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He was in Central Gully, and slipped when about 300 feet above the bottom. Usually that's a snow climb with one "bulge" of ice. He may have been carrying a small second "axe" (likely a technical ice tool) for added safety getting up the bulge, and using a standard ice axe for arrest the rest...

Note that Denali park has a rather strict management system. You can do day hikes without any paperwork (starting from anywhere along the road - bus drivers will drop you off), but overnight trips are another story. The park is divided into BackCountry Units, each with a strict quota...

TLDR: the magnetic pole is much closer to the rotational pole than it was when I was born, or when most of my paper maps were printed. Sloppy navigators like me are now even more justified in ignoring the difference between the two poles while weaving around trees, ponds, etc. in places...

obligatory: https://xkcd.com/2098/

I've hiked those in winter. I don't think I even wore snowshoes - the trails were packed down by others before me. The tough ones would be in places like the Mahoosucs, where the roads are only open if there is logging (and even if they are, you really don't want to meet a logging truck...

I think this one: 17 hours before unplanned bivy, then a couple hours sleep and another hour or so of walking before getting a ride. https://www.summitpost.org/extending-the-pemi-loop/311203 This one was also about 17 hours: https://www.summitpost.org/spers-traverse-adirondack-great-range/215603

I believe Dudley is "closed in summer" but open for winter travel. Very hard to understand their decision-making without more details. It sounds like they were on South peak (I'm assuming they arrived there from Baxter Peak), headed out on the Knife Edge, lost the trail / decided to duck...

So, some of the congresspeople responsible for writing the USFS's budget are, instead of asking their colleagues to agree to a budget, writing directly to the agency asking the agency to divert funds to their own state, at the expense of some other USFS project. To maintain the polite and...

Self-adhesive bandage wrap costs about $5 per roll, makes a fine sock with a little practice (wrap in a figure 8 around your ankle), wrap it as tight as you like and put a regular sock over it.

Not any kind of cat - it's possible to see a claw mark if the cat is afraid of losing its grip, but that's quite rare, and anyway those look like canid tracks, both the claw marks and the overall shape. (It's not any kind of weasel or woodchuck or porcupine or...) Dog, coyote, and fox are...

That's a quite reasonable strategy and would probably be my first choice in that exact location (assuming the wind from the west was bearable). Just keep in mind that one strategy is not best for all situations. There are two problem is that you may encounter. The first is "local maxima" -...

Correct. You in effect need to be dropping waypoints - generally by writing down bearings and rough distances. If I expect to do this I'll print a custom map at a largely expanded scale, so even if the terrain problems or major trail curves aren't visible on the map, I can draw them in as I...

QFT. The near-treeline zone on Lafayette includes a number of areas that are steep, icy, and seldom traveled. Aiming blindly for treeline means walking into unknown objective dangers, with the possibility of getting stranded by cliffs and/or a ten-mile walk to Lincoln Woods through unbroken...

How do you know you were cross-eyed, rather than some other problem affecting your vision? It all sounds very unlikely. My first guess that the proximate cause was the trail rather than the glasses, my second guess is that the glasses were prescription glasses, and my third guess is ask an...

The nose is at 4062' as measured by GPS. The 4020+ number often seen (e.g, on Peakbagger.com) is from counting contour lines, which is what caused the problem with the AMC list. There was a missing contour line on the USGS map at the time (and maybe still). (I didn't make that story up...

There are 5 peaks on the AMC's list, but they left off one by accident. Mansfield's Nose has both the height and the prominence to qualify. It also has active microwave antennas on the top, so you may not like it (and it's not a very healthy place to stay for very long), but bagging the...

"Near" the trails? Yes. WMNF rules prohibit firing guns "on or across" the trails, and also within 150 yards of a campsite or road. State park rules say no firing within 150 feet of trails. In practice, since trails curve and bullets can travel far, hunters generally turn their backs to the...

The latest sunrise will be somewhere on the Arctic Circle (possibly someplace that does not practice Daylight Savings time), right around the solstice. Hmm, several of the time zones up there are artificially wide. Greenland is widest, but they also practice daylight savings time, while Russia...

For my chronic athlete's foot, I find powders more effective than creams or liquids. To get the powder just where I want it, I tape over all but one of the holes in the cap of the container. For backcountry use, you might want to transfer the powder to a smaller container with a built-in...

Also note that the west ridge trail in particular tends to be wet and develops a lot of thick ice in several places, not just up top. Probably not a major concern this early, but once the days stay below freezing in the valley, bring full crampons for this route or expect to spend some time on...