America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
Trekking & Snow Poles Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles $170, 1 lb. 2 oz. (with trekking baskets) One size, adjustable moosejaw.com If you make the mountains your playground in all seasons and find your budget tapped by a variety of boots, packs, and other gear for your sports, the notion of purchasing more than one pair of poles …
By Michael Lanza About 20 years ago, when I was living in rural New Hampshire and syndicating a weekly outdoor column in newspapers across New England, I received a letter—yes, a letter, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service—from a guy who lived near me, offering himself as a hiking partner. He was a few years older than my father. But …
Ultralight Wind Shell The North Face Flight Series Fuse Jacket $250, 5 oz. (men’s medium) Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-L moosejaw.com Biting winds hit us on the 1,400-foot, third-class scramble up 10,651-foot Snowyside Peak, roughly halfway through an 8.5-hour, 20-mile, 4,500-foot, mid-September trail run-hike of the Alice-Toxaway Loop in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. So I zipped this ultralight shell up tight …
Lightweight Boots Keen Aphlex Mid WP $160, 2 lbs. 3 oz. (US men’s 9) Sizes: men’s 6-15, women’s 6-11 moosejaw.com Lightweight, mid-cut boots at this price make up a competitive category of hiking footwear, and quality varies significantly. Many models are, frankly, made for first-time boot buyers and bargain shoppers who make a choice based on a couple of simple …
Rain Jacket Outdoor Research Realm Jacket $279, 10.5 oz. (men’s medium) Sizes: men’s XS-XXL moosejaw.com Carrying a heavy pack in intermittent, strong gusts of cold wind and hot sun—that’s actually one of the best tests of a rain shell, because you’ll discover how breathable it is, which dictates whether you can stay dry (read: not sweating up a personal storm …