I took a long day hike this morning in search of the Catskills Aqueduct which flows underground through the Mohonk Preserve. Along the way, I spotted a lot of wildlife including a swimming beaver, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and a unusual congregation …

  One of the most versatile pieces of gear I’ve tried this year are Buff Bandanas. They make excellent hats, headbands, scarves, potholders, bug masks, and so on. A buff is a tube of polyester fabric. If you slip it over your …

The online backpacking and hiking community is fairly small and I read a lot of personal blogs and forum postings outside of the United States, in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Japan. So as a former linguistics student, researcher, and postgraduate …

On my past two backpacking trips, I’ve brought along a Gossamer Gear bug canopy to keep the bugs of my face when I sleep in open shelters. Weighing only 2.3 oz., this bug net can be hung underneath a tarp or in …

Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITB) can really slow down hikers and backpackers. I know, I’m suffering from it this sumer. But about 2 months ago, I bought myself a Protec Illiotibial Band wrap that has kept the condition under control and helped me …

Rock tripe is an edible lichen found in eastern parts of the US that is commonly found on rock faces and cliffs. It is very sensitive to air pollution, so when you see it growing abundantly, chances are good that the air …

Vermont’s Long Trail is famous for its mud. In fact, the mud is so bad in the spring from snow melt, that the Green Mountain Club asks hikers to stay off the Long Trail until Memorial Day each year to reduce erosion …

My in-laws gave my wife and I a free weekend at the Mohonk Mountain House for our 10th anniversary a few years back. It's one of the last remaining old resorts in the Catskills and Shawangunks area of New York state, just …

I just got back from a 22 mile southbound section hike on the Long Trail that featured a climb over Camel’s Hump (4,083 ft), one of the top three highest peaks in Vermont. This hike was by far the hardest hike I’ve …

I’ve hiked a lot of trails in New England where the trail blazing is erratic. Sometimes this is due to a shortage of tail maintainers and sometimes it’s deliberate, in order to create a greater sense of wilderness. Regardless of the cause, …

The Squall 2 is a classic ultralight tarptent, suitable for one or two people, that only weighs 34 oz, including a bathtub floor, collapsible rear pole, and stuff stack. Note: The Squall 2 has been discontinued.  The Squall 2 requires just 4 …

The 30-mile section of the Long Trail from Middlebury Gap to Appalachian is one of the toughest parts of the Trail that I’ve hiked to date. For the last two days, it rained again, nearly continuously. Day to Day Mileages looked like …

Finding reliable shuttles has probably been the biggest planning challenge I’ve had as a solo section hiker on the Long Trail. Public transportation in rural Vermont is virtually non-existent and so my strategy has been to find taxi services that are familiar …

If you are serious about lowering your backpacking base weight, you need to weigh and examine each item on your gear list and ask yourself if you can substitute it with a lighter weight alternative. For example, if you have a tent …