These are still my favorite shoes ever, but a whole lot of abrasive desert mud the past few months has revealed a serious design flaw; the webbing lace loop over the instep. By a month ago, three of the four had cut through. This is a big deal, as on these relatively floppy shoes that…More
A trail quiz
First, a quiz: which of the following trails have seen human work and construction, and which never have? Second; animal trails are very important for backcountry walkers. They always form the most efficient route from one place to another, the trick is finding enough of the animal mind to know what and where those places…More
Essential Skills: Garment zipper replacement
Replacing a zipper, generally in a full zip jacket, is one of the most common and thus, most essential serious gear repairs you’ll do. Serious in this case being roughly defined as requiring more than tape or glue to manage. The zipper on my 4 year old Haglofs Pile hoody recently died, providing a good…More
The Maah Daah Hey
The US, and I imagine the world, needs more trails like this. Strictly speaking the MDH has national park caliber scenery, as it passes through two units of a national park. Theodore Roosevelt is an obscure national park, getting as many visits in a busy year as Glacier does in an average June, and probably…More
Packraft forecasting
It is that time of year; orders for straps and the guidebook start increasing, as do emails about trip planning. Those messages generally involve a ~7 day hiking and packrafting loop in the Bob, and almost always revolve around attempting to plan well in advance and hit a reliable flow window. This is especially tricky…More
SWD Big Wild by the numbers
It is tough for me not to be effusive to the point of utterly lacking objectivity about this pack, which Superior Wilderness Designs sent me (for free) to evaluate. Design and construction are polished, clean and professional without being showy, and represent the absolute best of the burgeoning made in the US cottage backpack industry. …More
A mystery classic
I didn’t even write about this one two years ago which, on reviewing and editing the footage, was serious restraint. One of the better alpine and packraft loops in the Bob, easily doable in 3 days. See if you can guess what and where.More
Retirement
A few months ago I spent a day snowboarding. It did not go as I had hoped. The reversion to being a kid, and flailing on and off the lift and down the hill, was immediate. I slid into trees, off on slope angles to where I did not want to go, caught an edge…More
Marin San Quentin tire clearance
It is not really possible to have too much tire clearance on a mountain bike. Clearance adds versatility, with tires being the fastest and most drastic way to alter the performance of your bike, and especially in the mud, excessive clearance has little downside. The one significant downside, the demand clearance places on chainstay length…More
Old mud
In a recent interview, father of hellbiking Roman Dial said ( to paraphrase) that he became interested in wilderness biking because walking was too simple. Off trails, cycling punishes poor route choices, while the speed and effort differences between good walking and bad walking terrain are exponentially less. This is why the 1997 Nat Geo…More
