Backcountry Life RSS

I'm new to this, I want to do some hiking but I'm not sure how to get started. We hear this from time to time and so we thought we'd fill in those details...

Getting our kids to love the backcountry has happened in phases.  When my youngest was still portable, I simply just went.  I carried her everywhere.   It was pretty easy actually.  The additional weight wasn’t impossible, though at times I’m sure I looks ridiculous with a baby on the front and a big pack on the back

You're walking through camp, down to the edge of a beautiful alpine lake.  You're out of water and about to unpack your filter and bottles to refill.  You kneel down, look into the water and .....you see the remnants of someone else's dinner. (yuk) . Grey water, food scraps, whatever you want to call it.  There is a better way to manage our waste in the backcountry.    The pack it in, pack it out rule applies for all non organic waste 100%.  There are also some more sensitive locations where the expectation is even organic wastes (yeah you guessed it!) are packed out.  Ask a US park ranger about their least favourite job and it might be changing out...

Tips for prepping your own dehydrated meals in the backcountry.

There are so many good reasons to consider getting your overall packed-weight down for Backcountry trips. The most important reason, to help protect you from injury. Packing too heavy will adversely affect your joints and spine, especially if your pack suspension is not well designed to carry the bulk of the weight on your hips. The additional strain can lead to injury on the trail which can lead to bigger problems, especially when you find yourself more than a day’s travel away from your nearest exit point. In these cases, you can always hope the extra weight you’ve carried is inclusive of additional food and a well stocked first aid kit with Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen :) As for guidelines for backpacking light;...