A backpacker in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite in Yosemite National Park.

How to Get a Last-Minute Yosemite Wilderness Permit Now

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By Michael Lanza

You just decided you’d like to backpack in Yosemite this year and realized you’re months late in reserving a wilderness permit. What now? As it happens, one positive outcome of the pandemic was Yosemite National Park revising its procedure for obtaining a first-come or walk-in backpacking permit, making it possible to reserve one just a week in advance—meaning you no longer have to risk traveling to the park, standing in line and hoping for Lady Luck to smile (or frown) on you. Here’s how you can still grab a last-minute permit for backpacking in Yosemite this year.

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A hiker on the Zeacliff Trail, White Mountains, N.H.

10 Tips for Recovering from a Hard Hike or Mountain Climb

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By Michael Lanza

You just finished a big dayhike, backpacking trip, mountain climb, or trail run convinced it was one of the best experiences of your life—and now your body seems to have mounted a loud protest of pain against it. And you wonder: Is this suffering necessary? The simple answer is no. Follow the tips in this article—or even just some of them—to greatly lessen the physical aches and pains that sometimes follow an outdoors adventure.

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A campsite in Painter Basin, below 13,538-foot Kings Peak (right) in Utah's High Uintas Wilderness.

Backpacking Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness—A Photo Gallery

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By Michael Lanza

Early on the third morning of a six-day hike through Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, I walked to the shore of the Fourth Chain Lake at 10,900 feet, where we had camped. Its waters sat absolutely still, offering up a perfect, inverted reflection of the mountains. By that afternoon, we reached 11,700-foot Trail Rider Pass, our second high pass of the day, with a view that took the edge off our weariness. Behind us, the valley of Lake Atwood, which we had hiked up, stretched for miles; ahead lay our destination, Painter Basin (photo above), an expansive, almost barren plateau at 11,000 feet below the highest peak in Utah, Kings Peak.

In those first three days of hiking, we encountered a grand total of two other people—and a whole lot of majestic scenery.

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A backpacker above Overland Lake on the Ruby Crest Trail, Ruby Mountains, Nevada.

Backpacking the Ruby Crest Trail—A Photo Gallery

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By Michael Lanza

Under a hot sun, but with a nice breeze keeping us cool, on our second day backpacking the Ruby Crest Trail in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, we made the slow, 1,700-foot climb from the North Fork of Smith Creek to a pass at over 10,000 feet. It was a grind and my family spread out along the trail. But reaching the pass, we all stopped and smiled, mesmerized by a breathtaking view of the small basin that cradles Overland Lake and the mountains extending for miles beyond it (photo above).

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The Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie.

Review: Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie
$129, 5.8 oz./164.4g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XXL
outdoorresearch.com

We ask a lot of ultralight wind shells, these wispy jackets that often weigh no more (and sometimes less) than your hiking shorts. We want them to breathe well when we’re hiking or running uphill while, of course, blocking the wind effectively—and not feel like a kitchen trash bag with sleeves and a hood. On trail runs, dayhikes, and a backpacking trip from the desert Southwest in spring to the mountains of Southwest Idaho, in a wide range of fall and spring weather that challenges any outer layer to keep you comfortable, I found that OR’s Shadow Wind Hoodie did just that, quite well.

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