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Style Guide

Heading One H1 Heading Two H2 Heading Three H3 Heading Four H4 Heading Five H5 Heading Six H6 Font: Playfair Playfair is a transitional design. In the European Enlightenment in the late 18th century, broad nib quills were replaced by pointed steel pens as the popular writing tool of the day. Together with developments in printing technology, ink, and paper …

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Aside for Widgets

Sidebar Widgets are a main feature of any Magazine Blogging site. To aid with that Dispatch uses a nifty little plugin and a couple of custom CSS classes to make styling your sidebar a breeze. Widget CSS Classes Using the namesake plugin you can now add CSS Classes to Widgets. Simple. Dispatch Widget Classes CSS Class: zero-padding Removes the padding …

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Michael Lanza on the summit of Angels Landing, Zion National Park.

The Big Outside Starts Down a New Path Today. Please Join Me

By Michael Lanza

Starting today, this blog takes a necessary step forward: I’ve launched a paid-subscription system. I’m inviting you, as a regular reader of my blog, to join now, at a nominal cost, and continue having access to the high-quality stories and images you’ve enjoyed at The Big Outside.

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Gear Review: Exped SynMat Hyperlite Air Mattress

Exped SynMat Hyperlite with Schnozzel Pumpbag UL.
Exped SynMat Hyperlite with Schnozzel Pumpbag UL.

Insulated Air Mattress
Exped SynMat Hyperlite
$169, 14 oz. (medium, including stuff sack)
Sizes:
Medium (72×20.5×2.8 ins., packed size 3.5×7.5 ins.)
Medium wide ($179, 72×25.6×2.8 ins., packed size 4×7.5 ins.)
Long wide ($189, 77.6×25.6×2.8 ins., packed size 4×8 ins.)
moosejaw.com

How light and compact can an air mattress get and still deliver a comfortable night’s sleep on the ground? Under a pound for a full-length, insulated air mat, I discovered after using the SynMat Hyperlite on backpacking trips on the 34-mile Royal Arch Loop in the Grand Canyon, the 41-mile Timberline Trail around Mount Hood, the 34-mile Rockwall Trail in Canada’s Kootenay National Park, and a weekend of camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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