Section Hikers Backpacking Blog Hiking and Backpacking for Beginners and Experts

The Chandler Brook Trail is a lovely but strenuous trail that runs from the Great Gulf up the side of Mt Washington past many lovely cascades, water shutes, and slides. You can make it into an interesting loop hike by descending by the Wamsutta Trail, which also has many unique …

A magnetic compass is designed to show you which way is north. Knowing that, you can figure out the other cardinal directions: east, west, and south. If you always know where north is, you can also walk in one direction and backtrack later to the point where you started. Why is …

I never expected to revisit Speck Pond after hiking the section of the Appalachian Trail from Grafton Notch down to Gentian Pond in 2009. Speck Pond is on the south side of Old Speck Mountain, a huge 4000 footer with a fire tower at the top. There’s a lean-to shelter and …

The Thermarest Slacker Hammock Sleeping pad is a 26 ounce self-inflating pad with an R-value of 2.1. Given its weight and size when rolled up, it’s best used for hammock car camping rather than backpacking. While not as sexy as a underquilt, it’s far less expensive, easy to deploy, and …

The ENO SubLink Hammock Shelter System contains all of the components necessary for backpacking with a hammock, except foam padding or some other insulation to keep your back warm at night. If you’ve never hammocked or want to get into backpacking with a hammock, buying an integrated system like this …