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As in many other aspects of life, there's a broad range of personality types and learning styles on the trails, and you try your best to fit yours with theirs. And yeah, sometimes the necessary connection just isn't there. You celebrate the encounters that do make a positive difference. Alex

It's the USFS Trailhead Steward Program, staffed overwhelmingly by trained volunteers (of which I'm one). The objective is to make folks feel welcome and supported, provide weather or trail info as needed, increase awareness of HikeSafe principles, and to alert people regarding any observed...

Just posted this under 'cheap sleeps' as well . . .

The Notch Hostel When up in the Whites, I sometimes prefer the hostel option to camping on one end of the spectrum or motels at the other end. When hiking near Gorham or Conway, I'm all set with some great hostels. However, I haven't come up with interesting hostel options in the Lincoln area...

ON POINT: Hammocks do indeed broaden your below-tree line campsite options. Two key caveats, though. First, if you're not a back sleeper, you may not have a comfortable experience. And second, it's an art to stay warm, due to the hammock's exposed underside; even folks who put sleeping pads...

Devil's advocate logic aside, is there anyone here who doesn't think that Kate's prospects would have been better had she set forth as part of a group of similarly capable hikers?

Sat 4/18/2015 circa 11am - I managed to drop my lightweight black beanie hat on the trail without noticing. :-( Most likely W of Pierce, on the way down to Highland Center, but it's also possible the deed was done a bit north of Pierce in the direction of Eisenhower. Thanks! alexmtn - alex...

Yes. If the burner unit overheats (its underside is actually plastic), it shuts off the fuel inlet flow permanently, pending returning the unit for service. This was a concern of mine as well, until I observed first hand how cool the unit's underside stays at the same time as its topside...

First let's sure we're talking apples to apples with our per-person-per-night water heating requirements, which obviously vary depending on temps and trip design. For an intense cold winter backpack with -10F temps and sourced purely from snow, this would include: Dinner: 1L Sleeping bag...

We just need to get calendars aligned to [finally] share a winter trip -- then I can come with one and you the other.

Tom, as I mentioned above, the standard way to keep the fuel canister "warm" is to place the stove in a small container/bowl of (warm enough to be liquid) water when operating it. The warmer the water you start with, the less often you'll need to change it in the event that you're running the...

Alas, you can't *both* be a Gridiot *and* have sense.

Brian, the answer to your question is "yes, and faster than with a white gas stove". The key to getting an upright (non-liquid fed) isobutene canister stove to work in the cold is to ensure (typically by setting it in a small container of warm-enough-to-be-liquid water) that the canister temp...

As has been said, the Reactor makes the most sense when there's lots of water to be boiled -- winter campsite chores take annoyingly long when you have to wait to boil enough water for the night, boil enough water for sleeping bag warming, waiting to boil enough water for dinner, then again for...

Hey Richard, thanks for the post - it caught my eye for a different reason. While on the Goose Eye Trail this past winter, I managed to lose a Panasonic Lumix camera. It's a black (well really dark bluish gray) and silver TZ5 point+shoot. I'm not expecting it still to be functional, but would...

Trail Conditions: The trail was packed powder with a soft surface, solid enough early for bare boots and microspikes, but vulnerable to postholing as the sun came out later in the morning. At the day’s warmest point, there were some annoying snow bolling issues, where after every few steps we...

Remix, sorry for the delay in noticing your question from 1/30. I find it most workable to get introduced to the basic moves sans backpack, and then to progress to the cargo configuration you'll be hiking with. Alex

Good point, and I like that wind vs. temp standard! I'd been out on various days prior with not much wind, but yeah, the temps on those days were indeed frosty. You just made it, though -- the snow and winds picked up and crossed the temp line on Bondcliff minutes after you crested. We...

I teach a 2-day AMC Above Treeline Workshop out of Pinkham, and needed to find a workable answer to the OP's question. The Day 1 agenda is boot/crampon/ice ax/gear training, setting up for a Day 2 Mt. Washington ascent via Lionhead. The trouble with all the locations mentioned above is that...

Congratulations to Gryffin and his List Coordinator! It was a pretty nice day to be out on a Zealand-Bonds traverse, and it was a pleasure to meet some fellow vftt-ers on the trail. Gryffin was a bundle of energy, who if not for Tim's attentive supervision would have deftly augmented his...