Ryan Jordan

Archive for the ‘Trekking’ Category

Group Gear for Lightweight Wilderness Travel

Introduction Last week I spent four days in the Bob Marshall Wilderness with Scout Leaders from around the country training them in the art and practice of ultralight backpacking techniques for the Backpacking Light / Montana BSA course. Our goal is simpler, yet more profound, than just playing with gear: thinking about the best ways to impart the knowledge […]

Reflections of an Ultralight Life: Interviewing Andrew Skurka

Andrew Skurka and I met “online” (who didn’t, these days?) what now seems like a long time ago, while he was preparing for a trek across the CONUS from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coasts. At that time, he was asking me questions about how to keep his feet warm during the winter while trekking […]

Teton Crest Revisited

I’ve been on the Teton Crest dozens of times. I’ve trekked along, and astride it, on several backpacking expeditions. And I still experienced a bunch of firsts on this last traverse, in September/October of 2010. Here are my most memorable: There wasn’t a cloud in the sky the entire time, except the little one you […]

Handrailing Along the Teton Crest

Handrails are substantial geographic features that can be used for navigation. You might follow a stream, or a fence line, or a ridge. These are all types of handrails. My two favorite wilderness handrails are both about “a 5 days’ walk” in length: The Wulik River in the Alaskan Arctic, and the Teton Crest in […]

Jorden Lake: A Different Kind of Special

Jorden Lake is perched near the western terminus of the Beartooth High Lakes Trail, which you’d infer to be popular simply because the trail is named on the old USGS maps. In July, I walked the High Lakes Trail west from Island Lake and saw only 9 people, 6 of which were day hikers near […]