I’m hiring: Backpacking guide(s) for 2020 season

For the 2020 guiding season I plan to hire at least one additional backpacking guide, and possibly two or three. Interested in joining our team? Read on. Position description The work will be short-term and seasonal. It should be considered a supplement to steadier full-time work, an additional contract in a larger freelance portfolio, or…

Preview: Sierra Designs Flex Capacitors 25-40L, 40-60L and 60-75L

The original Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor backpack has performed and sold well since it was released three years ago. So Sierra Designs recently expanded the Flex Capacitor series with two new editions, while also updating the original. I was involved with the design and launch of the original Flex Capacitor. But I haven’t been affiliated…

Hunt report: Successful but not elegant

For two seasons Noel, Steve, and I had hunted GMU 12, a productive — and popular — unit in northwestern Colorado. We had some success, tagging a young bull in 2017 and having an almost successful timber sneak last year, but had made several realizations about the location: To reliably find elk, we had to…

Review: Gore Wear H5 Gore-Tex Shakedry Jacket || The holy grail?

Nearly four years ago we first heard about Shakedry, a new “permanently beading” waterproof/breathable membrane technology from Gore-Tex that eliminated the need for a DWR-treated face fabric and that purportedly wouldn’t wet-out. If true, that’d be a big deal, because it would solve one source of failure of modern rain shells. The North Face was…

Review: Salomon X Alpine Pro || For high mountain runs + high routes

For years I’ve been an enthusiastic user of Salomon trail running shoes, with my all-time favorites coming from the Sense family — the Sense Pro, Sense Pro 2, and SLAB Sense Ultra. But Salomon has never broadly or successfully extended the winning features of its trail running shoes — notably, the glove-like fit, reliable outsole…

Current food storage regulations for Rocky Mountain National Park

For the 2019 season, Rocky Mountain National Park made a significant revision to its wilderness food storage regulations, giving backpackers a new option that is lighter and more user-friendly than the hard-sided canisters that have been required since 2014. To date, the park has not consistently or widely communicated this policy change on its website…

2020 guiding program: Tentative schedule

This weekend I received four inquiries about the 2020 guiding program. Normally I would not be prepared to discuss it until December, but I’m ahead of my usual schedule and can share a few things now. Schedule A tentative 2020 schedule has been posted. In coming months I’ll confirm some additional details, notably guide assignments…

Wilderness medicine training: When have I actually applied it?

Originally published June 3, 2019. This past weekend I took my biannual wilderness first responder (WFR) and CPR re-certification courses. Between refreshes on the patient assessment system, prerequisites for a FSA, and rescue breaths, I thought about the instances over the past eight years when I’ve had to apply my training. As a new WFR…

Tell me: Who’s your guiding dream team in 2020?

Tomorrow morning I drive up to Grand Lake, Colo., to greet the Adventure 2A and 2B groups as they exit from their respective 5-day outings. They’re our final set of trips this year, both in Rocky Mountain National Park and for the season. For the first time since I launched trips under my own company…