How to Choose the Right Women’s Backpacking Pack

How to Choose the Right Women’s Backpacking Pack

Published 2022-10-09
With a pang of sadness, I’m hanging up my powder skis after a final day of slaying in Colorado, and I’m settling in for what outdoor enthusiasts call the “shoulder season.” Now is the time when the outdoor community rests and begins planning summer backpacking, climbing, and mountain biking adventures. My backpacking list for the upcoming months includes the iconic Snowmass trail from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado, numerous 2-3 day hikes, and a 32-mile section of the Colorado Trai…
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Staying Safe in Bear Country

Staying Safe in Bear Country

Published 2022-10-09
For anyone who tuned into the news recently, it’s hard to miss that in a span of about two weeks in September, four hunters were attacked by grizzly bears. Thankfully none of the encounters were fatal, but it is a sobering reminder that spending time in bear country requires preparation and mindfulness to reduce the possibility of an encounter of your own.Having spent roughly three decades traveling, fishing and hunting throughout much of Montana and a fair bit of Canada, I have esse…
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American River Hot Shots

American River Hot Shots

Published 2022-10-09
The American River Hot Shots operate out of Forest Hill, California, and have been carrying theHot 3since 2010. Designed and built specifically for the long days, heavy loads, and intensive labor that are givens in the job, our packs can now be found on the majority of the Nation’s 110 Hotshot Crews, logging countless hours on the Fireline. A Hotshot can call only a few things their own: boots, nomex, sleeping bag, pack, the seat in the crew truck. The pack becomes home; it’s lived o…
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New Mexico Backpack

New Mexico Backpack

Published 2022-10-09
After three summer months of New Mexico’s 95-plus degree heat I’d had enough and needed some relief.Luckily, even though New Mexico is in large part a desert, the north central part of the state is dominated by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, parts of which feature a series of 13,000 foot peaks and some unmatched high-elevation backpacking spots.I grew up in this area in a tiny village of 50 people; my mom still lives there, tending to 10 acres of alfalfa fields, a large garden and a…
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Alex Lowe – The Greatest Mountain Athlete Of All Time

Alex Lowe – The Greatest Mountain Athlete Of All Time

Published 2022-10-09
Alex and Jennifer Lowe skiing toward the north face of Notch Top in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1982.Alex Lowe was a Montanan who arrived on the national climbing scene in the early eighties with a voracious appetite for climbing in all disciplines. He became known as the “Jack of all Trades” and “The Fiend”, climbing big walls and difficult free routes as well as forging steep ice and notable alpine ascents around the globe. Alex was known to be fast, bold and somewhat of a visi…
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