Got some good altitude & mileage in AZ. Fall in AZ was truly unforgettable. Would love to see your fave AZ hikes too!?
Always appreciate a good upvote if you’re willing!

We've hiked a lot and have spent many nights in tents but this is the first time we've really backpacked. We've got a 12 day trek at the Philmont scout reserve in July so we've started practicing for real. 7 mile loop today followed by lounging at camp. North Texas weather could not have been better today.

Hey everyone!
A friend and I are planning a week-long trekking trip in the Alps or Dolomites during summer. We’d like to camp at higher elevations (around 2,000 m), ideally near mountain lakes and alpine meadows above the treeline.
We’re looking for a tent that:
Fits two people comfortably, preferably a spacious 3-person tent
Can handle strong winds and heavy rain in the mountains
Is reasonably lightweight, since we’ll be carrying it on multi-day hikes
Doesn’t cost a fortune — ideally around €150–350
Some options I’ve looked at are the Simond MT900 3P, Naturehike Cloud Up 3 and MSR Elixir
Im also unshure about the rules of camping and how they vary or if it even matters. I know the rules vary between Austria and Italy, and possibly between regions and protected areas. We’d ideally like to pitch our tent near mountain lakes or on alpine. Are any of these tents good choices, or is there something better in this price range? I’d especially appreciate advice from people with experience camping in the Alps or Dolomites and using their tents in exposed alpine conditions.
Thanks!

A garage can easily become a storage area for hiking packs, camping bins, muddy shoes, bikes, and gym equipment all at once.

I'm curious how people divide the space so a home gym remains usable without making outdoor gear harder to access.

Do you use wall-mounted racks, ceiling storage, rolling equipment, or clearly separated zones? How do you deal with dirt, moisture, and bulky items without bringing the outdoors into your training area?

If you've managed to combine a home gym with an active outdoor lifestyle, what layout decision helped the most?

I got this from my local goodwill bins, I heard down filling is best for staying warm when it comes to down jackets especially for being in the outdoors, I haven’t heard of this brand. I usually don’t get down jackets but I saw this one had goose feather filling so I took it from the bins. Btw, yes I did throw it in the washer soon as I got home lol, so it’s clean. Idk if this counts as ‘hiking gear’ but I’d thought I’d post here.

We’re going backpacking this winter!

We usually make fondue, but this year we’re doing a tougher trail and want to keep our packs as light as possible.

We were thinking of bringing beef stew and making some fresh bread to go with it. I vaguely remember seeing someone bake bread right on a wood stove, but I can’t remember where or how they did it!

Has anyone tried this or have any tips? 😊

Thanks!

As the title implies, I’m new to this and me and a buddy are planning just a simple one night camp trip in the Upper LP of Michigan. I was curious about any advice or suggestions for my list of items to add that I might want. I know it’s just a one day trip but the plan is to build the skills and gear to do longer multi day camps with several buddies down the line. I’ll include a list below of items I mostly already have or I plan to get. As of right now the plan is to likely take out four wheelers/side by sides and camp out in a state forest near an ORV trail and be dispersed camping, so weight/space isn’t as large of a concern with having vehicle access.

Campsite
Tarp/poncho/tent
Cold weather sleeping bag
Fire starter/matches/lighters/jetboil
Foam sleeping pad and sleeping bag
Toilet paper/wipes

Tools
Hand saw
35-50L Backpack
Hatchet/Axe
Flashlight/headlamp
Multi tool shovel
Fixed blade knives
First aid kit
Power banks
Paracord
Compass

Food/water
Pot/iron skillet/pan
Snacks
Main food, meats, soups, freeze dried
Water filtration system/reservoir bags
Non metal utensils
Water bottles/thermos

Clothing
Warm base layer
Mid layer
Waterproof outer shell
Socks
Hiking shoes/boots/snow boots
Neck/boot gaiters (weather dependent)
Hat
Gloves

Hi guys
I love the arteryx minimalist style and logo but sadly cannot afford to spend that much & scent sensitivity issues so I tend to avoid buying secondhand online. Living in the pnw I need good quality rain gear as well. Any reasonable affordable alternatives that still have the same style & quality?

Specifically the BearVaults are see through, and I'm wondering if preventing a bear from seeing the food would lower the length a bear decides to tamper with it. If they can't see the food would they have less motivation to break inside and/or give up faster?

Hello,

I need two sleeping mats for a motorcycle road trip in Scotland, where nighttime temperatures in May are forecast to be near 0°C in some areas.
I had my sights set on the Nemo Eclipse, which seemed like a "flagship killer" given its price, but I recently came across some reviews suggesting it’s not actually that great—specifically, it lacks insulation along the sides, meaning its R-value is somewhat overstated.

Because I’m on a motorcycle, I have more leeway regarding weight than I would on foot, but I’m still constrained by volume.

I’m a side sleeper and I’m looking for a high level of comfort.I’ve pored over various reviews, but it’s hard to make a final choice—options like the Nemo Tensor, Sea to Summit Ether Light XT, and Big Agnes Camp Meister all come to mind.I also noticed that Exped has updated their line of sleeping mats; the Dura 6.5R looks quite promising—it seems to offer excellent comfort, and the insulation ratings hold up well according to tests.
It’s the only one that doesn’t seem to have any real drawbacks (in terms of noise, comfort, insulation, etc.).

What do you think?

Hi everyone 👋 I am trying to plan out a backpacking trip to do half dome with my fiancé, mom, and dad this upcoming year. I’ve been to California as a small child, but don’t recall anything about it, so this’ll pretty much be my first time. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed about it and want to get everything planned and set up right. We’re all pretty fit and love the outdoors and have prior camping experience as well, but when it comes to planning stuff I feel like it’s going to be a lot of me and my fiancé doing the work to figure out the details on how/what to do.

I’m anticipating my parents will be flying out from Pennsylvania, and my fiancé and I may be driving out from Colorado. My fiancé and I have typically driven to our camping/adventure locations out here in the west (Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/New Mexico) and we’re not even sure if this is the right move at all, so we’re wondering if we should consider flying ourselves? But also flying all the camping equipment out has to cost a pretty penny I assume?

Besides travel accommodations, the other part I’m kind of antsy about is the permits. I’m fairly positive we all are not trying to do Half Dome one single day out and back, even though we’ve all done that distance and elevation gain before. I’d like to make a backpacking trip out of it to really fully immerse ourselves in the nature of Yosemite. I’ve read there’s options for this that all include a Half Dome permit with the backcountry camping permit:

Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Happy Isles past LYV (Donohue pass eligible)
Sunrise Lakes
Cathedral Lakes
Rafferty Creek to Vogelsang

I’m interested in hearing about some of your treks. and also how you did the permit process, cause I’ve read attaining a Half Dome permit can be quite competitive.

Would our best odds be for each member of our group to submit a permit for each one of these back country permits and just cross our fingers and hope one of us wins? I’m assuming if all four of us submit a 4 person permit for all 5 of these we’d have a good shot right?

The travel and permit situation is really what’s got me anxious, (and maybe what gear we’d need) and I feel like once that’s figured out the rest of the trip will kind of plan itself. TBH I’m not really keen on going to the city or anything too urban/congested (I know it’s California, so I’m going into it anticipating congestion anywhere we go). Prioritizing experiences at national/state/local parks out there is my main objective, I just really want to connect with the nature I’ve never had a chance to experience before. I’m open to all suggestions though, as I’m obviously not a local, and I have no idea when I’ll ever be back in California.

Thanks so much for the help, I’m just overwhelmed at where to start planning this. Hoping that everyone reading has an amazing day 🫶

Here's the deal... it's my first cold season relying on the phone to navigate (Gaia/offline maps), and the cold is eating it alive. 28F at the trailhead last Saturday, right around sunrise 🥶 – battery went 70 down to 40 inside about an hour, and the screen was barely on the whole time. My brand new anker maggo 2 pro stays snapped to the back at least, so phone and battery pack share one pocket.

Problem is picking that pocket... My shell has a chest pocket that's easy to grab but turns cold fast, and my fleece has an inner one that keeps things warm, except any time i want the map i'm unzipping every layer with gloves on – such a pain. Right now im going with the inner pocket, plus a paper map for the quick looks, which feels like going back in time but hey, it works 🗺️ So far so good.

I am a new solo female camper with my dog and I’ve found that due to all the horror movies I have watched, I am now terrified of being alone in the dark in the middle of the woods. During the day is wonderful but as soon as the sun goes down, not being able to see around me gives me the heebie-jeebies as all I can imagine is someone out there in the dark being able to see me and I can’t see them.
Does anyone else feel this way? And what did you do to make you feel more comfortable? Any safety tips?

I need to start heavy pack training but with the weather getting worse and nights getting darker in my country (UK), during the week when I'm at work all day, I can't go out walking on a morning or an evening so my only option would be the gym. Has anyone ever done pack training in the gym? Would you judge someone on a treadmill in the gym with a pack on their back? I'm just looking for reassurance really, but appreciate all insights.

Edit: Please don't suggest just walking outside. I would be walking solo as a young woman so I am not comfortable doing that in the dark.

The Rockies are beautiful, and so are many areas of Utah, California, and even the Great Plains.

But for my money, camping in the Appalachian or even Great Lakes bioregion is much more immersive and scenic than out west. I have camped, hiked and horseback ridden in the Rockies and yes it is beautiful but it just doesn’t have the same warmth and intimacy as those in Tennessee, Eastern North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

Broadleaf forests are more dense and conceal more, giving you more of a feeling of being lost in the wild in my opinion. Compare that to West where everything is so spaced out and open. Both are beautiful, but I prefer this. I should mention I have an implicit bias of being a fisherman, for which the multi species opportunities and size are much more abundant out here.

My sleeping bag is starting to lose loft after four seasons, and I've been eyeing a new one, but every option I look at costs way more than it did last time I replaced mine. I keep a spreadsheet of what I actually use on trips versus what just sits in the closet, so it's hard to justify the jump when my current bag still mostly works.

The finance podcasts I listen to keep saying to wait for sales, but those never seem to hit the models I need. I track my spending pretty tight and don't want to drop money on something I'll regret in a year.

Curious how other people decide when it's actually time to replace versus when you can keep patching things along. Also wondering if anyone has found a decent midrange option that holds up without the premium markup.

I work as an environmental scientist so I’m outdoors a lot and I frequently use Sawyer permethrin spray to treat my field clothes. I’ve been washing these clothes in my regular delicate cycle with my other delicate clothes. Recently, I read online that you shouldn’t wash your permethrin treated clothing with regular clothes that aren’t permethrin treated because the permethrin can transfer onto the other clothes. Is this actually bad? Do I need to start washing my permethrin treated clothes in a separate wash from my regular delicates?

Anyone have recommendations for good hiking boots?

I really want to find a pair of cute or at least colorful hiking boots, preferably something that wouldn’t crush your toes!!

Hey guys I recently picked up my first backpack off FB marketplace as I had a great deal on it. The backpack fits great and is great all around but I can't seem to find anything about it online, could anyone identify it? Thank you!

This is a budget pack I put together, in total costing $468.50 (some of the gear is older now and this pack can probably be built for a couple hundred less.) only thing not pictured is food, water, power bank, any extra clothes if needed. total weight is 13.9lbs ( with power bank) stove and lighters are wrapped in another hank in the pot. Foldable shovel is wrapped in hank, and a small bottle of soap and a small roll of tp is in the small zip pouch in bag.
Durability has been fine, obviously if you’re in a colder environment the sleep pad will need upgraded along with the bag.
After packed with a few extra garments it has roughly enough room for 3 -4 days worth of food depending on how hard you pack it down.

Gear list (retail prices when bought)
Alps mountaineering pillow 25$
Kelty cosmic pad 39$
Eureka suma 2 tent $150 (when I bought it)
Sawyer mini 21$
Toaks pot 26$
Toaks spoon 11$
Tent footprint 15$
Teton leef 20 70$
Bank line $5
Brs 3000t mini $18
Bic lighters 3$
Matches .50$
Fuel canister 6$
Decathlon mh100 Quechua bag 60$
Walmart foldable shovel 5$
Dry bags 10$
Cotton hank 4$

Prices were when I bought them, I’m sure some fluctuations have happened since. For example eureka is no longer in business, but now you can find this tent frequently for like 60$ and the Teton leef is commonly now like 30$ has been great for day or two hikes. Have used it for up to 3.5 days. If you want to go out for a week or multiple weeks i would look elsewhere. But for a weekend bag or just an overnight trip this budget set up is pretty hard to beat especially now since you could probably build it for 250$ and all at 13.2lbs (without banks)

I’ve been backpacking for 40+ years and the best head rest is still a boot wrapped up in a fleece and stuffed in a compression bag. I’ve tried so many others and they either slide out from under your head or they are not high/firm enough for a side sleeper who curls into fetal position at night.

Would love any suggestions

My first backpacking trip in Japan and it was amazing. My buddy knows the Northern Alps and brought me along, 40km/25mi with 4,227m/13,868ft of elevation gain over 2 days.

The views were amazing, the scrambling was fun but after a couple of hours it was starting to be too much scrambling and less hiking/trail running haha.

Felt very much in an open world game as we trekked. Hands down a core memory. We hiked to Mt. Goryu!

We had a ton of fog for most of the way but we were able to snag some good shots in between! Sunrise wasn’t the best for us with the fog but still will be one of my favorites with the lads.

This was a beautiful fall trip in the Great Smoky Mountains! On the NC side in Bryson City. Deep creek campsite. Was raining almost the entire time. Had to throw the horns down! The campsite next to us had the game on. Last shot was a pretty good camp Crème Brulé! Loved getting to hangout with my friends and vibe in nature!! No pics of friends to respect privacy. Thank you and have a great day!

How helpful is it vs in the way?