The North Moat Mountain / Red Ridge Loop is a 10-mile loop hike located just outside North Conway, New Hampshire that climbs the steep and rocky summit of North Moat Mountain before descending the Red Ridge Trail down a series of open …

When people complain to me that their sleeping bag isn’t warm enough, the first thing I ask them is to tell me the R-value of their sleeping pad. Because, if it’s under R=5.38 and your sleeping bag has an EN/ISO-certified temperature rating, …

Mt Madison is the fifth highest 4000-footer in the White Mountains, topping off at 5367′. It’s a beautiful mountain to climb and you can follow many different trails to the top. For this hike, I chose one of the less used ones, …

The most important attributes of a sleeping bag for winter camping and backpacking are warm insulation, compressibility, low weight, and ample interior space, to store gear and water so it doesn’t freeze overnight. Cost is also a factor, although a good winter …

The Superior Wilderness Designs Rugged Long Haul 50 Backpack is a lightweight backpack that’s built to handle anything, from off-trail bushwhacking and desert travel to regular backpacking and thru-hiking. There’s no exposed mesh on the exterior of the pack to rip and …

Backpackers aren’t born that way and it’s not an easy hobby for most people to stick with over time. But if you’ve caught the ‘backpacking bug’, it’s a passion that provides many challenges and rewards for the mind and body. Here’s my …

The Zpacks Vertice Rain Jacket is an ultralight 3-layer waterproof/breathable rain jacket with a two-way adjustable hood, adjustable wrist cuffs, pit zips, waterproof zippers, and a large chest pocket. It’s cut longer in the torso and arms than most lightweight rain jackets, …

Backpacking and camping sleeping pads are rated using R-values which measure their ability to keep you warm when you lie down on the cold ground. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. It’s much more technical than that, but that’s …

Jumping Brook is a mountain stream that’s pretty close to the geographic center of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. It drains the eastern slope of Mts Guyot, Zealand, and the Bonds, before it meets the North Fork of the Pemigewasset River. The closest trail …

The Exped Ultra 3R Sleeping Mat is a lightweight inflatable sleeping pad that’s 3 inches thick and has an R-value of 2.9, making it suitable for outside temperatures down to 25F. It contains synthetic insulation which makes it very quiet to sleep …

Most hiking and backpacking water filters must be replaced if they’ve been frozen.  When it gets too cold to keep a water filter from freezing, your best bet is to switch to chemical purification using chlorine dioxide in tablet form (Katadyn chlorine …

What backpacking gear do you need? Which features are the most important? Which manufacturers make the best backpacking gear? Who can you turn to for advice? Where can you get the best deals? The amount of information new backpackers need to digest …

Hotspots and hiking blisters occur when increased friction from your footwear causes the outer layers of your skin to separate from the inner layers, a process called “shear.” When the layers of skin separate, the resulting void is filled with fluid creating …

The Merrell Moab is the most popular hiking shoe in the world with over 25 million shoes sold since it was first introduced 15 years ago. Now in its third generation, the Merrell Moab 3 (Merrell dropped the word ‘Ventilator’ in this …