Category: Backpacking
-
Esee Candiru review
I hesitate to discuss knives, as they’ve become one of the major talismans of the talk-more, do-lessitude which is such a feature of outdoor culture on the internet. That is not a condemnation of individuals so much as it is a reminder, to everyone, that it is disconcertingly easy to pave the rhetorical road to…
-
North Bob Marshall forest fire roundup
As most everyone knows, the mountains of the lower 48 have over the past month produced a fire season which will be discussed for decades. However outstanding, this cannot be a surprise. The mountains of Washington, Idaho, and Montana all had a fairly to egregiously mild winter, and without fail an early spring and a…
-
That 78 year old bastard
The Pittman-Robertson Act turns 78 years old today, and this anniversary should have the whole non-consumptive, not hook and bullet, REI crowd a bit ashamed of themselves. 2 people and ~2000 dollars of gear in Grand Canyon National Park. Short story long, back in the days of FDR a tax on firearms and ammunition, with…
-
Food planning for 4-10 day outings
This post is for Ali. Food (red sack, pringles can, orange drybag) for eight days on this trip. Food planning for backcountry endeavors often goes wrong for folks. I’ve lost track of the number of noob backpackers I’ve seen trying to rehydrate dried pinto beans in the backcountry, or hungry on day 3 of 5…
-
The Omnibar
A while ago the folks from Omnibar in Missoula contacted me, both about packrafting beta for the Bob and about trying their product. I said yes, a box of bars showed up in the mail, and I’ve been eating them for the last six weeks. The following are my thoughts. When buying day food for…
-
The masterful Coal Frena beanie
When I head out much beyond the front country I always have two hats along, in addition to the various hoods on windshirts, rain coats, and puffy jackets. The percentage of warmth hats impart may have been overstated back in my Boy Scout days, but a dry hat remains the simplest and lightest way to…
-
Stone Glacier Solo bag, and homebuilt frame
The Stone Glacier Solo is a pack which had immediate aesthetic and ideological appeal. The reason is right up front in the product description: “A 3300 cubic inch bag fits all your ultralight 4-season gear and week of food.” 3300 cubes is plenty for a week backpacking in summer, even with a packraft, but the…
-
Thompson Creek Fire: What’s burning in Glacier?
Looking down into the Nyack Valley from near Red Eagle Pass. Thompson Creek is the major drainage entering on the right. Yet another fire got started in Glacier NP over the weekend, and in the last few days of hot weather and strong winds has blow up exponentially. The Thompson Creek fire is already several…
-
The Gossamer Gear Type 2 daypack
Not quite two years ago Gossamer Gear sent me several daypack prototypes for use and feedback. The largest was a copy of what became the Quiksak, which I really liked. It was big but not too big, light but not too light, had great shoulder straps, and was just the right shape to hold quite…
-
The 2016 Bob Open
The 2016 Bob Marshall Wilderness Open will start Saturday May 30th at 0800 mountain time, at the Bean Lake campground near the Dearborn River, southwest of Augusta. Finish will be the Cedar Creek campground on the Swan River roughly equidistant between the towns of Condon and Swan Lake. Course area will be any public lands…
Bedrock & Paradox 
You must be logged in to post a comment.