A Thru-Hike Laughs At Your Plans I spent weeks choosing the gear. I poured over resupply locations, water cache details, and common areas that are notoriously hard to hitch-hike from. This all took place as an arm-chair PCT hiker. As soon as the first day on trail, I realized I was gripping too tightly to…
The ULA CDT is perhaps one of my most revered packs, equally as much as their Ohm 2.0. After using this backpack for thousands of miles, I’ve had plenty of time to feel out it’s abilities (and it’s limits). From long desert stretches in New Mexico, to torrents of rain in Appalachia, this pack has…
Over thousands of miles and millions of rain drops, I’ve had many ups and downs while hiking in the rain. Some of my most dire moments while backpacking were in the rain. There can be nothing more frustrating than enduring day after day of cloudy skies, threatening thunder, or worse. But fear not – I…
When I was first interested in thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, I thought I had it all figured out. I wasn’t exactly brand new to backpacking at that point. I’d done hikes in New Mexico, the Great Smoky Mountains, various locations in the Great Lakes region, and abroad in New Zealand. But preparing for a journey…
The most crucial and consequential piece of gear you have, in my opinion, is your backpack. It’s why it’s called “backpacking”, and not “carry everything in your arms through the woods”. For this article, I will do a deep-dive into an ultralight backpack comparison of frames. Whether or not you choose to have a frame,…
The ULA Ohm 2.0 is a fantastically durable minimalist backpack with a jack-of-all-trades capability. After roughly 3,500+ miles, it remains my go-to pack for lightweight trips requiring extra food, snow and ice equipment, or adequate support for lengthy desert water carries. It’s not the lightest pack on the market, or the most flashy, but the…
Discovering the best ultralight backpacking gear can be daunting to newcomers. In this article, I’d like to give a birds-eye-view of what I look for when choosing a new item for my “big-three” (backpack, shelter, sleeping quilt). These are my main side-kicks for any overnight foray, so they need to pass muster. Hunting for the…
When you are out on the trail, there are small things you pick up on while you hike. Things that make your day simpler. These types of small changes to your routine during a hike can drastically improve your time in nature, lighten your pack, and give you more energy. Below, I’ve complied a short…