Category: Backpacking
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From the land of the living
I’m back, and things went well, in that there were no major mishaps, immemorable numbers of minor ones, I was pushed to stay on schedule, but ended up finishing an hour early. The following are raw, primarily logistical and equipment thoughts while my focus returns. This was my first multiday trip with the current generation…
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Packing for the South Fork, in winter
LB was taking a nap while I did this, and in my preoccupation I forgot or said poorly more things than usual. I’m bringing Swix violet and extra blue kick wax. Rain gear is, as always, Haglofs Ozo anorak and BD Paclite pants, Food is usual assortment of winter stuff; Ramen, Olive Oil, chocolate, chocolate…
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The South Fork in March: a route planning case study
The day after tomorrow I’m headed into the Bob for a trip I’ve wanted to do for years, but was skeptical would ever happen; a pre-melt packraft on the South Fork of the Flathead. I’ve floated every piece of the wilderness South Fork at least three times, and have been on significant stretches in every…
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Nine years of fear
I learned a while ago, and have re-learned many times since, that fear before a trip rarely has much to do with conditions or hazard, and has everything to do with the concern that you’ll soon have to do something difficult. To perform close to the known ends of your abilities. The sooner that fear…
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Osprey Poco AG snap judgment
We got many quality miles out of wraps, more recently bought an Ergobaby Performance which has been quite satisfactory, and I put a lot of effort into trying to mod an old Kelty kid carrier we got as a free handmedown, but a few weeks ago we bowed to the seeming inevitability, and purchased an…
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Thrice busted
It is a poorly understood aspect of Wilderness management that any commercial filming requires a permit, and that these permits are almost never granted. Therefore films like this one, and perhaps this one, however modest they may be in scope and limited in commercial ambition, are almost always illegally made. It’s a particular conflict between…
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The feds, the states, and the critters
Since before the Revolutionary War wildlife in the United States has been public property, and for almost as long the oversight of that wildlife has been the purview of the states. Just as with almost every other issue, from education to health care, the integrity and coherence of state control has become less clear as…
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Wind River high
There are several controversies which must be dispensed with before discussing a high backpacking route through the Wind River range. The first is integrity. A few years ago Alan Dixon and Don Wilson released a detailed, free, online guide to a route they hyped as “better than the Sierra High Route.” If online reports are…
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The most important backcountry skill
The above is a screen grab from the latest episode of Meat Eater. Whats significant here is not the episode itself, which is an excellent one, but what Steve Rinella is doing here. A few minutes prior he shot a large-antlered, mature mule deer, fulfilling a decades long quest with a perfectly placed 392 yard…
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The closest I’ve come
This post the other week got me thinking about the fact I’ve never called for or thought about calling for a rescue, on what occasions I’ve been closest to doing so, and what things prevented me from doing so. The following is a fairly hasty and not especially hierarchical overview of the incidences which came…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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