Now that Autumn is upon us, the days are shorter, and there is less daylight for hiking. This is the time of year that I stop backpacking solo and try to make more elaborate dinners with friends to pass the hours between …

I just finished reading an incredible book called Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England, authored by Tom Wessels, an ecologist and environmental biologist who teaches at the Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire. This book teaches …

There’s nothing worse than having a having a stubborn rain jacket zipper that won’t zip when it starts to rain heavily. To prevent this, I lubricate all of the zippers on my hiking coats, sleeping bags, and shelters at least once a …

Golite’s Reed Pants are one of the lightest waterproof pants available today. At 6.4 oz for a men’s large, they are significantly lighter than both the old and new versions of Marmot Precips that weigh in at 9 oz. or more depending …

A friend of mine recently sent some Bear Valley food bars for me to try out. They come in 4 flavors: Carab-Cocoa Pemmican, Sesame Lemon, Fruit Nut, and Coconut Almond and pack a walloping 400+ calories each, with a caloric density of …

People often ask me what kind of shelter is best for stealth camping. The answer varies depending on the type of stealth camping you want to do. If you’re out backpacking and decide to stay at a site where camping is uncommon …

When I was hiking near Canada on the Long Trail last weekend, I saw a lot of beech trees in the woods. I've always loved their smooth silvery bark which is so different from the rough scaley bark of the other deciduous …

I got back Sunday night from a 4 day, 51 mile exodus on the most northern section of the Long Trail, hiking southbound from Journey’s End to Johnson, on Rt 15. This is the most remote section of the trail that abuts …

Here’s the gear list for my last major section hike of The Long Trail, a 4-day, 50 mile backpack from Johnson, VT to the Canadian Border. This gear list weighs a bit more than those from my late spring and summer hikes …

With the onset of Autumn, night time temperature are starting to drop into the mid-40’s F in Vermont’s north country, and it’s time to increase the R-value of my sleeping pad. On my next section hike of The Long Trail to the …

This year, I’ve had a hard time preventing red mold from growing in my Platypus hydration reservoirs. I don’t know why mold started to be a problem this year, but I think I’ve finally found a way to clean it out of …

The food on my last 3-day section hike was so boring I thought I’d gag on the last day of my trip. I was lazy and brought along the same food for several days. So this week, I’ve worked out 4-day freezer …

  Indian Pipe, also known as Ghost Flower and Monotropa Uniflora, is a unique and interesting plant found in shady woods that are rich in decaying plant matter. I’ve seen it in many places along the Long Trail, and it’s a real …

Over the past few summers, I’ve tried to find the Catskills Aqueduct where it flows through the Shawangunks (Gunks), near New Paltz. This aqueduct, which still supplies about 40% of New York City’s water supply, was completed in 1917 after 9 years …