Meet Raymond. You arrive at the park entrance center on your international vacation hoping to do some mountain climbing before you fly home. The park headquarters just assigned Raymond to be your guide on a 3-day expedition to summit the most technical mountain climb in the Philippines. He does not speak English. Do you trust […] Read more…
Labor Day has passed and fall is in the air. For us outdoors lovers, that means prime camping season is in full swing. As temperatures start to fall, the dirt hardens, the rock dries out and those pesky bugs finally start to go away. The fall season is the optimal season for camping for a […] Read more…
Returning from a hiking trip in Europe, my mother and I recently took advantage of a two-day stopover in Iceland. While two nights wasn’t nearly long enough to get an adequate look at everything Iceland has to offer, it was all the time I had before I needed to return to the US for work […] Read more…
I’d already been entrusted with the keys to their truck and the care of their dogs before my Alaskan cousins would even consider letting me in on the secret location of the family berry patch. When I was finally invited to go berry-picking with them – three years after I’d started working in Alaska during […] Read more…
There are a handful of knots that every outdoor enthusiast should know. Having a strong background in ropework can improve the quality of a trip 10 fold. Rope is surprisingly useful in a pinch and having a little background really helps. Knot tying is like math, the more you practice the better you are. Bowline […] Read more…
One thing I notice after returning to my home in Alaska after nearly three months working and traveling elsewhere: I spend a lot more time than I remember standing in lines. With the population of the town nearly doubling with the influx of snowbirds and seasonal workers, not to mention the large numbers of tourists […] Read more…
Fred Beckey is a god damn legend. Don’t know who he is? Well, he’s the original Dirtbag, he started the whole thing, quit his job, quit society and dedicated everything he had to be in the mountains. Ski bums, river rats, gear heads, van life, it all spawned from Fred Beckey. Sure, if it weren’t […] Read more…
If you spend any time recreating in outdoor areas – especially more remote areas, where you may be miles from the nearest road, hospital, or glimmer of cell service – you should consider taking a wilderness medicine course. These are offered by a wide range of outdoor organizations and range in duration from a couple […] Read more…
There’s a very important birthday coming up later this summer, on August 26th, to be exact. This date commemorates President Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 signing of legislation officially creating the National Park Service. The National Park Service is making the most of this historic milestone, with many parks planning special events around the centennial, such as hayrides at Great […] Read more…
So, for the past year or so, Jared Leto has been popping up all over the outdoor industry and no one has really known why. Sure, we all knew that he was making a film about the outdoors, and yes, we all knew that he was rolling deep with the best of the best of […] Read more…