Michael Lanza

A backpacker on the Shannon Pass Trail above Peak Lake, Wind River Range, Wyoming.

The Top 5 Ultralight Backpacking Tips

By Michael Lanza

I field a lot of questions from readers about gear and backpacking, and I find the conversation often boiling down to one issue: how much weight they have in their packs. The biggest lesson I’ve drawn from more than three decades of backpacking—including the 10 years I spent as a field editor at Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—is that a major factor dictating my enjoyment of any hike is how much weight I’m carrying.

If I could convince my readers who backpack to follow one piece of advice— no matter your age, how much you hike, or how fit or experienced you are—it would be this: Lighten up. You’ll make backpacking more fun.

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A backpacker below Jackass Pass, overlooking the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range.

5 Reasons You Must Backpack the Wind River Range

By Michael Lanza

On a cool early morning in August while backpacking the Wind River High Route a few summers ago, I hiked in the shadow of tall mountains to Jackass Pass at 10,790 feet—a spot I’ve stood on at least a few times before, overlooking the incomparable Cirque of the Towers in the Winds—and affirmed a truth about that patch of rocks and dirt: It still had the power to take my breath away and make my heart speed up a little bit (although the climb to the pass may have had something to do with that).

It was a comfort to see that the effect the Wind River Range has on me had not changed.

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Dawn at Minaret Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, High Sierra.

41 Gorgeous Backcountry Lakes—A Photo Gallery

By Michael Lanza

Water makes up about 60 percent of our bodies—and, I suspect, 100 percent of our hearts. We crave it not only physically, for survival, but emotionally, for spiritual rejuvenation. We love playing in it for hours as children and we paddle and swim in it as adults. We’re drawn by the calming effects of sitting beside a stream or lake in a beautiful natural setting, an experience that possesses a certain je ne sais quoi—a quality difficult to describe, but that we can all feel.

And nothing beats taking a swim in a gorgeous backcountry lake.

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A backpacker hiking above Columbine Lake in Sequoia National Park.

5 Tips for Getting Out of Camp Faster When Backpacking

By Michael Lanza

Years ago, in a visitor center in a popular national park, I overheard a conversation in which one person said to another, “Backpackers? They don’t start hiking until 10 or 11 in the morning.” I laughed to myself because I know how true that is in many cases. But I also found it amusing because I prefer to start hiking early when backpacking—and I know that it’s not just about what time you get up. Some simple and easy habits can help you get out of camp faster and on the trail earlier, bringing numerous benefits that really transform the experience of backpacking for you.

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The Gregory Paragon 60 in the Grand Canyon.

Gregory Paragon 60 and Maven 58 Backpacks

Backpack
Gregory Paragon 60 and Maven 58
$300, 60L/3,661 c.i., 3 lbs. 12 oz./1.7 kg (men’s SM/MD)
Sizes: men’s Paragon S/M and M/L, women’s Maven XS/S and S/M
Paragon 60: backcountry.com
Maven 58: backcountry.com

Since Gregory first introduced the men’s Paragon and women’s Maven packs, I’ve found myself choosing the Paragon repeatedly for a variety of backpacking trips, including pounding out 77 miles in five days (averaging over 15 miles and 8,000 vertical feet per day) on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier and a more casual, four-day, 36-mile family hike on the Ruby Crest Trail. With the 2025 update of these packs, I took the Paragon 60 on a four-day, 40-mile walk in the Grand Canyon in late March that included humping up the brutally steep and rugged Boucher Trail—convincing myself that the fully featured Paragon 60 and women’s Maven 58 still offer everything that many backpackers look for in a pack for every kind of trip they take.

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