Winter backpacking can mean your footprints are the only ones out there. That adds to the beauty of the experience, but also to the danger. Alone and in a cold enviroment, it's important to know what to do in an emergency. Learning a few basic cold weather survival skills can save your life.
Fire Making
Imagine slipping [...]
Why learn about wild plants just to go backpacking? Of course it is interesting for some of us, but beyond that, a little knowledge of plants can save your life. This isn't just about the edible ones. Food is actually a low priority in most wilderness emergencies. However, there are many other important uses for [...]
Have you ever gone solo backpacking? If you have, you'll probably agree that it isn't a matter of it being better or worse than backpacking with friends. It's just a different activity altogether.
When you go backpacking with others, it's a social event. You enjoy the scenery, feel good hiking the trails, and you get to [...]
Hiking clothes and backpacking clothes need to function to a higher standard than everyday clothes. That's why they're often more expensive. Shop all the sales you want, and you will save money, but that extremely expensive waterproof/breathable coat will only be marked down to "very expensive." Time for some more radical ways to find cheap [...]
Why survival tips for backpackers? Certainly backpacking may never become a matter of wilderness survival for you, especially if you are careful in your planning. Still, getting lost or twisting an ankle far from any road is always a possibility. In any case, learning a few new things from time to time is a great [...]
Survival skills just for backpacking? Why not? For ultralight backpackers like myself, skills replace gear, and therefore weight. If you spend any time in the wilderness, it also just feels good to know you can deal with whatever comes up.
Survival means staying warm and dry, hydrated, uninjured, and finding your way out of the [...]
The third time is usually a charm. So this third attempt to reach that jewel at the end of the trail just had to pan out. The Sweeney Peak Trail in the Montana Bitterroot Range heads for the sky high above Florence, Montana along the ridges below Sweeney Peak The lake [...]
Solo backpacking means peace and quiet. No one to talk to means no words are put between you and the beauty around you. The miles just flow. It's entirely up to you to say when you eat or take a break. Want to jump in that alpine lake? It's your decision alone. It's a unique [...]
Sleeping bag liners for camping? My friend Dion made fun of my "poor excuse for a sleeping bag," but it kept me warm as the temperature dropped to the low forties, and it weighed only five ounces. We were camping on the banks of the Manistee River in Michigan.
So, how did it a sleeping [...]
Many hikers who are bored of the normal marked trails, and discovered wilderness areas have come to a new adrenaline rush: mountain hiking. Hiking several hundred feet above sea level gives those with a taste for the extreme the rush they are looking for. If you are that kind of hiker, then mountain hiking is [...]