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 […]

I couldn’t believe it.  The big plan: stay in nice Bellingham, Washington motels, and alternate that with camping in the countryside slightly north of Bellingham.  We were off to the coast to visit our little girl going to college in Bellingham, Washington at Western Washington University.  We should have realized when we were getting camping […]

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 – that sparkling blue […]

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 […]

As an outdoor enthusiast you will at some point make a decision to learn how to navigate in the backcountry.  Whether you use a map, compass, GPS receiver or all three, there are several things you should know about successful navigation.  Your safety and the safety of your companions depend upon it. Backcountry activities such […]

Every time I leave the pavement, I take along my trusty hiking pack – even if I have no intention of hiking.  Doing this has become a habit rather than a conscious decision.  My pack goes with me when a hike, camp, hunt, fish, bird watch and even when I drive out of town.  I’ve […]

We are asked nearly every day:  “What are your best binoculars?”  And every day we answer:  “How do you plan on using them?”  We are not trying to be evasive with our answer, but the truth of the matter is – the best binoculars for one purpose may be the worse binoculars for another.  We […]

I still can’t believe it.  It’s been 40 or so years since that fateful summer.  My buddies Steve and Larry and I were around 12 years of age when we were dropped off early in the day on a rainy, muddy little trail of a road off  Highway 135 north of Gunnison, Colorado up toward […]

Outdoor enthusiasts love to guess about all sorts of things.  We guess how many stars are in the Milky Way, we guess how fast a deer runs or we might even guess about how long it will be until that big, dark cloud dumps rain us.  But there are times when guessing in the backcountry […]

If you are planning on going on an African safari, the last thing you would want to do is spoil the trip right out of the chute by forgetting some essential things. Make yourself a list of things to do and check everything off as you go along. There are some important things to consider […]