The Paria Breeze Mesh Bivy is an affordable and spacious single person bug bivy for use under a tarp or by itself in dry weather. Bug bivies are more spacious than bivy sacks with floors and sidewalls to keep rain from splashing …
Read More »Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers
Maven CS.1A 15-45x65mm Spotting Scope Review
The Maven CS.1A Spotting Scope is a compact, lightweight scope that extends your visibility beyond binoculars ensuring that you see detail at greater distances. Its light and condensed design gets the job done without taking up too much valuable space in your …
Read More »Hunting by Backpack
I have been an avid backpacker and a dedicated hunter since I was about 12 years old. It’s no surprise that these two hobbies, which often bumped into one another, eventually combined into hunting by backpack. Over twenty years ago, after just …
Read More »Maven B-2 Series 11×45 Binocular Review
Whether you are a hiker, bird watcher, hunter, or armchair explorer, a high-quality set of binoculars is essential to the success of your pursuit. Binoculars are one of the most important pieces of gear I use when hunting big game. A good …
Read More »NEMO Kodiak 2P Tent Review
The NEMO Kodiak 2P is a 4-season freestanding double-wall tent colored with FirstLite’s hunting color schemes. The thing that distinguishes the Kodiak from other 4-season tents is its side screened windows and the added ventilation they provide. These windows are a fairly …
Read More »Sitka Kelvin Lite Hoody Review
The Sitka Kelvin Lite Hoody is a lightweight hooded synthetic insulated jacket that is perfect for use from mid-season hikes or hunts, to moderate aerobic winter activities such as hiking or snowshoeing. This jacket is well insulated to take the chill out …
Read More »Mystery Ranch Beartooth 80 Backpack Review
The Mystery Ranch Beartooth 80 is a rugged hunting backpack that’s perfect for multi-day backpack hunting and can handle up to a week’s worth of gear or more if you pack light. It is completely different than anything else in the Mystery …
Read More »Man Tracking 101
In Search and Rescue, the main purpose of man tracking is to determine the lost or missing person’s direction of travel, thus reducing the search area in hopes of quickly locating the lost person. This is done by finding their footprints, analyzing …
Read More »Hiking a Pond of Safety Loop
The Pond of Safety is located in the area of the White Mountains called the Randolph Community Forest (RCF). Randolph is a small community located just north of Rt 2 across from Mts Madison, Adams, and Jefferson in the Presidential Mountain Range. …
Read More »Sitka Mountain Pants Review
The Sitka Mountain Pants are durable and breathable hunting/hiking pants. They are very flexible with a gusseted crotch that provides an excellent range of motion which makes them great for scrambling off-trail in steep or rocky terrain. One feature that was new …
Read More »Best Hiking and Backpacking Deals at the REI Labor Day Sale
REI XeroDry GTX Rain Jacket (30% Off) The REI XeroDry GTX is an excellent rain jacket and hardshell for autumn and winter hiking because it’s thicker and warmer than a thin ultralight rain jacket. It’s made with Gore-tex Paclite and comes with …
Read More »Backpacking in the White Mountains: A Quick and Dirty Guide
The White Mountain National Forest is located about 2 and 1/2 hours north of Boston, 6 hours north of New York City, and about 2 hours from Portland, Maine. It’s visited by over 6 million people per year, and provides numerous recreational …
Read More »Backpacking Mt Parker Trip Plan
Mt Parker is a 3004 ft mountain in the Presidential-Dry River Wilderness with expansive views of Mt Washington and the Southern Presidential Range. It’s also on the 52-With-a-View Peakbagging List, which many New Hampshire hikers gravitate to after they’ve completed a round …
Read More »A Kilkenny Ridge Traverse Trip Plan: Backpacking the 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Kilkenny Ridge Traverse is a moderate 2-3 day, 27 mile scenic traverse of some of wildest and remote scenery in the White Mountains. It’s a particularly attractive route for backpackers interested in avoiding the crowds of day hikers who frequent the …
Read More »Backpacking a Carter Dome Wild River Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
Carter Dome is the ninth tallest White Mountain 4000 footer with an elevation of 4832 feet. It’s located almost due east of Mount Washington and has the distinction of being the highest mountain in the Carter Moriah Range. Most of the peakbaggers …
Read More »An Oakes Gulf Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
Oakes Gulf is a glacial cirque on the south side of Mt Washington, similar in size and scale to Tuckerman Ravine, but much harder to access because it’s so far from a paved road. Home to the avalanche-scarred Dry River, which isn’t …
Read More »A Willey Range Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the 4000 Footers Guidebook
A Willey Range Loop is a moderate 2-3 day, 22 mile loop that climbs four 4000-footers: Mts Tom, Field, and Willey in the Willey Range, before looping past the magnificent Thoreau Falls, Zealand Falls and climbing Mt Hale on the opposite side …
Read More »The Firewarden’s Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Fire Warden’s Loop is a 2-3 day, 18 mile backpacking route that climbs four 4000 footers: Hale, Zealand, South Twin, and North Twin. All four of these peaks surround the Little River Valley but aren’t normally climbed together as a group …
Read More »A Mad River Notch Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
The White Mountain landscape is defined by its mountain passes (called Notches), perhaps even more than its peaks. Crawford Notch, Pinkham Notch, and Franconia Notch are just a few of the great valleys that channel visitors from one region of the White …
Read More »Twins/Bonds Traverse Trip Plan: Backpacking the 4000 Footers Guidebook
A Twins/Bonds Traverse is a 2-3 day, 20-mile traverse of North Twin, South Twin, West Bond, Mt Bond, and Bondcliff Mountains. This route is an alternative to the classic Bonds Traverse which approaches the Bondcliff Trail from the east over Mt Zealand. …
Read More »A Mt Carrigain and Mt Nancy Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountains 4000 Footers Guidebook
This trip has it all: great views, an epic ridge walk, a fire tower, two alpine lakes, moose habitat, waterfalls, and cascades. Mt Carrigain is at the geographic center of the White Mountains and on a clear day you can see over 30 …
Read More »The Desolation Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountains 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Desolation Loop is a moderately strenuous 41 mile backpack through the eastern half of the White Mountain’s Pemigewasset Wilderness, bounded by the Bonds, Ethan Ridge, Carrigan Notch, and Hancock Notch. There are many excellent swimming holes and wilderness campsites along the route, which will …
Read More »A Mt Isolation Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
Mt Isolation is a remote 4000 footer located south of Mt Washington with impressive views of the Southern Presidentials and the “rock pile”, as Washington is often referred to locally. This 2-3 day route follows trails seldom hiked by day hikers and …
Read More »A Moriah Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Moriah Loop is a 2-3 day, 24 mile backpacking route that climbs Mount Moriah and its graceful sister peak, Shelburne Moriah, before dropping down to the Wild River. From there, the route loops back through the heart of the Wild River …
Read More »A Bonds Traverse Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
A Bonds Traverse is a 2 day, 20 mile traverse of Zealand Mountain, West Bond, Mt Bond, and Bondcliff Mountain. Bondcliff is one of the most picturesque mountains on the 4000 footers list and many hikers like to pose for photos on …
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