Leki MC 12 Vario trekking and running poles.

Review: Leki MC 12 Vario Trekking and Running Poles

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Trekking and Running Poles
Leki MC 12 Vario
$250, 15 oz./pair (men’s 110-130cm pair, without stuff sack)
Sizes: men’s 110-130cm, women’s 100-120cm
moosejaw.com

If you think that nerding out on the “performance” aspect of trekking and trail-running poles just goes too over the top for you, don’t bother reading any further. But if you’re a serious hiker, trail runner, or backpacker who likes the idea of light, strong, adjustable, and very packable poles designed to help you conserve energy and possibly even move faster and go farther, you need to know about Leki’s innovative MC 12 Vario.

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The MSR WindBurner Group Stove System.

Review: MSR Windburner Group Stove System

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Backpacking Stove
MSR WindBurner Group Stove System
$260, 1 lb. 5 oz.
backcountry.com

When cooking for more than two hungry people in the backcountry—especially if that includes kids—having a large pot and powerful stove keeps the team from waiting so long that they threaten revolt. But the stove’s performance in wind matters, too. On family backpacking trips of three days in Hells Canyon and the Canadian Rockies, four days on Nevada’s Ruby Crest Trail, and six days in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, plus a five-day hike with three friends in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, MSR’s WindBurner Group Stove System not only staved off rebellion, it boiled and cooked quickly in a range of temps and even surprised with its fuel efficiency.

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Hoka One One Speedgoat 4 trail-running shoes.

Review: Hoka One One Speedgoat 4 and Speedgoat Mid 2 GTX

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Trail Running/Hiking Shoes Hoka One One Speedgoat 4 $145, 1 lb. 4 oz. (US men’s 9) Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-11 backcountry.com Hoka One One Speedgoat Mid 2 GTX $170, 1 lb. 10 oz. (US men’s 9) Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-11 backcountry.com Comfort can prove an elusive quarry with footwear, especially for dayhikers and trail runners who …

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A backpacker at a small tarn in the upper valley of Middle Fork Lake on the Wind River High Route, Wyoming.

Adventure and Adversity on the Wind River High Route

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By Michael Lanza In the West Gully of 13,192-foot Wind River Peak, a steep bowling alley of loose scree and boulders that look poised to roll into someone’s femur and crack it like a peanut shell, four of us move cautiously downhill, searching for the safest path through one of the most hazardous stretches of the 96-mile Wind River High …

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Rock Slide Lake in Idaho's southern Sawtooth Mountains.

Going After Goals: Backpacking In Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains

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By Michael Lanza We reach an unnamed pass at 8,450 feet early on a September evening that could hardly be nicer, with temperatures in the low 60s and a soft whisper of breeze in the air. I’m hardly breaking a sweat; I love hiking at this time of day. Below us, the green valley of Johnson Creek falls away into …

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