Category: Backpacking
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A note on poststructural wilderness
Last night I had something of a fever-dream flashback. It was no doubt enhanced by the sinus cold which has had me on the couch for the last 72 hours, but the effect was unmistakable: all of a sudden I came out of the haze of this weekends illness, through the chilly fog of coastal…
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How to make Cowboy coffee
I grin a little everything some new gadget comes out for making good coffee in the backcountry. As with many things, the original method is still the best, and in this particular case has the added benefit of requiring no equipment at all, aside from the pot, stove or fire, and ground coffee you already…
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Perseverance of fear
The game trail had run out into nothing on the lush, cold northerly face, the fault no doubt of all the tasty green things still growing on the 55 degree slope. I put a boot sole down on frozen moss and lean a bit farther out than is comfortable. Stick, I tell my foot, and…
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Crave nothing more fervently
“Never yield to remorse, but at once tell yourself: remorse would simply mean adding to the first act of stupidity a second.” -Nietzsche, The Wanderer and his Shadow Up to this date 2014 has been a good year for contemplating death. While as many people have no doubt died in the past nine months than…
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Deer Lessons
I’m far, far from an expert or even good hunter, but I’m working on it. The last year has been a fantastic journey, and for folks like me who are experienced backpacker/skier/packrafter/etc types looking to get into backcountry hunting, I offer the following for consideration. First, hunting it not backpacking. You can and often need…
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A Bob Marshall buck
The whitetail I shot last November was a victory, but it was also a defeat. The victory came in learning enough about deer patterns to know where to go, and enough patience to be still enough that the deer walked right up within range. It was a failure because I had started out the season…
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The 610 pack, version 3
Photos by M. Two years ago I made a simple ~27 liter pack, meant for all manner of day trips and light 2-4 day stuff in fair weather. I was never content with the simple, short drawcord closure and the torso length was a bit too small, so eventually it suffered the fate of so…
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Lost trails
I love the Cairn maps of the Bob, they’re a massive improvement over the old Forest Service map, very readable, and have in my experience proven to be accurate. A summer wandering around with a fancy GPS on your pack will in the end get good results. Thankfully, maps can’t show everything, and the Cairn…
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The 2014 shoe report
Disclaimer: Several of the shoes discussed below were given to me, free and under the expectation of a published review, by the manufacturer. Others were purchased at an industry discount, while one was bought at full retail. Clockwise from upper left: LaSportiva Vertical K, Altra Lone Peak 1.5, LaSportiva Boulder X Mid, LaSportiva Anakonda, Patagonia…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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