A view from the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In the Garden of Eden: Backpacking the Great Smoky Mountains

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By Michael Lanza

Late-afternoon sunlight tilts golden beams through the low canopy of spruce and fir trees as I hike alone up the Welch Ridge Trail, deep in the backcountry of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I haven’t seen another person all day. Solitude in the mountains exerts many effects, small and large, on us, including that we instinctively listen more attentively. Our rational minds cannot erase from primal memory the instinctive knowledge that, in the primitive brains of some woodland creatures, we represent a boatload of calories.

I stop abruptly and stand perfectly still—listening intently, waiting. And then I hear it.

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The Sierra Designs Nitro Quilt.

Review: Sierra Designs Nitro Ultralight Backpacking Quilt

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Ultralight Backpacking Quilt Sierra Designs Nitro Quilt 35/20 35-degree: $250, 1 lb. 5 oz. 20-degree: $280, 1 lb. 11 oz. Women’s 20-degree: $340, 1 lb. 11 oz. One size in each model sierradesigns.com For some backpackers, taking a quilt instead of a sleeping bag for multiple nights in the backcountry may seem risky—what if it’s not warm enough? In reality, …

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Ouzel Lake in Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

The 5 Rules About Kids I Broke While Backpacking in Rocky Mountain National Park

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By Michael Lanza

“I’m dying!” my son, Nate, bellowed to the entire forest in the Wild Basin of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. “This pack is too heavy!” We were just 30 minutes up the trail at the outset of a three-day backpacking trip. It was a trip that seemed like an unmitigated disaster for the first two days—then morphed into an adventure my kids clearly enjoyed and that helped expand their outdoor interests.

For me, those three days in Rocky serve as a reminder about the many ways you can do it wrong when taking kids outdoors, but how simple it is to make it right.

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An overlook along the Beehive Traverse in Capitol Reef National Park.

The Most Beautiful Hike You’ve Never Heard Of: Crossing Utah’s Capitol Reef

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By Michael Lanza

We enter a steep, claustrophobically narrow gully, looking up at boulders that appear barely glued in place by a mortar of dried mud. Ready to rain sandstone jihad upon us, they send a silent message that we have taken a wrong turn in this unnamed side canyon in the wilds of southern Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park and should retreat—immediately. This seems about as likely to be our route as we are likely to run into a fish plucking a harp out here in the high desert.

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BioLite Headlamp 330

Review: The BioLite Headlamp 330

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Rechargeable Headlamp BioLite Headlamp 330 $60, 2.4 oz. moosejaw.com Few headlamps combine the attributes of being super ultralight, rechargeable, very bright, and having a long enough burn time (or charge duration) for a multi-day backcountry trip, but that’s exactly what you get with the BioLite Headlamp 330. For multiple backpacking trips this summer—including four days on Nevada’s Ruby Crest Trail, …

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