It’s been a long, hot summer, folks—and we’re just as over it as you are. Fortunately, there are plenty of places that still have decent temps. Even in the Lower 48, many of our national parks sit at high elevations and high latitudes. These positions insulate them from the heat waves down south—and give you the opportunity to taste winter any month of the year. Dip your feet in ice-cold water, jump into a snowbank, or bask in the cool breeze peeling off a glacier at these five summer-perfect parks.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 

With dozens of peaks that soar above 12,000 feet, Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the best places in the country to make a snow angel in midsummer. There are 147 alpine lakes to choose from, but our favorite is the snowmelt-fed tarn at the base of Andrews Glacier, a permanent snowfield that shrinks but never disappears. The 8.3-mile out-and-back from the Glacier Gorge trailhead follows chattering streams and twists through fields of bluebell and columbine on its way to the quiet glacial cirque where Andrews Tarn sits.

Acadia National Park, Maine

Acadia is the northernmost national park on the East Coast, which means conditions already feel pretty Canadian. Add to that a fresh coastal breeze and enough cloud cover to shade the park’s lush forests, and you’ve got a deliciously cool escape from the summer heat. For even chillier temps, plan a hike to the summit of , which is 3 to 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the park. (It’s also the first place in the Lower 48 that sees sunrise; plan for a pre-dawn climb, or snag a summit .)

Glacier National Park, Montana

Thanks to its location on the border with Canada, is one of our nation’s highest-latitude hiking havens. This month, highs are hovering around the 60s and 70s, and nighttime temps are still dropping into the 40s. Ascend to higher elevation on any of the park’s hundreds of miles of alpine trail, and you’re almost guaranteed to find cold breezes, refreshing alpine lakes, and pockets of snow. Our pick: The 11.3-mile out-and-back from the Many Glacier entrance to the edge of the Grinnell Glacier. Along the way, you’ll pass three lakes—Grinnell Lake, Upper Grinnell Lake, and Lake Josephine—and ascend to about 6,500 feet above sea level.

Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Located on an island in the northern corner of Lake Superior, is one of our nation’s least-visited national parks—and one with the most comfortable hiking temperatures during the summer. The breezes flowing across Lake Superior provide an influx of chilled air all summer long, keeping temperatures within the 50s and 70s, even in August. For a full-value coastal wander, target the Stroll Trail, a 4.3-mile jaunt that starts and ends at the Rock Harbor Visitor Center.

Sequoia National Park, California

Home to the tallest peak in the Lower 48, Sequoia National Park encompasses a massive amount of high-elevation terrain and dozens of permanent snowfields. If you’re feeling ambitious, grab a permit to , where nighttime temperatures often drop below freezing all year-round. And if you need a hike that’s a little more, well, chill, head to the Mineral King parking lot, which sits at 8,000 feet above sea level. Plan a mellow out-and-back along the snowmelt-fed East Fork Kaweah River, or climb the separate Timber Gap Trail to nearby Columbine Lake, which is often flanked by snow year-round.

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Time slows down in the summer. Where I live it’s too hot to do much unless you’re out early in the day or late in the evening. It seems like everyone else is on vacation, and the academic back-to-work creep of September is still off in the distance.

In short, it’s the perfect time to laze about in the midday heat—for long afternoons of reading on the porch or hiding out in the dark in front of a fan watching a movie.

And this summer we have a lot of good options.

What Books Should I Read This Summer?

My neighbor spotted a mountain lion on our street when she took the garbage out the other night so I have been thinking a lot about human-wildlife interaction. It helps that I’ve been reading , Julia Phillips’ novel about what happens to two sisters when a grizzly shows up on San Juan Island.

The story culminates when their diverging reactions to the bear—fear and fascination—split them apart. To understand which of those reactions I should realistically have to my local predators, I’ve also been reading Brandon Keim’s non-fiction tale, . On the surface, the book is about how we can better live with wildlife, but really is a charming dive into all the way animals interact with each other, and with us. We’re not as far apart as we might seem, according to Keim.

If summer has you thinking about plants more than animals, check out Olivia Liang’s new book It’s a whirlwind essayistic mashup of the history of cultivating and colonizing plants, and the ways gardens have been an important source of liberation and inspiration and survival, all set against the background of Liang’s own quest to rehabilitate a historic garden in the depths of COVID. She fumbles a little when she tries to address warming summers, but she makes up for it in her lush descriptions of growing things.

If gardens (or nonfiction) aren’t exciting enough for you, the perfect summer read might look something like Liz Moore’s which incorporates summer camp, family drama, and a set of missing siblings into a twisty, hard to put down thriller. Moore’s language, and her knack for building character and scene give it that jumpy feeling of stepping outside the campfire’s light and wondering what’s around you.

Indie Flicks and Summer Blockbusters

Movies more your summer speed? In , Amy, a visiting New York consultant, in town with her negligent fiancé, develops a reciprocated crush on Loren, a fishing guide barely skating by in Jackson Hole. The summer light of the Tetons is a character all its own, and the film nails the details of skid life (multiple jobs, insecure housing, the performative localism of second home owners). But the best parts are the painfully tender ones about the shiny, hard-to-achieve appeal of a place like Jackson, and about the ache of not getting to live all the lives you can imagine for yourself and having to commit to just one.

Speaking of films, we could talk about , this year’s biggest tease of a seasonal blockbuster (Why don’t they kiss? Why don’t they talk about climate change?) But the real standout from the movie is the music.

Summer, in my house, is weekend road trip season and the Twisters’ soundtrack feels like exactly what you should be playing on a Friday night when you’re driving down a dirt road hunting for a campsite.

There are a couple skippable bro-country bombs, but there are also standouts from Oklahoma artists like Wyatt Flores, and a Shania Twain song that sounds exactly like a Shania Twain song should.

Perfect Podcasts for Long Drives

If you’re not a music in the car person, and if you’re already missing the drama of the Olympics, there are a couple of podcasts that might scratch your itch. Consider , about mechanical doping in bike racing, or , a CBC podcast about, um, broom doping, in curling, the most adorably Canadian drama ever. They both fall into my favorite category of podcasts: twisty investigative journalism where no one gets hurt or killed.

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It seems like every summer brings a fresh hell—literally—of , record-breaking temperatures, and meteorological anomalies you’ve never heard of before (what the heck is a ?). But try telling experienced backpackers and hikers not to hit the trails when the mercury is popping and see what happens; a little thing like a heat index over 110°F won’t keep some of us inside.

Unfortunately, that can, and sometimes does, result in dangerous situations such as heat illness, which can be uncomfortable at best and . So what’s a hiker to do when the summer sun turns their playground into something that resembles the surface of Mercury? Acclimatize.

Your body can and will acclimate to hotter temperatures, says David Fifer, associate professor of emergency medical care at Eastern Kentucky University and wilderness paramedic and coordinator of RedSTAR Wilderness EMS in Powell County, Kentucky. It just takes time. After some heat training, you’ll feel less miserable out there, you’ll perform better, your heart will beat more efficiently, and your risk of heat illness will decrease. In some states, temperatures will stay high for the next several months, so if you start heat training now, you’ll be able to comfortably hike through some late-summer heat.

What Is Heat Acclimatization?

By , you’re encouraging your body to produce more , which kick into high gear to protect your cells—including those in your heart and muscles—from damage under stress (such as conditions during brutally hot days).

As this happens, a few things occur. First, you’ll sweat more efficiently. You’ll start sweating faster and also produce more sweat, explains Seth Collings Hawkins, associate professor of emergency medicine at Wake Forest University and a master fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. This helps you cool down faster; your body gets rid of excess body heat as it vaporizes the sweat.

Circulation also stabilizes the more you acclimatize your body to heat. This means your heart won’t have to work as hard, your core temperature and heart rate won’t be as high, plus blood gets pumped to your muscles more efficiently.

How Do You Acclimatize?

, suggests Fifer. Start with easy, 20-minute walks outside in the heat, then every day (or every other day), increase that time by 20 minutes for a week or two. After that time, your body will start to get used to the new strain on your system. You don’t have to work hard to acclimatize: Your body adapts to the heat if you regularly spend time in a sauna or a hot bath, too.

How long it actually takes to fully acclimatize depends on you and your body. “Your baseline fitness is going to be a big factor in your acclimatization plan, and the more fit you are, the easier it’s going to be,” Fifer says. If you’re at peak physical fitness, some studies suggest your body may adapt to heat training faster.

But if you’re out of shape, suffer from heart issues, or are overweight, heat illness can strike more rapidly, acclimatized or not. And if you’ve been skipping a lot of gym sessions or have spent your whole summer so far indoors, planning a backpacking trip on the hottest weekend of the year isn’t a good idea.

Either way, if you’re planning any extreme activities, like a mid-summer thru-hike in the desert, Fifer says it’s wise to consult with a physician or knowledgeable athletic trainer first. Especially because a wide variety of medications—including SSRIs for depression and stimulant supplements for weight loss—can interfere with your body’s ability to process heat.

Are There Limits to Acclimatization?

Acclimatizing your body doesn’t necessarily make it invincible. Hawkins cites studies that suggest that, no matter how acclimatized you are, your body can’t sustain a healthy core temperature when you’re in an environment hotter than 88°F and at 100 percent humidity. In 50 percent humidity, the limit is closer to 122°F, though the combination of temperature and exposure duration can both affect how well your body can acclimatize.

Speaking of humidity, heat adaptation in dry climates doesn’t tend to translate to adaptation in humid climates and vice versa. So if you can, train in weather you’re expecting to experience on the trail.

Don’t bail on time outside when it’s hot. Some studies suggest that spending a week or more away from the heat can be enough to set progress back at least a bit, meaning you’ll have to spend a few days re-adapting. On the upside, according to the CDC, kicking it in your air conditioned living room or at the movie theater doesn’t seem to affect acclimatization, so soak it up when you can.

Then, when you do head outdoors this summer, don’t forget to stay hydrated and pack .

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This month, we’ve already seen the in human history based on average temperatures across the globe. And while that heat is dangerous to humans, it’s even worse for dogs. Because they can’t sweat, dogs struggle to release heat as efficiently as humans can. In an effort to help our four-legged friends survive this summer, I examined the ways in which dogs can avoid heat-related illness—and what we as pet owners can do if our canine’s temperature rises too high.

What Is Canine Heatstroke?

Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that occurs when an animal’s body loses the ability to cool itself. The result is organ dysfunction and then damage that could be permanent or fatal.

According to Cornell University’s Canine Health Center, dogs begin to experience heatstroke when their internal temperature .

“If elevated body temperatures are prolonged, they will cause damage to every organ in the body,” the University’s material reads. “Heatstroke commonly leads to acute kidney injury, blood clotting issues and shock.”

Heatstroke can be caused solely by environmental conditions—hot temperatures—or result from a combination of environmental conditions and such as too much exercise.

How Dangerous Is Canine Heatstroke?

A study published in Nature found that out of 905,543 dogs who entered formal veterinary care in the United Kingdom during 2016, . Fifty-six of those dogs (14 percent) died as a result.

That same study found that incidents of dogs suffering heat-related illnesses is increasing year-on-year, something the authors attribute to climate change.

Mortality rates are higher in hotter areas of the world. , for instance, found that 50 percent of all dogs admitted to vets for heat-related illnesses died. A study of records for otherwise healthy dogs treated for heat-related illnesses in the United States found that as a result of heatstroke, or 36 percent. A German study pegged the studied fatality rate for heatstroke in that country at .

What Are Symptoms of Heatstroke in Dogs?

If a dog is or has been exposed to hot temperatures, Cornell says the following signs may indicate that they may be experiencing heat related illness:

• Heavy Panting
• Drooling
• Bloody diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Weakness
• Confusion
• Seizures
• Collapse

What Heat Risks Do Dogs Experience?

Dogs are at particular risk of heatstroke for two reasons: They can’t sweat like humans, and our best friends are exposed to more extreme heat than we are, even when we share spaces.

Humidity: When dogs pant, they allow moisture to escape from their lungs, reducing body heat. High humidity can halt that process, preventing a dog from cooling itself.

Environmental factors: A study conducted in Alabama found that, on average, dogs experience temperatures 1.3 degrees hotter than those experienced by their owners. Variables like clothing, shade, and distance from the hot ground may contribute.

Hot surfaces: Even in 75 degree ambient temperatures, direct sun exposure can increase the temperature of pavement to 125 degrees or more. That’s hot enough to burn a dog’s paws. In Arizona this month, street temperatures have been measured .

Health: The Nature study found that factors like a dog’s skull shape (brachycephalic, or short-nosed dogs), obesity, and age significantly increased risk of heatstroke.

Hot cars: Across all studies and reports, one factor stands out above all others—dogs left in hot cars are most at risk for heatstroke. A parked car can reach dangerous temperatures in a matter of minutes, even if the windows are down.

What Should You Do if Your Dog Gets Heatstroke?

If you suspect that your dog is beginning to overheat, or if you discover a dog you think is suffering from heatstroke, you need to cool it down immediately.

If possible, first move to shade or an air conditioned environment. Then apply ice, cool water, or other tools directly to the dog’s skin to cool it down as rapidly as possible.

“I use water and ice,” says Joe Spoo, a sporting dog veterinarian located in South Dakota. “With the ice, I’m using it strategically deep in the groin, deep in the armpits, and across the jugular.”

Spoo explains that those areas are closest to major arteries, allowing ice to cool the dog as effectively as possible. He also recommends drenching the dog in cool water, or even placing it in a body of water like a lake or stream, should one be available. If water is in short supply, he says you can soak a towel, t-shirt or similar with a water bottle, and apply that to the same areas.

When I take my dogs hiking or camping during the summer, I throw a cooler or 12-volt fridge in the truck, and keep a few ice packs and jugs of water in that. Even on short outings, where I’m not otherwise packing food and drinks.

Spoo also recommends carrying a thermometer as part of your dog first aid kit, and using that to monitor temperature change in your dog. Normal internal temperatures for dogs run between 100 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re worried your dog may be overheating, Spoo suggests using a thermometer not just to take a reading, but rather to monitor whether or not the dog is cooling down.

“During heatstroke, the problem is your dog’s internal thermometer is broken,” the vet explains. “The key with heatstroke is that the dog loses the ability to cool itself down. So take its temperature at 5, 10, and 15 minutes, and if you have a temperature that’s climbing or staying the same you have a problem.”

And while Spoo says you need to cool a dog experiencing heatstroke as quickly as possible, you should use that thermometer to keep an eye on its internal temperature, and stop cooling at 103 degrees.

Once you’ve cooled a dog down to a safe level, you need to get it to an animal hospital as fast as possible. There, a vet may administer intravenous fluids, antibiotics, perform a blood transfusion, or otherwise treat any organ damage that may have occurred. But a vet cannot cool a dog any faster or more effectively than you can, so prioritize cooling the dog before transporting it, or make sure you’re able to cool it during transportation.

How Can You Prevent Your Dog from Getting Heatstroke?

Spoo says a good guideline for active dogs is to add together the air temperature and humidity level, and, if the sum exceeds 150, then “it’s a danger zone for most dogs.”

In hot weather, leave your dog in a reliably air conditioned or shaded space, and make sure they have plenty of cool water to drink. Never leave a dog unattended in a parked car.

It’s also important to get to know your dog, and in what conditions they do well or struggle. Temperatures that may be safe for a young, healthy mutt, may be lethal for a senior, overweight, brachycephalic purebred like a bulldog.

But Spoo says this knowledge, and even a mastery of first aid techniques should not be used as an excuse for exposing your dog to danger. “Don’t use this information to push boundaries, and then try to save your dog,” the vet advises.

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Have you noticed that the butcher counter at your local grocery store has been taken over by something called “American wagyu?” Mine certainly has. So, I set out to find out what exactly it is, how to best cook it, and whether or not American wagyu is worth the higher price over plain old prime-grade beef.

Wagyu beef is known globally for its soft texture and rich, fatty taste, and restaurants and butcher shops often charge much higher prices for steaks compared to beef from other types of cattle.

America wagyu is kind of a confusing name to start with, since wagyu translates to English as “Japanese cattle.” Are producers trying to sell us American-Japanese cattle?

Erik Sun, one of the chefs involved with the award-winning restaurants Bestia and Bavel in Los Angeles, and the soon-to-open Oxblood in San Francisco, says that’s exactly the case. Sun also imports rare Japanese meats and raises American wagyu

“Most American wagyu is 50-50,” he explains. “A wagyu bull bred with an Angus cow produces a calf that is still able to be called wagyu.”

What Makes Wagyu Different?

Importing Japanese beef products was banned by the United States in the 2000s after an outbreak of highly infectious foot and mouth disease in that country. Around the same time, interest in supposed “Kobe beef,” began to boom, perhaps due to its unobtainable nature.

 at the time in Forbes, Kobe is the capital of the Hyogo prefecture in Japan. Just like only sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France can be called champagne, only beef from Hyogo can be called Kobe.

But, those naming restrictions only apply in France or Japan, respectively. There’s no law preventing a restaurant or other business in America from selling you a bottle of Korbel and calling it champagne, or a piece of select-grade chuck and calling it Kobe. Only consumer awareness can achieve that here.

Olmsted’s advocacy for accurate food labeling seems to have stuck with consumers of high-end beef products. There’s now much more awareness of the full breadth of varieties beyond that initial demand for supposed Kobe, which was only ever a variety of wagyu in the first place.

Import restrictions began to ease in the 2010s, and all varieties of the stuff found its way into high-end restaurants and specialty food retailers. But high prices—Sun sells authentic Kobe striploins for $375-a-pound from his online retailer, —and the incredibly rich, fatty nature of high-grade Japanese beef don’t necessarily translate to American palettes.

“In America we eat big steaks—big center-of-the-plate options—and we prize beefy flavor or beefiness as one of our top criteria for good beef,” explains Sun. “But wagyu, true Japanese wagyu is just as much about the fat quality and soft texture as it is about the meat. It’s a much more delicate thing often eaten with an Asian barbecue sauce filled with sake, mirin and soy. It’s sliced thin, cooked over high heat, not rested, and eaten with the fat dripping on top of warm rice.”

Beef Grades, Explained

Beef is graded on the amount of useable meat a carcass will yield, and on the amount of marbling present in that meat. Here in America, the Department of Agriculture ranks cuts of beef sold in grocery stores for human consumption as select, choice, or prime.

Select grade beef, according to the USDA, “is fairly tender, but because it has less marbling, it may not have as much juiciness or flavor.” Choice, “will be very juicy and tender.” And prime, “has slightly abundant to abundant marbling and is generally sold in hotels and restaurants.”

Japanese beef grades go much further. The Japanese Meat Grading Association scores yields as A, B or C (A yielding the most meat), then ranks marbling on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest.

There’s also the international Beef Marbling Score, which grades marbling on a scale of one to 12. And while BMS is not a government certification, it does provide us with the ability to compare American and Japanese or other international grades on a single scale. USDA Prime cuts max out with a BMS score of five, while wagyu can go all the way up to 12.

Marbling is what we call the intramuscular fat spread throughout a cut of beef. The more marbling, the juicier and richer that cut of meat will be.

Why Wagyu Tastes Different

There are two further factors in that fat content: melting point and flavor. Sun says that the fat in Japanese wagyu cows begins to liquify at much lower temperatures than that of breeds we’ve historically raised in America, but that animals producing fat with lower melting points take longer to grow.

The American beef industry typically slaughters cows when they’re 18 to 24 months old. In Japan, the cows with that tender fat take 30 to 36 months to mature.

Diet is another major factor in flavor, as is the care and health of the animal being consumed. The extra time, feed, and care it takes to bring a cow to maturity in Japan accounts for Wagyu’s high prices, along with its scarcity.

That explains the widely-held mystique around Kobe. Americans tend to associate the Kobe label with the finest quality beef, but in reality, it’s just a breed of Japanese cow (the Japanese black cow, which is actually the most common breed of wagyu) that is fed a carefully cultivated diet unique to Hyogo Prefecture, and allowed to mature a little longer than is typical in this country.

Other, lesser known varieties of wagyu may offer different taste profiles. Sun imports steaks from cows raised exclusively on olives, for instance, or the elusive “snow beef” from wagyu raised in the colder climate of Hokkaido.

What Makes American Wagyu Unique

Alright, we’ve got our American-Japanese cattle, cuts from which can land anywhere on the USDA or BMS scales. Is this just a shortcut to con you and me into paying more for our steaks?

“A lot of the difference has to do with the American palette, and the style of cooking larger steaks where we don’t want a ball of fat, but we want texture and chew while still benefiting from the increased marbling that comes with wagyu,” says Sun.

He goes on to say that quality breeders have been able to take things much further than the simple Angus-wagyu cross breeds, and are producing results that, while different from those achieved by Japanese farmers, should be considered as their own unique breeds, rather than simply an imitation.

Sun says that by starting with one of the four breeds of Japanese cow that are considered wagyu, crossing them with one of the heartier, faster-growing American breeds, then “breeding back” to a high percentage of wagyu, American farmers are creating animals that demonstrate the “true beauty of wagyu,” along with the meatier textures and flavors preferred by American consumers.

Another advantage of breeding wagyu crosses in the United States? Importing bone-in cuts of Japanese beef is still banned. So, if you want a bone-in wagyu steak , buying American is your only option.

But, without laws mandating clear labeling, finding a product that’s going to match your expectations can be a challenge. You need to find a supplier that provides as much transparency and information as possible about what you’re actually buying.

USDA Prime Versus American Wagyu Versus Japanese A5

To determine whether or not American Wagyu can be worth a premium over a regular old steak, and if it can hold its own against the finest quality meat produced in Japan, I set up a simple taste test.

For the American wagyu, . They provide good information about the breed, along with a digital analysis of the percent of marbling present in the specific cut. This ribeye came from an F1, or 50-50 Angus-Japanese Black wagyu cross, and contains 30 to 39 percent marbling. Booth Creek feeds its American wagyu a grass-fed, grain-finished diet and slaughters them between 28 and 36 months. To my admittedly untrained eye, that sits somewhere between a BMS score of seven or eight, well beyond anything you’d find behind glass at a local grocery store.

As a control, I visited my local food co-op here in Bozeman, Montana, and picked up a grass-fed, grain-finished prime-grade ribeye from a local ranch. Still an indulgence at $27-a-pound, but hopefully representative of the best a traditional American steak is able to offer.

And, to compare American wagyu to the finest possible Japanese beef, I also scrounged around my deep freeze and found an that Sun sent me as part of care package a year or two ago. A zabuton is a cut from the neck or shoulder of a cow, and is typically considered chuck-grade when sourced from an American cow, but which is tender and densely marbled when pulled from a well-raised wagyu. This steak probably weighs only four ounces or so, but is sold at prices exceeding $200-a-pound.

How to Grill American Wagyu

One of the unique selling points of American wagyu is that it can be cooked using conventional grilling methods that will be familiar to most Americans.

My go-to method for grilling streaks is to first sear the meat at as high a temperature as possible, for 30 to 60 seconds on each side, rest it for 20 minutes, then cook it through in a 200 to 250-degree oven or closed grill until it reaches your desired temperature. The sear delivers a satisfying crust through on the outside of the steak, while melted fat has time to distribute through the inside as the muscle relaxes from the intense heat. Employing a pellet grill or smoker for the cook-through also delivers the flavor of wood smoke to the meat.

This is also one reason why I grabbed the little zabuton. Sun recommends cooking Japanese A5 quickly on high heat, to medium rather than medium rare for an enhanced texture. I was worried employing my generalist steak method might not make the most of A5, and didn’t want to waste a multi-hundred-dollar ribeye.

I cooked all three steaks using this method on the same grill, using the same wood pellets, at the same time. I pulled each when they reached an individually monitored 130 degrees internal, then rested them for 10 minutes before slicing.

What Does American Wagyu Taste Like?

The first piece of steak I cut into was the A5. It melted on my tongue like butter, and I tasted the overwhelming richness for which it’s famous. And while not as quite as crispy around the edges of the melted fat as searing it to 145 degrees internal would have delivered, it still had exceptional flavor. The fat tasted sweet, almost like meat candy, as it dissolved in my mouth. Incredibly rich, this zabuton could easily have been an entire, very filling meal all on its own.

Next, I tried the plain-old ribeye. While it required actual chewing rather than just melting on my tongue, it was still extremely tender, and delivered all that meaty taste you want in a steak, complete with a welcome touch of smokiness thanks to the hickory pellets burning so cleanly in the Yoder’s fire pot. I serve steaks just like this at dinner parties all the time, and they never fail to please.

Then there’s the American wagyu ribeye from Booth Creek. I’ve purchased American wagyu from my local meat counter before, with mixed, mostly disappointing results. So I was coming into this with low expectations. And man, I was wrong to do that. With a mouth feel and chew similar to that of the Prime-grade ribeye, the fat in the Booth Creek steak was much more present, and delivered a totally unique taste. Versus the sweetness of the Japanese A5, this stuff tasted nutty, with layers of complexity not found in the other two cuts. It wasn’t overwhelming either. Had it been dinner time instead of late morning, I could happily have finished the entire 16 ounce steak myself, maybe alongside some sweet potatoes and asparagus. But, instead, I’m saving it to turn into an epic sandwich I’ll carry up a mountain this weekend.

American wagyu may not be the same thing as Japanese wagyu. But even in Japan, there’s a huge variety of flavors, textures and qualities across the high-end beef market, influenced by variables like breed, weather, diet, and care. Those same variables are at play in America, additionally influenced by our own preferences. Take the time to source your American wagyu from a quality source that gives you transparency around what you’re actually buying, because fancy domestic beef absolutely deserves to stand alongside the imported original.

The post American Wagyu Is Having a Moment. What Is It, Exactly? appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.

A sharp buzzing noise in my ear jolted me to attention. I’d been content, hiking in a catatonic state with skis on my back for miles out of the Mount Whitney basin. But the mosquitos had risen before the sun, and at 4 A.M. on a late-June morning, I was breakfast.

I could have been anywhere that summer morning, but I had chosen to chase yet another day of skiing in the high peaks.

I live for winter, and every year my mood improves in November when the flakes begin to fall. Subsequently, my seasonal depression tends to set in right around mid-June, when the sun angle is high and its rays turn skiable snow into an uncomfortable three-dimensional pump track. A common refrain in the Eastern Sierra where I live is folks come for the winter and stay for the summer. But I’m four years in and that never quite clicked for me.

My summer weekends are filled with angst and indecision. Once a passionate climber, I now spend much less time on the granite peaks and domes above my home. Infrequency and atrophy have winnowed my desire to ascend steep rock and have replaced my old excitement with fear and doubt. Mountain biking in my town’s dusty and expensive bike park never quite scratches the itch of playing in the big mountains. Hiking without an objective or a technical element leaves me feeling aimless and empty. Instead, I choose to keep waxing my skis long after most of the snow has been vaporized by the summer sun. I’ll throw them in the back of my car and quest into the highest reaches of the Sierra well into July. I’m starting to think that skiing in the high peaks is all I know—that I’ve forgotten how to behave in a society that values summer. I know I’m crazy, but I just can’t stop.

What I crave is the slow plod skyward of a steep bootpack, feeling the secure crunch of crampons sinking into névé. I need to all but disappear in a massive alpine cirque, dwarfed by walls of granite and ice. Winter’s sky holds a different blue that ebbs away to a muddled June gray, and I find myself scratching around, desperately seeking a way to get it back.

So, there I found myself, kicking up dust, trying to beat back the summer blues by hauling my skis all the way up to 14,000 feet above sea level to squeeze the last drop out of winter. My fiancée Rita and I had poached camping in the Whitney Portal, usurping a spot that someone had reserved and abandoned like scrappy hermit crabs. Our alarm rang at 2 A.M. to a collective sigh of relief—neither of us had slept a wink. Our anticipation got the best of us and we frittered away much-needed shuteye in favor of visualizing the trail and the sunrise.

Fueled by Oreos and a resolute desire to hold onto spring, we packed up our tent, slurped a cup of cold coffee, and somnambulated toward the trailhead. Mount Irvine (13,786 feet) and its brother Mount Mallory (13,851 feet) tower over the town of Lone Pine. Skiing in the cirque between the pair of peaks was a fitting objective, our quixotic search for snow echoed the famous climber’s “Because it is there” aphorism. We chuckled nervously that the cirque that houses the two peaks rarely sees any traffic, and we were skiing there almost exactly 100 years after Irvine and Mallory disappeared on Mount Everest.

A beam of light broke through the oppressive cloud of mosquitoes, and through it I was able to see the sunrise gracing the summit of Lone Pine Peak with alpenglow. It was just enough motivation to shake off the bugs and continue upward.

The inexorable lengthening of days as spring turns to summer spirals my sense of loss. Each day, the fingers of snow climb higher from the basin floor. Their melt mirrors my waning ability to find inspiration, adventure, and fun. Admittedly, this is a character flaw. I can’t seem to find anything to latch onto in the summer besides skiing, though all my friends have new and different passions. The heat, the mosquitos, the endless oppressive sunshine, all dim my drive to lose myself among my home’s massive peaks. I’d benefit greatly from a support group for wayward ski mountaineers.

We arrived at , which sits 3,000 feet beneath Mount Irvine, around 7:30 A.M., trying to arrive before couloir had time to soften. The lake still had lilypads of ice floating on its surface. Rita and I sat on a granite boulder, sunning ourselves like lizards in the morning sunlight. The morning was cool in the granite basin.

Setting a skin track toward Mount Irvine’s wide apron, I felt the swelter of the sun overstaying its welcome. Sweat began to stream sunscreen into my eyes. But when I took a moment to clear them, I was able to see the gift of my surroundings. Glorious golden granite soared over lush, grassy meadows. Turquoise lakes nestled among groves of old-growth whitebark pines. And yes, all of these features will be here in two months’ time when the last of the snow melts, but what will be gone is the arresting contrast—sparkling white streaks of snow are what make these drainages so special to me.

Maybe halfway up the couloir, it became clear that it was getting too hot, too fast. Fearing the consequences of a wet avalanche, Rita and I quickly transitioned and clicked into our skis. The sun cups were deep and the skiing was, frankly, bad, but we couldn’t help but laugh as we glided through the steep golden hallway, spraying slush in our wake.

It was clear then that our ski season was officially over. These errant chutes in the high country can only stay soft for so long. Soon they’ll transition to ice and then, in their evanescent way, be gone altogether. Each weekend I say with some certainty that I’m done skiing. Winter was good, spring was better, and now I’ll have to make something new out of my summer. But when Friday rolls around, I start peeking at coverage in the high country, looking for strips of snow in the alpine that could provide a little spark of inspiration.

I want to recommit to climbing, force myself back on the sharp end of a rope and figure out how not to be scared again. I’ll take out my bike and learn to corner in deep sand—I have so much to learn and so far to progress. Next weekend I’ll make it happen.

As we made the slow slog back to the Portal I began to accept that winter’s final breath may have come and gone a few months ago, and spring was already on life support. Next weekend I’ll figure out how to be a citizen of summer. But this weekend you can find me once more at 14,000 feet tucking my crampons into my pack and staring down a narrow band of rotten snow, preparing, yet again, to drop in.

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şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Festival

Denver, Colorado

June 1–2, 2024

The vision for the new , which takes over downtown Denver’s Civic Center Park for a weekend at the beginning of June, is to create a first-of-its-kind gathering for people who love the outdoors. (The event is put on by şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Inc., this magazine’s parent company, in partnership with the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office and Visit Denver.) The fest brings together live music, adventure films, speakers, a pro climbing competition, skills clinics, and the latest gear.

Musical headliners Thundercat and Fleet Foxes are joined by lineup of athletes and changemakers like Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin, distance-swimming legend Diana Nyad, model and climate-justice advocate Quannah ChasingHorse, and snowboarding icon and Protect Our Winters founder Jeremy Jones. Festival experiences include climbing walls, yoga and tai chi classes, cold plunges, cycling challenges, endurance and strength clinics, and a kids’ zone featuring hands-on nature and science exhibitions.

The Denver Art Museum, adjacent to Civic Center Park, is hosting the festival’s Film x Ideas series. Its new exhibit, Biophilia: Nature Reimagined, puts 80-plus works by photographers, architects, and designers on display. The aptly named Art Hotel (from $263), two blocks from the main festival entrance, has its own impressive collection. Need to get in some training? Ride or run the 32-mile South Platte River Trail through the city. Festival tickets from $39; free for kids 12 and under

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If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you already know the importance of protecting your skin from the sun. But despite what you may see in your feed, the best sunblock doesn’t come in a bottle. If you want reliable protection from the sun that you never have to reapply, you need to wear it. As a river-loving father of two adventurous daughters, Jim Sanco makes sure his whole family is outfitted with BlackStrap’s for protection against the sun and effortless cooling. Yes, he’s an expert on rafting and fly-fishing with kids, but as the vice president of innovation at BlackStrap, he also has a wealth of knowledge about the best products for summer fun. Here’s what he had to say.

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř: Head-to-toe sun protection is essential for outdoor adventurers of all kinds. What products has BlackStrap introduced to help make summer fun safer?

Jim Sanco: With our product mix, regardless of the season, our focus has always been to develop products that are high quality, comfortable, and versatile. Our ultimate goal: help people spend more time outdoors with the right gear.

We’ve developed a range of , , and that block out 99.9 percent of UV rays, dry superfast, and breathe. The best part is they don’t look or fit like typical sun-blocking apparel. We focus on keeping our fits and styles universal, so you can wear our products to the lake, trail, gym, or around town without looking out of place. On top of that, our fabrics feature evaporative cooling properties that actively cool the body—all you have to do is get them wet. You should still take other precautions on hot days to care for your body, but our cooling fabric definitely helps with warm-weather endurance.

UPF-rated clothing is especially important for paddling and other on-water activities. How does BlackStrap make the best days on the water even better?

Every piece in our boasts a UPF 50+ rating. ultraviolet protection (UPF) ratings in clothing indicate the level of UV ray blockage. It doesn’t get better than UPF 50+, which with BlackStrap’s products means only 0.1 percent of rays can reach your skin. This rating paired with our lightweight fabric technology ensures the wearer’s skin is protected from the sun and water glare. BlackStrap sun shirts and neck gaiters have you covered from the waist up whether you’re paddling an SUP, rowing a raft, casting a line, or playing with your kiddos on the beach. Keeping your skin covered and your body temperature regulated is essential for summer fun on the water, and BlackStrap has the kit to do both.

Plus, BlackStrap helps protect the health of aquatic ecosystems. Unlike some sun-protection methods, our products are reef-safe and don’t release any harmful chemicals into the environment. All this just makes it easier to get on the water while being environmentally responsible.

Summertime recreation usually means more sweat. How do the products in this collection work to keep hikers and backpackers cooler?

BlackStrap’s summer collection is specifically designed with maximum breathability and lightweight fabric to help outdoor enthusiasts maintain thermoregulation as they move. Our SUNSOFT fabric is hydrophobic and wicks water, spreading it out so it dries faster. Plus, combining damp fabric with a breeze creates a natural cooling effect as wind passes through. When it’s a hot day on the river or trail, I like to dunk my Daily Tube Neck Gaiter or Headband in the water and put it back on to keep cool. My kids and dog love this feature, too. Another tip: dunk the sleeves of your BlackStrap top in the water—this really helps you stay cool and comfortable.

What is SUNSOFT Fabric Technology, and how does it benefit outdoor enthusiasts?

Now found in all of our summer apparel products, SUNSOFT fabric was developed, tested, and perfected in our home base of Bend, Oregon. Rooted in an outdoor recreation hub, we can easily test our products and fabrics on water, forest trails, and in the high alpine. SUNSOFT fabric is chlorine- and salt-resistant, UPF 50+ rated, and has four-way stretch with odor-free properties. Along with these features, SUNSOFT is also safe to machine wash and dry with no impact on the UPF rating, print, or fit of the garment.

BlackStrap makes sun-protection clothing for the whole family. Why are these products a must-have for parents? 

I’m a parent of two young girls who want to do what Dad does, and we find ourselves rafting and fishing on the water most of the summer. The has the same fabric, features, and functions as the adult products. There is no sacrifice for the kiddos! The UPF 50+ rating keeps their skin protected, but one of my favorite elements has to be the machine wash and dry capabilities—this makes it so easy to keep their gear smelling fresh and feeling comfy every day.

You and your family love to spend time together outdoors. Where are you excited to visit this summer?

My little family loves to spend time on the water in summer, running our raft on the Lower Deschutes River and floating around the high alpine lakes near Bend, Oregon, chasing fish, hot springs, and epic views. We also have a farm on the northern stretch of the John Day River that keeps us fishing, hunting, hiking, shooting photos, and working in the sun and dust all summer. BlackStrap apparel and neck gaiters are used daily for the whole family—even our dogs, Mister and Rio.

Founded in 2008, develops mountain lifestyle gear for every outdoor adventure. From the winter slopes to waterways and the trails in between, our mission is to build unrivaled gear that protects you from the elements and keeps you active and comfortable longer. We aim to bring innovative products to market with a mindful approach that focuses on quality and reliability within our responsible supply chain.

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August is for biking to farmer’s markets, long evening runs through tall cornfields, and late-summer backpacking trips to warm alpine lakes. Here’s the gear that let our editors do those things without a second thought.

Saucony Freedom 5 ($150)

After several friends complained about sore Achilles, feet, and knees from wearing plated shoes every day, I looked into why, and tested a collection of speedy, non-plated shoes to wear instead. In the process, I discovered this overlooked gem. Saucony’s Freedom 5 gets passed over for the brand’s flexible-plated Endorphin Speed and the classic soft-riding, almost minimalist Kinvara. But the Freedom delivers a unique ride that I’m falling in love with. Its cushioning comes from a pure slab of industry-leading Pebax foam (the same found in top-end racers like the Endorphin Pro and Nike Vaporfly). However, the feel is not like any Pebax you’ve experienced before: the foam is tuned far firmer here than it is in soft, trampoline-like supershoes, and the stack is much lower (only 27-millimeter heel/23-millimeter forefoot, compared to 39.5/31.5 for the Endorphin Pro). It’s as if my foot doesn’t want to stay on the ground—the high-rebound foam pushes back after compressing just enough to shape to the contours of my foot, making me feel nimble, agile, and connected. Only the Tracksmith Eliot Runner has similarly-tuned Pebax, but it is higher (33.5/24.5), with a greater heel-toe drop and a narrower fit—plus it costs $50 more. I’ve been wearing the Freedom on daily runs and speed workouts, during strength and agility workouts, and even for moderate trail runs. —Jonathan Beverly, senior running editor

Hyperice Normatec Go ($399)

I’m deep into training for my second marathon and needless to say, my legs need a little extra TLC these days. I have been using the Normatec Go sleeves religiously since I started conquering the double-digit miles. Sliding the sleeves on after a run helps me to recover quicker, and I’ve spent less time hobbling around from tight calves. It has three levels of 360-degree compression, so I can customize the setting specifically for what I feel I need that day. I also love that I can bring them anywhere with me, and they are lightweight enough at 1.2 pounds that packing them into a carry-on has been no issue at all. The battery life is great—I get around 10 treatments per charge, which is more than I’ll ever need. I’m especially looking forward to bringing them on the road with me as I transition from running to skiing. —Jamie Aranoff, digital editor SKI

Electra Woven Rattan Basket with Lid ($43)

In an effort to reduce my emissions this summer, I bought a cheap bike to ride around downtown Bozeman. At first, the extra exercise was great and it felt amazing to be outside, but carrying around my things—like produce from the farmer’s market—became a real pain when I had to stuff it in a tote that hung annoyingly from my arm. Enter Electra’s Woven Rattan basket, secured to my handlebars. At 38 by 33 by 25 centimeters, it’s roomy enough to fit a tote bag with my laptop, charger, water bottle, bike lock, and an extra layer. The lid comes with a buckle strap, so I can secure my things without worrying about them falling out in case I take a spill. Plus, the rattan material with the leather straps gives my rickety Raleigh Sprite an even more vintage look, which I love. It’s so adorable that it actually encourages me to bike more. —Kelly Klein, associate gear editor

Ciele GOCap SC ($45)

I call this my Goldilocks hat because I use it for everything. Built with a fast-wicking recycled polyester fabric and breathable mesh back, it’s perfect for hot runs and dumps heat fast. And thanks to the muted tan color and stylish five-panel design, it doesn’t scream “running hat” so I can wear it as a regular hat, too. I wear it on weekends with the kids and to work some days when I’m feeling more casual. It’s also been a great travel hat because the brim can be folded and smooshed, but it pops back to its normal shape the minute you put the hat back on. —Jakob Schiller, contributing writer

(Photo: Courtesy 5.11)

5.11 Ridge Pant ($72)

At the beginning of August, I photographed a first-responder training in southern New Mexico. It was hot as hell but shorts were not an option because I had to run through thorny bushes and kneel in the dirt to capture my subjects in gnarly terrain. I used the Ridge pants for the entire two-day shoot and was blown away by their performance. Thanks to a majority polyester build, the pants breathed well and dried fast so I never ran the risk of chafing. But there’s also some cotton built in, so they were comfortable to wear for 12 hours at a time. Smart tailoring kept the pants from showing any butt crack as I kneeled and crawled, and articulated knees made them easy to run in. Two weeks later I also fell off an e-bike while wearing the pants and scraped the hell out of my arms and legs. I covered the pants in blood, but they didn’t tear or show any signs that they’d been on me when I hit the ground (after a wash). —JS

Wild Rye Camp Towel ($40)

This is my favorite summer adventure companion! This oversized, 100 percent recycled towel is perfect for post-ride/hike/swim changes and drying off after high alpine dips. I pack it without worrying that it will be wet and heavy—it’s lightweight and dries quicker than you can say s’mores. Whether you’re car-camping by the beach or skinny-dipping in a high alpine lake, this towel has your back. The dimensions are 70 feet by 29.5 inches, so go ahead and wrap yourself like a human burrito without any hesitation. —Sierra Shafer, editor in chief SKI

Sweet Protection Bushwhacker 2Vi Mips Helmet ($250)

I’m a big fan of Sweet Protection’s snow helmets, so I jumped at the chance to test the Norwegian brand’s newly updated mountain bike option, the Bushwhacker 2Vi Mips. Anyone who’s ever donned a Sweet Pro brain bucket knows how bomber they are by the sheer weight and heft of them. So what stood out to me about the Bushwhacker was its weight-to-feature ratio. This helmet uses the same Mips plus 2Vi impact protection tech as Sweet Pro’s top-of-the-line ski helmets (I own the Trooper 2Vi Mips), which I quite literally trust with my life. Besides this industry-leading safety tech, it also comes with a generous and easily adjustable visor that you can raise to stash your sunglasses in designated, rubberized slots, or accommodate goggles if enduro riding is your jam. The super convenient magnetic Fidlock buckle makes clipping the straps a breeze with gloves on (I’ll never go back to helmets with a traditional buckle). At 430 grams, this half-shell helmet is not the lightest mountain bike option on the market, but it could fool you into thinking it was by the way it fits. My head measures 55 centimeters, so I usually fall right between a small and medium, which makes finding the right size a challenge. The Bushwhacker in a small fits like a glove. While it’s stylish and functional as all get out, the Bushwhacker gets my vote for how comfortable it is. I’ve since shelved my old mountain bike helmet. —Jenny Wiegand, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř associate gear director

MSR Freelite 1 Tent ($420)

After trying the Freelite 1 on an overnight trip to Colorado’s Caribou Lake earlier this month, this 1-pound, 10-ounce tent may just become my daily driver for solo backpacking trips. At 20 square feet, it’s cozy but more than livable—I had just enough width to lay down my , plus a little extra room at my head for extra layers and a water bottle—and 39 inches of headroom were enough for my 6-foot-2 self to sit up more or less straight. The 8-square-foot vestibule provided the space to stash my pack. And when a summer rainstorm hit, the bathtub floor kept me bone-dry even when water was trickling around my site. The pitch was simple enough—one pole for the freestanding tent, and one small pole plus a handful of guylines for the rainfly—that I had it up in minutes with minimal fuss and no mistakes. The next time I’m heading out alone on a no-frills adventure, grabbing it will be an easy choice. —Adam Roy, Executive Editor, Backpacker

Goodr Wrap G Extreme Dumpster Diving ($45)

Are you a meticulous sunglasses owner—the type who never leaves home without  a microfiber towel and a squirt bottle of lens polish? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I’m a normal human being as well, and over the years, I’ve scratched, cracked, lost, and destroyed far too many pairs of fancy sunglasses to remember. I’m also a cyclist, which means my eyewear of choice tends to run in the $175 to $250 range. A few years back I started buying Goodr casual shades because each pair cost between $20 to $35. The slim price tag meant I wasn’t too torn up when I eventually lost or destroyed them. But I was hesitant to try the discount brand’s performance eyewear, because I believed all of that marketing about bulletproof lenses that can block out all of the sun’s nano-rays while wicking sweat away from my temples, et cetera. This summer I tried two different pairs of the Wrap G, the $45 face shield-style glasses made for cyclists. I have been pleasantly surprised. The sizable frames and lenses are big enough to fit my wide face, and the color options are vast. My preference is the rose-colored models labeled “Extreme Dumpster Diving” on the Goodr website. I’ve worn them on my early-morning and late-night rides, and they help me see the trail and keep the bugs out of my eyes. A few rides ago, the lenses got covered in guck and I was having trouble seeing. I hadn’t brought my microfiber towel or lens polish. So I wiped them down with some water and my bike jersey. Was there a scratch on the lens afterward? Oh yeah. Did it break my heart? Not one bit. —Fred Dreier, articles editor

Cannondale Scalpel SE 2 (from $4,050)

This summer I trained for and participated in my first mountain bike race, the . I did not have a great bike for the race, so I got my hands on the , a cross-country-oriented bike with 120 millimeters of travel in the front and rear and a 67 degree head tube angle. As soon as I got on it, I knew I’d made a good choice: the Scalpel just wants to cover ground, and quickly. It’s fast and efficient across flat or rolling sections, and climbs like a billy goat when things get steep, whether on a fire road or a rocky section of trail. It is fairly easy to find its limits on the downhills though, especially in rock gardens or other areas with repeated hits. It’s a taut machine for sure, but going into the race, I was sure I had the right bike for 50 miles and some 7,500 feet of climbing. Unfortunately, a few weeks before Leadville, I was riding a mild section of trail and flipped a rock into the rear derailleur, shearing it off and damaging the rear triangle in the process. I was not able to replace it in time for the event, so I had to race on my Surly Karate Monkey hardtail, with a 120 millimeter fork—not ideal. I thought fondly of the Scalpel on race day many times, and look forward to redeeming myself aboard it sometime in the near future. —Will Taylor, gear director

Julbo Density ($250)

I’m just going to come out and say it: I think shield sunglasses are dorky. I can’t understand how these big, face-covering shades are cool again. But I finally decided to try a few pairs after I developed some dermatitis around my eyes and my doctor recommended that I keep it covered up while outside. Of those pairs, I like the the best. They’re super light on my face and provide great airflow around the lenses so they don’t fog up, no matter how hard I’m sweating. Some other similar shades slide down my face when I’m perspiring and bouncing through a rock section of trail, but not these; during the Leadville 50 Silver Rush, I never had to reposition during the entire ride. Ditto on trail runs in the 15-mile range. And I love the photochromic lenses, which adjust to various light conditions as I move outside. The lens on the pair I tried gets nearly clear in low-light situations, but still has enough tint to keep my eyes from squinting in all but the brightest sun. I’m still not in love with the style of them, but if I’m going out for a big, sweaty excursion where I need eye protection that I don’t have to think about, I’m reaching for these. —WT

The post The Gear Our Editors Loved in August appeared first on şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Online.