As soon as I realized what had really kept me from trying solo backpacking, I knew it was time to change that. Come along with me as I try solo backpacking alone, and share some wisdom I gathered from my time on trail alone.

It’s been a while since we had a video for you but we’re excited to share a fun little project that we dreamed up almost two years ago and finally had the opportunity to bring it to life. A Beginner’s Guide to Backpacking, shot in the style of Wes Anderson!

In this video/post I take you through the basic gear and how to pack for packrafting. Though this will focus on packing for a packrafting trip that requires you to backpack in, it’ll be helpful for anyone wanting to learn gear basics.

After a successful inaugural packrafing in Escalante, we were fired up to get back on the water. We quickly got to work planning our second packrafting trip, this time, we were ready for more technical water and add to our growing skills on the water. For this we returned to our beloved Wind River mountain range.

I have been so excited about this blog post because it’s a trip recap from our FIRST EVER packrafting trip. Not only is it exciting because it was the first time we got to try our hand at packrafting in the backcountry but it also was a trip into one of our favorite places in North America, Escalante National Monument!

We’re back with a new tutorial on how to pack for a backpacking trip. Below is the video that goes into detail of how to pack your pack, then what follows in this blog post is a little more specifics on the individual pieces of gear that we use and love!

As people who love to be active it’s important to us to get regular excersize as we travel. However, it can be hard to make that happen depending on the season and climate we’re in. So we’ve found that the best way to get consistent exercise is actually to have a few different options at any given time.

Today we’re diving into an introduction to, and the theory of backpacker meals. We will detail how we plan food for backcountry travel while also taste testing a few different major brands of backpacker meals out there.

As we crept ever closer to the US and Canadian border we found ourselves in the coastal rainforest of Washington. Those of you who have been following us for at least the last year, you know that we have fully become desert dwellers. The moss-draped trees felt completely foreign to us, but we were so hungry to dive deep into this incredible new terrain.

There is nothing quite like starting a cool morning in the backcountry with a cup of coffee. However, carrying in a big coffee setup isn’t an option when backpacking. Instead, we take instant coffee or single-use pour-overs when we’re heading out on an adventure because they’re more compact. Today we’re going to test a bunch of different options and share the results with all of you!

Before we get into this final episode, I want to take a moment to thank you all. This series, A Summer Adrift, was the first of hopefully many. We had no idea how this format of video would be received, but we wanted to take the time to record, write, and make something more in-depth than we’ve ever made before as a way to process this turbulent year. At the time that we started putting this series together, we had no idea that it would turn into the biggest creative undertaking each of us had ever been apart of. This is the kind of work that we want to make in the future. It’s fulfilling to be able to go out and live all of this, but it’s something else entirely to reflect on it to make a cohesive storyline out of what this summer has meant to us.

A good pair of hiking shoes/trail runners can make a world of difference when you’re out on the trail. Today we’re reviewing one of our most favorite pieces of gear we’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing: The La Sportiva Bushido II’s. They’ve carried us up many mountains and through countless miles on the John Muir Trail!

After being in Jackson and saying goodbye to Chase and Aimee, we ventured farther south to Pinedale, Wyoming with Peter, Shruthi, and Micah. We came here with plans to head into the backcountry for a four-day backpacking trip.

Just a day or two after the hike into the Frank Church Wilderness we were ready to head back out on our next adventure! This time we were heading back into the Sawtooths with our sights set on the highest peak in the range!

When we came to Idaho we had already done a lot of research on overnight backpacking trips. We knew that this area is choke-full of them, however, this one as not on our radar.

We wanted to write a little blog post detailing some of long time and new favorites that will be on sale May 15th - May 25th. If you’re anything like us we’re using this downtime to plan out our adventures as things start to open back up! Now is the perfect time to round out your gear collection for everything you need to go further and stay longer this summer!

I’ve recently been asked this: “Any advice on cooler weather hiking clothes for women?” I’ll do you one better, and talk through the gear for both men and women! I figured that this would be some helpful information to share with you guys.

Hey guys! This is sadly the final installment of our John Muir Trail gear guide! Things will go back to their usual speed here on the blog, but we’d love to hear if there are any topics that you’re interesting in us covering in the future.