Lawton "Disco" Grinter, best known in thru-hiking circles for producing  The Walkumentary,  has written about his ten-thousand miles of hiking. Rather than a traditional thru-hike narrative about a journey, it is a collection of short vignettes from his many years and miles spent on the long trails.

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Car Camping.

For many people who love being outdoors,  car camping is  their first introduction to the outdoor lifestyle. Eating a meal prepared on a Coleman stove, sitting around a campfire, eating smores, and hoping it does not rain so much that they are under a blue tarp the whole time.

As a person grows older, car camping is often pursued less and less.

Backpacking and getting deeper into the wilderness with less gear strikes their interest.  Multi-day climbs and bivvying along a sheer wall holds more allure.

Or 'done-in-a-day- activities' dominate.  Getting in a trail run, a ski, a mountain bike ride, a climb or a day hike seem more doable in an increasingly crowded schedule.

Which is too bad.   Car camping can be enjoyable, rewarding and still have a place in an active outdoor person's lifestyle. \

Updated May 2012. Read more »

Replacing the factory insoles with something new is a trick many experienced backpackers know about. But not everyone does. Here's why it should be done.

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Outdoor clothing can be expensive. When a brand of clothing is that is inexpensive, functional and durable it is rare and wonderful find. And for me, the brand of clothing that fits that criteria is the Champion C9 brand found at Target.

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Wilderness First Aid is a basic certification for the assessing, treating and stabilizing of a person's injuries in the backcountry.  But how does the (sometimes) gear and equipment focused backcountry medicine co-exist with a more minimalist view? Here is my own take.

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