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. Lessons Learned For this demonstration, I brought along a …

When you hike the Appalachian Trail, you get in the habit of looking behind yourself periodically to make sure you are still on the trail. If you get into “the zone,” it’s all too easy to miss a turn in the trail …

The clearest way into the Universe is through a Forest Wilderness. — John Muir A great highlight for me during the time I spent in Scotland at the end of February with Kim, was spending some time in Rothiemurchus. We’d arrived there after …

When I first learned about the possibility of sleeping in a hammock in the back country I was in awe.  I loved my backyard hammock and fall asleep in it all the time so this seemed perfect. Being a bigger guy, sleeping …

Gore-Tex and eVent have been the dominant forces in outdoor shell fabrics for decades. Although there have always been others, gaining a foothold in the marketplace has traditionally been an almost futile exercise as both companies battle for supremacy and that has …

Rock climbing is more than just another outdoor sport and another excuse to accumulate an entire closet worth of gear. It’s a way to form incredible bonds with others, an excuse to travel to beautiful places, and a way to learn more …

Yesterday, on the side of a mountain on a rare patch of bare ground above a rushing stream, Atticus and I could feel the change of the seasons. We sat under an old, twisted tree in the warm sun for more than …

Grey Jays are smart birds. They live in the northern half of North America, ranging from Alaska, through Canada, and down into northern New England.  I only see them at or close to mountain summits, where it’s not uncommon for tame Grey …

Brooks Range Mountaineering makes an ultralight 4 season tent that weighs under 2 lbs and has a vestibule. That’s right, under 2 lbs. It’s called the A2 Rocket Tent presumably because of the space age material it is made out of. The …

I bagged Mt Monroe (5,372 ft), on the final day of winter this past Sunday, on a glorious day in the White Mountains. The weather in New Hampshire has been crap for the past 6 weeks, with high winds and precipitation, so …

I am an emotional dishrag. I gave a talk this week, at the Appalachian Mountain Club in Boston, about my hike across Scotland last year in the TGO Challenge. The talk went great. I had an audience of 60 people and they …

Mountains Make their own Weather Have you ever planned a hiking trip in the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, or the Catskills, and tried to figure out what the weather is going to be like or what gear you need to bring along? …

I really like the Deuter Spectro 38 backpack. At 2,320 cubic inches (38L) capacity, it’s a great pack for longer day hikes, hut-to-hut routes, or fast and light overnight backpacking trips. If you’re not familiar with Deuter (pronounced Doy-ter), you should check …

My frequent hiking partner and I haven’t done much hiking together this winter, but we finally hooked up last weekend and bagged another winter 4,000 footer named East Osceola. While we’ve both climbed this peak before, we’ve never climbed it from the …