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Trip Report: Thorp Creek

Thorp Creek Burned a couple days of PTO to finally do a mid-week overnight in the snow. I think it's safe to say that my goal of winter backpacking competency is still a little ways off. Goals Reach Little Joe Lake and possibly the summit of Red Mountain (turned around)Test out Crescent Moon's snowshoe bootiesDetermine whether trail runners and snowshoes are a feasible combinationTry layering nitrile gloves over liner glovesSee whether shorts and baselayer bottoms hit the sweet spot of venting and insulationTest out the X-Mid in the snow on an overnightCheck out the holding power of REI's snow stakes [...]

By |2020-03-16T03:11:01+00:00March 16th, 2020|

Trip Report: Echo Basin

A boulder keeps watch above the basin's watering hole Echo Basin is a basalt coulee which lies immediately south of Frenchman Coulee in the Columbia River Gorge in central Washington. The area is incredibly popular with climbers but is also home to a large sand dune which is a great place for desert gear testing: Goals Explore Echo BasinExplore Frenchman Coulee (ran out of time)Explore south to I-90 (ran out of time)Trace the climber's trail up from the bottom of Echo Basin to the northern wall (ran out of time)Test trekking pole ends in the sand to see which ones [...]

By |2020-03-09T01:40:06+00:00March 9th, 2020|

Boiling Times Compared: Narrow vs. Wide Pots

(Note: I had to shorten up the title quite a bit from the original to keep the page layout sane) Conventional wisdom in the outdoor world is that wider-bottomed pots are more efficient than narrow-bottomed ones. As a result of a larger-pot requirement for an upcoming trip I picked up an Evernew Ti Ultra Light Pot #2, a paper-thin titanium pot with 900mL of capacity. Compared to my previous Evernew Ti Mug Pot 500 with 500mL of capacity the #2 pot has a significantly wider base, about 5 1/2 inches vs. the mug pot's 3 3/4 inches (almost 50% wider). [...]

By |2020-03-07T06:46:28+00:00March 7th, 2020|

Review: Litesmith Cross Bands

Litesmith's cross bands are an ultralight alternative to the stock stuff sacks that cook pots come in. Essentially just an X-shaped (non-)rubber band, the stretchiness of the heat-resistant silicone exerts pressure on the pot's lid, keeping it snugly in place and preventing rattling. They can weigh half as much as a typical stuff sack: compare the 7g of the 6" cross band to the 15g of the Evernew Ti Mug Pot 500's mesh sack or the 10g of the Evernew Ti Ultra Light Pot #2's Tyvek-ish stuff sack. Stats Make: LitesmithModel: Cross BandsModel Year: 2019Measured Weight: 7g in size 6"Date [...]

By |2020-03-07T06:00:09+00:00March 7th, 2020|

Backyard Temperature Testing: Ghost Whisperer 30F Edition

Q: Will a Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer puffy keep me warm down to 30F? A: Yes. In fact, it will keep me warm down to 23F. For an upcoming trip the expected lows are around 30F and I wanted to determine whether my current ensemble was warm enough or whether I should purchase a beefier hoodie (specifically I had my eyes on the Rab Proton since it's the best puffy with around 5oz of down fill according to a puffy spreadsheet I put together). Based on the forecasted low being between 6 and 7AM I set my alarm ridiculously early [...]

By |2020-03-02T05:20:01+00:00March 2nd, 2020|

Book Review: The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide Second Edition

I haven't read every backpacking skills/gear book that's ever been published, but the more of them I do read the more I'm of the opinion that this is one is the best. In the backpacking world author Andrew Skurka needs no introduction: he's the world's greatest backpacker. On the other hand, my mom has no idea who he is. This book catalogs the wealth of knowledge that he's accrued from a mind-bogglingly extensive career in backpacking which started in the summer of 2002 on the Appalachian Trail. Since then Andrew has gone on to do a number of impressive backpacking [...]

By |2020-03-28T16:38:11+00:00March 1st, 2020|

Trip Report: Frenchman Coulee

Looking east across the north rim of Echo Basin A few weeks ago I did a trip heading south from Ancient Lakes along the Babcock Bench to see if I could connect up to Frenchman Coulee at the south end of the bench. Unfortunately due to a late start and short daylight hours I fell a few miles short of my goal and had to turn around. This past weekend I returned to finish the job but starting from the south instead of the north. The area is similar to Ancient Lakes in that there are two coulees, Frenchman Coulee [...]

By |2020-02-28T06:28:45+00:00February 27th, 2020|

Book Review: Ultralight Bike Touring and Bikepacking

Justin "Trauma" Lichter has hiked over 40,000 miles and is known for completing the first winter thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. More recently it appears that his focus has turned to bikepacking as he's teamed up with Justin Kline to release a pair of books, Basic Illustrated Bike Touring and Backing in 2015 and Ultralight Bike Touring and Backpacking in 2016. As someone who has always aspired to bikepacking (particularly the 285-mile Palouse to Cascades Trail) I probably should have started with the basic book but since I already have a rack and pannier system in place I decided [...]

By |2020-02-22T01:08:50+00:00February 14th, 2020|

Pre-Trip Checklist

Checklists are an easy way to prevent avoidable mistakes (read The Checklist Manifesto for a more in-depth explanation). What follows is my current checklist for preparing for outdoor trips. Like everything else on this site, the checklist and the gear lists it refers to are a work in progress. Packing 3 season gear list4 season gear listDay trip gear list Charging Power bankPhoneinReach MiniHeadlamp (lock afterwards)Camera Refill SmartWater bottlesPillsPepto BismolIbuprofenAspirinBenadrylToothpastePotable AquaBalms/creams (first aid, friction, etc.)Hand sanitizerSunscreenAlcohol bottle (squeeze out some air and tighten cap afterwards)Paper tapeLeukotape Navigation Send email/message with itinerary to Person B/family memberSend test message with inReach Mini [...]

By |2020-06-21T18:03:45+00:00February 9th, 2020|

Pillow Quest

One of the problems with the stream-of-reviews format is that there's not a single place to go for an overview of a particular category of gear as well as brief evaluations of all the candidates. And I emphasize brief because I go through a lot of gear and sometimes I don't even have to take it out on a trip to know that it isn't going to work for me. Writing a full "review" in this case doesn't really apply but on the other hand I still want to capture the fact that a particular product was evaluated. So today [...]

By |2020-02-22T01:37:57+00:00February 9th, 2020|
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