Why I stopped counting ounces with my gear...at least precisely. Updated for 2025. Read More ...

Continue reading Ultra-light but not ultra-precise at PMags.com.

Lightweight backpacking is a good thing. Getting obsessed over the labels? Not so much.

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Continue reading Backpacking weight mania! at PMags.com.

A review of  The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear  Guide by Andrew Skurka.  A guide that is aimed towards the backpacker that wishes to hike more and camp a bit less.

Full Disclosure: I am assisting Andrew with a trip in Rocky Mountain National Park in August. Great trip and an opportunity to apply some of the concepts of the book !

Andrew Skurka’s new book’s main thrust is to get backpackers to enjoy the hiking part of backpacking more and struggling a bit less while hiking to get to camp.

The book’s main audience is perhaps an experienced backpacker who wishes to lighten their load a bit in order to hike more and camp less.

As an experienced long distance hiker, I am not the book’s main audience. In fact, much of my own style already mirrors that of Andrew: More of a minimalist than an ultralighter.

Continue reading Review: The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide at PMags.com.

There are some trips where I want to walk all day and immerse myself in the rhythms of the day. Watch the sun rise as I break camp and walk into the twilight of the waning day.

A trip where many miles are covered and where much elevation is gained.

This trip was not that kind of a trip.

It was a trip of a slower pace. Where we are in camp early and where we sleep to the sound of the falling rain.

It was a trip with Ms. A.

And it was an enjoyable one.

The chosen trip for Labor Day Weekend was to the Latir Peaks Wilderness in northern New Mexico.

The web page link sums up this area best:

Relatively unknown and untraveled, the Latir Peak Wilderness is classic southern Rocky Mountain high country-emerald meadows, alpine grasslands and tundra, small, clear lakes, spruce-fir forest and some of New Mexico’s highest peaks.

Continue reading Sauntering in the Sangres – Latir Peak Wilderness at PMags.com.

There are many areas in this continent where I long to return and explore more:  Maine in the fall. The Wind River Range of Wyoming. The red rock country of Utah. The High Sierra. The Canadian Rockies.

All areas of intense beauty. All areas that call to see, hear, smell and experience more.

But there is one area in my adopted home that always calls to me. An area full of tall peaks, high passes without any names, alpine lakes of an intense blue, where mountain goats roam and the tundra is a riot of color with summer wildflowers.

This places is the San Juan mountains of Colorado.

And I always want to return.

someone notices how happy, relaxed and calm I seem after even a weekend in the mountains. Any stresses from work seem to go away. I am re-centered. And everything is put in perspective again: It is just a job.

Continue reading Seven Days Solo in the San Juans at PMags.com.

Not my original title for this article..but so it goes. 🙂 The original title of this article was "Lighten the load; not the wallet" ; a quick crash course in how to dirt bag. Not tips new to anyone in the long distance hiking scene, but probably good tips for the average person who thinks all gear purchases begins and ends with REI! 😀

Here's the artcle at Boulder Weekly.

Continue reading The Path to Enlightenment – Boulder Weekly at PMags.com.

The Thanksgiving Holiday is often a gift of time for myself and many of my friends.  A chance to take some extended time in a place for more than just an overnight.

As with last year, my friend Markhamm and I would be going to Utah.  This year was going to be a slightly different  trip. With some vacation time to burn, I’d be gone for ten days in this glorious area. Markhamm would join me for four, I’d be solo for three and then someone would join me of the reminder of the time out there. Alas, due to blizzard conditions over the high passes on I-70, I’d end up cutting my trip a little short and join someone in Colorado for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Still, four days in Utah ain’t the worse way to spend some time. 🙂

After work Thurs, I drove to the Colorado National Monument , grabbed a campspot and waited for Markhamm to join me.

Continue reading Four Days on the Colorado Plateau – Canyonlands, Arches and Colorado National Monument at PMags.com.

A  Vermont’s Long Trail planning guide.  Has info on re-supply, town stops, and some other info that may be useful.  Through the power of the Internet, I was able to update this doc without hiking it again. Believe me, I’d rather be hiking it again!

This doc was updated last in July 2011 and probably will not be updated again for the time being.

The Long Trail
Vermont’s 270 Mile Footpath Through the Wilderness

The Long Trail (LT) is a hiking classic. Winding its way along the Green Mountains of Vermont, the LT is the nation’s first long-distance recreational hiking trail. For 100 miles, the LT shares the same tread-way as the Appalachian Trail. At the Maine Junction, the LT continues north to the Canadian border for 170 miles. Hiking the LT is both a great way to experience the beauty of Vermont and to use as a “prep” hike for the AT or another long distance hiking trail. 

Continue reading Long Trail Info at PMags.com.

An annual loop of mine: Over Pawnee to Buchanan Pass and then up and over the shoulder Audbon.

I never get tired of this loop. It has high passes, beautiful scenery and and is not far fro my home. What's not to like????

Some highlights below. 

All the photos here

Continue reading Double By-Pass 2010 at PMags.com.

Over the years my base pack weight has become lighter and lighter. It took many miles and years of tinkering to get to this point, though!

I have been asked if I had gear lists for the different trails I’ve done. Up until now, I did not.

Since I am dealing with multiple trails and equipment from a decade of thru-hiking, I do not recall the exact weights. The BASE PACK WEIGHT is a guess for the earlier days. I also did not list every item, only the “biggies.”, Obviously, some of the items in 2009 are different from their 1996 or so counterparts. The lists should prove to be instructive, though.  I also have my current gear list posted (as of July 2012).

GEAR LIST FOR THRU-HIKES, 1997- 2006

Vermont’s Long Trail 1997
Appalachian Trail 1998
Vermont’s Long Trail 1999
Pacific Crest Trail  2002
Colorado Trail 2004
Continental Divide Trail 2006

BACKPACK
EMS 5500 (1996 Model)
EMS 5500 (1996 Model)
Camp Trails Scirroco (3500 CI)
LWGEAR -One Pound Pack (all mesh)
LWGEAR -One Pound Pack (all mesh)
Six Moon Designs Essence (2006 Version)

SHELTER
Walrus Swift
Walrus Swift
Walrus Swift
Campmor 8×10 Silnylon Tarp
Oware 5×7 SilNylon Tarp
Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape

Sleeping Bag
Feathered Friends Hummingbird
Feathered Friends Hummingbird
Feathered Friends Hummingbird
Feathered Friends Hummingbird
Feathered Friends Hummingbird
Feathered Friends Hummingbird

Sleeping Pad
Z-Rest
Z-Rest
Z-Rest
Z-Rest
Z-Rest (cut down)
Generic “blue foam pad” ( cut down)

Cooking
MSR Alpine Cookset
MSR Alpine Cookset

K-Mart Alum Pot

K-Mart Alum Pot (a little beat up)
K-Mart Alum Pot (really beat up)
K-Mart Alum Pot (d-low says it should be thrown away!)

MSR Whisperlite
MSR Whisperlite
Alcohol Stove
Alcohol Stove
Alcohol Stove
Alcohol Stove

Hydration
2 Nalgene Bottles
2 Nalgene Bottles
2 Gatorade bottles
2 Gatorade Bottles
2 Gatorade Bottles
2 Gatorade Bottles

1 Gallon Plastic jug

Nalgene Cantene
Nalgene Cantene
Nalgene Cantene
Nalgene Cantene

PUR Microfilter
Polar Pure
Polar Pure
Polar Pure
MP-1 Tabs
Iodine Tabs

Jacket
Generic Fleece Pullover
Generic Fleece Pullover
Generic Fleece Pullover
Marmot Driclime Windshirt
Marmot Driclime Windshirt
Montbell Light Shell Jacket

Rainwear
Windpants
Windpants
Windpants
Windpants
Montbell UL Rainpants
Montbell UL Rainpants

PVC Rainjacket
PVC Rainjacket
Generic Nylon Rainjacket
Generic Nylon Rainjacket
Golite Wisp
Golite Wisp

Footwear
LL Bean Cresta Hikers
LL Bean Cresta Hikers
Asolo 535s
various running/trail shoes
Nike Air Pegasuses
various running/trail shoes

BASE PACK WEIGHT (Estimated)
30 lbs
28 lbs (weighed at Boiling Springs ATC office)
17 lbs
13 lbs
10 lbs (I had a digital scale for this kit)
9lbs (I had a digital scale for this kit)

NOTES:

• I did not include most of my clothing as that has changed very little from the second LT hike in 1999. 

Continue reading The Evolving Gear List : 1997 – 2006 at PMags.com.