I just got back from an epic 40 mile hike section of the Long Trail in Vermont, hiking northbound from Rt. 9 to Rt. 11/30. The weather was great. We had a little rain the first night before our first day of hiking, and after that, blue sky with wispy clouds. The nights were in [...]

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Black flies are prevalent on the Long Trail in Vermont from spring through mid-summer. I’m going to be backpacking then and I’ve been devising some strategies to reduce the annoyance and health risk they pose.
My first line of defense is gong to be clothing. Although I hate hiking in long pants, I’m going to wear [...]

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I’ve tried hiking pants from a number of different manufacturers like REI and RailRiders, but the ones I like best are EMS’s Adventure Zip Off pants. The price for these pants is $49, but EMS often has them on sale.  At 16 oz they are not the lightest hiking pants you can find, but their [...]

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