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Posts about backpacking: skills, gear, destinations, trips, and more.

Water Purification in the Backcountry

Backcountry streams may look crystal-pure, but they often harbor microorganisms that can make you sick. Whether you’re surviving a plane crash or out in the wilderness deliberately, you need water purification. There are a lot of water purification methods available. Today we’ll talk briefly about them, and see some examples.

So you want to hike with your dog – gear

I’ve covered location and safety in previous posts. This post will look at the equipment we take when our dog goes backpacking with us. Jaxon carries some of his own equipment in his pack and we carry the rest.

So you want to hike with your dog – Safety and care on the trail

In the first post in this series, I talked about some of the considerations on whether or not you should take your pet on a trip with you. Today, I plan to discuss some of the health and safety concerns you may want to think about while hiking and camping with your dog.

There’s a (button) hole in my bandana!

It may seem like an odd concept, but I sew a button hole on my bandanas. A bandana is an amazingly useful piece of outdoor kit. It can act as washcloth, towel, strainer, dust mask, handkerchief, bandage, and even, with care, a holder for hot items.

Stop the Shenanigans at Hoosier National Forest!

Hoosier National Forest, which oversees Charles C. Deam Wilderness, is proposing some Draconian new camping rules for the Wilderness. That’s bad, but there’s worse. The change will also allow them to arbitrarily change the rules in the future without any way to prevent it. We have to stop this!

Let’s Make an Ultralight Lid

A while back I found a really light titanium bowl, and I intended to use it as an ultralight cooking pot for solo backpacking. But it didn’t come with a lid, and you really need one to cook efficiently. So the project went to the back burner, so to speak, and I used the pot I already had. But today we’re going to finish the build.

So you want to hike with your dog – Location, Location!

We have taken Jaxon on many hiking and camping trips over the years. He’s an excellent hiker and a slightly nervous camper. We worked with Jaxon for a while before we took him out overnight. If you want to take your dog out hiking out with you, here are some things to consider. Our posts will mostly be about dogs because that is what we know, but much of it applies to any pet.

Why I love backpacking: Seasons – Fall

Every season brings new beauty to the deciduous forests. Autumn brings a wide array of colors to enjoy. Crisp days and cool nights make for good hiking and sleeping. Fall pictures are glorious to look at.

Image shows oak leaves, green in the centers and shading towards red at the outer edges.
A close up shot of oak leaves turning taken in October 2013.

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July is a big holiday in the United States. It is celebrated by picnics, family gatherings, parades, festivals, and fireworks. I thought it might be a nice time for some reflection on some of the past celebrations.

What Is Your Favorite Outdoor Place, and Why?

As some of you may know, I work at the local REI store, selling camping equipment. When you hire on at REI, they ask you to name your favorite outdoor place, and they have it engraved on your name tag, below your name. The other people in my hire group were naming off all the big-name, big-deal destinations. You had Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, The Smokies, and so on.

When it came my turn, I didn’t have a good answer. I’d never been to the places the other folks mentioned, though I wanted to see them all.

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