The European Sleeping Bag Temperature Rating Standard (EN13537) was supposed to be a great thing for outdoor manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. Finally, we’d be able to compare sleeping bag temperature ratings in a reliable and objective manner. Ah, I have some …
Read More »Philip Werner
Climbing Cademuir Hill in The Scottish Borders
I think I gave the night porter a fright this morning when I came bounding down the hotel stairs before dawn. It was raining and cold outside as I set out, determined to climb Cademuir Hill just outside of Peebles, Scotland. I …
Read More »Alcohol Stoves: Timing Your Boil
Long-distance AT hikers love to obsess over pack weight and gear choices. Eventually any extended or thru-hike planning effort will come to a decision on what stove to bring. For me, this was quickly remedied by the statistics on what kind of …
Read More »Edinburgh Sunrise
This morning I climbed Arthur’s Seat (250 m), an extinct volcano that towers over the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, at dawn. I climbed this same hill almost 26 years ago, to the day, after arriving here as a graduate student in 1983. …
Read More »What if REI became an Outdoor Recreation Utility?
This is a highly speculative article about the future of outdoor manufacturing and retailing, building on my research on environmental sustainability in the outdoor industry and over 20 years of professional experience in product development and product management. If you’re not familiar …
Read More »Clear Cut Recovery: A Short History of the White Mountains
I love hiking in the forests of New Hampshire, especially in the White Mountains where it’s solid trees as far as the eye can see. But there was a time in the not to distant past when the area was entirely clear-cut …
Read More »Garmin Geko 301: A Simple GPS For Map Addicts
I love maps but the thought of replacing them with a GPS makes me uneasy. The fact is, I very rarely get lost because I know how to read a map, I’m an expert with a compass, and I carefully chart my …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Westside Trail to Edmands Path
This past Saturday, I finished hiking the last section of the Southern Presidentials on the New Hampshire Appalachian Trail. The weather was incredible, with bright sunshine. However, winds on the western, exposed sections of Mt Washington (above) reached 40 miles an hour, …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Edmands Path to Crawford Notch
I had a magnificent hike last Sunday, completing the lower half of the Southern Presidential Range in the White Mountains. During this hike, I completed another 9.0 miles of the AT. Total distance for the day was 13.1 miles over 9 hours …
Read More »Asolo Flame GTX Hiking Boots
Hiking in wet leather boots, up and down mountains, for days on end, really sucks. Really. That’s what happened to me on my last big trip through the 100 mile wilderness. So when I got back from Maine, I vowed to renew my …
Read More »Why Do You Hike the Appalachian Trail?
My friend Martin left a comment on my last trip report, saying the he was beginning to see the appeal of hiking the Appalachian Trail. To put this in context, Martin lives in the UK and hikes a lot in Scotland. …
Read More »Exploring New Hampshire’s White Mountains
The Wilderness Map Company, publishers of the Green Mountain Club’s Vermont’s Long Trail Waterproof Hiking Map, has just released a new Tyvek map called “Exploring New Hampshire’s White Mountains.” This map is not available online, but I got a first edition copy on …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Reel Brook to South Kinsman
Chris and I attempted to complete a 5.3 mile segment of the Appalachian Trail on Saturday from Mt. Wolf (3,498 ft) to South Kinsman Mountain (4,358 ft). But mid-August weather conditions were typically atrocious with very high humidity, nearly continuous rain, and …
Read More »Packit Gourmet: Cajun Ranch Chicken Salad
Today was the second day in a row where temperatures have been over 90 degrees F in Massachusetts and firing up my stove was not on the agenda. So I decided to try Packit Gourmet’s Cajun Ranch Chicken Salad this evening, which …
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