Category: Backpacking
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The rise of the (larger) vestpack
Outdoor retailer is upon us, and as usual a modest array of interesting things have come bubbling to the surface of the internet. One emerging trend I find more interesting than most is the rise of larger vestpacks. Years ago I had a first-gen Nathan HPL020, which was an impressively stable and accessible way to…
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The ineffable South Fork
A little less than two years ago I took my first trip down the South Fork of the Flathead. To this day I haven’t written about it, I made this short video shortly thereafter and left it at that. That summer was busy with fun, but my leaving a ~ninety mile traverse of a major…
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Communities of the mind
Aka, another northern traverse. Bowman-Browns-Goat-Stoney-Belly-Chief Mountain. Similar to and as good as the route from last year. If you want more beta on the park, my BPL trip guide was just published. ($$ required.) Bowman Lake; yawn. Danni had invited Meghan to come backpacking, and Amber was going on the eight day trip across Glacier,…
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Congrats to Matt
Matt Vogt, whose detailed and photo-rich account of a challenging and rarely done trip ran away with the June TR contest. Well done Matt. Contact me with your address so a pack can get on its way to Arizona. There is a high probability I’ll have another such contest this fall, so plan accordingly. Amber…
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The Journey Continues: 2012 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic
My Classic in five words: I got scared and bailed. Explanation below. Roman Dial turns back from an attempt at fording an unnamed glacial creek in the upper Tasnuna drainage. The Tasnuna itself cuts left to right against the cliffs in the center middle-ground. Dick Griffith’s gorgeous house in the hills east of Anchorage, Friday…
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June trip report contest voting
Making a selection this time was even harder than last autumn. A truly excellent crop of reports. In the end I picked three, all of which happened in places with which I have very fond associations. I visited the Trinity, King range, and Mattole area during a college intership out of Arcata a decade ago,…
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Classic carnage
“I killed the classic.” -Luc Mehl “Yeah, but I don’t know what we achieved.” -Josh Mumm, in response to my congratulations on a “fine achievement” Luc was speaking, the other day after his finish in McCarthy, not about the latest in his increasingly gaudy portfolio of adventures, but about the abominable difficulty of this year’s…
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The psychological taper
Enter the trip report contest, and win a rad pack! Seriously, my indifferent promotion of this has resulted in a very low number of entries thus far, so your odds are good. I get on a plane for Alaska, and the Wilderness Classic, in a little less than 30 hours. So I have a big…
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Pack mods and rain pants
12 months ago I owned no waterproof pants. The Classic last year made me a believer when it showed just how much heat can be lost through soaked legs. Today I have two sets of rain pants, each meant for a rather different use. Shown above and below are my fully homemade sil/epic pants. The…
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Upper McDonald Creek
A Glacier packrafting classic for those few people tracking such things: McDonald Creek from just below Longfellow to Mineral (where the seasonal floating ban takes effect). Great, consistent action, not too severe, and as of today only one river wide wood jam and one serious rapid. Said rapid, comes in the obvious spot not far…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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