A hiker on the Black Mountain Crest Trail up Mount Mitchell, N.C.

Roof of the East: Hiking North Carolina’s Mount Mitchell

by

By Michael Lanza

At 6,327-foot Celo Knob, on North Carolina’s Black Mountain Crest Trail, I stand in bright sunshine and a chilly October wind gusting to 40 mph or more, staring at the long ridge stretching for miles ahead of me. It’s both stunning and daunting. Several more summits that top 6,000 feet, and others nearly that high, form a forested, earthen rollercoaster, culminating at 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. There are a few ways one can climb to the roof of the East. I’ve chosen the longest, hardest, and most scenic.

Read on

Iris Falls on the Bechler River, Yellowstone National Park.

In Hot (and Cold) Water: Backpacking Yellowstone’s Bechler Canyon

by

By Michael Lanza I step off the grassy riverbank into the slow-moving Bechler River, in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, and the shock of the cold, calf-deep water makes me gasp unconsciously. After a few careful steps forward—with the mucky, silted river bottom threatening to either make me slip or suck a sandal off my foot—the river rises above …

Read on

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Dirigo 2 ultralight backpacking tent in the Wind River Range.

Review: Hyperlite Mountain Gear Dirigo 2 Backpacking Tent

by

Ultralight Backpacking Tent Hyperlite Mountain Gear Dirigo 2 $900, 1 lb. 12 oz. hyperlitemountaingear.com For six nights on a 96-mile traverse of the Wind River High Route—two-thirds of it off-trail and camping in the alpine zone between 10,000 and 12,000 feet—the Dirigo 2 endured rain and strong winds. But our last night had me worried. Camped in a completely exposed …

Read on

A backpacker near Park Creek Pass in North Cascades National Park.

Primal Wild: Backpacking 80 Miles Through the North Cascades

by

By Michael Lanza

“Lots of bears at Grizzly Creek.”

Those words that a backcountry ranger spoke to me over the phone just yesterday echo through our heads now, as my friend Todd Arndt and I descend switchbacks from misleadingly named, 6,500-foot Easy Pass into the densely forested valley of Fisher Creek in Washington’s North Cascades National Park. Fog swirls around the jagged peaks nearly a vertical mile above us. Battleship-gray skies threaten a common meteorological occurrence in these mountains—rain—although we’ve seen only sprinkles and wind so far. We’re hiking downhill past ripe huckleberry bushes toward a thicket of slide alder and chest-high brush that the trail passes through—ideal bear habitat.

Read on

Early morning at Mirror Lake in Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Hard Lessons: Backpacking Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness

by

By Michael Lanza

Just as I reach the 9,572-foot summit of Eagle Cap, the first thunderclaps boom so close that I feel them in my ribs. The rain follows within minutes, catching me dashing down off the summit—and not just to avoid being charbroiled by a lightning bolt, though that prospect is on my mind. But mostly I’m thinking about the fact that my son forgot all of his outer layers—rain jacket, fleece jacket, and wool hat—on this backpacking trip. And somewhere below me, my family is hiking through this cold, windy downpour right now.

Read on