By Ken “Granny Gear” Hale
Five of us stood on a large rock outcropping just past Devils Peak on the PCT in southern Oregon. As I watched, a large cumulus cloud hovered over the next ridge between us and our planned destination that day, Mazama Village in Crater Lake National ... Read more
By Lynn Shapiro & Patti McCarthy
Imagine learning about a challenge that somehow calls to you. It might be a mountain you’d like to climb, a sea you’d like to sail, a trail you’d like to hike. You research, study, plan and execute. You make arrangements, your life is changed, ... Read more
By Howard Koster
Late one recent morning, Phoenix (Rianne) and I were making our way through the North Cascade mountains toward the Canadian border when we came across a small tent set up in a marshy area directly next to the trail. Outside the tent were a backpack and a ... Read more
Have you seen our extensive advice about stream crossing safety for hikers and backpackers?
By Charles Williams
In 2016 I hiked the California section of the PCT. This trip brought me to the Southern Sierra in the month of June. As in many years, there was significant runoff from snowmelt ... Read more
A massive amount of snow fell in the mountains over the winter and into spring. You know that. But what is striking about this year’s snowpack is its persistence. We can’t emphasize enough how dangerous early season travel in the mountains might be this year.
Cornices are hanging over the ... Read more
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” — Dr. Suess
We are experiencing a new environment, one defined by change and loss.
Our forests are dying. Visit the oak trees at Burnt Rancheria Campground near the Pacific ... Read more
By Mary Anne Chute Lynch
If you do not want to be one of those first-time thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail who quits or must be rescued within the first 20 miles, talk to Thomas Claiborne at the southern terminus.
A 2014 thru-hiker—trail name “Dr. Camel”—Thomas will be a ... Read more
By Logan “Unitic” McCulloch
Hiking the Appalachian Trail was high on my bucket list. And it might have remained there indefinitely but for a life-altering experience I had beginning in May 2011.
Several months after a backpacking trip in Mammoth Cave National Park, I developed a case of disseminated borreliosis ... Read more
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