Without a doubt elevation gain can do some pretty nasty things to your body. Most outdoor adventures have heard of AMS – Acute Mountain Sickness. It can cause severe headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Fluids accumulating in tissue, known as edema, can make a bad situation worse, much worse. If fluid … Continue reading
The word backpacking means carrying all your belongings on your back. The word by itself, however, does not really tell the entire story. For example backpacking in the backcountry is very different than backpacking in the frontcountry. It could mean the difference between: hiking 20 miles and sleeping on the ground … Continue reading
Readily available technology, known as photo stitching, is allowing casual photographers to easily create amazing images. The technical terms used vary by vendor, but to the lay person they end up sounding pretty much like: Really cool 3D virtual reality things you can spin around in and look at everything … Continue reading
Let me start by saying that I am neither a caveman nor an expert in paleolithic food consumption. I have not published a PhD dissertation comparing The China Study with benefits of dino-dining. I leave dietary science research to the more qualified, or at least the more openly opinionated. I’m … Continue reading
In terms of wilderness safety, there is only so much you can do. And yet, there really is so much you can do. If doing so for yourself is not motivating enough, then do it for someone else. Do it for a loved one waiting at home, or a traveling … Continue reading
Removing harmful pathogens from questionable water sources is a challenge for any outdoor enthusiast. The most common methods are boiling, filtering, chemically treating, and exposing to UV light. When most of us think of UV light, we think of an expensive battery powered device, such as a Steripen™. The sun, … Continue reading
It seems during the biblical “wilderness of the wandering” six items could be found in the Sinaitic Tabernacle: an ark – a gold overlaid chest of acacia wood a table of shewbread – a gold overlaid bread board a lampstand – a seven branched light stand an alter of incense … Continue reading
A clear night sky in the wilderness offers spectacular views of celestial objects, including the International Space Station (ISS). After all, the dang thing weighs 954,334.8 pounds and covers an area of 26,909.78 square feet. I mean you’d have to be practically blind not to see it. According to the … Continue reading
New employees of any company or organization are faced with digging their way through various policy and procedure handbooks. Typical tomes requiring shoveling include volumes on workplace health and safety, anti-discrimination policy, sexual harassment, and most recently the dos and don’ts of bullying. These manuals are typically painful to read … Continue reading
Ambiguity is fun. Is Logan Bread the answer, or simply part of the question? Or perhaps, both? I was at a dinner party recently where a woman, after sampling a brownie-like item declared: This tastes healthy. There was immediate recognition, by all within ear shot, exactly what was meant. Needless … Continue reading
As with most griefs, there are five stages of wilderness laundry: Denial: I don’t smell anything. Why are you sitting way over there? Anger: Seriously, it is not that bad! Besides, you don’t exactly smell pine scented! Bargaining: Listen, I’ll take a quick dip in the lake when we get … Continue reading
Those of us of a certain age remember Euell Gibbons, a man of seemingly normal human intelligence, declaring on network television: “Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” What an idiot! Not Euell, me. Years I wandered through thick pine forest, lugging my rolled oats and dirt flavored … Continue reading
Leave No Trace principles limit our wilderness take home pay to memories and photographs. Since memories quickly fade with age, we should probably give these photograph things a snap more exposure. Professional photographers aside, most of us set our artistic dial on decent. Decent seems to be the minimum level … Continue reading
Wilderness adventure brings to mind two conflicting persona’s – the rugged outdoor survivalist matching wits with Mother Nature, and his cousin the Nature Channel HDTV voyeur. Each labors for his love. The former hacks free his boulder trapped arm with a penknife, while the latter pries free his remote control … Continue reading
The term flashpacker usually refers to an urban backpacker with an upscale budget. An urban backpacker, as opposed to a wilderness backpacker, is someone traveling in a low cost manner with the primary objective of extending the trip. Imagine a college student resting his weary head against a ragged old … Continue reading
Backpacking with small children is mental, and I mean that in every possible sense. To do so requires Olympic class mental gymnastics and probably some mandatory drug testing. Consider for a moment oil and vinegar. At first they don’t seem to go well together, but if you shake them really really hard … Continue reading
In most of our United States anyone serving food to the public, including a wilderness guide preparing meals in the backcountry, should be Food Handler Certified. The goal is preventing food borne illnesses. The industry certification covers standard topics such as causes of food borne illness, factors that contribute to … Continue reading
Permits? We don’t need no stinking permits! Or do we? Backpackers love to travel in spectacular remote wildernesses. These highly desirable lands however are not controlled by a single entity. Understanding the mountainous range of permit requirements can feel as wild as the wilderness you want to backpack. As an … Continue reading
![By Vinish K Saini from Chandigarh, India (Moon n Venus played hide-and-seek) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://howtowilderness.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/800px-Voobie_-_Moon_n_Venus_played_hide-and-seek_by-sa-150x150.jpg "800px-Voobie_-_Moon_n_Venus_played_hide-and-seek_(by-sa)")
Star Struck You don’t just want to be a star gazer. Anyone capable of tilting their head back at night can be that. You want to be a Rock Star Gazer. A Rock Star Gazer is a gazer who says: That red star is Betelgeuse. It represents the arm pit … Continue reading
There are a wide variety of tent shapes and sizes, each reflecting the personality and style of their owner. In spite of their apparent differences, most tents are designed to solve a common fundamental challenge – how to efficiently protect the tent occupant from the elements. A wilderness shelter can … Continue reading
View Calendar
✔ Subscribe
Add to Google