Michael Lanza

Gear Review: Brooks-Range Foray Tent

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Brooks-Range Foray

Tent
Brooks-Range Foray
$425, 2 lbs. 10 oz. (tent, fly, poles)
brooks-range.com

This sub-three-pound, two-person tent defies preconceived notions of an ultralight tent: it has comfortable space, is strong and dry inside in rough weather, and versatile. I found the Foray especially perfect for backpacking with a kid who’s too young to carry much, if any, gear, because living space assumes a lower priority when your companion is a child, while having a lightweight, low-bulk tent makes a huge difference when you’re carrying most of the gear.

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Gear Review: Keen Alamosa Mid Boots

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Keen Alamosa Mid

Boots
Keen Alamosa Mid
$120, 1 lb. 15 oz. (men’s size 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-12, 13, 14 15, women’s 5-11
keenfootwear.com

Here’s a question that’ll stir impassioned debate in certain circles: waterproof or non-waterproof boots when backpacking? Some adhere to the belief in a waterproof-breathable membrane on a multi-day trip when your feet could get wet; others say no membrane is infallible, and non-waterproof footwear will definitely dry out faster once wet. I put this philosophical debate to an unscientific test, wearing the Alamosa Mids on a four-day, 56-mile trip in Idaho’s Sawtooths in mid-September, a time of year when cold rain or feet getting wet just from dew on trailside vegetation isn’t unusual in the mountains.

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Book Review: “The First 20 Minutes”

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Book Review
The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer
By Gretchen Reynolds
257 pgs., Hudson Street Press, $25.95

How many books have you read that changed the way you live? This one did for me. Gretchen Reynolds, who pens the “Phys Ed” column for the New York Times (online in the Well blog on health and fitness, and in the “Science Times” print section), has synthesized scores of contemporary studies and interviews with researchers and experts in a book that is chock-full of information, advice, and data, and yet is a fast and fascinating read. I’ve returned repeatedly to my own heavily dog-eared copy.

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A backpacker hiking the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park.

Walking Familiar Ground: Reliving Old Memories and Making New Ones on the Teton Crest Trail

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By Michael Lanza

The moose cow and her calf block the trail, staring back at us with expressions that I swear look like confusion over what to do. So the feeling is mutual. They were coming down, we were going up, and now none of us are moving. With steep, rocky, wooded terrain on either side, we backpack-carrying humans aren’t interested in an off-trail detour. The moose don’t seem enthusiastic about that option at the moment, either.

We appear to be at a standoff.

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Gear Review: Merrell Chameleon4 Mid Waterproof Kids Boots

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Merrell Chameleon4 Mid WP

Kids Hiking Boot
Merrell Chameleon4 Mid Waterproof
$75, 1 lb. 11 oz. (youth size 4)
Sizes: youth 3.5-7
merrell.com

“These feel reeeally nice,” my 11-year-old son proclaimed the first day he hiked in these boots. “They snug up close so that your whole foot is touching boot and doesn’t slip around to give you blisters. And the padding is awesome.” As a kid who has used many models of hiking shoes and boots—and tells me when he doesn’t like something (maybe too often)—he still felt that way about these mid-cut boots after five days of dayhiking and backpacking in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, including several miles of off-trail hiking and scrambling and a technical descent of a slot canyon.

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