There are gear trends, and then there are gear developments that push what’s possible in comfort and efficiency in the backcountry. With beginnings in the backpacking world from DIY makers in the early 90’s, quilts have become progressively....
Some of the most comfortable and gratifying nights of rest for me in the backcountry have come from working with the topography and challenging elements....
Bunch Brush Canyon in the McKinney Range, a subset range of the Toquima Range, felt thick and wooly with shrubs of all sorts--chamise, sagebrush, bitterbrush. The sweet grass bloomed, the sagebrush stood tall and fragrant....
Can you enjoy the sunrise if you are cold, wet, and hypothermic? Can you enjoy the sunrise if you are ensconced in layers of warm down with a mug of hot coffee in your hands? Enjoyment and delight in nature....
Red eyes glared at me in the darkness from my headlamp. I leaned against the alpine slopes of the Silver Creek basin below the saddle of Red Cloud Peak....
By Renee “She-ra” Patrick I’ve been learning a lot about the history of the Blue Mountains Trail since setting out in August to ground-truth 100 miles of this potential 600-mile route....
By Kris Diers “To save you from hunting down individual female feedback all over the internet, we’ve gathered data from some long time female Katabatic sleepers so you can see how women feel about our temperature ratings. ”....
By Kris Diers Horizontal baffles are the most effective way to keep you comfortable in a wide range of conditions (even if you toss and turn). They just have to be thoughtfully designed and executed.
By Whitney "Allgood" La Ruffa . . . hiking is more fun with a good partner or partners. You can help lift each other up on a down day, laugh at the adversity of weather or terrain, and also help each other out with the little things, like taping a rolled ankle, or having a patch of tenacious tape to fix a tear in a puffy.
By Dahn Pratt Like a giddy school girl, wearing her new outfit on the first day of high school, I galloped down 90-mile beach and embarked on a quasi-metaphysical acid trip down the thru-hike rabbit hole. Sensory deprivation and sensory overload were going to be the chemical cocktails on Te Araroa, 3,000km (1,800 miles for you uninitiated folks) of all manner of trail (or lack thereof)....
By Erin Saver “Although it wasn’t the full length of Nepal as I’d hoped to be able to do, it was incredibly unique and unlike any hiking I’ve ever done. I will say that it was well worth the time and effort to experience more than just the popular Everest Region. ”....
