America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
Kids Daypack
REI Tarn 18
$40, 1 lb. 3 oz. (one size fits kids age 8 to 12)
18L/1,100 c.i.
rei.com
Your kid needs a hydration-compatible daypack that’s functional and comfortable, and the Tarn 18 rings all the bells at a good price. It logged numerous days with my family this summer, from the Columbia Gorge to the Tetons, because it fits both my son (recently turned 11) and daughter (age 8). They both loved its look and functionality of a real pack.
Air Mattress
Exped SynMat UL 7
$155, 1 lb. (medium), plus 2-oz. mini pump (both weights exclude stuff sacks)
Sizes: S 64x20x2.8 inches, M 20x72x2.8 inches
exped.com
Campsites on hard-packed dirt and stones in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains felt like a feather bed with this inflatable mattress, which has nearly three inches (seven centimeters) of cushion, but still weighs less than many competitors and packs down to the size of a liter bottle.
Rock-climbing Shoes
Five Ten Hueco
$140, 1 lb. 2 oz. (men’s 10)
Sizes: unisex 6-13
fiveten.com
Count me as one of those climbers who was heartsick when Five Ten stopped making the Hueco some years back. And apparently, we were a pretty big club, because the Hueco was an awfully popular shoe in the 1990s. Now it’s back and improved, and after test-driving a pair on moderate routes at Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park, I’m a kid in love again.
Davek Traveler Umbrella
$79, 13 oz.
davekny.com
When the skies opened up at Mt. Rainier National Park and we faced two hours of slogging through steady rain before reaching our next campsite, I was very glad to have Davek’s Traveler umbrella—not for me, actually, but for my nine-year-old son. It made a big difference in his outlook toward hiking in the cool rain.
Mini-Crampons
Kahtoola Microspikes
$59, 13 oz. (medium)
XS-XL (fit boots from youth size 1 to men’s 16, or insulated boots up to men’s 13.5)
kahtoola.com
Conditions on the Grand Canyon’s Grandview Trail were—as a ranger warned us when we picked up our permit—“treacherous” for our late-March backpacking trip. Hard ice and frozen snow covered the trail’s uppermost couple of miles, where you frequently traverse sloping ledges a foot or two wide, with huge drop-offs. “Microspikes are mandatory,” the ranger told us, and he was right. Without them, we’d have risked becoming tomorrow’s news—or, more likely, have aborted our four-day trip.