America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
By Michael Lanza
America’s 63 national parks preserve over 52 million acres of uniquely beautiful and genuinely awe-inspiring places in nature, and the payoff for our country’s foresight in protecting them is a lifetime’s worth of unforgettable experiences—many of them entirely feasible, safe, and really fun for families with kids of all ages. Best of all, you’ll find that sharing these adventures will create your best times together as a family, as they have for mine.
Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Sea to Summit Spark Pro -9C/15F Bag
$649, 1 lb. 11 oz./765.4g (regular)
Sizes: unisex regular and long ($689)
seatosummit.com
We woke up from our first night in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains in mid-September, at well over 10,000 feet beside a creek that sang soft lullabys to us all night, to find ice crystals in our water bottles and one full water bladder that had been left outside the tent partly frozen. But the overnight temperature dropping to below freezing had hardly registered with me as I slumbered soundly zipped up inside my Sea to Summit Spark Pro -9C/15F sleeping bag—one of the warmest for its weight, most packable, and well constructed ultralight sleeping bags you’ll find.
By Michael Lanza
If you have ever backpacked in Glacier National Park, you know you want to return. If you haven’t yet, then isn’t it time? One of America’s flagship national parks, it’s a must-see destination for backpackers because of the eye-popping scenery, remoteness, and an extremely rare variety of megafauna—including mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, and black and grizzly bears—as the photo gallery below from my numerous trips in Glacier shows. It includes images from my most-recent trip, a nearly 70-mile hike a week ago through some of the park’s premier scenery on its east side.
Hooded, Breathable Insulated Jacket
Black Diamond First Light Stretch Hoody
$299, 14 oz./397g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
blackdiamondequipment.com
Campsite temperatures below freezing in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness in October and around 40° F in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains in August proved the warmth of BD’s First Light Stretch Hoody. But this jacket’s versatility goes well beyond warmth, owing to synthetic stretch insulation that’s breathable, packable, and warm for its weight, and traps heat even when wet—making it potentially the only insulated jacket you need for a variety of activities year-round.
Ultralight Rain Jacket
Rab Downpour Light Waterproof Jacket
$165, 7.7 oz./219g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL (8-16)
backcountry.com
Two startingly loud, sharp, and sustained crackles of thunder and a flash of lightning gave us about a two-minute warning before the skies opened up while we hiked at well over 11,000 feet on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains in mid-September. I got Rab’s Downpour Light Waterproof Jacket on and zipped up moments before the thunderhead began bombarding us with wind-driven rain and hail. And this ultralight rain shell kept me dry hiking through that storm and setting up our tent in steady rain and wind once we found a campsite.