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Home »View all posts by  Paul Mags (Page 6)

Author: Paul Mags

A Walk Across New England – An Overview

Posted onSeptember 21, 2025December 4, 2025AuthorPaul Mags11 Comments

An initial look at my overall plans for Walking Across New England (WANE) in Fall of 2025. Read More …

CategoriesLong WalksTagsAppalachian Trail, cohos trail, Massachusetts, midstate trail, monadnock sunapee greenway trail, New England, New Hampshire, north south trail, Rhode Island, wane, wapack trail

A Return to Mesa Verde

Posted onSeptember 9, 2025AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

Joan and I spent a few days in Mesa Verde and walked among the Ancestral Pueblo structures with a different perspective from previous visits. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

Solo in the San Juans

Posted onSeptember 4, 2025September 4, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A few days solo in the San Juans. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

Cold and Wet: The Hardest Hiking

Posted onSeptember 4, 2025December 3, 2025AuthorPaul Mags15 Comments

What to wear in what many people consider to be among the most difficult of conditions: cold and wet. Updated Sept 2025. Read More …

CategoriesGear, Getting StartedTagsbackpacking, gear, hiking, winter

Into the south San Juans

Posted onAugust 28, 2025September 4, 2025AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

An enjoyable trip to the Southern San Juans Mountains followed by a trip to Chimney Rock National Monument. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

Ten Minutes of Terror in the San Juans

Posted onAugust 25, 2025September 4, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

A gorgeous loop in the San Juans Mountains with a spicy scramble not to Joan’s liking. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

Lonesome in the San Juans

Posted onAugust 20, 2025August 20, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A quite trip to a lonesome, cone-shaped peak at the edge of the San Juan mountains. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

Paralysis by Analysis

Posted onAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025AuthorPaul Mags3 Comments

A look at paralysis by analysis that I think stops people from getting out in the wild places. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, MusingsTagsgear

Eight-year review – Stanley Adventure Cook set

Posted onAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

An eight year review of the Stanley Adventure Cook set. A humble piece of kit we probably have used hundreds of times at this point, Read More …

CategoriesGearTagscooking, gear review

Not Gatekeeping – Guardrails

Posted onAugust 3, 2025March 3, 2026AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

Some thoughts on maps, miles, and giving people the tools to see what they want to see. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsfavorite, Wilderness Ethics

Geyser Pass Loop

Posted onAugust 3, 2025August 4, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

A quick and easy overnighter to the local mountains. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsutah

Pay to Play on Public Lands

Posted onJuly 29, 2025January 6, 2026AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A piece inspired by a recent article in the Florida Phoenix about a private corporation now controlling access to public lands. Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagspublic lands

Whitman – Almost a decade later

Posted onJuly 28, 2025July 29, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

More thoughts about Whitman almost a decade later since I took my solo Walk Across Southern Utah. Read More …

CategoriesBooks and Media, MusingsTagspoetry, Whitman

A recharge in the San Juans

Posted onJuly 27, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

Two nights of a mental recharge. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado

A Tale of Three Mugs

Posted onJuly 20, 2025July 20, 2025AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

A review? A philosophical look at gear? Navel gazing? Or recognizing I seem to run on caffeine, sarcasm, and stubbornness most days? Read More …

CategoriesGear, MusingsTagscoffee, cooking

Celebrating the wild places

Posted onJuly 18, 2025March 3, 2026AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

We celebrate not the trail, but the wild places it passes through. – Ray Jardine, PACIFIC CREST TRAIL HIKER’S HANDBOOK, 1996 Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsfavorite, Ray Jardine, wild places, Wildness

The La Sals, Molas Pass, and fires

Posted onJuly 13, 2025July 14, 2025AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

Joan is off to Denver on the CT but we did an acclimation hike in our local mountains first. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado, utah

Times are a changin’ – Walking in time of weather extremes

Posted onJuly 13, 2025July 13, 2025AuthorPaul Mags11 Comments

Call it climate change, weather events, cycles, or bad juju. But there are more fires, swings in snow levels, droughts, closures, etc. Some thoughts. Updated July 2025 Read More …

CategoriesMusingsTagsclimate, climate change, favorite, weather, wildfires

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A Quick Guide to Moab

The Squak – A readily available, $60, active-focused grid fleece hoodie from a Utah-based company. Read the review.

Women’s | Men’s | Children’s   

The Squak Camp Dress 

One of Joan’s favorites!

The Squak Alpha Fleece 

                                                                    

– 15% off coupon = PMAGS-SQUAK                                                                                                      

  • REI: Shop Deal of the Day at REI Garage!
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Between the fires, a brief monsoon season, the AQI, and life in general, we didn't make it to our summer retreat in the San Juans as much as we'd hoped. But this "weekend," Joan and I finally made it back to our favorite mountains in Colorado.
Joan and I hosted some friends this past week. We gave them the classic tour, starting with an early morning visit to the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. While Joan attended a meeting, I played tour guide a bit for other parts of the park. That afternoon, we headed to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park to take in the sweeping views across the Colorado Plateau. Today? We escaped to our local mountains, looking down at the desert floor far below.
Not a good year for backpacking in the Abajos or the San Juans, but our local mountains still offer some good opportunities for camping and hiking. And only an hour away. With @ramblinghemlock
The once and future Bears Ears.
@ramblinghemlock and I went to some local(ish) mountains to avoid the fires and smoke in our usual places.
A hike to our local mountains did not go quite as planned. With an AQI of 176 in Moab due to the fires in our corner of the world, we sought refuge in the mountains.

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Disclosure: This website may be compensated for linking to other sites or for sales of products to which I link. These sites include Amazon, REI, Moose Jaw, Gaia GPS, Six Moon Designs, Squak Mountain Co, and ULA Equipment. There is no additional fee for purchasing items through these links.

 

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      • Appalachian Trail
      • Pacific Crest Trail
      • Colorado Trail
      • Continental Divide Trail
      • Ring The Peak Trail (Pike’s Peak)
      • Benton Mackaye Trail
      • Tahoe Rim Trail
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