Michael Lanza

Trekkers hiking the Milford Track to Mintauro Hut, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.

Learning to—Love?—the Rain on New Zealand’s Milford Track

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By Michael Lanza

As if by some celestial act of deception, our first day on New Zealand’s Milford Track is, by far, the easiest: We hike just three nearly flat miles—five kilometers—following the track along the rain-fattened and fast-moving Clinton River. And the pleasant temperature and warm sunshine pouring onto us from partly cloudy skies almost lulls us into illusions of such relatively ideal (for this place) weather persisting throughout our four days on the Milford.

But we’re not fooled. We’ve seen the forecast and already received other warning signals of what awaits us. And the truth is, even those data points will not, could not paint a complete picture of just how wet it would get out here over the next few days.

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Backpackers hiking the West Fork Trail above the West Fork Rock Creek toward Sundance Pass in the Beartooth Mountains, Montana.

Backpacking the High and Mighty Beartooth Mountains

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By Michael Lanza

“Big bull moose,” David calls to us over his shoulder, “just ahead of us.” Mark and I scan the forest, but we don’t catch even a glimpse of the moose—or for that matter, see David through the dense trees and brush, although he’s not more than 20 feet ahead of us. Then David, too, loses sight of the moose. Just a few hours into our first day backpacking in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains and moments after we started hiking off-trail, we’ve had our first close wildlife encounter—and two-thirds of us missed it.

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The Patagonia Fitz Roy Down Hoody.

Review: Patagonia Fitz Roy Down Hoody

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Down Jacket
Patagonia Fitz Roy Down Hoody
$399, 15 oz./425.2g (women’s small; men’s medium is 17 oz./482g)
Sizes: men’s XS-3XL, women’s 2XS-2XL
backcountry.com

From backpacking trips in the Canadian Rockies and Oregon, hut treks in New Zealand, and spring and summer camping and climbing trips in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley and Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park, to countless days of resort skiing at Oregon’s Mount Bachelor and in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, plus days of backcountry ski touring, my college-student daughter has stayed warm in Patagonia’s Fitz Roy Down Hoody in temperatures down to around freezing—while demonstrating this hooded jacket’s versatility.

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The Himali Men’s Endeavor Fleece Hoodie.

Review: Himali Men’s Endeavor Fleece Hoodie

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Hooded Fleece Jacket
Himali Men’s Endeavor Fleece Hoodie
$180, 15.5 oz./439.4g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL
himali.com

On January days of backcountry skiing in Idaho’s Boise Mountains and Galena Summit area, moving constantly between cold shade and warm sunshine, with temps ranging from single digits to the high 20s Fahrenheit and a cool breeze at times, I wore this hooded, full-zip fleece jacket all day: both as my outer layer while climbing uphill and under a shell while skiing downhill. I never took this hoodie off—very unusual for me when skiing in the backcountry—and remained comfortable the entire time. That illustrates why the Himali Endeavor Fleece Hoodie ranks among the most versatile fleece hoodies and other breathable insulated jackets I’ve reviewed.

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The Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell and Fineline Stretch Full-Zip Pants on New Zealand's Milford Track.

Review: Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell and Pants

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Rain Jacket and Full-Zip Pants
Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell
$189, 10 oz./283.5g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-3XL, women’s 2XS-2XL
Men’s: blackdiamondequipment.com
Women’s: blackdiamondequipment.com

Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Full-Zip Pants
$179, 9 oz./255.1g (men’s small)
Sizes: men’s XS-XL, women’s 2XS-XL
Men’s: blackdiamondequipment.com
Women’s: blackdiamondequipment.com

Few places test rain gear as brutally as New Zealand’s chronically rainy Fiordland National Park—which is where I put Black Diamond’s Fineline Stretch Shell and Full-Zip Pants through the paces in early December (late spring there) on two classic hut treks where rain occurs almost as prevalently as oxygen: the Routeburn Track and the Milford Track (photo above). In some of the heaviest and most relentless wind-driven rain I’ve encountered over four decades of hiking and backpacking, this jacket and pants performed quite impressively—and I saw their limits.

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