Feathered Friends Snowbunting EX 0 sleeping bag.

Review: Feathered Friends Snowbunting EX 0 Sleeping Bag

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Winter Sleeping Bag
Feathered Friends Snowbunting EX 0
$789, 2 lbs. 12 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular and long ($644)
featheredfriends.com

On chilly nights of camping, nothing’s more popular than a fat sleeping bag. When sleeping outside in winter—or wintry temperatures—the Snowbunting EX 0 has become my bag of choice. Most recently, I slumbered peacefully and quite comfortably through three December nights without a tent outside a backcountry yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains—one of those nights dropping into the single digits Fahrenheit, and another featuring several hours of snow falling intermittently directly onto my bag, inside which I remained quite warm and dry. Super warm and well built, at a moderate weight, this bag functions well, depending on the user, for trips in temps from around its 0-degree rating to around freezing.

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A mother and young daughter paddling a mangrove tunnel on the East River, in Florida's Everglades region.

Like No Other Place: Paddling the Everglades

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By Michael Lanza

Under a hot February sun and cloudless sky, we launch our kayaks from a tiny spot of sandy beach into the perfectly still, dark-chocolate waters of the East River in South Florida’s Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. Within minutes, flocks of snowy egrets fly in close formation overhead. White ibises, black anhingas, tri-colored herons, and brown pelicans flap above the wide river and the green walls of forest on both sides. Great blue herons lift off effortlessly and glide on wings whose span equals an average human’s height.

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Leki Micro Vario Carbon Black Series trekking poles.

Review: Leki Micro Vario Carbon Black Series Trekking Poles

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Trekking Poles Leki Micro Vario Carbon Black Series $250, 15 oz./pair (with trekking baskets) One unisex size, adjustable backcountry.com List all the qualities you’d want in the perfect trekking poles and you may find yourself describing the Leki Micro Vario Carbon Black Series. From a three-day, 36-mile backpacking trip on the Teton Crest Trail to a steep, eight-mile, 5,200-vertical-foot dayhike …

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A backpacker passing Wanda Lake on the John Muir Trail in Kings Canyon National Park.

Thru-Hiking the John Muir Trail in 7 Days: Amazing Experience, or Certifiably Insane?

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By Michael Lanza

“Umm, hey buddy, you okay?”

It’s 4:30 a.m., a time of day that puts us in the questionable company of cat burglars and alpinists. Our headlamp beams seem to bounce off the inky black of a moonless night in Yosemite Valley. Four of us are taking the first steps on the 221-mile John Muir Trail. And my friend Mark Fenton is staggering like a frat boy on a weekend bender.

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Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork trekking poles.

Review: Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles

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All-Season Trekking Poles Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Poles $230, 1 lb. 1.5 oz./496.1g (per pair, with trekking baskets) Two sizes, adjustable: men’s 100-130cm/39-51 ins., women’s 95-125cm/37-49 ins. blackdiamondequipment.com For backcountry users who need poles that can handle hard use and any and all activities around the calendar, from backpacking on good trails to scrambling off-trail up mountains and backcountry …

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