Category: Racing
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Interval training for hiking and backpacking
When preparing for something like the Bob Open, I know for experience that two things will slow me down: my aerobic limits and sore feet. This is in contrast to most folks, for whom muscular fatigue or connective tissue issues almost always form their distance and duration ceiling while backpacking. I have enough base fitness…
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Spring postholing, in style
In the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, if you wait for the snow to melt before hiking you will be waiting a long time. Better to deploy some of the following tips, get out early, and enjoy the solitude and occasional excessive challenge which come with postholing through spring snow. The first, or Sun Tzu,…
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The ‘mid I’ve been looking for
Disclaimer: Seek Outside gave me the shelter discussed below for free in exchange for feedback. [12/2016 update: the BT2 is now the Silvertip, with modest but significant revisions which make it more friendly to taller folks, and more likely to pitch with one long trekking pole.] It’s illustrative to think back to the first “cottage”…
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Two good gloves
I dislike gloves, and having warm hands I’m often able to get away without them, but that’s not always the case. Skiing, cycling, and hunting are all examples of activities where cold exposure is increased and the demands for dexterity heightened. The following are two examples of gloves which provide maximum weather protection with minimal…
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Snotel for backcountry planning
Discussion about the Bob Open is heating up over at BPL, as is appropriate for this time of year. It’s just about late enough in the winter to use what resources are available to make meaningful extrapolations concerning what things will be like out there in two months. With that in mind, I want to…
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The curious Strata Hoodie
Polartec Alpha was developed for the military, as an insulation which would form the core of a garment that would, as an insulator, better straddle the divide between static and dynamic warmth. Alpha does this by being more air-permeable than synthetic fill insulations such as Primaloft and Climashield, and at the same time more svelt…
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The 12 best miles of 2014
Not the best hikes, skis, or floats, but the best single isolated miles of travel. The ones which are worth a lot of potentially frustrating work to find. Presented in chronological order, with one photo and one mile for each month of 2014. For organizational and review purposes; January was a long time ago, and…
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First steps towards 2015
December north of the 45th parallel wants to be a quiet time, and in the last six years I’ve learned to let it be just that. So in the three weeks after hunting season I did only as much of anything as I wanted to, which added up to a few hikes and snowbike rides…
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The full suspension spectrum
Today, it’s safe to say that there are more backpack options available for the outdoorsperson than at any other time. Most of this is due to the ugly inevitability of population growth and the capitalist hegemony, but some of it has to do with a unique diversity of influences on pack design. As I’ve detailed…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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