If you hike in the mountains or above-treeline, you’ll find frequent mention of the term “diurnal heating” in mountain weather forecasts, often accompanied by thunderstorms, hail, and high wind. What is diurnal heating and why should you be cautious when it’s in …

Hiking Mt Lincoln and Mt Lafayette along the Franconia Ridge Trail is one of the best hikes in New Hampshire’s White Mountains and one that I never get tired of hiking since the views are tremendous on a clear day. While we …

When the pilots of small aircraft fly in clear weather, they often orient themselves by referring to visible landmarks like roads, buildings, or obvious terrain features rather than flying by navigation instruments. They can still refer to their instruments if they’re uncertain …

When I go day hiking in New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine, I usually start preparing a few days in advance by watching the weather forecast and documenting my trip plan. It’s a good habit to get into if you hike on mountains …

I’ve been getting a lot of emails this year from beginner backpackers who want guidance about how to estimate that time it takes to backpack a long section of trail. Here are some examples: I plan to hike the Presidential Range and the …

A lot of backpackers get really stressed out when planning trips because they can’t find any information about pre-existing campsites along their route. While campgrounds, lean-tos, and signed designated campsites are usually easy to find out about, that’s often not the case …

You’re on a backpacking trip and your sleeping bag gets wet. What should you do? Assess the Situation The first thing I’d do is to assess how wet the bag is. If the foot end or cover are wet because they rubbed …

Cooking in a camping tent or ultralight shelter can be quite hazardous, but sometimes you don’t have an option because bad weather prevents you from cooking outside. What are the hazards you have to watch out for and how can you cook …

The REI Quarter Dome SL 1 is a one-person double-wall tent that only weighs 31 oz. Despite its low weight, the interior is remarkably livable, with vertical sidewalls, numerous internal pockets to keep you organized, and a roof vent to help minimize …

Zpacks Packing Cubes, which are misnamed because they aren’t cubes, are brick-shaped packing pods that come with compression straps so you can shrink the volume that gear takes inside your backpack. This can allow you to carry a lighter weight, smaller volume …

“The Lincoln Brook Trail is beautiful in the morning sun”, I thought as we hiked back after camping near the base of Owls Head Mountain, deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness.  My friends Ken and Karen and I had backpacked in the day …

Sleeping outdoors on backpacking trips is a skill just like navigating, camping, packing, layering, trip planning, and all the other skills that backpackers need to learn to enjoy backcountry trips. While sleeping outdoors is not a skill that’s taught in outdoor programs …

Mt Cabot is the northernmost White Mountain 4000-footer and a 9.6 mile out and back hike with 3,000 feet of elevation gain. The last time I climbed it was on November, 4th of last year (2021). I remember that hike vividly because …

More and more ultralight backpacking packs are being made with waterproof materials like Dyneema Composite Fabrics (DCF), Ultra, Liteskin, EcoPak, and XPac. These fabrics absorb very little water and are bonded with a waterproof layer that prevents them from being soaked through …