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Walkers heading for Ben Macdui - The highest Peak on our Route

Scotland’s TGO Challenge Gear List – 2013

I am flying to Scotland in less than two weeks to participate in the TGO Challenge, backpacking across the country for 15 days. I’ll be accompanied on this hike by two teammates, Martin Rye from Northern England and Grant Sible from Austin, Texas. This will be Grant’s first Challenge hike, my second and Martin’s fourth. [...]

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MSR Reactor Stove

Gear that Worked and Gear that Didn’t in the Presidential Range

Most of  the gear I took on my Presidential Range winter backpacking trip last week performed splendidly with a few exceptions. Here’s a quick blow-by-blow account of the highs and lows, and a link to the the gear list I brought on that hike for your reference. Carrying Cold Cold World Chaos Backpack:  This is [...]

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Appalachia Trail Head - Packed and Ready to Go

Winter Backpacking Above-Treeline Gear List

Last weekend I went on a difficult 2 night backpacking trip that involved a 19 mile traverse of the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, including 15 miles of fully-exposed, above-treeline hiking. We had great weather, but you never know what is going to happen in the vicinity of Mt Washington (the halfway point of our [...]

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Winter Backpacking on a Budget

Backpacking, day hiking, and mountaineering in winter is great sport. I got completely hooked a few years ago and can’t wait for the winter hiking season to start up again. But winter gear is very expensive and you need to start saving now to build up your winter gear list. A lot of this gear [...]

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Baxter State Park, Maine

Section Hiking Gear List – Summer 2012

I’ve got a long 16 day section hike planned for later this summer in Maine and then New Hampshire, primarily on the Appalachian Trail, with a few scenic detours. I’ll be hiking through the 100 Mile Wilderness again, climbing Mt Katahdin in Baxter State Park, and then driving back down to the White Mountains in New Hampshire [...]

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Mt Washington and the Presidential Range from the summit of Mt Hale

Winter Backpacking Gear List

I don’t believe in the idea of ultralight winter backpacking and I’d be hesitant to set an upper bound on what your winter gear weight should be, if only because people’s regional definition of winter differs so much. Regardless, I still try to reduce my gear weight in winter as much as possible, within certain [...]

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Ultralight Backpacking Gear List – Summer 2011

A number of you asked me to post the gear list I used to test the Gossamer Gear Murmur Backpack that I reviewed last week. That pack only has 28 liters (1700 cubic inches) of internal storage and 8 liters (500 cubic inches) of external pockets, so I’ve been forced to keep the volume of [...]

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Lightweight Backpacking Demo and Gear List

On April 2nd, I gave a demonstration about lightweight backpacking to a dozen hikers from the NY-NJ Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club in Harriman State Park, just outside of New York City. This is the first of many lightweight backpacking gear demos and talks I plan on giving this year sponsored by Gossamer Gear [...]

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