News
Update, 9:30 am MDT. The spot has been filled. Additional registrations will be placed on the waitlist; it would not surprise me to have another cancellation over the next two months. I thought I’d sold out my remaining 2014 trips on Friday, when there were three registrations for the remaining two spots, but on Saturday…
Earlier this winter I was awestruck by the enormous avalanche near Valdez, Alaska, that covered the highway with 40 feet of debris and blocked up the Lowe River, creating a lake upstream. I saw another similar story yesterday, courtesy of the Yale’s environment360 blog. Recent images from a NASA Landsat satellite showed a landslide in…
January 20 Update Registrations have been coming through all weekend, and several trips actually already have more registrations than there are spots. Please proceed with registering for you first-choice trip, as all registrations received through the end of the day will be considered equally to those received earlier. (First-come, first-serve starts tomorrow.) However, if you…
Earlier this morning I opened registration for three select guides trips: Backpacking Fundamentals — Feb 14-16 — West Texas Backpacking Fundamentals — Feb 17-19 — West Texas Winter Backpacking — Feb 28 – Mar 1 — Colorado The West Texas trips are conveniently scheduled over Presidents Day weekend, which should ease the long drive from…
On the flight home from my last guided trip of 2013 three weeks ago, I began outlining my schedule for next year. Finalizing it takes time: it requires input from a number of people (e.g. Amanda, assistant guides, partners), hinges on the availability of commercial permits for land use, and — most important — demands…
Watch this inspiring new video from Backcountry.com that gets down to the gritty — and sometimes bloody –motivations behind outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers. Impressive scenic footage is married to a powerful message reminding the viewer that “we” endure much in order to do these things that we not only enjoy, but need. As the narrator states in his calm,…
New Fastest Known Times (FKT’s) were recently set on both the John Muir Trail (JMT) and Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The PCT record has been especially big news within and beyond the hiking community. On the JMT, ultra runners Hal Koerner and Mike Wolfe covered the 224-mile distance in 3 days, 12 hours, and 41…
For sale: GoLiteShangri La 2 Tents Condition: Brand new, with tags, never even been unrolled Cost: $135 each, CONUS shipping included Quantity: 2 available sold out (as of 7:30 MDT) Product specs Sleeps: 2 people, plus gear or dog (45 square feet of floor space) Color: Evergreen Includes: tarp, nest, and stakes (6) Weight: 24 oz…
There is one spot available on each of the Alaska Adventure sessions I am running in June. This 7-day backpacking trip will include a packrafting component, as we will use them to ferry across big rivers and to float rivers that are moving in our desired direction of travel. The location is the Eastern Alaska…
Earlier this week I received an email from Bruce Matthews, Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association, asking a small favor to place an encouraging phone call to Luke Jordan (a.k.a. “Strider”), who is currently attempting a thru-hike of the NCT. Luke started his trip on March 27 at the NCT’s western terminus, Lake…