Articles
How-to guides, trip reports and seasonal planning for the outdoors.
- Your First Day at Whistler Bike Park: What Everyone Skips Telling YouWhistler is the Disneyland of MTB. Most first-day visitors do it wrong. Owen has now had four "first days" because he keeps bringing friends.
- When Shoulder Season Becomes Winter (and How to Notice in Time)Half of the “rescued in the backcountry” stories you read involve someone hiking in October who got winter weather. The five signals to read.
- Bear Canisters Ranked: What 200 Backcountry Nights Taught UsFive canisters, three years of trips, one honest ranking. The Bearikade isn't #1 — and we'll explain why.
- Mountain Bike Tire Pressure: An Honest Guide (Stop Guessing)Pressure is the single biggest tuning knob on your MTB and most riders are doing it wrong. Owen's tested approach.
- The Three Water Rules That Keep Us Alive in the DesertAfter ten Mojave winters and one bad scare in Anza-Borrego, here are the only three water rules our team enforces in the desert.
- The Enchantments in a Single Day: Why You Probably Shouldn't (and How to If You Must)Rae did the Enchantments through-hike in a single day in 2024 — 18 miles, 4,500 ft, no permit. The unflinching numbers and what we'd redo.
- Which Colorado Fourteener Should Be Your First?Bierstadt is the obvious answer. Here's why we still recommend it, and three trickier ones that build better skills.
- Banff vs Jasper: Where We Send People Who Have Time For One ParkBoth are world-class. They're also genuinely different. Our take after multiple weeks in each.
- Cold-Soaking on Trail: When It's Worth It and When It's Just SadSkipping the stove saves weight, time, and gas canisters. It also costs you a hot meal at the end of a long day. The honest tradeoffs.
- How We Drew a Wonderland Trail Permit (and Three Things Most Guides Skip)The lottery is competitive, but it's not the only way through. Three permit strategies that actually worked for us.
- What Actually Fits in an Osprey Atmos AG 65 (After Six Trips)Honest answer: less than the marketing photos suggest. Here's what we've actually carried in ours over six multi-day trips.
- Three Days of Pisgah Mountain Biking (and Why Day Two Will Wreck You)Black Mountain on Friday, Heartbreak Ridge on Saturday, an easy spin Sunday. The middle day is the one that hurts.
- How to Pick a Backpacking Tent (Without Falling for Marketing)Five tent specs that actually matter, and the four marketing terms we've learned to ignore. Pulled from ten seasons of Sierra guiding.
- Angels Landing in November: What Permit Day Was Actually LikeWe drew an Angels Landing permit for a quiet November morning. Here's what worked, what didn't, and what we'd do differently.
