Category: Backpacking
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Only the big things
Since we returned to Montana in early January, Little Bear has continued sleeping like a 6 month old should, which is to say not for especially long. M and I are bumping along just fine, but smaller things like household organization, non-essential dishes, and alpine skiing are not getting done. The big, important stuff like…
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Seek Outside Divide 4500 by the numbers
This is generation two of Seek Outside’s backpacking/all purpose pack, the Divide. Specs on this one are ~4500 cubic inches. 35 inches of unrolled height along the back panel, 32 inches of effective height (shown in first photo, below) with two rolls of the roll top. Top circumference is 40.5 inches, bottom is 36. The…
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Shills and ambassadors
Seek Outside BT2. Didn’t pay for the mid, and Seek Outside fast-tracked a prototype nest so we didn’t get munched by sandflies last winter. Such treatment is both a privilege and a burden. Getting free stuff is awesome. And not primarily because you don’t have to buy it yourself, though as someone who went down a not…
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Oversnow travel tools overview and update
This is a brief revisitation and update of an article I wrote for BackpackingLight three years ago. We’re having a proper winter here in NW Montana, and having Little Bear has significantly changed when and how we go outside, so discussing recent changes in the tools for oversnow travel seems relevant. It’s worth emphasizing that…
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Canyoneering and accidents
A few weeks ago a few folks got stuck in a relatively remote canyon in Utah. They had driven 3+ hours off the pavement, descended a technical slot canyon (which is pretty moderate, save the rap which is usually a 60 meter drop off a rock stack), and proceeded down a very pretty canyon to…
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Glacier backcountry permits for 2016
Over the past few years summer backcountry permits in Glacier National Park have been increasingly problematic. An antiquated mail-in reservation system has combined with a sharp increase in applications to create a situation which was no good for anyone. Prospective backpackers were stuck waiting until well into May or even early June to receive confirmation…
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The Best Snowshoe binding yet
Snowshoes have two reasons to exist: miles which cannot be skied due to terrain, circumstances, or lack of skill; and trips where the snow miles are exceeded by non-snow miles, as snowshoes should not require anything other than ideal hiking shoes. Because this second reason accounts for the overwhelming majority of my snowshoe use, I…
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610 pack, the evolution
My best, conservative, estimate is that since 2009 I’ve built roughly 30 backpacks, and owned a further ~20, which were either purchased retail or given to me for review or prototyping. This is a large number, especially considering that at the moment we only (!) have eleven packs in house, a mere two of which…
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Forest Service cabins of Montana
You should know about the forest service cabins in Montana. Retired patrol cabins, ranger stations, fire lookouts, and private residences which have gone into public hands, they’re one of the great secrets of public lands recreation in North America. Why am I writing about these cabins now? Because the Forest Services takes reservations a half…
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2015 in 12 photos
January: hunting Chamois and Tahr in New Zealand February: backpacking the Heaphy Track March: early, early season packrafting on the South Fork of the Sun April: animals everywhere in the North Fork of the Sun May: my favorite route across the Bob, yet June: M is really, really pregnant; and it’s hot July: Little Bear…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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