Category: Backpacking
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The old West Lakes trail
If you look at old maps of Glacier National Park you see that 80 years ago there were many more miles of trail than the ~700 the park currently maintains. Particularly in the North Fork, all the trails which used to run north-south midway between the river and the mountains have been unmaintained for half…
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First Lite Aerowool
As I’ve written before, the task of baselayers fabrics made from merino-polyester blends is to unite the moisture management and funk resistance of wool with the quick wicking/drying and durability of polyester. Numerous variations have made good strides towards this end, but all have come up short in one way or another. Kuiu’s ultra merino…
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Sierra Designs Elite Cagoule snap judgment
It’s uncommon that so few specifics are available about so interesting a product, and downright rare that I spend money* on something about which I have both substantial interest and major trepidation. So here they are; details, warts, good things, as well as home I assume it will work once I get it into the…
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Camas Creek bike-hike-packraft
A spring hike in Christensen Meadows, together with a float on Camas Creek, will never be a popular trip in Glacier National Park, but it’s one of my favorite outings. The meadows face south, and the creek has its origin up a big and very snowy valley. Once spring truly warms up the lower Camas…
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The objectivity of vertical gain
Objective data for evaluating hiking and backpacking performance is a useful thing to have. Day to day and year to year your perception of speed and exertion can change, often significantly, but fast is fast and when heading towards a tough trip confirmation of progress can help formulate realistic expectations. When hiking there are two…
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The float to hike transition
Transitions are an easy way to loose time while packrafting. Having a predictable system whose way of doing things is as similar as possible from trip type to trip type not only makes you faster, but makes it less likely you’ll pack your rain gear at the bottom of the main packbag, or leave something…
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Honaker-Slickhorn kid hiking gear and logistics
First, the route; it’s very scenic and has great variety for a low(physical) price of entry. The floating is expedient, easy, and all rapids can be scouted and/or portaged. The hiking is not easy, and while there is almost always a use trail in Slickhorn it is rarely obvious or very useful for sustained stretches. …
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Little Bear gets real, part 2
The adults were a bit worse off come morning. The endless sun and heat yesterday had made it hard to keep hydrated, especially on the boat. Note that when I say heat, I mean above 70F. Little Bear seemed in fine shape, the only evidence of a big day last a wake up that was…
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Little Bear gets real, part 1
This trip was a big deal. A proof of concept for the near future, and the first backcountry outing with Little Bear on a route that wasn’t a compromise; our loop down the Honaker trail, down the San Juan River, and up Slickhorn Canyon all the way to the northernmost TH was one we’d have…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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