Historically I’ve prided myself on my bare bones, durable sleep set-up: a classic foam Thermarest pad with a pile of bundled fleece clothing for a pillow. An inflatable backpacking pillow was the last thing on my wish list at the time, but I splurged recently and purchased the Fillo by Nemo Equipment. It’s now my favorite camping accessory.
Read MoreMost headlamps fit a pretty standard profile these days - a couple different brightness settings, some weather durability, and possibly a red-light function to preserve your night vision. Black Diamond's ReVolt has these standard features, but it’s also rechargeable via USB which is a huge advantage for most backcountry uses. This isn’t a review which pits multiple rechargeable headlamps against each other in order to nitpick the minor differences, rather it’s a quick rundown of why the ReVolt works for the majority of my needs and why you might consider getting a rechargeable headlamp in the future.
Read MoreThe South Nahanni is one of the most classic Canadian rivers, renowned for wildlife, beautiful canyons, and a thunderous 300 foot waterfall that puts Niagara to shame. Avery and I received a generous grant from the Ritt Kellogg Fund to explore this stretch of river, so in July of last year we embarked on a road trip from Colorado to a small town in the Northwest Territories named Fort Simpson. We quickly learned of the horrendous wildfires as we drove along smoke-filled dirt highways, and delayed our departure as the bush plane wouldn't be able to fly in with such low visibility along the river corridor. Eventually the weather turned in our favor as the smoke cleared, and rains took care of the wildfires.
Read More“When staying alive is a full time job, there isn’t time for much else.” Truthfully, that’s a perfectly reasonable thing to hear from someone who soloed the Grand Canyon of the Colorado for 22 days – in an inflatable kayak (IK), no less. It’s inspiring to talk to people like Winslow Burleson, an associate professor at NYU, who manage to balance demanding jobs in the academic world with a respectable dose of outdoor adventure. After seeing a couple photos of Win paddling a fully loaded IK into the Canyon, I decided I needed to learn more about how the journey went. I also recently posted about pursuing your personal goals before it’s too late, and this journey exemplifies this perfectly. I gave Win a call, and asked a few questions about the trip.
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