Category: Backpacking
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Escalante River snap judgment
Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains. ― Gustave Flaubert The Highway 12 gauge is almost useless. During my trip on the Escalante this past weekend it hovered around 4 cfs, with a brief bump up to 12, a surge that likely passed me as I slept in the…
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Upper Level Stream Crossings, updated
A post Philip put up the other day temporarily boosted traffic to this post from 2013, prompting me to give it a re-read. One of the best things about this website is being able to delve into the past and get a little taste of what my life was like then. In this case, coming…
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Those Needles
The Colorado Plateau has endless hidden corners, more than can be understood in one human life, but from the distance of inexperience most of them seem like variations on a theme. And rock and sand and emaciated vegetation can only form so many combinations. This is as false as it is true, and the variations…
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The packraft in 2017
Left to right: Double Duck, 2015 Yukon Yak, Doomiyak, Scout. When I last sat down to write a treatise on this subject, 4.5 years ago, there wasn’t really all that much to say. Alpacka Rafts where the only acceptable option for serious use, wilderness or otherwise, and everyone else was dancing around being a serious…
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Sandal hiking with the Bedrock Cairn
Many moons ago I lived in a pair of Chaco sandals, almost year round, save for specific pursuits like climbing or more involved hiking. Around 8 year ago I was well into a transition to minimalist shoes for hiking and backpacking, and the changes that wrought in my feet made the arch support Chaco used…
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Your mid wants a liner
The two biggest complaints folks have with floorless pyramid shelters are lying with the creepy crawlies in the dirt, and rubbing up against condensation on the walls. The first complaint is largely, though not entirely, a matter of changing context and expectation. The second is a serious issue that can be both a nuisance and…
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Rab Windveil, windshirt evolution
I’ve written a lot about windshirts over the years, because they’re the most versatile piece of outdoor clothing. When it comes to the range and frequency of appropriateness, nothing else comes close. Until waterproof breathable laminates make vast strides in breathability, this will remain the case. The only question is which windshirt will suit you…
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You gotta ask
Because sometimes you might get lucky, this time they might say yes. Especially in Arizona, where snow passes on like doubt over lunch options. We’d never stayed at Indian Gardens, a mere 4.5 miles from and 3k below the South Rim, but of all the quasi-frontcountry campgrounds within the NPS, the ones “hardcore” backpackers are…
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20 months
What have we learned in the last 20 months? That when Little Bear is outside most of each day, every day, life is pretty simple. His appetite for motion is insatiable, and the world of streets and four walls doesn’t frame that very easily. That people are even more ready to snap judge others parenting…
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Backpack problems, and answers
In the last few months I’ve had impetus from several directions to hit the reset button on backpacks as completely as possible. Shake off and re-examine as many assumptions as possible before I put them into practice. This bag, and this post, are only a first step towards that end. Problem 1: Seams are the…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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