I am not going to stand here in front of God and Backpackerā€˜s readers and pretend I always, or even usually, eat healthy on my trips. I eat loose from my hipbelt pockets while I hike and wolf down instant ramen like Iā€™m a broke college student and rent is due. I once stuffed an entire box of Honey Buns into a helicopterā€™s cargo box during an Editorsā€™ Choice trip to Banff National Park (bad idea, those things do not travel well).

But as Iā€™ve gotten older and words like ā€œhypertensionā€ and ā€œarteriosclerosisā€ have gradually entered my peersā€™ vocabularies, Iā€™ve gotten more and more interested in finding a compromise between convenience and health when it comes to meal planning for my hikes and backcountry tours. If youā€™re on the same path, then this roundup of our best hiking nutrition stories is for you. The following stories are a primer in how to eat on a hike, from the basics of nutrition to busting some of the most persistent dietary myths. Read on to learn more.

From processed ingredients to organic to specialty diets, itā€™s easy to get blinded by science when it comes to nutrition. The reality: Figuring out how to eat better on a backpacking trip doesnā€™t need to be complicated. We break down the basics of nutritionā€”eat for recovery, keep an eye on your electrolytes, and, whatever you do, donā€™t skip breakfastā€”in this easy explainer for beginners.

Sometimes the effects of a poor diet take a while to hit. Sometimes, however, they kick in faster, leading to problems from skinny legs to trail diarrhea. If youā€™re planning on going on a long hikeā€”think two weeks or moreā€”you need to keep a much closer eye on what youā€™re consuming than you might on a weekend trip. We consulted two backpacking dietitians to understand how the food hikers eat helps or hinders them.

There are few sciences as rife with misinformation as nutrition. Spend an hour googling, and youā€™ll find contradictory information, questionable supplements, and even downright dangerous diet plans on offer. Donā€™t get fooled: Learn to tell the BS from the valuable information with this round-up from Corey Buhay.

Letā€™s be real: Few to none of us are hiking with a pack full of fresh fruits and vegetables, or even a lot of dehydrated ones. Getting our meal bag down to a manageable size while still carrying enough calories to fuel days of hard hiking means making some compromises, from carrying processed food to prioritizing raw carbs over vitamins and minerals. How do your favorite hiking treats stack up? We asked a dietitian to evaluate everything from instant ramen to Pop-Tarts on the value to hungry hikers.

If youā€™re hoping to build up your hiking fitness, then protein is non-negotiable. It helps rebuild the day-to-day wear and tear you incur and locks in the muscular gains you earn over days and weeks on the trail. Protein bars and shakes are easy, but these are easier, cheaper, and tastier ways to get your daily dose.

The post Hereā€™s What Dietitians Want Hikers to Know About Eating on the Trail appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

What does an experienced politician, bicycling advocate, and native Texan do to fill up their time when they retire? If youā€™re Charles Gandy, you try to create a Texas version of the Pacific Crest Trail. Gandy is spearheading efforts to develop the xTx trail, a 1,500-mile thru-hike that crosses Texas from Orange to El Paso. We chatted with Gandy to understand his vision for the trail, challenges with its development and what participants can expect.

The xTx will be a unique way for adventurers to see and experience the state. ā€œThis ainā€™t Dallas. This ainā€™t Houston,ā€ Gandy says. ā€œIā€™m inviting people to get to know Texas by dirt, and itā€™s a whole different deal than Texas on paper. Iā€™m excited about sharing the friendly and dirty sides of Texas.ā€ The trail, which will be open to hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians, runs through three major Texas regions (East, West, and ) and winds through Devilā€™s River, , Santa Elena Canyon, and Hueco Tanks. Gandy is excited to showcase parts of the state that often fly under the radar.

ā€œEast Texas is one of the most beautiful parts of the state, and you would never see it or learn about it unless you walked through it,ā€ he says.

Developing the xTx has come with its own unique challenges. About 90 percent of the Appalachian Trail and PCT are located on public land. In Texas, however, about 96 percent of the stateā€™s land is privately owned, so almost the entire xTx will cross private land. For Gandy, that means speaking with (and securing deals) with about 100 individual landowners. He presents the xTx as a potential way for ranchers to earn money for the upkeep and maintenance of their land.

ā€œRanchers are making money in the fall on hunters, and then itā€™s dormant during the wintertime, and thatā€™s hiking season,ā€ he says. ā€œIā€™m showing them how they can extend their season. I, as a hiker, can stay in their guest house for money or camp outside for free. We want to show them the big idea and how they can participate.ā€ Gandy also has to convince landowners to install wells or watering holes on their land, since there is currently on the entire trail route.

When you hear Gandyā€™s life story, itā€™s as if every moment was designed to lead him to found xTx. After getting a degree in political science, Gandy worked in Texas politics and for the Texas Nature Conservancy; he later founded BikeTexas, an advocacy group devoted to expanding biking access. Gandy has spent years building relationships with local philanthropists, politicians, and nonprofits. Gandy is taking a lifeā€™s worth of political and advocacy skills and applying them to each conversation he has with a rancher. ā€œItā€™s going to be a hundred different scenarios that we get to negotiate with a hundred different landowners,ā€ he says.

Since officially launching this summer, xTx has received a groundswell of support and donations from hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts. ā€œAs a hiker, Iā€™m surrounded by these 30 year olds, theyā€™re taking on these big, hairy challenges. And theyā€™re turning out, theyā€™re the ones that are looking to be the trail angels of tomorrow,ā€ Gandy says. ā€œTheyā€™ve done their big thing, and now they want to help other people do it.ā€

As far as timetables are concerned, Gandy has given himself five years to ink deals with all the parties necessary to make xTx happen, and heā€™s got a strategy in place. ā€œIā€™m sincere about inviting hikers out next spring to what weā€™re calling ā€˜Sweaty Taste of the xTxā€™ and hosting people to participate in hikes [of sections of trail].ā€ Heā€™ll talk with small business owners and point to trail towns on the PCT and AT experiencing economic development. The project has an approximate budget of $5 million dollars to develop trail infrastructure, set up watering holes and secure landowner agreements.

By 2030, the first thru-hiker should get to experience the reality of Gandyā€™s dream in Texas. Gandy is confident that his slow-but-steady, deliberate approach will work, in part because patience and inspiration are in no short supply. For Gandy, the xTx project is the culmination of his lifeā€™s work.

ā€œThis is a legacy project for me,ā€ he says. ā€œI get to play the role that Benton MacKaye played for the Appalachian Trail or Clinton Clarke did for the Pacific Crest Trail.ā€

For more information on the xTx, visit .Ģż

The post Is Americaā€™s Next Great Thru-Hike in Texas? appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

Relatively few young people have the grit and determination to finish a 2,200-mile, 900,000-vertical-foot hike like the Appalachian Trail. That only makes Linda ā€œNanaā€ Vanderloopā€™s trip more impressive. On October 28, Linda became the oldest woman ever to thru-hike the AT when she climbed to the summit of New Yorkā€™s Bear Mountain at 74 years old with her daughter Hanna, beating a 10-year-old record set by . For Linda however, the record was an afterthought.

ā€I did not go into that even knowing about [Reisinger],ā€ Linda says. ā€œFinishing the trail was something I wasnā€™t sure I was going to be doing.ā€

The idea of an thru-hike came about after Linda Vanderloop completed the Ice Age Trail in her home state of Wisconsin in 2020. Lindaā€™s daughter, Hanna, became envious of her momā€™s experience and began her own adventure.

ā€œI would call her and she would be on the trail and I would be super jealous,ā€ Hanna recalls. ā€œShe had this big goal she was chipping away at. So,I started hiking the blue blaze trail network in Connecticut.ā€

One of the sections of that network was part of the Appalachian Trail. As she began tackling those miles, Hanna realized she was hungry for more of that challenge, and made it her long-term goal to hike the AT. When she quit her job earlier this year to start working her way through the trail in 100-mile segments, her mother decided she wanted to come too.

From the start of the journey, the duoā€™s flip-flop approach was unconventional. They planned to begin on Bear Mountain in New York, but quickly had to pivot after discovering the peak was closed. Instead they began their hike between Bear Mountain and Harriman State Park in New York. From there, they hiked New Jersey and Pennsylvania before heading south to tackle Georgia, Tennessee, and most of North Carolina before heading north, sometimes hiking segments independently of one another.

ā€œWe only had two rules: [We passed] every in 365 days, and we almost always hiked northbound,ā€ says Hanna. ā€œPiece by piece, the pair hiked large swaths of the trail, occasionally meeting up with other family members to share the experience and accept support along the way.Ģż Both Linda and Hanna found that their unconventional methods provided a more solitary experience outside of the bubble, which they liked.

As they neared the end of the trail, they discovered that Reisingerā€™s birthday (she also finished her hike at 74) was later in the year, and realized that Linda had a chance at beating her record. Besides being older than Reisinger by six weeks, she also completed her hike later in the season.

Obtaining the new title was a perk for Linda, but her experience was inspiration in other ways, too.

ā€œWe met so many people on the trail that were older,ā€ she says. ā€œAnd you felt so good that people still feel they can do this. You donā€™t have to be young. Anybody can walk. It was kind of neat to even see some trails that could even accept a wheelchair,ā€ she said.

Lindaā€™s journey was mostly devoid of injury, although she hiked Kinsman with food poisoning and wound up with about 20 yellow jacket stings in North Carolina. Still, she admits, the trip was far from easy.

ā€œThere is a reason 1 in 4 people only finish,ā€ she says. ā€œIt lives up to its reputation of being one of the toughest and longest hikes.ā€

Since Reisinger set her record in 2014, many hikers have attempted to beat it. In 2023, Pamela Clark came close to claiming the title at age 76, but came up just shy of the ATCā€™s 12-month requirement. currently holds the oldest overall Appalachian Trail record, which he obtained at the age of 83 in 2021.

When asked if sheā€™s plans to tackle other long trails in the future, Linda responded, ā€œIā€™ll never say never.ā€

ā€œIf the opportunity arises Iā€™ll probably be out there,ā€ she says. ā€œItā€™s kind of hard not to keep the legs going once you start.ā€

The post This 74-Year-Old Woman Just Broke an Appalachian Trail Record appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

Whether or not a backpacker carries a camp chair tells you a lot about them. Do they view camp as a destination to get comfortable and enjoy? Or just a brief pause thatā€™s necessary if they want to spend a weekend walking without collapsing from exhaustion? While camp chairs have gotten lighter and lighter over the past several decade, theyā€™re still far from standard in most backpackersā€™ gear lists. Should they be on yours? We asked two of our editors to weigh in.

Ditch the Camp Chair

I want it on record that . Iā€™m the kind of person whoā€™s constitutionally unable to sit on a couch without eventually oozing into a lying-down position. I like fireplaces and cozy flannel shirts. Iā€™ve been known, on occasion, to wear Crocs. But when it comes to comfort, itā€™s possible to have too much of a good thing.

If youā€™re a middle-class person in the global north, you likely live in an environment thatā€™s tailored to your physical ease. Your clothing is mostly soft and always clean; your furniture is upholstered, your temperatures are controlled. Like a fish in water, youā€™ve likely become so used to the comforts surrounding you that youā€™ve ceased to register them.

But sometimes, I think, a little discomfort can help us fully engage with the world. When you feel the sweat trickling down your neck or the hard rock underneath the seat of your pants, what youā€™re really experiencing is the feeling of being a human being out in nature, immersed in the sun and the bugs and the cold ground. Yes, when you leave the chair at home, youā€™re sacrificing a little bit of comfortā€”but youā€™re gaining so much more.

Then, thereā€™s the obvious problem with carrying a chair: the weight. Backpacking chairs have gotten a lot lighter over the years, with models like the tipping the scales at a single pound. But you know what weighs less than bringing a lightweight seat? Leaving it at home. A chair is a luxury item that you can replace with any log or relatively flat rock. If Iā€™m going to carry that weight, Iā€™ll bring a book, a first-night meal, or exactly 1 pound of .

I donā€™t judge anyone who brings a chairā€”or any other personal luxuryā€”but to me, focusing on comfort in camp is missing the point. The joy of backpacking is in movement and, for once in our comfort-swaddled lives, immersing ourselves in the wide world around us. So rebel, I say. Leave the chair at home. Sit on the wet grass or the cold, hard rock. ā€”Adam Roy, Editor in Chief

Pack the Camp Chair

Just like Adam, I have an admission up top: I donā€™t hate discomfort. I several years ago, and it changed the way I behave. This Nordic trait boils down to channeling your determination to rise above all adversity. Just when you think youā€™ve reached your limit, you can always dig deeper. Basically the opposite of hygge, itā€™s how Finns are resilient enough to ice swim through the winter months, which is central to their culture.

Since I read that book, a lot of my life has trended toward hobbies and activities that test my patience: I actually enjoy running marathons. I write for a living. On the weekends, I climb rocks until my fingertips are raw. Plus, I regularly spend long hours carrying lots of weight on my back and setting up camp far from my comforts of home. I know what itā€™s like to test my strength, and doing so has let me experience parts of the backcountry that Iā€™d never be able to if I took the easy route. However, there is a line between a hardy challenge and straight-up misery. How can you balance the two when youā€™re voluntarily putting yourself into uncomfortable scenarios? For me, having reliable comforts makes all the difference.

I bring a chair on most backpacking trips, and I actually use it. It doesnā€™t detract from my ability to connect with the outdoors at all. Iā€™m still hearing the same birds, feeling the same wind, and getting bitten by the same bugs as I would if I was sitting on a rock. In fact, I feel like I can focus on connecting with nature a little more. (Sitting directly on wet grass or cold ground would also trigger my Raynaudā€™s-prone extremities to numbness that would take me out of the experience of being outdoors.)

In a community that prides itself on grit, it can be controversial to admit that you go out of your way for luxury. However, determining your hiker status by how much you want to suffer isnā€™t something we should be doing. We all have had hikes that tested us, whether with , technical scrambles, or . After a brutal hike, being able to reliably and comfortably sit down can help recharge your suffer meter. And doing so on an uneven log or soggy grass patch definitely doesnā€™t do it for me.

Itā€™s easy to get caught up in the argument about weight, but honestly, chairs donā€™t weigh that much. My legs have never buckled under the weight of my 1 pound, 11 ounce REI Co-op Flexlite Camp Chair. And a chair weighing a single pound, like the Helinox Chair Zero? Weight-wise, thatā€™s chump change. A decade ago, we wouldnā€™t be splitting hairs for the sake of weight class status, and doing so now is pretty trite. Just grow up and bring the extra pound or two. ā€” Emma Veidt, Assistant Editor

The post Should You Bring a Camp Chair Backpacking? Our Editors Debate. appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

Spend enough time eating hiking food, and you might start gagging at the very thought of a peanut-butter tortilla roll-up. But whether or not youā€™ve hit that devastating milestone, rest assured: You donā€™t need to restrict yourself to beans and PB on the trail. With a little creativity, you can make a variety of flavorful camp meals with just a few cheap ingredients.

These four hiker-approved hot meals cost $3 or less per person. Weā€™ve broken down the costs per single serving, but at these rates, itā€™s easy to double (or even quadruple) the recipes without blowing your budget.

Spicy Mac Mash

This elevated take on the ramen bomb is cheesy, easy, and vegetarian-friendly. Cost: About $1.75 per serving.

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• Annieā€™s White Cheddar Shells Mac and Cheese ($0.75 per serving)
• 1 box of instant mashed potatoes ($0.75 per serving)
• 1 tsp. olive oil ($0.15 per serving)
• Hot sauce, to taste ($0.10 per serving)

In camp: Boil water and cook pasta. Drain water, but leave a little behind to mix in instant mashed potatoes and the cheese powder for a thick, creamy, filling sauce. Fluff together with a fork. Top with olive oil and hot sauce.

Sausage Wraps

Wolf these down for a dose of protein and melted goodness. The ingredients below come in larger servings, meaning you can feed the whole camp. Cost: About $2 per serving.

Ingredients

• Your choice of pre-cooked sausage ($1.25 per serving)
• Tortilla or wrap ($0.30 per serving)
• Shredded cheese ($0.30 per serving)
• Pinch of pepper and salt
• Eggs (use powdered or dehydrated eggs, or ) ($0.25 per serving)
• Hot sauce, to taste ($0.10 per serving)

In camp: Heat sausage over a fire or stove. Once warm, place it in a tortilla or wrap and top with shredded cheese to get a melty effect. Add seasoning and scrambled eggs.

Backcountry Nachos

Treat yourself to something crisp and hearty out there with this crave-worthy recipe. Cost: About $2.75 per serving.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla chips ($0.40 per serving)
• Small can of nacho cheese, or shredded cheese ($0.50 per serving)
• Black beans, transferred to zip top-bag ($0.42 per serving)
• Tomato ($0.50 per serving)
• Avocado ($1 per serving)
• Jalapeno ($0.10 per serving)
• Cilantro, wrapped in damp paper towel in a zip-top bag ($1 per bunch)
• Salsa (optional)

In camp: Chop the jalapeno, cilantro, avocado, and tomato. Warm up your beans and cheese or stove. Layer your bowl or plate with a handful of chipsā€”as many as you can fit. Pile on the toppings. Go back for seconds.

Packed Couscous Bowls

Salty, savory, and scrumptious after a long day, these couscous bowls are both easy to make in camp and worthy of your dining table at home. Cost: About $3 per serving.

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• Dried couscous ($0.65 per serving)
• Bagged sun dried tomatoes ($0.40 per serving)
• Olives, transferred to zip-top bag ( $0.23 per serving)
• Broccoli (store in a zip-top bag and eat on day one or two, or buy freeze-dried) ($0.50 per serving)
• Chicken or tuna packets ($0.75 per serving)

In camp: Boil water and cook your couscous over a campfire or stove. While itā€™s still steamy, mix in tomatoes, olives, broccoli, and your choice of protein.

The post 4 Cheap Camp Meals That Cost $3 or Less appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

To some people, food is fuel. To others, itā€™s a passion. But the best food is both: Great-tasting, but also a building block that will give you what you need to take your fitness to the next level. Thatā€™s why weā€™re sharing these protein-rich recipes with everyone. If you want more great backpacking recipesā€”plus skills, stories, gear reviews and moreā€”sign up forĀ .

As hikers and backpackers,Ā . We love them, we need them, we dream about them while slogging through the worst of it. ButĀ ? This important macronutrient is essential in muscle recovery and metabolism regulation, and itā€™s important to make sure youā€™re getting enough.

Why Hikers Need High-Protein Foods

About 10 to 20 percent of your daily calorie intake should come from protein so your body doesnā€™t break down muscle tissue. This nutrient also strengthens your immune system; it helps build the white blood cells that fight off pathogens found in trail dirt.

Itā€™s crucial that youĀ Ā throughout the day. Protein famously comes from animal products, but if youā€™re plant-based, you can still give your body the nutrients it needs however you want. Here are some of the best plant-based, protein-rich foods for the trail:

• Mixed nuts and seeds
• Nut butters
• Plant-based protein powder (mix with water, stir into oatmeal, etc.)
• Rice and beans (to make it easier, get beans that donā€™t require much soaking, such as lentils)
• Hummus or pesto

If you have no beef with animal products, here are some ways to bulk up on protein in the backcountry:

• Chicken, tuna, sardines or salmon in foil pouches
• Beef or turkey jerky
• Dehydrated eggs
• Hard salami
• , such as Parmesan or Gouda
• Whey protein powder

High-Protein Recipes for Hikers

Carrot Cake Quinoa and Chia Pudding

Calories: 650 | Protein: 23 g | Weight 6 oz.

Fill up with this sweet, nutty medley forĀ Ģż“Ē°łĢż.ĢżServes 2

• Ā¼ cup quinoa, rinsed and dried
• 1 large carrot
• 1 pinch salt
• Ā¼ cup hemp hearts
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ā…“ cup chia seeds
• 1 cup milk from powder
• Ā½ tsp. cinnamon
• ā…› tsp. nutmeg
• Ā¼ cup walnuts, chopped
• Ā¼ cup raisins or dates, chopped

At Home: Place quinoa and salt in one zip-top bag and remaining dry ingredients in another.

In Camp: Add quinoa mixture to / cup water in a pot. Boil, then cover and reduce heat to low and cook until water is absorbed (12 to 15 minutes). Grate carrot and add to bag with remaining ingredients. Add 1 cup cold water and knead until combined. Stir in cooked quinoa and let sit 15 minutes. If needed, spoon in more water until the mixture reaches pudding consistency, then serve.

Mediterranean Tuna Pasta

Calories: 680 | Protein 30 g | Weight: 8 oz.

Change up your menu with this flavorful entree. Serves 3

• Ā½ lb. Penne pasta
• 3 oz. Parmesan cheese
• 12 green olives, with 1 Tbsp. brine from jar
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. garlic granules
• Ā½ tsp. crushed red chilies
• 1 Ā½ tsp. parsley, dried
• 9 sun-dried tomatoes, with 1 Tbsp. oil from jar
• 1 6-oz. foil tuna pouch
• 1 lemon
• Ā¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
• Salt and pepper, to taste

At Home: Put pasta in a zip-top bag. Store chilies, garlic,
and parsley in one baggie and pine nuts in another. Wrap cheese in plastic wrap. Pack sun-dried tomatoes, tomato oil, and olive oil in one leakproof container. Pack olives (with brine) in another.

In Camp:Ā Cook pasta and set aside with 1/3 of the pasta water. Chop olives (discard brine) and tomatoes. Grate or shave cheese. Heat oil in a pan, then add spices and tomatoes and sautĆ© for 1 minute. Add tuna and half the cheese, then pasta and reserved water. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Mix in olives, juice of 1 lemon, and remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper, top with pine nuts, and serve.

Lentil Soup

Warm up with this hearty recipe. Serves 4

• 1 small onion
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup red lentils, uncooked
• 4 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
• 1 Tbsp. tomato powder
• 1 tsp. garlic granules
• 1 Ā¼ tsp. curry powder
• Ā¼ tsp. cumin seeds
• Ā½ tsp. garam masala
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 7-oz. foil pouch chicken

At Home: Pack dry ingredients in a zip-top bag (pack onion separately). Store oil in a leakproof container.

In Camp:Ā Chop onion. Warm oil in a pot over medium heat. SautĆ© onion until it begins to brown. Add 4 cups water and dry ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken and heat for another 5 minutes, then serve.

This story was originally published in .

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It was quiet at the trailhead, parking spots mostly empty as the sun had set hours ago. Stars out, wind gusting. Now and then, a pair of headlights would sweep across the lot from a lonely car winding its way down New Hampshireā€™s scenic Kancamagus Highway. The temperatures would drop almost to freezing later that nightā€”summer was giving way to fall in the White Mountains.Ģż

Around 9:30 P.M., a pair of headlamps broke from the trees and onto the pavement. and his hiking partner, Will Peterson, in running vests and shorts, ambled over to a waiting SUV, where local hiker Jo Biscoe gavae them pizza and Coke. Carcia had just completed a 40-mile day, one of the final legs of his season-long attempt to hike every documented trail in the Appalachian Mountain Clubā€™s in one summer.Ģż

ā€œThe single-season White Mountain Guide is something that I define as the act of hiking all 650-plus primary trails in the White Mountains guide in a single summer season,ā€ said Carcia. And on September 19, two days after I met him on the Kancamagus Highway, Carcia completed the project. It was his third try.Ģż

Over the course of 90 or so days, Carcia logged 1,958.3 miles with a total of 570,369 vertical feet of gain, mostly solo, almost entirely in White Mountain National Forest. He averaged almost 22 miles per day and finished with a , a challenge that encompasses hiking all 48 of New Hampshireā€™s 4,000-footers in one push.Ģż

ā€œIf you go into the northern , and you look at the networks that youā€™re responsible for, there are dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of trails on a single side of a mountain,ā€ Carcia said. ā€œIt looks like a plate of spaghetti was thrown against it.ā€

To make it happen, he spent the summer living mostly out of his converted Toyota Yaris and spending hours driving between trailheads, arranging shuttles, and wrangling logistics with Biscoeā€™s help. Carcia took only two rest days all summerā€”one planned, and one forced by a broken phone and auto repairs. As far as he knows, Carcia is the only person to have conceived of or attempted this feat, and now, after his third try (he narrowly missed the single-season designation in 2020 and 2021), heā€™s the only hiker to have completed it.Ģż

The project has required more discipline than almost anything Carcia, a former thru-hiker, has endured. He dedicated the summer months entirely to making miles, ignoring temptations to stop in town for ice cream on a hot day or meet up with friends for dinner, often opting to hike just a little bit further instead.Ģż

Carcia said that part of the appeal of the project is the blurring of lines between ultralight backpacking and mountain running, along with the tradition of peakbagging that runs deep in the northeast.Ģż

After three grueling summers, Carcia is relieved to be done.Ģż

ā€œI remember sitting on the dirt road there that leads up to the trailhead [that marked the completion of the project], and just having a very quiet moment and feeling like the weight of three years had just started to slowly come off of my shoulders,ā€ he said.ā€

Once he finished hiking, Carcia spent hours over the course of three days checking data to make sure heā€™d really done it: poring over recordings and maps of the 650 interconnected trails and spurs and giving himself a few daysā€™ buffer before the equinox to go back and hike anything heā€™d missed.Ģż

ā€œYou become very sort of intimately aware and connected to the network and its complexities,ā€ he said.Ģż

Carcia himself is no stranger to chasing obscure endurance projects in the Whites. In 2019 he completed a of New Hampshireā€™s 48 4,000-footers, hiking each one every month of the year.Ģż

After all this, there are few people who know the as intimately as Carcia.Ģż

ā€œGoing into this project, I already knew that I was going to love it and loathe it the entire time,ā€ he said. ā€œAt this point, in a really beautiful way, there arenā€™t a lot of surprises. Itā€™s really tough hiking, and itā€™s a long road through the valley and up over the peaks and back to where you started. But you know, I love it nonetheless.ā€Ā 

The post This Hiker Trekked all 650 Documented Trails in the White Mountains in One Summer appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

is a podcast about real people who survived the unsurvivable. Check out more seasons and episodesĀ .

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, there are about ten unprovoked alligator attacks on humans every year. That puts your chances of being attacked by an alligator at one in 3.2 million, It may seem that alligators are easily enough avoided. But if, like Jeffrey Heim, your work is outside on the slow rivers of Florida, encountering an alligator is just another day at the office.

Out Alive is brought to you by Ricola, makers of Ricola Max Throat Care. Youā€™ve got big plans to get out there and adventure this cold season. Ricola Max Throat Care features a powerful liquid menthol center delivering the ultimate relief from your worst cough and cold. Learn moreĀ at . Itā€™s in our nature.

Transcript

Host: Welcome back to another episode of Out Alive. Before we get into todayā€™s story, here are some words about our sponsor.

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Before a recent trip to Florida, I gave my kids the talk. Stay away from the waterā€™s edge. Iā€™m not typically a helicopter parent, but the threat of some animals just creates a more visceral fear than others. Like all perceived threats in the wild, though, it helps to know the facts. Alligators can be found as far southwest as Texas and Oklahoma and along the southern states up into parts of North Carolina.

But for now, weā€™re going to stick with Florida, where todayā€™s story takes place. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, there are about 10 unprovoked alligator attacks on humans every year. That puts your chances at being attacked by an alligator at 1 in 3.2 million, but that number seems to be rising. The reason for this increase can be mainly explained by explosive population growth. In the 1980s, alligators were on the endangered species list, but in the last decade, their population has ballooned to over a million in Florida alone, meaning thereā€™s about one alligator to every 20 residents of the state. It may seem that alligators are easily enough avoided. Thatā€™s not true for Jeffrey Heim who has built his career around another type of big-tooth predator. Heā€™s made shark education and conservation part of his lifeā€™s work. But when your job and passion is collecting prehistoric shark teeth, encountering an alligator is just another day at the office.

Trailer: I made a decision to survive. Youā€™re in that survival mode. The idea of dying wasnā€™t in my head. I knew immediately it was the worst-case scenario. I was in a fight-for-my-life situation. Whenever you walk out on these trails, youā€™re in their house. Iā€™m Louisa Albanese, and youā€™re listening to Out Alive by Backpacker.

In each episode of this podcast, weā€™ll bring you real stories of real people who survived the unsurvivable. I saw the rope zip through the repel ring, and I couldnā€™t do anything. Learn what went wrong, what went right, and how you can escape if the worst-case scenario happens to you. There is no way we would find anybody alive.

Jeffrey Heim: My name is Jeffrey Heim. Iā€™m the owner of SHRKco.com. My passion is finding giant shark teeth, specifically Megalodons here in ancient Floridaā€™s oceans, which to me is just the ultimate life experience. Itā€™s something I think about every single day. And thereā€™s a lot of other people like me, believe it or not.

Thereā€™s a whole culture out here of fossil hunters and shark tooth hunters, so my mission is to help ancient sharks, save living sharks. I think itā€™s cool for their ancestors to directly be helping todayā€™s sharks and SHRKco is just that vehicle.

Host: Jeffreyā€™s organization SHRKco finds and sells shark teeth fossils, jewelry, and apparel. They donate ten percent of their profits to finsattached.org, an organization that conducts marine research to promote conservation. According to the New York Times, more than 3/4 of the worldā€™s oceanic shark species are now under threat of extinction. While Florida law does require a $5 annual permit for collecting vertebrae fossils, collecting shark teeth are specifically exempt from the usual permits because they are so widely abundant.

Jeffrey Heim: When I used to work as a full-time spear fisherman in the keys. One of the guys that I lived with, his name is Mark Rackley. Heā€™s one of the original Shark Week producers and cameramen. He did a bunch of stuff with National Geographic and everything, so heā€™s been in the industry a long time and he just invited me with his family to go look for shark teeth and dive in rivers in South Carolina.

We found them, and it just hooked me. It was the most fun thing Iā€™ve ever done in my life, and when I went back to Florida, I realized I was an hour and a half drive away from the shark tooth capital of the world. Over the years, I slowly went through a painstaking process of trial and error to learn more and more.

Host: Since the collection of fossilized shark teeth isnā€™t regulated, itā€™s become exceedingly rare to find Megalodon teeth on beaches where thousands of tourists are searching daily on their vacations. Serious collectors have taken to scouring areas like creeks and riverbeds that were under the ocean millions of years ago. The less accessible a location is and the poorer the visibility, the better.

Jeffrey Heim: So the easier they are with accessibility, the less teeth there are. You have to go to some pretty treacherous areas to find the good stuff these days. At that time, I considered myself to be one of the more gutsy hunters that were gonna do whatever it takes to find them. And I just went back to this river that I had been to several times before and been the most successful at, so I went back, but all the conditions were bad for me to do that. It was not very smart of me, and it was the middle of gator mating season. I was alone, and I was free diving, so it was the perfect storm, honestly, for me to die that day,

Host: Jeffrey was freediving in the Myakka River: Floridaā€™s first state-designated wild and scenic river. It flows through a vast expanse of undeveloped wetlands for 72 miles near Sarasota and into the Gulf of Mexico. The slow-moving current and stretches of pristine riverbank make for an ideal habitat for alligators. It was late May and the middle of gator mating season, when the animals are naturally more territorial

Jeffrey Heim: At gator mating season, the gators are always more aggressive. This river that I was diving in specifically is known to be much more wild, and natural and untouched and scenic. So there are a lot of alligators there specifically. On that day, I just set up at the riverbank, putting on my wetsuit and fins and snorkel and mask and everything.

There were actually two kayakers who went right past me and saw all my dive stuff. They were like, ā€œWhat are you diving for?ā€ I said, ā€œShark teeth.ā€ And they were like, ā€œAre you not worried about gators?ā€ And I shook my head no and laughed. It was a really nice day. Quiet, calm, just slow-moving river, like barely any current. Itā€™s about 8 to 15 feet deep, and I have to have a light to see. Itā€™s really muddy and murky.

I can only see about 2 feet in front of me if that. For me in that river, thatā€™s not too bad. Iā€™ve dealt with a lot worse visibility, but most people consider that really scary. Iā€™m looking for gators casually, but I had diven there so many times before. Look, I know they were there, but I was just too confident.

Host: Weā€™ll be right back.

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While Jeffrey sometimes uses scuba gear while hunting for teeth, today he was free diving, holding his breath underwater and periodically surfacing for air.

Jeffrey Heim: I was just in the water for about one minute and I felt like I got hit by a huge boat with a big propeller going 50 miles an hour. I was really confused, thinking it was a boat.

I was like, ā€œWhere did that boat come from?ā€ I didnā€™t hear a motor. I didnā€™t hear anything. Itā€™s just super quiet. Very stealthy, came from behind my head. I never saw anything coming. I was completely defenseless. It was just a lot of force and it just ripped me down and to the left. Iā€™m wearing a GoPro on the top of my mask.

It gets ripped off in the attack. I check my head because I know somethingā€™s wrong. And I feel my scalp sideways, like my hair horizontal because it was flapped open. And I feel that with my hand, I see the blood on my hand, but I look up and the gatorā€™s just looking right at me. And I was like, oh my gosh, it was a gator.

We are just looking at each other, and then she allows me to check my head and understand whatā€™s going on for a second. She was a 7ā€™ female, and when she bit my head and I looked up at her and realized that it was a gator, she was real mean and angry looking. I normally like alligators. I was fascinated by them and relatively enjoyed being around them, but this one looked mean, and I could tell she just wanted to eat me to remove me.

Host: While alligators are territorial and will defend a nest and their young from perceived threats, they generally donā€™t see humans as food. If you find yourself in close proximity to an alligator or being attacked, the best course of action is always to flee or run as fast as you can.

Jeffrey Heim: And then she lunges at me again, tries to get me, and I back away slowly. Iā€™m as calm as I am now. Thank God I wasnā€™t flailing or freaking out, and then I look back at her, and then she really lunges at me. And that time I was like, ā€œOkay, I gotta get outta here.ā€ So I moved a lot quicker that time, climbed out of the bank, stumbled back to where my car was.

Luckily there were people right there walking back to their car too, and they called the police. One of them was an ex-firefighter. So he went right next door to this restaurant that was out there in the middle of nowhere. Itā€™s just a scenic restaurant, right on the river where I parked. And he went in there, grabbed a first aid kit and wrapped my head and comforted me and stuff.

But thereā€™s a couple times when I was about to pass out right there, and thatā€™s where I thought I was gonna die. And just everyone else around me would continue to live, and I would just slip away. I wasnā€™t in any pain. Just apparently in shock. And then eventually the EMTs show up. The whole time, Iā€™m nervous, joking with the paramedics, just kind of like trying to normalize the situation. I donā€™t know what to do. Honestly. Iā€™m just nervous and talk to them as normal. Weā€™ll talk about shark teeth just to comfort myself. Am I gonna pass out any second? Am I just gonna die? Am I gonna be a vegetable? Brain bleed? Iā€™m thinking everything. I have no idea whatā€™s going on.

Host: Jeffrey knew he suffered a serious bite to his head and also an injury to his hand. But he had no idea the true extent of his injuries, or if he would be okay, despite his calm demeanor, and attempts at humor, he was still deeply fearful for his life.

Jeffrey Heim: And then once we drove up to the hospital, they were like, ā€œThereā€™s gonna be a lot of people in here looking at you.ā€ And they werenā€™t kidding. They rolled me out there. There were like 40 people just staring, ready to act and operate. And it hasnā€™t sunk in yet, the severity of the situation. Iā€™m still just nervous, joking with everyone.

And they start cleaning the wound, then come the numbing shots, and then they start stapling. I had 34 staples, and once they stapled me up, they were like, ā€œItā€™s not as deep as we thought it was, but letā€™s take the CT scan. We think youā€™re gonna live. Just to have the confirmation that at least youā€™re going to live.ā€ I just started crying my eyes out like Iā€™d never cried before. They let me kind of get it out a little bit, and then theyā€™re like, ā€œAlright, we need to get you in for the CT scan so we can see whatā€™s really going on.ā€ So I hold it a little bit in there, and then once they told me I was done with the CT scan, I just cried for another two hours. I was really intense because I canā€™t believe that I, first of all, being alone, if I got knocked out, I wouldā€™ve just drowned.

Even just like for a second, even gotten the wind knocked out of me, anything as simple as that, I wouldā€™ve drowned. Iā€™m lucky she didnā€™t bite my face, my neck, my shoulder. She did bite my hand, but Iā€™m lucky she didnā€™t rip it off or anything else off. And Iā€™m lucky it was a perfect bite placement. It was terrible and painful and head trauma, but thatā€™s the best out of the entire situation.
Especially since three people have died this year from alligator attacks. Someone got bit in the face yesterday by an alligator near me in the same county that I live in. It is very violent, very powerful, getting bit by an apex predator that has the bite force to cut through steel. That was just a very intense situation for me that Iā€™m lucky to have lived.

Host: Professional trappers tried removing the gator to an alligator farm. But during the process, the female gator who bit Jeffrey in the head was ironically also bitten in the head by another larger gator, killing her. Experts believed that she attacked Jeffrey because she may have had a nest in the area, although her nest was never found.

Jeffrey Heim: Thereā€™s a reason why this river is now illegal to dive in, for not just the alligators. Itā€™s considered a scenic river. And itā€™s now theyā€™re enforcing it more because of, I guess, the attention that I drew to it from this attack, but less people are willing to hunt in that river because of how dangerous it is.

Host: After two months of recovery, Jeffrey was back in the wilderness hunting for shark teeth. While heā€™ll never dive in that spot again, he hasnā€™t slowed down his tooth hunting operations, which takes him to wild places across the state of Florida.

Jeffrey Heim: I went this past into some place, very treacherous, but on land, I hiked through 2 miles of brush at night in Floridaā€™s wilderness. It was brutal, but I did really well. So some of the people who take the bigger risks have the bigger rewards. I am smarter now. I try to be a lot more cautious, especially in waters. I never dive alone. As a free diver, itā€™s not smart to be around alligators and just being all quiet and alone and free diving.

But the reason why I collect these teeth is, it actually started as a passion for me. I just really enjoyed it and still enjoy it. Iā€™ve now turned into something bigger than me. Itā€™s definitely dangerous diving in an alligator-infested river every single time, no matter who you are. But other than that, I have been relatively safer in the rivers and technically no time is safe, but every other time besides that, I was with a buddy, and we took more precautions than I did that day.

Host: While some may have seriously considered a career with less occupational hazard, throughout his recovery, Jeffreyā€™s respect for nature never wavered. Meanwhile, his newfound sense of caution informed other aspects of his life.

Jeffrey Heim: Iā€™m a much safer driver now. I always check my blind spot two or three times before turning on the highway. I value life a little bit more. I think that day built a lot of character in me, sobered me up from being a little bit too risky. It cemented this drive of finding shark teeth in my life. It just showed me that this is what Iā€™m here to do. And I want to do it for the right reasons too, using this as a platform to speak about conservation and helping, again, shark finning. But thereā€™s also a lot of issues going on here in Florida, locally with red tide and pollution, and a lot of habitat loss for the animals that are already here that weā€™re trying to coexist with. So Iā€™m just trying to bring awareness to that. That is the mission of my company, as well as to improve the world around us.

Host: This episode of Out Alive was produced and written by me, Louisa Albanese, along with Zoe Gates. Scoring and sound design was by Jason Patten. Thank you to Jeffrey Heim and Rob Carmichael for sharing your stories with us. Thanks for listening to Out Alive. And if you have a backcountry survival story, and youā€™re interested in sharing, you can email me at OutAlive@outsideinc.com.

This season of Out Alive is brought to you by Ricola. Out Alive is made possible by the members of ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų+. You can learn all about the benefits of membership like expert-led online classes at outsideonline.com/podplus, and enter the code OutAlive50 for 50% off.

The post Out Alive Podcast: I Was Attacked by an Alligator appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

After two young pilots crashed their small plane into the water off Hawaii, they realized their best hope for survival was to make it back to land on their own. Sydney Uetmoto and David McMahon had been on a regular route between Oahu and the island of Hawaii, but now they were just specks in the sea with no way to call for help. In this riveting tale from the podcast, we hear about their remarkable endurance in the face of overwhelming odds.

This episode is brought to you by LifeStraw, maker of durable and versatile filtration systems that provide the highest protection from unsafe water. Learn more atĀ .

The post Swimming for Your Life in the Open Ocean appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.

Sea to Summit dropped some big news today about its Spring ’21 lineup. After more than three years of research and development, the brand will make its first play in the lightweight tent market with two new backpacking models, theĀ Alto and the Telos, which customers can get their hands on early in the new year.

Developed in collaboration with industry-leading tent pole manufacturer DAC, the new offerings are designed around a fresh technology that Sea to Summit is calling the Tension Ridge, a pole construction that creates more room inside the tent, taller doors, and greater ventilation.

“This is a huge project for us,” Josh Simpson, North American general manager at Sea to Summit, told ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Business Journal. “It’s one of the most significant investments the brand has ever made in terms of R&D and developing a new category.”

Roland Tyson, Sea to Summit’s founder, said in aĀ promotional video shot this monthĀ that the new tents are the most complicated product Sea to Summit has ever made.

“We did a lot of work on looking at what people don’t like about tents,” said Tyson. “We went, ‘OK, our hit list is to go through and make sure we solve all of these problems.’ These are very different from other tents when you use themā€”from space to ventilation to entrances to visibility.”

Tension Ridge Technology

According to Simpson, the project began in earnest several years ago whenĀ Tyson met DAC founder and legendary designer Jake Lah. The two began talking about the biggest design flaws that vex backpacking tents across various brands; one thing led to another, and an idea was born.

“They found a lot of common ground in the way that they viewed tent space and what could be done differently,” said Simpson. “These tents represent a very deep collaboration with DAC, deeper than anything we’ve done with another company. The development of the main architectural feature of these tents was a real partnership between Roland and Jake.”

That architectural feature is Sea to Summit’s new Tension Ridge technology, a system that allows the tent’s brow pole to angle upward at its ends, rather than down. That simple tweak opens up the tent’s interior space significantly while allowing room for vents to be placed up highā€”an exit point for rising warm air that leads to unwanted condensation.

ā€œBy inverting the angle of the brow pole, we achieve best-in-class interior space and ventilation, without adding weight or bulk to the tent,ā€ said Lah.

Simpson said, “The Tension Ridge creates a tremendous amount more space inside the tent for a similar footprint to other tents on the market. And it allows us to do some pretty tricky things with ventilation. We looked at all the things within tent design that we wanted to address, and we really focused in on three core areas to hone in on: space, climate, and versatility. This tension ridge system is core to almost everything that we’re addressing within the first two areas of space and climate.”

Sea to Summit has collected testing data that shows the tents are “demonstrably better in terms of managing humidity and condensation than anything else on the market,” according to Simpson. The company will release that data in coming weeks.

In terms of wind stability, Simpson says the design offers a unique advantage because of the upper vent.

“Obviously you wouldnā€™t orient this toward the wind when you’re setting it up, but if the wind changes direction in the middle of the night and you’ve got a gust coming straight into the upper vent, what happens is that vent acts as a counterbalance to the headwall.”

While most of the tent will be pushed downward by strong wind, he says, the area under the upper vent will be lifted up, acting as a foil and creating stability. When the wind hits the side of the tent, the construction of the Tension Ridge allows it to pass straight through.

‘Hangout Mode’ and Other Goodies

Beyond solving problems of space and climate, the two new models also take aim at versatility issues identified during the R&D process, with lots of attention paid to small details inside and out.

The rain fly in both modelsĀ can be adjusted to three positions: “star friendly,” partially open, or closed. TheĀ tent and fly stuff sacks clip into place as storage pockets inside the tent. AĀ pole case doubles as a light barā€”a feature from which to hang your headlamp for overhead illumination.

But perhaps the coolest versatility innovation is something called Hangout Mode, available on the Telos.

“This patent-pending feature allows you to essentially remove the inner and tilt the tent back, turning it into a group shelter for cooking, shade, and weather protection,” said Simpson.

“Because of this communal feature that the Hangout Mode gives you, we see the Telos as a crossover between the backpacking space and family or group camping,” Simpson said. “It fills a middle ground that a lot of traditional backpacking tents don’t address. You can bring four people and a dog under there and cook, then drop it down at night and use it like a normal tent.”

Where to Get Them

The Alto and Telos will be available at select retailers and on Sea to Summit’s website this spring. REI, Moosejaw, Backcountry.com, and a small group of independent speciality shops will carry them in 2021, with wider distribution opening up in 2022.

Tech Specs: Alto TR1 & 2, Starting at $399

• People: 1 or 2
• Season: 3 or 3+
• Doors: 1 (1p) or 2 (2p)
• Vestibules: 1 (1p) or 2 (2p)
• Tension Ridgeā€”allowing more internal living space, higher doors, and best-in-class ventilation
• Apexā€”allowing cross-ventilation and climate adaptability
• LightBar and FairShare Systemā€”modular stuff sacks for tent distribution and organization
• Minimal trail weight (fly, inner, and poles): 2.06 lbs. (1p); 2.6 lbs. (2p)
• Packed weight (all of the above, plus pegs, stuff sacks, and guy lines): 2.41 lbs. (1p); 2.98 lbs. (2p)
• Floor area: 19.53 square feet (1p); 27.54 square feet (2p)
• Vestibule area: 7.5 square feet (1p); 18.3 square feet (2p)
• Ridge height: 3’3ā€
• Door height: 3’7ā€
• Fly material: 15D nylon
• Fly waterhead: 1,200mm
• Floor material: 15D-20D nylon
• Floor waterhead: 1,200mm-2,500mm
• Color: Grey (sil-PeU)

Tech Specs: Telos TR2 & 3, Starting at $499

• People: 2 or 3
• Season: 3 or 3+
• Doors: 2
• Vestibules: 2
• Freestanding and Hangout Mode adaptability with the Telos rainfly
• Tension Ridgeā€”allowing more internal living space, higher doors, and best-in-class ventilation
• Apex and Baseline Ventā€”allowing cross-ventilation and climate adaptability
• LightBar and FairShare Systemā€”modular stuff sacks for tent distribution and organization
• Minimal trail weight (fly, inner, and poles): 3.26 lbs. (2p); 4.32 lbs. (3p)
• Packed weight (all of the above, plus pegs, stuff sacks, and guy lines): 3.64 lbs. (2p); 4.75 lbs. (3p)
• Floor area: 28.2 square feet (2p); 39.74 square feet (3p)
• Vestibule area: 19.3 square feet (2p); 21.5 square feet (3p)
• Ridge height: 3’4ā€ (2p); 3’5ā€ (3p)
• Door height: 3′ 7ā€ (2p); 3’10ā€ (3p)
• Fly material: 15D nylon
• Fly waterhead: 1,200mm to 1,500mm
• Floor material: 20D nylon
• Floor waterhead: 2,500mm to 8,000mm
• Color: Grey (sil-PeU)

The post After 3 Years of Research and Design, Sea to Summit Breaks into the Backcountry Tent Market appeared first on ŗŚĮĻ³Ō¹ĻĶų Online.