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12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 3

By |December 14th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts, Current|Comments Off on 12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 3

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift 3: Dress your dirtbag

Give your hiker something they might wear on the trail! Hikers need a warm hat and a sun hat on the trail, and it’s always nice to have required items to be fun as well as functional. Other necessary wardrobe items are shirts, shorts/skirts/ or maybe pants, but these can be more specific & will require figuring out your hiker’s preferences.
I only wear a few things while I’m adventuring, but whatever they are will become my favorite outfit for months. Those garments I wear become a part of me, and it’s great if some of that hiking uniform reminds me of someone I love back home. It might sound a little funny, but I feel less lonely when I am wearing something that was given to me.
Hikertrash makes great lightweight trucker hats & visors, and 5% of each purchase goes to supporting trail advocacy groups. They make really cool shirts, stickers, and beer cozies too! My friend Pepper is currently using his Hikertrash beer Cozies to keep his water bottle insulated while hiking the PCT this winter.
Purple Rain Skirts sews up high quality hiking skirts that any skirt wearing hiker would want. I have yet to try one of these skirts on, but I have one on my christmas list this year. Hopefully next hiking season I’ll be flying down the trail rockin’ a Purple Rain Skirt!
Fun warm hats are a great way to make sure your hiker stays cozy on the trail. My sister let me borrow one of her hats years ago, and it has become my main trail hat. The pattern is great, and the fleece liner makes it soft […]

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12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 2

By |December 13th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts, Current|Comments Off on 12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 2

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift 2: Lightweight Libations!

Every hiker has to drink water, but plain water can get boring, and some water requires a disguise in order to ingest.

Add some pizzaz to your hiker’s beverage bar by tossing some of these treats in their stocking. When they mug up on their next adventure they will have you to thank!

 

 

Coffee:

Starbucks Via packets make an amazing cup of coffee from a small packet of powder. Last winterAdam’s mom gave him a pack of the Christmas Blend Via and we happily “brewed” them up each morning of our Idaho Hotsprings bike tour last summer.

 

 

 

Mount Hagen Organic Instant Coffeemakes a pretty tasty cup of joe, and the production ethics of the company are in line with the wilderness your hiker will be sipping it in.

 

 

Hot or cold:

Ginger Honey Crystals make up one of my favorite backcountry drinks. These are spicy, sweet, and are soothing to an upset stomach

Chai Powder is absolutely excellent cold or hot. Some of my favorites are the Trader Joes Chai Powder and Oregon Chai packets

Cold:

Nunn Tabs create a refreshing drink that does a good job of covering up cow water. Nuun is a little out of the average hiker budget, but most will appreciate having the opportunity to drink it up.

Crystal Lite Pure is a bit more normal, but still can be hard to find in some trail towns. These are a good daily drinker.

Powdered Coconut Water is AMAZING! I really like coconut water in the front country, and to be able to drink it up on the way up a steep, hot climb on the trail just feels right. Coco Hydro is just one of many delicious brands out there.

End of day Celebration:

BACKCOUNTRY […]

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12 Gifts for Hikers, Day 1

By |December 12th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts, AT, Bigfoot Trail, Current, PCT|Comments Off on 12 Gifts for Hikers, Day 1

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift One: Cheap Good Sleep

A new floor:

Window Film Groundsheet (or polycryo from Gossamer Gear)          Weight:2oz               Cost: $5-$15

If your hiker likes to sleep under a tarp (floorless shelter), or is a cowboy camper (out under the stars), they need a ground sheet. My favorite ground sheet is a rectangle of Window Film. It looks like saran wrap and it’s super light weight, about 2 ounces will cover 4’x6′.

Window film isn’t super durable, but if treated gently a piece can last 500-1000 miles. It’s always nice to have a fresh extra waiting in a bounce box though, so you might want to splurge and get the multi window pack or a roll when you head to the hardware store. ACE has “cut to fit” window kits, which are nice because you can choose the dimensions of your floor.

 

A mattress enhancer/ seat/ yoga mat:

1/8″ Thinlight pad from Gossamer Gear           Weight: 2.5 oz                Cost: $16

Your hiker will be stoked to have a little extra insulation from the cold ground at night regardless of if they sleep in a tent or a tarp. This full length pad has become one of my favorite pieces of gear. I sit on it at almost every break, I put my shorty mattress on top of it at night, and it’s great for stretching & yoga. In winter this matt works great to insulate air mattresses from the snow. It can be folded and packed on the top of your pack, adding rain protection & helping to keep your perishables and water a couple degrees cooler.

For more substantial […]

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Stoking adventure fire: 5 books to get you through winter

By |December 10th, 2014|2014 posts, AT, Current, Japhy Ryder, PCT|Comments Off on Stoking adventure fire: 5 books to get you through winter

Last week up at the mountain it rained on top of a beautiful fresh pile of 11 inches of fluffy powder. When I went to bed I had been excited to get up, gear up, and head up to Mt. Bachelor for my first day of the ski season. Reading the report in the morning dashed my hopes- all that beautiful snow was now encrusted by a lens of heavy snow.

The snow mess meant that instead of having a wonderful morning of playing in the mountains I was going to have to turn my focus back to the endless ruble pile of my own personal life maintenance. Adam and I recently returned home from a few months of work down in the Mojave, and we have stacks of mail to sort, a yard to clean up, firewood to split, map sets to edit, a kitchen remodel to plan, huge lists of projects to sew, build, create … The to do list is huge and overwhelming.

Distractions under these circumstances are welcome. I need reminders that adventures and free time exist. Following an adventure or two, watching movies about hiking, and reading books about fresh air and freedom are my remedy for feeling overwhelmed. Below I have listed 5 of my favorite books to help stoke your expedition fire and stave off the winter blues. Happy armchair adventures!

5 adventure books to get you through winter:

Rowing to Latitude, Jill Fredston

I discovered this book years before I started thru-hiking, and it planted some kind of seed that wouldn’t die. This book helped me realize that people do crazy sounding adventures- like rowing around Alaska- year after year. Jill and her husband, Doug, treat their summer adventures just as […]

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