs for the Cause and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston, which both support families whose children have pediatric brain cancer.

SmellaQue, a team from Calgary, Alberta, was named grand champion of the 37th Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tennessee, on October 10, winning $25,000 and a chance to defend its title next year, the Lynchburg Times reports. B's Que was reserve grand champion and took $10,000. Ninety-nine teams from around the world competed in categories including pork ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, chicken, dessert, Jack Daniel's sauce and cook's choice. "This title means so much to us because it's a win for the entire international community," pitmaster Janice Smella said, according to Jack Daniel's. Last year's winner was Kings BBQ of Jacksonville, Florida.

The National Weather Service has a coastal flood warning for the Orange County and San Diego County coasts until 1 p.m. Thursday, October 29, for significant flooding during the late-morning high tides. Numerous roads may be closed, and low-lying homes, businesses and some infrastructure could be inundated, the San Diego office says. From San Luis Obispo County to the Los Angeles County beaches, including Malibu, Ventura and Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands, a coastal flood advisory warns of minor to moderate flooding over beach parking lots, bike paths and harbor walkways, and moderate to significant beach erosion.

These are king tides, the year's highest astronomical tides, running even higher than predicted. Newport Beach officials have reported water 15 to 22 inches above forecast levels, which Surfer magazine attributes to an El Niño-driven ocean wave that has raised sea level along the coast; Tuesday's high tide in Newport was expected to reach a record 8.5 feet. Several cities have declared local emergencies and built sand berms.

More is coming. The Weather Service expects widespread rain across Southern California Saturday, October 31, into Sunday, from a plume of Pacific moisture of the kind known as a Pineapple Express, with about an inch possible south of Point Conception and more in the foothills.

For surfers and beachgoers: expect closed lots and flooded beach paths around midday high tides, strong backwash and debris in the lineup, and poor water quality after the rain. County health departments usually advise staying out of the ocean for 72 hours after significant rain. Check your county's beach status and the Weather Service before going.

Molly Picklum and Griffin Colapinto won the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal at Supertubos in Peniche. Picklum, the reigning world champion, beat 2024 champion Caitlin Simmers in the women's final in six-to-eight-foot barrels, finding the decisive 7.83-point wave for her first win of the season, which also moves her into the rankings lead and the yellow jersey, Surfgirl reports. The Championship Tour moves next to the Philippines Pro, October 31 to November 10.

Snow Peak's Landlock X went on sale in the United States on September 21, 2026, for $1,999.95 at Snow Peak stores and snowpeak.com, the company said. It replaces the Landlock, the Japanese brand's long-running two-room shelter, after debuting in Japan in June; Gear Patrol calls it the first significant update to the design in nearly two decades.

The idea is the same: one large shelter with a living area at one end and a sleeping room at the other, for four people. What changes is how it goes up and how it lives. The new frame, made with pole maker DAC from its high-strength DA17 aluminum in a slate-gray finish, stands on its own earlier in setup and is built to handle more wind. There are more ways in, a skylight in the roof and large mesh panels for light and airflow, and Snow Peak says the inside offers about 10 percent more room on the same footprint, roughly 20 and a half by 13 and a quarter feet. The redesigned inner tent sleeps two or four and can hang at either end of the shelter. Korogi, a U.S. dealer, lists the whole package at 56.2 pounds.

The headline feature for cold-weather campers is a chimney port: Snow Peak built the Landlock X to take its wood-burning tent stoves. That is still a future option in the U.S. The company says its tent stoves are scheduled to arrive here in early 2027, and it has not announced a U.S. date or price for the stove made for this class of shelter, the MK Stove.

In Japan, the MK Stove went on sale January 11, 2025, at ¥390,500 including tax. Co-developed with the South Korean stovemaker Wood & Burn, it has large heat-resistant glass on both long sides to watch the fire, loading doors at each end, room for three or four splits of wood and an optional guard for cooking on top; Japanese reviewers put its weight around 26 kilograms, about 57 pounds. At today's rate of about 157.7 yen to the dollar, its price works out to roughly $2,476.

Using the stove inside the Landlock X also requires the Landlock X Fly Cover TC, a cotton-blend outer layer that covers the whole fly to hold heat, cut condensation and help protect the shelter from sparks. Snow Peak Japan lists it at ¥127,600 including tax, about $809 at the same rate. Together, the stove and fly cover come to about $3,285 at Japanese prices, on top of the tent.

Those conversions use the October 27, 2026, exchange rate and Japanese prices, which include Japan's 10 percent consumption tax. They do not include shipping, import duties or U.S. sales tax, and they are not U.S. prices, which Snow Peak has not set. Wood stoves inside any tent call for a carbon monoxide alarm and the maker's instructions.

Several inner-canyon trails at Grand Canyon National Park have reopened after repairs to flood damage, the park said October 26: the South Kaibab Trail below The Tipoff, the entire River Trail connecting the South Kaibab and Bright Angel trails, and the Bright Angel Trail between Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse and Havasupai Gardens. That Bright Angel section is open to hikers only; it stays closed to mules and other stock while crews repair more damage.

Expect intermittent closures and delays on the Bright Angel as technical repairs continue, and follow crew instructions. Water is off at Mile-and-a-Half and Three-Mile resthouses and at Havasupai Gardens for the rest of the winter, so carry all the water you need plus a way to filter or treat more.

Still closed: the Black Bridge and the Silver Bridge over the Colorado River, Phantom Ranch, and the entire North Kaibab Trail, which means rim-to-river trips can no longer cross to the north side. The park warns that rescue in the inner canyon can be delayed and is not guaranteed; plan conservatively.

Gulf Islands National Seashore reopened the Naval Live Oaks Area in Florida on October 26, the last section closed by Hurricane Isaias, and every area of the park is now open, including Okaloosa, Opal Beach, Perdido Key, Fort Pickens and Fort Barrancas, the park said. Superintendent Rick Clark said Isaias caused no substantial damage to buildings or infrastructure. Use caution on trails and stay out of any signed closed areas.

Rocky Mountain National Park and the U.S. Wildland Fire Service plan to burn about 437 acres on the park's east side, between the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and Bear Lake Road and south of High Drive, when weather and fuel conditions allow, possibly starting late October. Burning will be spread over several days to limit smoke, which may be visible in Estes Park. The park says earlier fuel treatments helped keep the 2020 East Troublesome Fire and 2012 Fern Lake Fire from crossing Bear Lake Road and Trail Ridge Road; check the park's alerts before driving Bear Lake Road during the burn.