On the Arctic 1000, we slept with our food. This gave me a little bit of trepidation, especially when our camp was usually surrounded by some combination of wolves, muskox, and grizzly bears. I’m sure that’s what Andy will be doing as well during his traverse of the Brooks Range this year. Otherwise, sleeping with […]
We use GoLite Shangri-La 6’s and 8’s for our advanced (WT3) Wilderness Trekking School courses, and when I outfit Scout High Adventure Programs going into hostile environments. There are three primary reasons. They are light enough. Between the shelters, poles, and a big set of robust stakes, shelter weight comes out to around a pound per […]
I have a lesser need to “feel” like I “need” to hike solo today than yesterday because the depth of my experience as a solo traveler will be known only to me: it is difficult (at best) to convey the magic of my experience to somebody who wasn’t there, and that creates a relational black […]
The Mountain Marsh Marigold is mis-named because it’s a closer relative of the buttercup than of a true marigold. It has only sepals, and no petals, but failing to examine it closely will cause your brain to lie to you and trick you into thinking it’s an aster, or daisy – so get down on […]
Harry Potter couldn’t cross the Beartooth Range, or be a thru-hiker, because of character attributes that are not compatible with long distance wilderness travel. You see, Harry Potter suffers from arrogance (he’d think he knew where he was when he really wasn’t), impatience (he wouldn’t evaluate all of his route options), and anger management (he’d […]