Category: Backpacking
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A Glacier Classic
Lake McDonald to St. Mary Lake. hiking over Gunsight Pass and packrafting the upper St. Mary river. I’ve been meaning to get to this one for a while. The first 4 miles of hiking are in cedar forest, the next two open up with cliffs and alpine meadows on the way to Sperry Chalet. Shoveling…
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2011 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic race report
“The will to power would rather will nothingness than not will.” -Nietzsche Paige Brady, and Luc Mehl the zombie. The difficulty I’m having beginning this report well reflects the race itself; the stakes I set myself for both are very high. While in Alaska a few people asked me, both before and after, where I…
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This video sucks (Classic post-game)
Damn you Luc! You beat me, and get better footage! In truth, even after the rain let up late on the third day I kept the camera stowed. Didn’t have the will to get much with it, sadly. These things never come close to doing what they’re meant to, but this one is table scraps…
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Classic Packs
Most of the packs from the race start, minimal editorialization. Ken from Kenai’s MYOG pack. Golite Gust. Rob of Team Heavy’s Exos. Chris’ Granite Gear Blaze AC 60. Don’s Mariposa Plus. Mike Martin’s NRS. John Sykes’s MEC rucksack. Luc’s CAMP pack. Tyler’s Black Diamond. Todd’s Vapor Trail (worth noting that these were the four that…
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Backing down
Otherwise known as bailing. A very important thing that doesn’t get spoken about nearly enough, especially in the outdoor adventure world. Two interesting examples on my radar lately: With the later it’s nice to see the slick, increasingly influential Camp4 boys speaking honestly in a way that goes a fair bit beyond media relations.…
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Fixing Golite Jam side pockets (and other technical notes)
Problem: while the fabric is good, the elastic on the Golite Jam’s side pockets is lame! Super lame. Looks like something from your underwear. I can’t abide side pockets that won’t hold things with a vicelike, bushwacking proof grip, so this needed to change. Stat. Golite made it easy by not using a stretch stitch,…
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Revisiting the shadow
Lake McDonald. Apologies for the dramatic title; and while shadows (for once present, as this weekend is not overcast and rainy) played a prominent role in this latest trip, I am primarily speaking about that concept of the shadow found in one of my favorite poems. It took far too long, and far too much…
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A few little things
Rare orchids in GNP this past Sunday. Photo, and plant sleuthing, by M. I just finished another really good hill interval workout, and am drinking a Mighty Arrow while waiting for chicken to cook (seared, then baked in BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and root beer). My resting pulse right now, and the way my legs…
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Be careful out there!
If any park service sign has ever tempted me to hang it on my wall, it’s this one. The odd thing is, I can’t fathom why it is in this particular spot: a few miles from the parking lot, facing so that you’d only see it on the way back and after crossing a swift…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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