Everything
I'm planning an Appalachian Trail through-hike for 2003. I've poured over all the gear columns/ratings/etc. And with a bit of your wisdom have narrowed down most of my gear. But...I'm thinking of going stoveless. What's your opinion and do you know any recipes for easy/light/nutritious stoveless meals? Tim Moose, Wyoming
I'm gearing up for an ascent of Denali in May 2002. Could you advise for clothing and size of compression sacks appropriate to bring? I weigh 114 pounds so I want to minimize what I have to pack. Jeanne Stawiecki Charlton, Massachusetts
Can three-season tents be used in the snow? Is it necessary to have a "mountain" tent for snow camping? With a full cover fly, what is wrong with using a three-season tent for occasional snow camping? Lyn Greenhill Roseville, California
Is DryLoft on a down sleeping bag worth it? I've noticed that it's not appearing as often as it used to on down winter sleeping bags. David Morlock St. Paul, Minnesota
I have gotten into section hiking the AT and whenever I go and carry a fair load (more than 30 pounds) I come home with strawberries (abrasions) on my hips from the waist belts. HELP ME! Jeff Hatcher Mcleansville, North Carolina
I'm taking a two-day bike tour with a friend. We are both concerned about the camping stuff we need to be carrying. Can you give some advice on what we should carry on our bikes? And which sleeping bags would you suggest? Ali Serefli Hartford, Connecticut
I would like to buy a digital camera to bring on climbing, canoeing, and hiking trips. I had been planning to buy an SLR, but I've recently been tempted by digital cameras and their ability to make you impulsively take snapshots. What factors other then weight and picture quality should I consider? Any help you can give me would be much appreciated. Eric Winnipeg, Manitoba
To me, one of the great mysteries of life has to do with load ratings on boots. For exple, some day hiking boots are rated to carry up to 30 pounds after which, the boots will fail. Now, what the heck is the difference between a 180-pound person carrying no load versus a 150-pound person with a 30-pond load wearing the se pair of boots? Your enlightenment will be eternally appreciated. Jake Kim Irvine, California
What's the scoop on Eureka's Zeus EXO line of single-wall backpacking tents? They're inexpensive, light for the square footage, and look to have the se super-quick setup as the larger Eurekas. Do you have any info on how well these tents vent? Bill Charlottesville, Virginia
We know your favorite sub-$500 camera is the Yashica T4 Super. But, what are your favorite point-and-shoot cameras for $500 and above? Roy Boston, Massachusetts
What are you looking at? Q: How can I take a safari in Africa without being a millionaire? — Gudrun Nalitla, Reykjavik, Iceland 国产吃瓜黑料 Advisor: A: At first it seems hard to believe that a little drive through a…
In 国产吃瓜黑料‘s September feature “Grease is the Word,” we profile Charris Ford, a 33-year-old fuel pioneer from Telluride, Colorado, bent on powering the world’s diesel engines on biodiesel, a concoction of vegetable oil, alcohol, and lye. While the gospel of biodiesel is spreading to cities across the nation (like Berkeley…
What did we do all summer? We searched the country for the coolest college towns, places where the outdoors and intellectual esprit mingle blissfully. In this online SNEAK PREVIEW of 国产吃瓜黑料‘s September issue, we fill you in on our picks for the nation’s TOP TEN schools. Whether you’re seeking…
Hybrid vigor has long been a trusted tenet of biology: Cross a shiny red tomato with a frost-resistant tomato, and chances are you’ll get a superior offspring that’s both beautiful and cold hardy. A similar idea gave rise to the auto industry’s new breed of hybrid cars– they combine the…
The most wanted man in America survived five years in the North Carolina woods, eating salamanders, sleeping on the cold ground, and stalking deer. Or so he says. Spend a night in his secret mountain hideaway and you get the feeling there's more to this story.
Making ethanol is a bit like following a recipe from an old Farmer’s Almanac: Grind corn into flour; add water and enzymes to turn the flour into sugar; add yeast until you have a syrupy concoction; strain the solids out; distill. Essentially, ethanol is a taste-bud killing moonshine with a…
Biodiesel is about to go big-time. Will the ski-bum town of Telluride, Colorado, become the green-fuel Houston?
Take a hydrogen atom, comprised of one proton and one electron. Strip the electron and run a car. That’s the basic premise behind the energy efficiency crowd’s latest craze, the fuel cell—a unit that facilitates the chemical reaction described above using compressed hydrogen gas and oxygen, and creates electricity for…
“Do you want to push it?” 33-year-old Kathy NiKeefe asks from the driver’s seat of her 2001 VW Golf TDi. I lift my hand toward a button on the dash labeled “veggie switch” in cut-out letters. Once the button is pressed, the car’s engine switches from diesel to used vegetable…
Beta-tested by Olympians and elite athletes, the wizardry of neuromuscular training will hardwire you for peak performance
Today's topic: We rank the Top 40 schools where you can hit the books AND the backcountry. Your assignment: Rappel off that ivory tower and take our cram course on America's most adrenaline-friendly colleges. You'll come for your B.A. (Bachelor of 国产吃瓜黑料) and want to stay for life.
If it's Riviera glitter you're after, head to Monaco. But for endless climbing, epic singletrack, and wild seacoast adventure, set a course for Finale Ligure.
With the right armor—either built in or as a high-tech housing—the new digital cameras can take the hits and keep your vision alive
Bill Phillips, the most successful fitness author in history, is a Colorado recluse who got his start teaching muscleheads how to use steroids. He's cleaned up his act—his Body-for-Life program runs street legal, and it works—but he's still banking on a timeless American urge: Everybody wants to be huge.
A modern speed demon breathes new life into an ancient Hawaiian sport
"He died doing what he loved best," they always say. But when climbers meet their end on the high peaks, the ordeal is just beginning for their wives, husbands, children, parents, and friends. An exclusive excerpt from Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow
Journey with us through the watery heart of the largest subtropical wetlands in America: the Everglades. Why? Because it's there—or used to be.
Wet, wonderful H2O ain't just the cure for the summertime blues. It's life itself—a priceless treasure that we've got to stop squandering.
He grew up poaching alligators, he sells Cadillacs, and his friends run oil companies. But saving the bayous of Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin is Harold Schoeffler's number-one deal.
Everybody loves the Klamath. Everybody wants a piece of it. And they're willing to go to war to get it. Editor's Note/Correction
A plan to save Guatemala's Mayan cities with a park and a posh eco-lodge has enviros and locals boiling
Immerse yourself in these eight close-to-home dive sites, where the water's world-class and your tent's just a splash away
Baja's Isla Esp铆ritu Santo conjures up endless scuba sites and miles of sand for camping by
What happens when a solitary day hike turns into the ultimate test of survival?
“River Impossible,” an August 2003 feature story by Patrick Symmes, incorrectly reported on a newspaper article by author and investigator Barry R. Clausen in the Yreka, California-based Siskiyou Daily News in February. It was wrongly implied in “River Impossible” that Mr. Clausen was an interview subject in the newspaper article,…
Why jet to exotic reefs when home waters boast spectacularly diverse diving?
Pass the summer splash test with these rowdy water fitness contests
Drift off under the stars in a featherweight sleeper designed for balmy summertime escapes
Pure, abundant agua is getting harder to find. Feeling thirsty?
AMERICANS ENJOY SOME OF THE SAFEST DRINKING WATER IN THE WORLD, but quality varies widely, and it’s surprisingly tough to find out definitively which cities serve the good stuff and which do not. Some 54,000 community water systems are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but no government body…
SPLASH FIGHTS: Water issues chronically become water wars. Here are some collisions in progress—from bang-ups over how to divide spoils to clashes over big cleanups—that need to be resolved in the years ahead.
1. Havasu Falls, Supai, Arizona Hike two miles to this perfect turquoise pool, with year-round 72-degree water, in Havasu Canyon. All About H2O The wet stuff is always there for us—it grows our food, puts splash and spirit in our adventure, and (by the way) keeps us alive.
There are hundreds of national and local conservation groups working to preserve the oceans, lakes, rivers, creeks, and swimming holes you love. Below, a comprehensive list of great organizations that need your help. Activist Chris Swain swims the polluted Columbia River. Amigos Bravos…
The August 2003 issue of 国产吃瓜黑料 is dedicated to reporting on the health of our nation’s water supplies, from the lakes and rivers we play in to the water we drink. But this isn’t the first time the magazine has reported on the water crisis—we have a long history of…
It sounds too good to be true: a star miler turned criminal goes to prison, links up with a legendary track coach, trains behind bars until his feet bleed, and earns a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Is the real world ready for Jon Gill's dream?
WHEN THE MERCURY RISES, it’s all about freedom—to hit the road, float a lazy river, down a cold one in a mountain saloon, climb a crag or two, munch some local grub, cast for lunkers, watch the sunset from a seaside lodge. Our ten favorite stretches of American blacktop come…
Horrible winters. A dwindling, aging population. Abandoned farms reverting to prairie grass. Perfect, says our writer.
This spring, a quarter of a million Americans took a trip. It was noisy, hot, and violent. Accommodations were poor. Some of them didn't come back.
You better grab a lifeline and hold on tight when Steve Fossett decides to make another manic bid for glory
Are the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients packed into everything you chug and chew the real secret to becoming a finely tuned sports superstar? Turn the page.
The latest road runners fit better, feel faster, and work almost as hard as you do
California’s Skylonda Lodge Q: I like dried fruit, camping and bugs. My wife likes brie, soft beds and spas. Question: Where can we go in August where we can hike and bike by day, and have a full service resort at night? — Philip Cordova…
So you want to climb a mountain, but you’ve never done it before. No sweat聴there’s a first time for everything. Even the world’s greatest climbers were once beginners like you, gearing up with ropes, carabiners and crampons and heading for the hills for their first technical ascents. To help fuel…
Three years after a notorious kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, new evidence and big changes emerge from Central Asia
Last summer, U.S. wildfires cost $1.6 billion to stop and claimed the lives of 23 firefighters. The statistics were depressingly familiar, but the expense and sacrifice did nothing to solve the problems of overgrown forests, misguided government suppression policies, and misspent resources. Is there a way out? Maybe. But only if we get serious about rethinking
The release of Michael Kelsey's new tell-all canyoneering guide has land managers worried about trouble in the slots
Australia's first great adventure was part Lewis and Clark, part Donner Party—searing proof that fame is a four-letter word
Australian photographers Ian and Erick Regnard have followed surfing’s ASP World Tour for the past six years, shooting the planet’s most famous surf personalities on and off their boards. On days when the waves were too low for competition purposes, the Regnard brothers also shot contemporary musicians, models, and others…
There’s a swoosh of heaven that runs from Hawaii through Mexico to Central America and the Caribbean. Don’t let it bask in the sun by itself. Our 43 sweet spots are waiting—surrender and go. TRAILING OFF ON KAUAI By James Glave THE INS & OUTBOARDS OF…
Cut your alpinism chops on North America's best routes.
Get a fresh perspective on the Old Country: pedal, paddle, skate, and hike in these eight ruggedly charming European outposts
