I miss breaking in boots. It’s been years since I’ve needed to. Always felt like the start of a committed, loving relationship. I clean and wax the new leather, preserving it against water, then hike around in ’em everywhere for a few weeks. Sometimes unforgiving and tough at first, the boots eventually give way to … Read more
Alastair Humphreys has ridden a bike around the world and rowed a boat across the Atlantic. But you know what gets him really pumped? Adventuring locally. His new book, “Local,” is all about taking a year to explore every bit of his run-of-the-mill English suburb. He finds more wildness than you’d expect and learns the … Read more
I kind of thought that I was going to die the first time I headed out on a winter backpacking trip. That might sound weird coming from someone who grew up walking two miles to school (okay—1.9, which is why I wasn’t eligible for a bus pass) in the snow during Wisconsin’s most frigid months … Read more
If you like the idea of a bike that can zoom down fire roads, fly through swooping singletrack, and handle a grocery store run, you’re gonna love the Hudski Doggler. Specifically the 29er gravel build, and even more specifically, the current second-gen Doggler, upgraded from the first edition with a slacker, more modern geo, which … Read more
Electric bicycles are taking over the world. That might make some trail users grumpy, but from a climate perspective, it’s a good thing. Electric motorcycles…there are a few, but it’s not exactly a revolution. Now, filling the gap between bikes and motorcycles, comes the UBCO, a two-wheel drive that combines the best of both. Today, … Read more
The National Park Service announced earlier this week that Arches, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain National Parks are keeping their pilot reservation systems for the 2024 season. They’re sticking with the trial run, kicking the can on plans for a permanent timed entry system. Rocky Mountain National Park is bringing back the timed entry reservations beginning … Read more
Update: The BioLite website is offering 25% off the FirePit and accessories through Memorial Day, 2021. Also, we have our hands on a couple sizes of the Solo Stove, and will update this review accordingly when we’ve used them enough. The first time you use a portable fire pit, a light goes on, and I’m … Read more
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. From the 1970s on, backpacking reigned supreme. Every outdoor person backpacked, or so it seemed. In a 2012 AJ poll, readers told us they preferred backpacking to car camping 9 to 1. But in the last decade, something changed. Car camping rebranded itself as overlanding and was suddenly cool. Today, backpacking seems … Read more
Okay, full disclosure: I have not actually gone clam digging in these boots. Does sound like fun though. But I have tromped along a beach at low tide while a freezing rain fell and they kept my feet nice and cozy. In fact, pretty much no matter what I’ve done in the Bogs Urban … Read more
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. You might have heard we have a thing against cairns. That isn’t quite true. We have a thing against unnecessary, pointless, unauthorized, and environmentally damaging cairns. What’s the difference? Why should you care? And what should you do when you encounter a cairn you think is begging to be knocked down? On … Read more