Overview: When it comes to cold-weather camping I'm certainly not a newbie, having weathered my fair share of snow storms and single-digit nights in my backpacking and backcountry hunting adventures over the last 30 years. And, due to investing in quality gear, I typically stay decently warm and comfortable. But sometimes the conditions are just more than the gear can handle. It's not to say that it's bad, but just not suited for the job at hand. That was the case with my col

Overview: Ever since watching Brad Brook's fantastic film " Hunting The Last Wild Places I The Frank" I've wanted a hot tipi for my backcountry hunting trips. After a miserable Colorado elk hunt (at least from a weather standpoint) spent in a small backpacking tent with my two boys in 2023, I finally pulled the trigger on getting one for a 2025 return trip to the same place. The ability to have a shelter that provided warmth, a place to dry out, and ample space for boots

Friday, November 22 5:56 AM. MST The revolutions of the stove fan grow slower and slower. Momentum fading like the last drops of daylight...

Overview: Having recently completed my fourth DIY "Western" big game hunt, I've come to realize two things. First, the importance...

The tent fly, sleeping bags, and assorted soggy fishing-wear flap restlessly on our makeshift clothesline. Thick-cut bacon sizzles in...

Overview: I've been a backpacker for nearly 30 years – hiking trails across the country from New Hampshire's Mount Washington to Oregon's...

It's Saturday. Wet snow slaps the wall tent in sloppy clumps. Somewhere, not far off, thunder peels – meteorological makings of the...

Overview: The bull crested the ridge at just over 1,100 yards in a drainage to the north and moving in our direction, two cows following...

Overview: I remember my first backpacking stove purchased in the early 90's. The one that required the pump, pump, pumping of the fuel...

"There I sat on the ground, feeling really damned exposed, not knowing what to expect. The guide put me in a spot that had been getting...

As Steve disappeared over the snow-covered cliff, I remember thinking He's dead. Day one, and he's already dead. It was June of '94 and...

Overview: Eating on the trail, for me, is one of the greatest luxuries and at the same time one of the greatest headaches about...

Shivering cold, asses wetly planted inside the puddled, hastily assembled tent, soggy feet hanging outside the zippered doors while a...

I waded into the murky waters of fly fishing later in life, when my older son, Kyle, decided he wanted to learn, and requested a rod for...

Overview: “The flames sawed in the wind and the embers paled and deepened and paled and deepened like the bloodbeat of some living thing...

Overview: In my first year hunting "Out West" with Kyle, I used my familiar Osprey backpack to carry gear; the one that had seen trips in...

Overview: For me, having a reliable source of power in the backcountry is critical. Not only do I require it to charge my phone (which...

Overview: Teddy Roosevelt once said: "No man who, for his good fortune, has at times in his life endured toil and hardship, ever fails to...

It's black and silent. Deep in my subconscious something pulls me toward a light. A sound registers. Distant, but moving closer. Shuffled...

I've had it. Had it with the traffic. The RVs and buses and vans. The gawkers and rubberneckers. The safety signs and orange cones. The...