Hiking

Here are 10 hiking and backpacking gear maintenance tasks to put on your to-do list this December. With the winter hiking and backpacking season starting, it’s worthwhile to repair your existing hiking gear and to switch to a few winter-specific items. Winter can just be brutal on clothing, footwear, and gear but the stuff is expensive, and these days, scarce, so it pays to extend its lifetime. In my stomping grounds, you can tell the more seasoned hikers from the newbies by the number of repairs that they’ve made to their winter gear over the years. 1. Add snow baskets to your trekking poles. Summer baskets and snow baskets Snow baskets provide flotation for your trekking poles and prevent them from sinking deeply into snow when hiking. It’s important to put them on before the first significant snowfall. A lot of inexpensive trekking poles don’t come with trekking pole baskets, so it’s best to pick up a pair that do, or to…

Mt Moriah is a 4000 footer overlooking the town of Gorham, NH, at the north end of the Carter Mountain Range in the White Mountains. There are a number of different trails that climb to the summit, but the most direct is the Carter Moriah Trail continues past the summit over North,…

Climbing the White Mountain 4000 footers gets more difficult in November with the onset of colder weather, seasonal and fire road closings, cold water crossings, and fewer daylight hours. But the show must go on if you’re hiking The White Mountain 4000 Footer Grid, which requires hiking all 48 of the 4000…

Insulated winter water bottle holders capable of holding 32 oz wide mouth bottles are in very short supply this year. The best-insulated carriers from Forty Below, Mountainsmith, and Outdoor Research are either sold out or back-ordered due to supply chain delays. Here’s an alternative product, the XL Powerextra Neoprene Camera Lens Holder,…

The Merrell Thermo Overlook 2 Tall WP is an insulated 400g waterproof/breathable winter hiking boot rated to -40F/-40C. These unisex boots (w/ men’s sizing) come up to mid-calf for maximum heat retention, they have a seamless wraparound waterproof rand, fleece lining, and a gaiter ring above the toes. A pronounced forefoot rocker…

There’s an art to winter water hydration and creating an insulation system that keeps your water from freezing, but still maintains it at a drinkable temperature. Like any art form, there are many different systems and gear combinations that you could use to stay hydrated in winter. Here’s an approach to winter…

Sealskinz Waterproof Cold-Weather Work Gloves are multi-use winter gloves perfect for splitting wood, shoveling snow, downhill skiing, ice climbing, and winter hikes. You can tell they’re intended for winter sports because they have loops on the back of the index finger to hook onto a climbing harness. Being leather, there is a…

An inverted canister stove is a canister stove that can burn canister gas (an isobutane/propane mix) in lower temperatures than a regular canister stove. It’s good for winter camping when the nighttime temperature drops below 15 degrees (F). That’s the temperature at which point regular (upright) canister stoves like a Jetboil Flash,…

The Nite Ize Radiant 170 Clip Light turns any billed cap into a headlamp. Hat clip lights used to be all the rage with hikers, but until now they’ve been eclipsed by bigger, brighter, and rechargeable headlamps. But if you live and hike in your ball cap, you’ll quickly discover that headlamps…

Philip Werner November 15, 2021 Gift Guides It can be difficult to pick good backpacking gifts if you’re not an expert backpacker or hiker. That’s why we’ve pulled together this list of great backpacking gifts for $50 or less to help you get your…

Outdoor Research Transcendent Down Gloves provide great warmth and excellent dexterity, which can be a difficult combination to achieve in an insulated winter glove. While mitts and mitten shells are a winter hiking essential, they don’t provide enough dexterity to hold an ice ax, melt snow, or check a GPS. My preference is…

A headlamp is one of the most important 10 essentials for backpacking, hiking, and any kind of outdoor adventure sport. Using your smartphone as a flashlight doesn’t cut it. But the days of old-school AA and AAA battery-powered headlamps are history.  USB rechargeable headlamps have become ubiquitous and are less wasteful because…

Winter is a great time to gear up and get out for some cold weather hiking and snowshoeing adventure. The bugs are gone and so are the crowds, leaving the mountains and the hills to those who can’t live without their weekly dose of sun and snow. Here are expert 20 gift…

Wiggy’s is a cottage manufacturer that makes a variety of products ranging from cold weather sleeping bags to insulated outwear for the wilderness hunting/military market. Their claim to fame is insulation they call Lamilite, which is a popular synthetic insulation called Climashield laminated to nylon. They hold at least one patent on…

When gearing up for winter day hiking you want footwear, clothing, and traction aids that can be used across a fairly wide range of temperatures, wind speeds, sun, precipitation types, and surface conditions. For example, typical winter weather includes: Temperatures: from 40 degrees down to 20 below zero (Fahrenheit)Wind speeds: up to 50…

Winter bivy sacks were first developed as solo shelters for mountaineering and climbing where participants were interested in lightweight and highly compressible camping gear. Bivy Sacks are also an attractive option for backpacking hunters, backcountry skiers, and winter backpackers who want the lightest and smallest shelter they can carry for overnight or…

Backpacking gear has gotten a lot lighter in recent years due to the development of lighter weight materials and fabrics which means that you can lighten your load by swapping out old gear for new lighter weight items or feel less guilty about bringing some luxury items along that you’d leave at…

Winter tents and shelters for mountaineering, winter backpacking, and backcountry skiing tours need to be stronger and wind-worthy for camping in exposed windy terrain that is subject to heavy snow loads. Some are single-walled since they’re only intended for winter use when insect protection is not needed. Our preference is for lightweight…

Here are 10 hiking and backpacking gear maintenance tasks to put on your to-do list this November. With the three-season hiking and backpacking season winding down, it’s worthwhile to maintain your hiking and camping gear before packing it away for next spring or before using it this winter. Outdoor gear is expensive.

There are times when you need to wear ski goggles and a balaclava that provides full-face protection on winter hikes, especially above treeline when there’s wind and blowing snow. While it sounds simple, it takes some practice to make sure that your ski goggles don’t fog up and make it impossible to…

Hard shell jackets are a burly type of rain jacket used for winter hiking as a windproof and waterproof clothing layer. They have a richer set of temperature regulation and storage features from warm weather rain jackets to help you avoid perspiration and carry extra gloves, hats, and navigation instruments. Hard shell…

by BestHike editor Rick McCharles Friends are planning to travel Peru in May / June 2022. Hiking will be part of that adventure. They’ll bring tents and sleeping bags, looking to hike independently as much as possible. Both are experienced in the Rocky Mountains. Peru trails can be higher —…

This is going to be a tough year to find good gifts for your hiking and backpacking friends with the supply chain issues plaguing the outdoor industry and the economy at large. Here are 25 backpacking gifts for $25 or less, that are available in stores today, that any hiker or backpack…

  The Long Trail (LT) was the first long distance trail ever established in America, and it’s also one of the most rugged with steep ascents and long spells of wet weather. The LT traverses the entire state of Vermont – from the border of Massachusetts to the border of Canada – and…

My friend Guthook (Ryan Lynn) and I try to get together every few years for a backpacking trip to reconnect and catch up. We’re in touch online, but there’s nothing like getting out into the woods, climbing a few mountains, and camping out for getting to the heart of things. On this…

The Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100, 23F Degree Down Packable Puffer Backpacking Jacket ($80) is a no-frills hooded down jacket designed for use as a lightweight three-season insulation layer when camping or during hiking and backpacking rest stops to avoid becoming chilled. Insulated with 800 fill power down, it’s surprisingly inexpensive compared to…

The Sea-to-Summit Ether Light XT Extreme Sleeping Pad is an insulated inflatable sleeping pad that is 4″ thick and has an R-value of 6.2 making it suitable for cold weather backpacking and camping use. Weighing 25.6 oz, it’s the winter version of the three-season Sea-to-Summit Ether Light XT Sleeping Pad which I…

  Tired of tossing and turning in your tent because you’re too cold to sleep? Give the Therm-a-Rest XTherm a try. With an R-Value (insulation value) of 6.9 and weighing in at under a pound, this pad is perfect for 4-season adventures and for those who tend to sleep cold. For this reason,…

  Winter camping is a unique experience that creates life-long memories. We love snowshoeing, building camps, and gathering with friends in our snow kitchens over steaming food and hot drinks. Winter camping might seem difficult at first, but it’s actually pretty simple and surprisingly comfortable with the right gear. We hope these…

I started the trail at Kaaterskill Falls Rail Trail. It was the site of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad Station, which was established in 1913. The trail was very wide and lined with old railroad ties. The original ad for this station stated it was “The Only All-Rail Route to the Catskill…