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The Best Ultralight Backpacks of 2025
By Michael Lanza Do you need an ultralight backpack? Many backpackers might answer “no” when, for many reasons, their answer should logically be “yes.” These packs aren’t just for thru-hikers. Typically weighing roughly between under two pounds and three pounds empty, ultralight packs have... -
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Backpacking—and Sandbagging—Utah’s Uinta Highline Trail
By Michael Lanza The strongest signal that late afternoon has begun its inexorably precipitous October slide into a freezing evening comes as my son, Nate, and I step from almost-warm sunshine into the deep shade of a peak whose shadow tops out at over 13,000 feet in eastern Utah’s High Uintas... -
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A Good Time to Buy Hiking and Backpacking Gear? Right Now
By Michael Lanza If you’ve been thinking you need—or want—a new backpack, tent, boots, sleeping bag, rain shell, down jacket, or some other piece of hiking or backpacking gear or apparel, right now is one of the two or three best times of year to grab excellent deals. Most online and... -
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The 12 Best Down Jackets of 2025
By Michael Lanza Whatever you need an insulated jacket for, there’s a down or synthetic puffy for your needs, within your budget. And whether you want a puffy jacket for outdoor activities like backpacking, camping, skiing, climbing, and hut treks, or just to keep you warm around town or at... -
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The Best Clothing Layers for Winter in the Backcountry
By Michael Lanza There’s one thing we can confidently say about the clothing layers we use in winter: We get our money’s worth out of them. While a rain shell or puffy jacket may rarely come out of our pack on a summer hike or climb, we almost invariably wear every article of clothing we carry... -
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12 Pro Tips For Staying Warm Outdoors in Winter
By Michael Lanza Staying warm while skiing or riding at resorts or in the backcountry, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, or running in winter is a constant challenge: We sweat, our clothes get damp, and then we have periods of reduced exertion like riding a ski lift or walking or running... -
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How to Get a Permit to Backpack the Teton Crest Trail
By Michael Lanza For backpackers, the Teton Crest Trail really delivers it all: beautiful lakes, creeks, and waterfalls, high passes with sweeping vistas, endless meadows of vibrant wildflowers, a good chance of seeing wildlife like elk and moose, some of the best campsites you will ever pitch... -
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Review: Montem Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles
Trekking Poles Montem Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles $90, 14 oz./396.9g $One size, adjustable 105-135cm montemlife.com The biggest question with inexpensive gear is always: Will it work? And best way to answer that question is to field test it in places that are hard on gear... -
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A Survival Guide For the Outdoors Lover Who’s a New Parent
By Michael Lanza So, you’ve been an avid [circle all appropriate terms: hiker/backpacker/climber/trail runner/skier/kayaker] for years, and now you’re spending big chunks of your days changing diapers and your nights wondering when you’ll sleep again. You’ve never gone this long without getting... -
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10 Tips for Taking Kids on Their First Backpacking Trip
By Michael Lanza Whether you’re a family of novices planning your first backpacking trip or an experienced backpacker ready to take your kids on their first multi-day hike, heed this friendly advice: You’re in for some surprises. And I speak from experience. I’d been backpacking for years—in... -
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How to Backpack the Teton Crest Trail Without a Permit
By Michael Lanza So you just got the inspired idea to backpack the Teton Crest Trail and discovered you’re months late to reserve a backcountry permit. You’ve probably also learned that it’s possible to get a walk-in backcountry permit for Grand Teton National Park—but competition for those is... -
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The Fine Art of Stashing a Backpack in the Woods
By Michael Lanza Stashing a backpack in the woods is just what it sounds like. If you’re on a multi-day backpacking trip and want to take a side hike of any significant distance, like to a summit, and then return to the same spot to resume your backpacking route, it’s a waste of energy (not to... -
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An Essentials-Only Backpacking Gear Checklist
By Michael Lanza What do you need to pack for a three-season backpacking trip? While the specific items depend in part on factors like the time of year, your companions and backpacking style, the trip’s length and the weather forecast, this story provides a core checklist of essential gear to... -
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5 Tips for Getting Out of Camp Faster When Backpacking
By Michael Lanza Years ago, in a visitor center in a popular national park, I overheard a conversation in which one person said to another, “Backpackers? They don’t start hiking until 10 or 11 in the morning.” I laughed to myself because I know how true that is in many cases. But I also found... -
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Photo Gallery: 40 Gorgeous Backcountry Lakes
By Michael Lanza Water makes up about 60 percent of our bodies—and, I suspect, 100 percent of our hearts. We crave it not only physically, for survival, but emotionally, for spiritual rejuvenation. We love playing in it for hours as children and we paddle and swim in it as adults. We’re drawn... -
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5 Reasons You Must Backpack the Wind River Range
By Michael Lanza On a cool early morning in August while backpacking the Wind River High Route a few summers ago, I hiked in the shadow of tall mountains to Jackass Pass at 10,790 feet—a spot I’ve stood on at least a few times before, overlooking the incomparable Cirque of the Towers in the... -
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7 Tips For Getting Your Family on Outdoor Adventure Trips
By Michael Lanza In the Digital Era, the idea of families spending sustained time outdoors—actually taking trips built around some outdoor adventure enjoyed together—can feel like a wonderful aspiration that’s awfully hard to achieve. But that lifestyle is a reality for many families—and always... -
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The Best Hikes and Backpacking Trips in Idaho’s Sawtooths
By Michael Lanza Our group of three adults and six teenagers crossed the 9,200-foot pass on the Alice-Toxaway Divide, separating Alice and Twin lakes from Toxaway Lake, on our third straight bluebird August afternoon backpacking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. Before us, an arc of spires and... -
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Backpacking Southern Utah’s Owl and Fish Canyons
By Michael Lanza The wind blows a steady warning blast heralding the meaner gusts forecast for tonight as we begin backpacking down the rugged “trail,” such as it is, into Owl Canyon, in the Cedar Mesa area of southern Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. In the first week of May, the four of... -
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How to Safely Cross a Stream When Hiking or Backpacking
In the ink-black darkness long before dawn on a morning in May, seven of us panned our headlamp beams over La Verkin Creek, deep in the Kolob Canyons of Utah’s Zion National Park, contemplating where—and whether—to cross it. Bloated and bellowing with spring snowmelt and brown with the silt of...