Despite being a meticulous planner, sometimes I don’t end up making camping reservations as early as I should. And that means the dates I want are often sold out. Recently I’ve been testing out some camping cancellation apps, and have been pleasantly surprised with the results. If you haven’t heard, these camping reservation notifiers send …
Backpacking
If you’re heading out for a hike in the winter, you are probably going to encounter ice and snow. But how will you stop yourself from slipping? Should you bring microspikes? Or crampons? Or snowshoes? And what’s the difference? In this post, I’ll break down microspikes vs. crampons vs. snowshoes. I’ve been winter hiking and …
I live in Squamish, BC on Canada’s wet, I mean West Coast and it rains a lot here. If I waited for it to stop raining, I probably would never get outside. Hiking in the rain can be really beautiful if you know how to stay safe, keep dry, and have fun. I’ve got tons …
Backpacking is a natural extension of day hiking as you trek further into the wilderness. The major downside is having to carry all that gear. I’ve been backpacking for 20 years and have come up with lots of ways to reduce your backpack weight. I’m definitely not an ultralight hiker (more on what that is …
Have you seen the price of prepackaged backpacking meals lately? I can’t believe how expensive they have gotten. It is so much cheaper to make your own grocery store backpacking meals. It takes a little bit of planning to put together your own hiking dinners, but I think it’s worth it. You save money, you …
Every few summers, I get stung by bees or wasps while hiking. Usually, it’s because I stumble across an underground nest I didn’t know was there. Stinging insects are a fact of life while hiking. But there are some ways to avoid them. After hearing reports of tons of wasp nests on my local trails …
If you’re human, you sweat when hiking. And that makes your hiking clothing smell bad. But you don’t have to throw away your stinky clothes. I’ve got a complete guide to getting the smell out of hiking clothes. The advice in this guide covers hiking clothing like base layers (long underwear) shirts, pants, fleece jackets, …
The longest night of my life was on a cold camping trip. I didn’t sleep at all! Since then I’ve refined my approach on hundreds of camping trips and figured out how to stay warm in a tent in all kinds of weather. This post has over 40 tips for staying warm while camping. I’m …
Many people think backpacking season ends on Labor Day weekend. Well, they’re wrong! September and October can be great times to go backpacking, as long as you are prepared. Here are my top fall backpacking tips to make sure you have fun and stay warm. Research a Destination… and a Backup Plan (or Two) The first step of …
Finding a weather forecast for hiking can be tough because most weather apps just have forecasts for cities and towns. Since it’s so important to know the weather when you hike, I’ve put together a complete guide to the best weather apps for hiking. I’ve been hiking and backpacking for several decades, usually in the …