Lightweight Backpacking

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12 Gifts for Hikers, Day 7.

By |December 18th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts|Comments Off on 12 Gifts for Hikers, Day 7.

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift 6: Gear for rain & shine

Give your hiker a rain suit and an umbrella this winter. Protection from the elements is very important on the trail, and it can be so simple to provide. These are two low cost gifts that can help your hiker trim weight from their packs and give them some sanity and safety during nasty storms and relentless sun.

Driducks rain suits are super light (~ 10oz for top and bottom), super cheap (under $30), and they actually WORK! The pants can be kept as rain pants or easily converted to a rain skirt. At first it was hard to believe a jacket that looks like it’s made out of paper would function properly, but after a few storms on the Grand Enchantment Trail back in 2008, I was sold on the silliest rain gear ever. Driducks sizing is pretty huge, and there is no women’s cut. As long as your hiker doesn’t mind looking like they are wearing a bag, this rain suit is for them.

Umbrellas are multifunctional tools that provide shade, hope, and precip protection. On desert hikes my umbrella has become one of my favorite pieces of gear. The first time I ever carried an umbrella was on my wintery southbound hike of the Appalachian Trail. After getting soaked in a hurricane offshoot in the Mahoosucks I sloshed into town and picked up a pink purse sized umbrella. I used it most days of the AT until it shredded in the Smokies, and figured out how to strap it onto my pack so my hands could be free. Umbrellas don’t work too well in strong wind, but if you are […]

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12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 6

By |December 17th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts, Bigfoot Trail, Current, Japhy Ryder|Comments Off on 12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 6

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift 6: Snack Attack
Good trail snacks never stick around long enough to reach their expiration dates, and most hikers would rather eat a delicious bar than some granola thingy they can find in the store down the street. I have a secret bar stash that I draw from to keep me fueled on weekend trips, and I love finding tasty bars in my christmas stocking to replenish the cache. Below you will find a list of some of my favorite bars, and a little movie of Adam having a snack attack during a hot day on our Japhy Ryder Route hike in 2011.

1) Huppy Bars are yummy and nutritious bars created by my friend Lyndsay Hupp in Flagstaff. These bars have mostly organic ingredients & spirulina to get your greens in the backcountry. There are 5 excellent flavors, Coconut Date Ginger and Chocolate Berry Love are two favorites. Huppy Bar has a Bundle Of Yum holiday pack that I hope finds it’s way into my stocking this season.
2) Nut butter single serve packets. Not much beats the protein punch you can get from nut butters, and there are some absolutely delicious options in little packets these days. One of my favorite nut butters is Wild Friends Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter.
3)Picky Bars make delicious bars here in Bend, OR. The texture & flavor of these bars are great, and they are really good for you.

4)Honey Stinger makes all kinds of honey based treats, but their protein bars are really something special. There is not much better than sinking my teeth into a 20g Mint Chocolate Honey Stinger when I get the 10am snack attack. The chocolate coating can get a bit […]

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12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 4

By |December 15th, 2014|12 Gifts, 2014 posts, Current|Comments Off on 12 Gifts For Hikers, Day 4

12 Days of Trail Gifts For Under $50
Gift 4: Feet Treats

Feet are on the front line of any hike. Their condition and comfort can make or break an adventure, and there are a few things you can give your hiker’s feet to make them more likely to be stoked about being pounded into the ground for thousands of miles.
Dirty Girl Gaiters add sparkle as well as blister protection! These lightweight gaiters cover the opening of the shoe and the neck of the sock to prevent dirt, rocks, stickers, & bees from flopping in as you walk. Before getting a pair of these I had to wear my shoes really loosely and dump the rocks out at every break. Now my feet are less dirty at the end of the day, and I rarely have debris pile up in my shoe. My socks stay cleaner & last longer because they aren’t as gritty. If you can’t tell, I LOVE these gaiters. I’m guessing your hiker will too. You can choose from a bunch of fun patterns (they remind me of 80’s rollerskating rink outfits), and I bet she’d make up a custom pair if you found the perfect purple unicorn glitter print that she doesn’t have in stock.

Plantars Facsiitis Sleeves from Feetures! help keep my plantars Facsiitis from getting out of hand on the trail. If your hiker suffers from this form of foot misery this is a gift that has the power to turn a whole hike around. I wear mine each night as I sleep, and along with foot strengthening exercises, my PF no longer has me hobbling down the trail.

Socks!! We hikers trash socks, we need socks, we love socks! I like […]

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Reaching the Redwoods on the Bigfoot Trail

By |August 10th, 2014|2014 posts, Bigfoot Trail, Current|Comments Off on Reaching the Redwoods on the Bigfoot Trail

On the 28th of July I found myself suddenly out of the sunny mountains and walking into a fog enshrouded tsunami hazard zone. My hike ended when my feet left  pavement and sunk into the sand of the beach in Crescent City, and soon there after were dipped into the icy Pacific Ocean. There was something magical about ending a hike at the edge of the Pacific!

The last day of the Bigfoot Trail revealed  four final tree species, Redwoods, Red Cedar, Grand Fir, and Sitka Spruce within the last 15 miles. The morning walk through the Little Bald Hills was a review of many of the conifers I had met throughout the hike: Knobcone Pine, Jeffery Pine, Douglas Fir, Common Juniper, and Port Ortford Cedar to name a few. Day 20 turned out to be a fantastic grand finale to a wonderful thru-hike.

My time on the Bigfoot Trail was mostly bliss tinged with moments of misery in just the right amount to make it a solid adventure. Thru-hiking is never a cake walk, and I probably wouldn’t love it so much if there weren’t challenges like getting lost on overgrown trail or dealing with my ever present sole pain (sore & bruised feet). I loved the rugged, remote, and awe inspiring terrain of this route. There was never a dull moment, even the roadwalks were entertaining with their unique emerald triangle road trash and spectacular scenery.

Swimming was possible almost daily, and some of the swimming holes were in the top 10 pools of my life (check out the Stewart Fork of the Trinity and the North Fork of the Salmon!!). Discovering trees at each new mountain range helped ease the pain of the many […]

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