My wife and I have a permit for Paria Canyon starting Oct 22 but the weather forecast for the upstream catchment area isn't looking great. We are looking for some alternative (non-canyon) single and multi day trip ideas. We are fit, experienced backpackers and aren't deterred by rain or snow. We have a single vehicle (a 2wd van) and prefer loops. Any and all suggestions welcome!

Hi everyone! I've been hiking in Colorado a lot this year and about a month ago, my girlfriend, a friend of mine and I decided to take on the Four Pass Loop in Colorado. The loop that we did was around 30 miles and we went for 4 days/3 nights. We camped along the way, surrounded by stunning nature. The weather didn't always cooperate with us, with multiple afternoon rain showers and hailstorms.

I uploaded some of my favorite photos from this trip. I will go over the route we took to help anyone interested in backpacking in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass region.

Day 1:

We woke up early in Denver and drove to the Maroon Bells Welcome Center. This is where we parked our car and took a shuttle to the trailhead. Most people do this hike counter-clockwise but we decided to do it clockwise. We hiked in only 5 miles that day and camped about 1.5 miles away from West Maroon Pass.

Day 2:

On day 2, we had to climb over two passes: West Maroon and Frigid Air Pass. We hit these passes earlier in the day and the weather cooperated with us until we got close to our 2nd campsite about 7-8 miles in. We set up camp on this hill that overlooked a waterfall.

Day 3:

Day 3 was when we had to hike over Trail Rider Pass. Everyone that we met along the way warned us about how hard it was. It was hard but honestly not as bad as everyone was saying. The trail was a pretty consistent grade up with stunning views. We did get hit with a storm during our ascent but it stopped in time for us to get gorgeous views of Snowmass Lake. We hiked around 8 miles that day and camped as far up as we could to make the last day a bit easier.

Day 4:

This was the final day of our backpacking trip in the Four Pass Loop and in my opinion, Buckskin Pass offers the best views out of all of the passes. This day was around 7 miles but a lot of it was downhill. Seeing Snowmass Lake from the top of the 4th pass was surreal as we realized how far we had come.

If we did this again, I'd like to try it clockwise while adding in more miles to see more of the region.

I have made a full length silent hiking film if you’d rather watch: https://youtu.be/qdvgNn4FU4k?is=cBySF-REzTPlnO5I

Thank you for reading & let me know if you have any questions!

Hi everyone! My name is Bailey Swain, I’m a student at Mississippi State University, and my marketing class is conducting research on wilderness medicine. We would really appreciate your help by completing our survey! Your responses will help us better understand people’s interests and preferences regarding wilderness medicine courses.

Thank you for your time and for supporting our class project

Specifically the BearVaults are see through, and I'm wondering if preventing a bear from seeing the food would lower the length a bear decides to tamper with it. If they can't see the food would they have less motivation to break inside and/or give up faster?

Four of us hiked from Phillips Bench to String Lake September 6–9. About 39 miles and 9,300 feet of climbing, with nights at Marion Lake, South Fork Cascade, and Upper Paintbrush.

Days 2 and 3 were easily my favorites. We reached Hurricane Pass around sunset, and for about five minutes the Tetons lit up bright red. We stayed up there taking photos for 15–20 minutes. It was windy and cold enough that we had puffers, shells, gloves, and hoods on, but I had a hard time putting the camera away.

The next evening we caught another sunset on the climb from Lake Solitude to Paintbrush Divide. Every time we gained a little elevation, it felt like we got a few more minutes of sunset. The views looking back down North Fork Cascade and toward the Tetons were some of my favorites of the whole trip.

Both evenings ended with headlamp descents and finding camp in the dark. Our first three days were roughly 12 hours each, including breaks and photo stops. Those sunsets were absolutely worth it to me, but I’d want to get over Paintbrush earlier next time. The initial descent was steep, loose, and exposed, and we took it very slowly.

Our camps were private and worked well, though I came away wishing we’d included a night in North Fork Cascade. Walking through that zone and seeing the views back toward Grand Teton and Mount Owen made me realize I’d underestimated it while planning.

We had thunderstorms and wind the first night, then mostly clear hiking weather and almost no bugs. Saw bighorn sheep, deer, marmots, and pikas, but no bears or moose.

The forested part of the final descent felt pretty monotonous after the previous two days. By then our feet were sore and we were ready for food. Having the car waiting at String Lake was a very good decision.

This trip was supposed to be my 3rd attempt at Split Mountain, a 14er that eluded me twice due to snow and a climbing partner’s altitude sickness. This time I picked a partner I knew was tough as nails: Cameron Fath, Army Ranger and host of Netflix’s World’s Toughest Forces.

Accessing Split is such a huge pain, an hour of 4x4ing that left some pinstripes on my rig, that I wanted to get up there and summit once and for all. Unfortunately, due to the Rock Fire near Big Pine, Split Mountain was off the table. The funny thing is made a banner to give to Cam at the summit!

At the last minute, I scored an open Cottonwood Lakes permit and we pivoted to Mt. Langley. After this trip, I realize just how lucky we were to get this rare permit.

Our plan was to set out from the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead, hike 5–6 miles, and spend the night at Long Lake.

We also planned on doing some fishing and having fresh trout for dinner. The different lakes in this area have different fishing restrictions, but Long Lake was open for business with lures but no bait.

The Cottonwood Lakes trail is a classic. There was plenty of tree cover, a string of beautiful alpine lakes, lots of day hikers and day fishermen, and a creek flowing throughout. There were probably 20 people camping at Long Lake.

We fished with hand reels for about an hour at dusk. We got two bites but sadly no fish. Thankfully we brought a pound of frozen ground beef, taco seasoning, soft taco shells, and a cast iron pan for trail tacos.

I slept horribly because I brought a very lightweight sleeping bag and temperatures got down to around 40°F. Even with all my clothes on I was shivering. I often forget how much colder I sleep at altitude.

We got up at 5 am, ate a quick oatmeal breakfast and downed some instant coffee. By 5:30, we were on the trail heading up toward New Army Pass. We left most of our gear at the campsite, along with our food in a bear canister.

We hiked past High Lake and then up to the summit of New Army Pass. Once we got to the top of the pass, we had to hike downhill 400 feet, which was a bit demoralizing. The slog then continued all the way to the summit.

We had a quick celebration and photo op at the summit. There were a handful of other backpackers and some trail runners going up and down, but for most of the hike we were completely alone.

My least favorite part of the hike was having to climb back up those 400 feet to New Army Pass. The sun was fully out and frying my brain. After that, it was all downhill, and once we got to water and shade, my physical and mental state started to improve. I was so exhausted that I packed up our tent, moved it to a shady site, and took a 90-minute nap.

We got back to our car around 7 p.m. and immediately hit the Carl’s Jr. in Lone Pine before heading back to LA.

The final stats:
Distance 27.5 mi
Elevation Gain 5,417ft
Hiking Time 13h 26m
Calories burned 8,479

Mt. Langley via Cottonwood Lakes gets 5 stars from me. And if you’re not ready for a 28-mile slog to the summit and back, just camp at one of the lakes. They’re special.

I made a video documenting this trip. Check it out if you want the full experience

A two night, three day adventure out in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area.

I finally finished researching ways to deal with rodents eating/chewing stuff. Basically for food and anything with an odor store it in the bear canister. A mouse can't get in lmao.

For shoes store in tent because ppl woke up to shoes missing and they are more likely to eat them if you keep them outside. I'd rather wake up to a hole in the tent.

For trekking pole grips I'd just wash them with soap and water (or river/lake) literally every day. Otherwise this happens (https://imgur.com/a/porcupine-ate-trekking-poles-lrBYFQc). I can't store them in the tent because it's a trekking pole tent. Regardless, if they do get chewed I won't fix them. Unfortunately they don't make poles with plastic grips. Pretty stupid because this is a common problem.

The backpack was the most annoying. Number 1 is don't store food or anything with a strong odor in the bag; including sanitizer, unscented soap (yes, bears can smell it), and DEET lmao. Store ALL of that in the bear canister. For each of the below numbers we are assuming rodents are going for your bag regardless of food in it or not. There may be trace crumbs and THERE IS odor and they may go for it. Especially in populated campsites where they are basically trained to go for the bag no matter what.

1. If you store it inside the tent, mice will make a hole in tent and then a hole in your bag straight to whatever it is. You 90% of the time won't hear them, so no, you can't stop them.

2. If you store it in the vestibule, racoons can drag your bag away, and mice can still make holes. Also for both methods you risk a large animal trying to get in the tent.

3. You can store it outside the tent on ground with all pockets open. Will prevent mice from making holes. But still allows animals to drag the bag away and I don't want to empty bugs out of my bag.

4. You can bear hang it. Rodents will climb tree and down the rope and make holes in your bag. Spiders, ants, roaches will still make home in pockets if open.

5. The foolproof way that I found out works 99% of the time that rarely is used because 99% of ppl are stupid anyway and just sleep with their food lmao. Bear hang the bag (deer can't reach). On the end of the rope don't attach the bag. Attach a fishing line. Practically impossible for mice and especially larger animals to climb a fishing line. At the end of the fishing line have a carabiner and then the bag.

They technically can still attempt to climb down so there is a chance they drop down right on top of the bag. For that attach a rope to a tree trunk, then fishing line, then carabiner, and that to bottom of bag. Bag will be pulled to the side so if they attempt to climb the top rope and fall, it's not directly on the bag. Tip: Leave slack on the rope portion on both top and bottom to account for difference in distances.

This method pretty much 99% guarantees they aren't getting in the bag. Not even ants can climb a fishing line, so that keeps crawlers off too. The 1% is a flying squirrel or dumb luck that a rodent falls/jumps on the bag.

In the rain I'd simply put the entire backpack in a trash bag and pull the top line thru and tape off. Being that there is a fishing line leading to the bag there should be minimal water running to the bag.

For humans/large animals attach a tripwire alarm to the tree used for bottom rope using fishing line going straight to bag. Do similar setup for bear canister, but put bear canister under burlap camo to hide from humans. Will go off and alert you and hopefully scare the human/animal. If it doesn't, you are AWAKE and have a GUN.

Having to do that everyday would suck ass but I rather that than have my shit eaten/torn or full of bugs. Fortunate many people never have a problem. It really only matters in populated areas or shelters. Some places require you to sleep in a shelter. I won't.

I have been looking for an affordable ultralight tent for backpacking. A tent that could hold up to some wind, good and strong, but also lightweight. I know the criteria is quite a lot for an affordable tent but just looking to see if anyone has recommendations. I’ve been looking at the lanshan 1, watched a lot of videos and I think this is the right one for me. The OG lanshan 1 not the pro version (I don’t want to have to worry about condensation, and it’s worth it for the extra 0.2 pounds). Anyone have better recommendations over the lanshan 1 tent?

Hi everyone 👋 I am trying to plan out a backpacking trip to do half dome with my fiancé, mom, and dad this upcoming year. I’ve been to California as a small child, but don’t recall anything about it, so this’ll pretty much be my first time. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed about it and want to get everything planned and set up right. We’re all pretty fit and love the outdoors and have prior camping experience as well, but when it comes to planning stuff I feel like it’s going to be a lot of me and my fiancé doing the work to figure out the details on how/what to do. I haven’t decided how many days we’ll be out there, so I’m all ears for suggestions on destinations and locations!

I’m anticipating my parents will be flying out from Pennsylvania, and my fiancé and I may be driving out from Colorado. My fiancé and I have typically driven to our camping/adventure locations out here in the west (Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/New Mexico) and we’re not even sure if this is the right move at all, so we’re wondering if we should consider flying ourselves? But also flying all the camping equipment out has to cost a pretty penny I assume?

Besides travel accommodations, the other part I’m kind of antsy about is the permits. I’m fairly positive we all are not trying to do Half Dome one single day out and back, even though we’ve all done that distance and elevation gain before. I’d like to make a backpacking trip out of it to really fully immerse ourselves in the nature of Yosemite. I’ve read there’s options for this that all include a Half Dome permit with the backcountry camping permit:

Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Happy Isles past LYV (Donohue pass eligible)
Sunrise Lakes
Cathedral Lakes
Rafferty Creek to Vogelsang

I’m interested in hearing about some of your treks. and also how you did the permit process, cause I’ve read attaining a Half Dome permit can be quite competitive.

Would our best odds be for each member of our group to submit a permit for each one of these back country permits and just cross our fingers and hope one of us wins? I’m assuming if all four of us submit a 4 person permit for all 5 of these we’d have a good shot right?

The travel and permit situation is really what’s got me anxious, (and maybe what gear we’d need) and I feel like once that’s figured out the rest of the trip will kind of plan itself. TBH I’m not really keen on going to the city or anything too urban/congested (I know it’s California, so I’m going into it anticipating congestion anywhere we go). Prioritizing experiences at national/state/local parks out there is my main objective, I just really want to connect with the nature I’ve never had a chance to experience before. I’m open to all suggestions though, as I’m obviously not a local, and I have no idea when I’ll ever be back in California.

Thanks so much for the help, I’m just overwhelmed at where to start planning this. Hoping that everyone reading has an amazing day 🫶

I just wrapped up an incredible 10 day trek across Greenland. Starting with the ice cap at Point 660 and following the Southern route of the Arctic Circle Trail to Sisimiut. 

It was a dry year in the area and beyond that we were blessed with blue skies ^ great weather most days. Here is a breakdown of the journey, trail conditions, and key takeaways from the trail! 

Distance: 160 km
Duration: 9 days (Originally planned for 10)
Terrain and Conditions: Well marked with red painted cairns. The main route is mostly a narrow singletrack trail with occasional sections of ATV trail. The Southern Route has largely no trail underfoot but is marked with cairns. Recommended to have a GPS with waypoints. 

Water: Widely available from lakes and streams. It was so crystal clear, I didn’t filter or treat the water. 

Gear Highlights: Salomon boots & Toe liner socks - I know footwear is a personal choice but after trying many pairs, I was happy with the X Ultra 5 Mid Gortex boots, I paired this with Darn tough socks, overtop of Injinji Liner Crew Toe socks. This worked for me beautifully!

Key Takeaways

There are no trees in the Arctic Circle, there is little shelter from the rain, wind or in our case the sun. While our biggest concern was applying enough sunscreen, wind and rain could be a real concern under different conditions. 

No permit required for the ACT, you can start hiking from the airport if you want but take a day to go visit the ice cap. Once on trail there is a network of small huts that are available on a first come first serve basis. These are basic but a welcome sight during inclement weather. You must still be prepared to camp. We camped and used several cabins.

There are no resupply spots, it is very remote. You need to be ready with all fuel, food you will need. 

Navigation - Even though cairns exist, the Southern Route requires situational awareness and with poor visibility you would absolutely need to rely on GPS waypoints. I also recommend having a GPS device like a (Garmin inReach) is crucial for emergency situations given the lack of cell service and extreme remoteness.

A video with further highlights can be seen here.

I’m hoping others have experienced the combination of metformin and Glipizide on clanging, multi day trails. Advice? Expectations?