You can pack a lot into five miles — we’ve found slot canyons, redwoods, caving, 100-year-old via ferrate, sand dunes, summits, just to name a few. Sometimes you don’t need to hammer out 10 miles, or a full day, or really even get too far from your car to see the good stuff (or completely [...]
hiking
Are you going hiking this weekend? Planning a climb of Mount Hood, Shasta, Rainier? There are two things you should be doing: training, and planning what your summit photo is going to look like. Here are a few things to think about: 1. What are you going to do with your hands? a. thumbs up [...]
Beer, in a can? Well, yeah. It chills faster. It’s lighter, greener, and it doesn’t break. And that canned taste? A thing of the past. Cans are lined now. Sierra Nevada Torpedo, in fact, tastes better in a can. Really. So, after weeks and weeks of product test, what’s the best beer in a can? [...]
The ugly fight between Western alpinists and Sherpas on Mt. Everest a few weeks back had its roots in a complicated mix of issues, but one of the biggest was the unspoken tension between guided and unguided climbers, between non-commercial and commercial efforts. Ueli Steck and Simone Moro, who are two of the world’s top [...]
And you thought road cyclists had a bad reputation. In Front Royal, Virginia, locals are so afeared of those dirtbag hikers walking the nearby Appalachian Trail, they rejected a bid by a couple who wants to build a hostel, as well as a bed and breakfast. The hostel would have been small, just five beds, [...]
By any measure, Swedish adventurer Goran Kropp was visionary, kind, and bold. Everyone he met, it seems, was touched by his humanity, and his death in a climbing accident robbed the world of an extremely bright light. Kropp, however, was also very, very strong. This little clip of him attempting, then succeeding, to put on [...]
Nicolas Cendoya, one of two hikers missing in Orange County, California, since Easter Sunday, was found by another hiker Wednesday night around 8 p.m. barely a half mile from searchers. He was barefoot, wearing shorts, and was dehydrated and extremely confused. Rescuers took him to nearby Mission Hospital, calling his condition serious. His friend, 18-year-old [...]
That’s Walter Pinto cutting leather at Danner Boots outside Portland, Oregon. Think about it: It’s 2013 and a man is using feel, touch, and over 20 years of experience as a cobbler to cut leather by hand. He’s even using the same basic tools Danner has employed since 1932, when the bootmaker was founded. How [...]
You might not think a pile of rocks could offend, but it did. We walking along a river in southwestern Utah and every few hundred yards we’d come upon a neatly stacked cairn. And every time we did, my companion would huff and puff and then with obvious prejudice kick over the stack. “Stupid cairn,” [...]
At 8:30 a.m., the Power Lung Kid knocks at my trailer door. I’m eating Lucky Charms, staring out the window at the low-slung volcanic rock and aspens that rise into the ponderosa, spruce, and fir of south-central Oregon. “You know why I’m called the Power Lung Kid?” he asks, leaning back in his chair. “No,” [...]
If life after Gore-tex is Marmot’s Nabu Jacket, life is good. Yes, there’s still a place for Gore (it’s called Seattle), but for most other places and conditions, the Nabu, which is built with Polartec Neoshell, is it. On one winter hike, the steeper and faster I went the better, in as much sleet and [...]
I gave up heavy boots long ago, and Lowa’s Focus GTX is a perfect example of my trail choice now, whether I’m just out for the day or humping 40 pounds over a long weekend. Yes, if I were going to tackle a five-day outing on the PCT I might want a boot that would [...]
At the Filson retail store in the SoDo neighborhood in Seattle, in the literal shadow of Safeco Field, home of the hapless Seattle Mariners, a cop and his partner stroll in the door. It’s not a bust. The officer’s personal Filson belt has popped a rivet. No problem, the factory happens to be in the [...]
Hoodies have been cool at least since the Middle Ages. And for sheer function, Patagonia’s Capilene 4 Expedition-Weight Hoody might last until the End Days. Here’s why: It’s Lightweight: But still very warm. This lightness, plus a gridlike structure, belies the “fleece” lineage of this shirt, and there’s enough Lycra in the mix for good [...]
Historical Badass: Yosemite Pioneer Warren Harding
The AJ List: 19 Awesome Hikes Under 5 Miles
AJ Is Launching Photo Tips Series – What Do You Want to Know?
The AJ Poll: What’s the Best Thing About Summer?
Thoughts on Dads and Dreams
The Flying Bike that Could Change Everything
The Storm that Ate Texas…Or Nibbled Around the Edges Anyway
Short Film Captures Hypnotizing Clouds from Above
Historical Badass: Climber and Author Peter Boardman
The AJ List: 17 Of The Best Songs About Mountains
The Lonely, Endearing Journey On ‘The Road From Karakol’
Living a Life Well Lived
The AJ Poll: What’s the Most Disgusting Thing You’ve Eaten?
Are You Ready for Your Summit Photo?
