Category: Backpacking
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All the hats
I like hats, and my collection often and properly earns me derision at the hands of M. Rather than deny the dorkiness inherent in this, I embrace it. I’ve de facto pared the collection down quite a bit lately, such that a mere five hats get regular use. They are pictured below, and a discussion…
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Prematurely seeking death
If individuality is a lie, or at least phantasmagoric, than solo backpacking must be suicidal. Right? In spite of, and because of this, I enjoy it immensely. Especially in our current snow drought, when I was able to do a substantive, 40+ mile loop over two days without needing skis or snowshoes. In January. Remarkable.…
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Tracking Gulo gulo
I first met Sally in July of 2010, during this trip. I had crossed over the snow in the Fifty Mountain meadow and was amped to inflate my newish packraft on the Waterton River. After the patrol cabin the trail takes a brief uphill detour through thick cow parsnip, and I was motoring mindlessly before…
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The Smaller Things
M skiing into the Wapiti Cabin, Gallatin National Forest. When discussing outdoor adventure, I do not think I am the only person who is quite likely to irritate, condescend to, and erratically yet predictably annoy my significant other. There is an archetype, advanced by powerful forces, that the ideal romantic partnership involves and perhaps revolves…
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Best of 2011, part 3
It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite. -Soren Kierkegaard, Journals (1841) When I think back, about the “best” trip of 2011, two stand out among the many candidates. And when I think back to the times in the past 12 months when…
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Best of 2011, part 2
2011 has been an extraordinary year. If the mission of this blog is to explore the cultural consequences of personal development as driven by outdoor adventure, this should have been a good year for blogging, which it was. This time last year I wrote that day trips were bullshit, and that the packraft made further…
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Apgar Lookout traverse
Yesterday I did a trip which has been on my mind for quite some time. We’re stuck, here in NW Montana, is seasonal flux at the moment. Lack of snow is delaying ski season, but is allowing for great late-autumn hiking. Like yesterday, I didn’t bring snowshoes. The road across the circle bridge up to…
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A Bedrock & Paradox holiday trip guide
The best gift for an adventurer is a great plan in a brand new place and a way to get there (gas $$, plane tickets, whatever). Problem is, dialing in a destination typically takes trial and error, which is why so many vacations end up scratching the surface, doing the same old trips which might…
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The Race Pack examined (backpacks for the woods part 4)
A perhaps illustrative case study. I built the race pack specifically for wilderness racing, the Classic next year in particular. As explicated before, the Golite Jam I used last year didn’t fit and was too big. I also wanted to make a pack as light as possible without compromising functionality or durability (or spending money,…
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Evolution of the North Fork pack (backpacks for the woods, part 3)
I started building the North Fork pack back in late August of 2010, when I was between finishing up grad school and actually working. My work may look good on the internet, but I’m a pretty awful seamstress, what with my lack of patience and hand-eye coordination. I go for functionality, but tend to get…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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