Get Out More Tour

 Let’s say you’re preparing for an epic backpacking adventure, you’re gathering all the essential supplies, and you’re adding the trip enhancers you need to ensure your trip is unforgettable.  You know you need to go lightweight because the plan is to hike multiple miles each day and you’re visiting a destination that offers those never ending and breathtaking views that come standard with terrain that has plenty of ups and downs.  But hey, it’s an epic trip, so you wouldn’t even consider leaving some of the most important enhancers behind. Read the rest of this entry »

He promised himself he wouldn’t do it, but he did. He couldn’t help it really. When you have a genuine passion inside you, sometimes it just flows out.

Last night the 2012 Get Out More Tour kicked off in Mobile Alabama at a fantastic outdoor outfitter called Alabama Outdoors. A crowd of over 70 people gathered in search of the tips and techniques that represent all things Backpacker Magazine and we couldn’t have been more excited to see the standing room only crowd roll in to help get the first event of the year kicked off with a full house. Read the rest of this entry »

Backpacker magazine announces the launch of the 12^th annual Get Out More Tour, an interactive mobile media and education outreach program designed to inspire readers and encourage participation in active outdoor pursuits.

The Get Out More Tour makes stops at 64 locations including Read the rest of this entry »

 Quiet will never be the same.  It can’t, at least not in our ears.  As it turns out, the quiet we thought we knew wasn’t really quiet at all.  And we’ve been in some really quiet places. Places like the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park have a quiet that is truly felt, not just heard.  Our visit to Guadalupe Mountains National Park for a backpacking trip into McKittrick Canyon reintroduced us to that feeling of quiet, but this time it felt more intense than we had ever…well… not-heard.

We discovered the quiet of McKittrick Canyon in the southwest corner of Texas while in search of another of “America’s Best Hikes” (January 2011 Readers’ Choice Issue of Backpacker Magazine).  We have been chasing down winning backcountry adventures in amazing destinations all over the United States this year… Read the rest of this entry »

 We live in a world that is always changing.  How do you feel about that?  Some change is good, and some change is bad?

Backpacking gear for example, it’s evolving right before our eyes.  Tents and packs are getting lighter and more durable, boots are being created to match our exact activity and precise destination, and satellite technology  provide the ability to update facebook and twitter from just about anywhere on the planet.  Aren’t these all good changes?

Some people resist change, some folks invite it.

Whatever your take, this time of the year it’s difficult to hide from change. Read the rest of this entry »

 On the drive into Toulumne Meadows we were thumbing through the Yosemite Guide and the Park Brochure/ Map.

In the “Wild Yosemite” section of the brochure/park map that the Yosemite Rangers offer to each car rolling into the National Park, there is a line that reads, “In wilderness, people can sense being a part of the whole community of life on Earth”.  The “Wild Yosemite” paragraph is in the top right hand corner of the map side of the informative publication.

In the bottom left corner is the “Yosemite Basics” paragraph. Read the rest of this entry »

 “Was that thunder?” Sheri asked as she surveyed the blue skies above Aasgard Pass.  One of Randy’s biggest backcountry fears is lightning, so standing on a boulder near the top of an alpine Pass is not exactly the place Randy wants to be when an echoing rumble comes rolling across the mountainside. The ascent to Aasgard Pass (7841 ft.) from the edge of Colchuck Lake (5570 ft.) offers tons of open granite exposure, so if it was thunder we were hearing we would have needed to search out lower ground. 

Aasgard pass was our gateway to the Enchantment Lakes Basin.  The route we were following was voted one of America’s Best Hikes in Backpacker Magazine’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Issue.  The diverse combination of steep granite peaks, deep forested valleys, and basins running with crystal clear waters flowing from intense blue to emerald green alpine lakes, makes this destination a magical place truly worthy of the title Enchantments.  See our exact route in our SPOT Adventure. Read the rest of this entry »

 “I’m turning back”, Caroline declared between her panting breaths.  

Randy was walking behind Caroline, so both his point of view and the fact that he had just witnessed as Caroline conquered the extended climb, had allowed him to see Caroline’s witty grin and sense her sly sarcasm as she intentionally paused just below West Maroon Pass, the highest elevation of our entire route, to announce that she had had enough.

Sheri, on the other hand, had been sitting on top of the saddle below Belleview Mountain awaiting our arrival, so she was contently distracted by the unmatched beauty in her surrounding views of the Maroon Bells and Pyramid Peak as she dramatically replied, “No Caroline don’t stop now, you’re here, this is the top!” Read the rest of this entry »