I just finished reading an incredible book called Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England, authored by Tom Wessels, an ecologist and environmental biologist who teaches at the Antioch New England Graduate School in Vermont.

This book teaches the reader how to look at a forest and deduce its history by observing disturbance [...]

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One of the things that I like most about backpacking is that it lets me reduce the clutter and distractions in my life, if only for a few days at a time, by severely limiting the material possessions I can carry with me. This lets me focus on the people I’m with and the beauty [...]

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There’s nothing worse than having a having a stubborn rain jacket zipper that won’t zip when it starts to rain heavily. To prevent this, I lubricate all of the zippers on my hiking coats, sleeping bags, and shelters at least once a year using McNett’s Aqualseal Zip Tech. Application is easy. You simply run the [...]

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Golite’s Reed Pants are one of the lightest waterproof pants available today. At 6.4 oz for a men’s large, they are significantly lighter than both the old and new versions of Marmot Precips that weigh in at 9 oz. or more depending on size. These pants also compress down to the size of an apple [...]

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