Philip Werner

Philip Werner quit his corporate job in 2010 to become a full-time hiker, guide, and outdoor writer. Since then he's hiked over nice thousand miles, become an adept fly fisherman, XC skier, and written over 3000 backpacking and hiking articles for SectionHiker.com.

Dan Doan and the 50 Hikes Series

Dan Doan. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. I came across a few of his hiking guides on Sunday as I was going through my bookshelves, weeding out books I haven’t used in a long time, for donation …

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Cabot Cabin

Cabot Cabin

Last weekend I spent Saturday night on top of Mt Cabot in northern New Hampshire. It was a stormy night and I was glad to take refuge in Cabot Cabin, a fully enclosed house, near the mountain’s summit. Sleeping in this fully …

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Solo Backpacking

Harmon Hill

Solo Backpacking I do a lot of solo backpacking. I got started when I hiked the Long Trail in Vermont in 2008. No one I knew wanted to come along, but I still wanted to go, so I did it by myself. …

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Carrying Too Much Food?

Stuffed Food Bags

It’s well known that long distance hikers become eating machines and have to struggle to get enough calories to maintain their body weight on hikes that last for months. But as a section hiker, I rarely have the opportunity to go backpacking …

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Hiking with Plush Animals

I often bring along a plush (we used to call them stuffed) animal when I go hiking. A surprising number of other hikers and backpackers do this as well. Why? Well it started as a prank that my wife would play on …

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Why Bushwhack?

The View Off Trail

Most people don’t realize that hiking trail design is a spin-off from landscape architecture where trail designers deliberately plan vistas and trail features to heighten our experience of natural beauty. Given that background, some element of the pleasure we experience hiking and …

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