dark chocolate bar

Dark Chocolate: Why You Should Pack it

What chocolate best stands up for backpacking? Not all chocolate is created equal. There is the junk food variety of chocolates and the pure, minimal ingredient chocolate sources. There is also white chocolate, which is not chocolate at all. Here we’ll compare the processing and nutritional details of the different types of chocolate.

Sweating on Trail

Replenishing Electrolytes

It is summer here in the South and that means high humidity with daily temperatures in the 90s. Engaging in almost any outdoor activity will surely bring plenty of sweat. Sweating is good for us because it is our body’s built-in mechanism to keep us cool, although it does not feel always […]

Looking Skyward: Forecasting Weather using Nature

When the temperatures become hot, water vapor condenses from nearby water sources and around mountain tops, forming dark clouds. These clouds have the potential to culminate in intense electrical storms. Clearly, it is unwise to continue ascending a summit as the sky pulsates with gigantic bolts of lightning, but sometimes […]

butterfly_on_rhododendron

Ah, Spring has Arrived!

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare; Today the glint of green is there; Tomorrow will be leaflets spare; I know no thing so wondrous fair, No miracle so strangely rare. I wonder what will next be there! ~ The Miracle,  L.H. Bailey Dust off your backpacking gear because it is […]

First Aid Kits for Backpacking – 10 Essentials

What items should you carry in a first aid kit, as a solo backpacker? If you hike with a dog, what extra items do you need for your furry companion? Medical survival kits are often a boring subject and many hikers don’t give it much attention. However, a survival kit is one […]