The post Nothing but Melt: Lake Helen Mackenzie Snowshoe Trip Report first appeared on Pack & Trail.

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You may be asking yourself: What exactly is an outdoor cooperative?

To start, the Outdoor Adventure Social Club (OASC) is a worker-owned cooperative, which means that there are 12 co-op owners who each have an equal share in the business – everything from the day to day business decisions to shouldering the financial implications of running said business.

Last February, the owner of the OASC pulled together a group of friends who he thought might be interested in going into business together. The backstory: he had started the business in 2005 and had been running it as a solo operation since then, with volunteers and some paid employees along the way. Now, he was getting married and the business was growing past the point where it could effectively be run by one single person.

From the initial people who showed interest, the group eventually evolved into the Adventure Co-op, which now runs the OASC. Instead of just one person shouldering the load of running a business, we now have 12 sets of hands and minds. We have business- and marketing-minded people, a designer and a developer, financial folks, teachers, small business owners – within the group, we have someone who has expertise in each area that’s necessary for keeping the business running smoothly. We meet at least once a month, sometimes more often, and have quarterly financial meetings.

How is the club itself structured? 

OASC Members are adults of all ages and skill levels exploring and enjoying nature’s beauty, experiencing diverse cultural and social events, and volunteering in hands-on community service projects while forming new friendships. Our mission is to provide daily opportunities to exercise mind and body in a safe, supportive atmosphere fostering camaraderie, education, and respect for our environment and community. And, unlike many adventure companies (as one example, whitewater companies who focus exclusively on rafting), OASC is activity and community oriented, rather than profit-oriented. We try to focus on building community while connecting people to their natural environment.

In a nutshell, we took a business model that was dependent on one person and flipped it to being cooperatively run. This spring, we will celebrate our one year anniversary of being in business, and will hopefully have implemented most of the changes that we as a group have been working on over the past six months. Our hope has always been that the members of OASC wouldn’t really notice the difference with the co-op behind the helm, and that has seemed to be the case. During the transition, we tried to keep things business as usual, and we are working on transitioning to a new and improved club this coming spring.

And now, the fun part: What do you actually do?

One of the things that we love most about the business is providing the opportunity for people in our community to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors while strengthening their ties to the community. Because we organize large group adventures, we are able to utilize our community partnerships to get great deals for our members, allowing them to take advantage of trips they might not be able to afford on their own. (Those profit-oriented rafting companies mentioned above? We have a great relationship with one of them out in West Virginia, and partner with them several times a year!) We have adventures year ‘round, and wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the ways you can have fun during all 4 seasons!

Winter

One of our favorite winter trips is a long weekend where club members gather at several rented houses at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia. Members are able to decide what level of excitement they want in their weekend (Quiet house? Party house? Somewhere in between?) and pick what outdoor activities they want to enjoy during the trip. Besides the standard downhill skiing and snowboarding, there is also cross country skiing, snow tubing and snowshoeing. When members want to come in from the cold, there is always plenty of food and lots of activities, ranging from movie showings and board games to live music and wine tastings.

Skiing

Spring

While the early spring is usually cold and icy in our neck of the woods, the many caves and caverns that dot the landscape are a balmy 55 degrees year ‘round. Our members are able to take advantage of caving trips throughout the year, and here is the hilarious and awesome description given by one of our members (and a fellow co-op owner):

“If you’ve never been caving, it’s kind of like scrambling around in a field of large boulders with only your trusty headlamp to light your way. Sometimes you’ll be walking upright through large “rooms” while at other points you might be crawling or squeezing through a small passageway, scrambling up a wall of boulders, or fording a small stream. Throughout the cave, you’ll have the opportunity to admire formations such as stalagmites (“g” is for ground), stalactites (“c” is for ceiling), and cave “bacon.” Speaking of food, lunchtime in the cave is a great time to experience absolute darkness and see sparks fly when you chew on a Wint-O-Green lifesaver.”

Caving

Summer

Summer is the time when everyone manages to get outside, so we end up having more adventures going on than you could ever imagine attending. From hiking or mountain biking the local trails, kayaking under the full moon, sailing the Chesapeake Bay, playing sand volleyball, river tubing on the James River, climbing the Via Ferrata or playing frisbee golf to volunteering at a local organic farm, wine tastings or cooking club, we lead activities for all ages and activity levels. The weather stays amazing from late spring into early fall in central Virginia, minus the pesky hot (did we mention hot?) weather in August, so there’s always a chance to take advantage of the longer days.

Canoe and Kayak

Fall

Every October, there is a dam release on the Upper Gauley River in the New River Gorge of West Virginia. Members have taken advantage of this opportunity for years on end; the weekend is usually jam-packed with things to do, from hanging out with friends at Bridge Day watching base jumping, to outdoor rock climbing in the gorge, or whitewater kayaking. There’s hiking, mountain biking, tree-top tours, standup paddle boarding, fishing, horseback riding, and nearly anything else you can imagine in the river range of the town of Fayetteville.

white_water

All Seasons Travel

Along with trips to other states close by, we also like to spread our wings and do some traveling. This spring and summer, we have members heading to a mountaineering class on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, some folks making the trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, and a 10 day backpacking trip through Sequoia National Park to Mount Whitney. There are generally at least a few trips of this type planned per year, and along with our other big adventures, give our members the opportunity to make some amazing outdoor memories.

Everest 9-4

Jessica

Hopefully now that you’ve read over the description of the business and what we do, you’ll be inspired to get outdoors more, find friends to drag with you, or even start your own outdoor cooperative in your town! It’s been a great learning experience for all of us, and has allowed a fun local business to grow and evolve in a sustainable way. As for us, we’ll be busy behind the scenes keeping things running, but we hope to see you outside enjoying all the great outdoors has to offer. And, if you’re ever in Virginia, stop by and have an outdoor adventure with us!

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Jessica is a freelance graphic designer, environmental activist & organizer, social media queen, musician, non-conformist, tree-hugger, ruckus-raiser, and lover of all things fuzzy. Her design work can be found at www.verdantspringdesign.com and all things cooperative live at www.outdoorsocial.com.

The post Why an Outdoor Cooperative = 4 Seasons of Fun first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Or something like that.

Hiking boots are such a personal thing that I’m not going to say this boot is perfect for everyone. If it fits you, awesome. If not, then you’ll have to find a different boot. For me this boot fit great. I’ve been having issues trying to find a great lightweight boot that fits and won’t fall apart and so far this boot has been ideal for me.

I’ve been on some great snowshoes and day hikes with the Sierra Lite and I’ve been comfortable and dry the whole way. The last 2 pairs of boots I’ve had have had Gore-Tex waterproof liners so I was a little worried with these boots not having them. After jumping into puddles and spending days in wet snow, I’m convinced they’re perfectly waterproof without having a Gore liner. The nubuck leather and ion-mask treatment keep your feet nice and dry. They felt fairly breathable as well and my feet never got too hot in them, even on good uphill grunts on my hikes. It sounds like I might have the insoles and ion-mask to thank in part for that breathability.

Big, heavy boots have never really had a big place in my heart. I haven’t yet found one that I really like wearing. Even if I do find one that fits, I’ll probably end up wearing the lightest boot I can for my trips. If Andrew Skurka can do his big trips in trail runners, I think I can go lighter too.

Cool features

The Sierra Lite’s use some of Hi-Tec’s newest technology to do the things they do. Here’s a quick run down of the neat stuff they’ve been up to.

V-Lite

The reason the Sierra Lite’s are actually so lite, err light, is their V-Lite technology. V-Lite is not really one technology, it’s a bunch of things combined to make the boots strong while shaving off a lot of weight. A bunch of different pieces go into making the boots and every piece has had some weight reduction.

The uppers on the boots (material that goes around the boot) is lightweight and has non-metallic hardware on it. It will be interesting to see how this hardware holds up. I saw a lot of broken eyelets with some brands of boots when I used to work at Valhalla Pure Outfitters.

The insole is an important part of the boots and they’ve been made lighter as well. Bigger boots tend to have bigger insoles but these are still light and comfortable.One of the main reasons larger, stiffer boots tend to be heavier is because of the shank they have in them. These are basically metal roads in the base of the boot that helps keep it’s stiffness and rotational rigidity. Their goal is to make a boot stiff so you’re feet don’t have to work as hard but not too stiff that it’s awkward and uncomfortable to walk in them. The Sierra Lite’s us a Stabila Flex Plus Lasting Board instead of a steel shank so you get the stiffness without the weight.

A lightweight EVA midsole absorbs hard impacts before pound your feet and a Vibram carbon rubber outsole gives you good traction without the heavy lugs that larger boots have. In some situations those big lugs are nice to have but for a lot of hiking, they’re just extra weight. On longer trips, the weight savings is pretty nice.

OrthoLite

I touched on the Sierra Lite’s insoles up above in the V-Lite section and it’s come up again because they’re using more cool technology in the insoles themselves aside from just making them lighter. They help keep air circulating in and around the insole, keeping your feet cooler. My feet get crazy hot in any kind of boot, especially in the summer. The Comfort-Tec insoles in these boots helped cool them down a bit. They’re not a magic bullet for cooling down your feet by any means but I’m not going to turn down any help I can get!

They’ve added a patented biocide to the insoles to cut down on the bacteria and fungus that give your boots that lovely scent. Sorry, you can’t hide it. And when science can’t even help your insoles smell decent, you can throw them in the wash and they’ll come out ready for a hiking trip.

Vibram

The Sierra Lite’s use light-weight outsoles from Vibram. If you haven’t heard of Vibram before, you probably haven’t spent much time around hiking boots or trail runners. They’re on a huge number of boots and shoes these days including the Vibram Five Fingers. The lugs on the soles aren’t that big so that might pose a problem in really wet conditions but I have yet to have an issue with sliding around in them. Next time it pours rain here, I’m going to head out and find a muddy hill to boot-ski down. If that actually happens, I’ll be sure to post photos of me careening down the hill into a mud-lake at the bottom.

ion-mask

Reading up on the boots before I got them, I was especially interested in Hi-Tec’s new ion-mask technology. They had a couple of videos on their ion-mask page about what this stuff actually is. I’ll see if I can whip up some science skills and explain why this stuff is cool.

The ion-mask gets applied to the material that makes up the boot. This forms a very, very thin protective, hydrophobic layer around the molecules of the fabric. Wow complicated. Basically it’s making the fabric water resistant down it’s very basic structure. After it’s got it’s ion-mask jacket on, the fabric actively resists any water it comes in contact with.

In the video with the guy from the Gadget show, he puts a piece of paper coated with ion-mask into a tank of water. When he pulls it out, it’s pretty much dry. I thought that was cool but he didn’t really leave it in the water very long. Then he pulls out a paper towel and puts it in the water. Something that’s built to be as absorbent as possible is sitting in a tank of water. He pulls it out and it’s try, the water beading on the towel. Cool.

A few other cool points to ion-mask. It’s only nanometers thick so it doesn’t really add any weight to the fabric it’s on. The fabric doesn’t lose any breathability after it’s been coated. You can build boots and shoes any way you want after the fabrics have been coated. They don’t have to be built around a waterproof fabric like a Gore liner.

Final Thoughts

So far I’ve been very happy with the Sierra Lite’s. I don’t think they’ll be replacing my heavier mountaineering boots but because they’re so light and comfortable, I will be wearing them a lot more.

The post Floating over the Mud: Hi-Tec’s Sierra Lite I WP Hiking Boot Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

If you’re like me, up to year and a bit ago I never timed anything. I’d run a distance I thought was close to when I should run and call it a day. I didn’t really measure much. I guess that’s why my results were less than stellar when I’d finish a race. They were respectable but certainly nothing amazing. I’ve heard the saying “What gets measures, gets improved” but never really paid it much attention. I had running to do and I wasn’t going to waste some of that time, fiddling around with numbers and times.

That changed a bit after I started reading article after article about training and how to do it properly. How do you know when you’ve reached a goal or that you are on track for a certain time. You don’t if you don’t measure anything. The only way to find out is to measure things like speed, pace and distance for running. Maybe heart rate if you’re aiming for a workout at the same time. Part of the reason I didn’t do that was I didn’t know an easy way to do it. I didn’t want to spend hours crunching numbers just to find out how I was doing.Then I found the Garmin sports watches.

Turn it on. Run. Turn it off. Put it by your computer. Done.

That’s all you need to do to get accurate numbers and gps tracks uploaded straight to Garmin’s Connect website for you to peruse at your leisure. I can do that.

The price wasn’t exactly what I wanted to pay for what, in my mind, was just a watch. I’d never paid over 30 bucks for sports watches in the past so shelling out over $200 on one was a bit hard to take. I waited until I could get one on sale and then leapt. I was excited because it was new tech gear but I had no idea what to do with it.

What I like

Small and light. Much smaller than the older Garmin watches (but smaller screen)

Wireless track upload

Easy to use after learning (not intuitive but fairly easy interface)

Garmin Connect website displays all information well

Heart rate monitor is comfortable

What I don’t like

Bezel is very easy to touch so you have to lock it if you don’t want it to beep, even water sets it off

Battery life is short when the GPS is on ~8 hours

Ultimate Training Partner

Over the last year, I haven’t been training for much in particular. I’ve run a couple races but they’ve been more for fun than anything. I didn’t pull out a training program for them and pore over stats and my progress.

A couple weeks ago I signed up for the Vancouver Marathon. I’ve never done a marathon and 42 kilometres is not something you can just go run after sitting on the couch for a while. So I got out the Garmin Forerunner 405 and started my training.

Tapping one side of the bezel that goes around the face of the watch and you’re into training mode. If you’ve got GPS enabled it will start looking for satellites and usually finds them quickly. If you’re in dense tree cover it might take a bit. I found it finds them faster if you’re not moving much.

After it’s got a signal you’re ready to go. There’s a start button to begin recording your workout and the GPS track. While you’re running, you can see your time, you’re pace and distance travelled. There are many options and screens to go through so however you like to see your workout data as you run, you probably can. I tend to just look at the default screen that shows overall time and pace. Most of my runs right now are a set distance and a set pace so that information is all I need when I’m moving.

Sometimes I’ll run with the heart rate monitor just to see how I’m doing in that department. It’s not a huge worry for me as I’m more focused on the time and distance versus the workout I’m getting but it’s still interesting to see. Another data point to compare when you begin your training to the middle and end.

When you’re done, stop the timer and set it beside your computer. The ANT technology built into the watch wirelessly communicates with a USB attachment plugged into your computer. When it’s within range it sends the tracks to the computer which can be automatically uploaded to Garmin’s Connect website. Then it shows you the GPS track if it’s available, speed, pace, elevation and heart rate information if you had a monitor on.

The Deadly Kusam

When I first got the 405 I was excited to see what it would do. I was already signed up for one of the most intense races I had ever done. It’s called the Kusam Klimb and happens every year a couple hours away from where I live. It’s a half marathon that goes up and over a mountain. As you can see from the GPS track I got from the race, it’s not flat. It goes from near sea level up to over 1400 metres in under 8 kilometres. That means steep! I had the heart rate monitor on as well. You can see that it was quite high over the whole race. I was pushing hard.

7 Hours of Running

A friend and I ran the Juan De Fuca Trail in 2010 which is 47km of far too many peaks and valleys of ocean-side trail near Victoria. We had planned for about 10 hours of running but it ended up only taking 7 hours. I wanted to get the entire run on the watch so I could see the pace and elevation of it all. I missed the first section down to the water from the parking lot because the 405 couldn’t get a signal through the trees. Near the end of the trail, 38 kilometers from where we started, the battery died and it stopped collection any more information. I’m glad it saved what it did. I thought if it died as it was recording, I wouldn’t get any information from the track. Apparently those guys at Garmin are smarter than I thought.

Incessant Beeping

For how much my 405 gets bumped around when I’m running, I’m surprised it still works. It’s still going strong. I have had one issue with it.Last winter I was ski touring and had it on to track our time and GPS track. Near the end of the tour about 3 hours in it started restarting constantly and beeping every time I did it. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The racket it was making only stopped when the battery died and luckily that wasn’t soon after the beeping started. Every time I started it after that and went into training mode, it would start restarting and beep like crazy. I talked to Garmin and they suggested updating the firmware on it as there was an updated version and then sending it in if that didn’t work. I really liked the watched and used it a lot so I didn’t want to be without one for too long so I tried the firmware update right away. Since then I haven’t had any issues with it. No more beeping!

Recommendations

I definitely recommend the 405 to those that are looking for a powerful training watch for running or riding. You can get all sorts of accessories for it like the heart rate monitor or a food pod to record other information while you exercise. The screen isn’t as large as some of the other Garmin watches so if you need to see more information on the fly, that might be a factor in your decision. I liked the smaller size of the 405 that didn’t look like I had a computer strapped to my arm and the lower weight that goes along with that form factor.

Do you have a training or GPS watch? What do you use it for and how do you like it?

The post Garmin Forerunner 405 Training Watch Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Snowshoes range in price from $50 to $300 can you can buy them at almost any outdoor store.

A couple years ago, a few friends said they were going snowshoeing and I wanted to join so picked up a pair of the Mountain 12 Series snowshoes’s from Atlas.

The 12 Series I have are 25 inches long which is in the middle of size ranges. There are shorter lengths available and longer ones as well. I wasn’t sure what kind of conditions I would be getting into on my snowshoe trips so I decided to go in the middle.

They are a tubular design, with a round metal frame running around the snowshoe. Flat plastic fills out the middle and provides a platform to stand on. The binding for your foot is near the front and has a fabric strap that goes over the top of your foot. there is also a plastic strap that goes around the back of your foot to keep it snug in the binding. You can adjust the 3 adjustments on the binding to be looser or tighter depending on where you want your foot to be in the binding.

The bindings are very easy to get one and the fastest of any bindings I’ve tried. All you do is slide your foot in and pull the one binding strap that tightens at two points. Throw on the strap around the back of your foot and you’re ready to go.

Getting out of the binding is a little more work as you need to open pull the clips and either push the binding over to loosen it or pull the strap through the other direction.

The other issue I have with the binding is that they don’t fold flat very well. Other styles of snowshoes like the MSR Lightning Ascents can stack flat because there isn’t much binding, only straps, and they fold down flat.

On the bottom of your shoe right under the binding where your foot will go, are a bunch of metal teeth for grip. When you’re on a bit of an icy slope or the trail has been heavily travelled on that it’s a bit hard, these big teeth will come in handy. Old snowshoes didn’t have any teeth and were fine for travelling on flat ground but if you got into technical terrain on a slope, you would be sliding all over the place. The big teeth on the bottom of the Atlas snowshoes act like crampons and keep you steady and travelling where you want to go, not falling down the hill.

Connecting the binding to the snowshoe frame are 2 stretchy plastic straps. They hold the binding nicely and put a little spring in your step when you use them. The only downside is that sometimes they cause the back of the snowshoe to flick up and throw some snow. When you’re moving quickly this can be a lot of snow so make sure you are wearing waterproof clothes. Other styles of snowshoes don’t have this elastic system and don’t flick as much so look out for those when you’re buying.

The only major issue I had with the 12 Series was one of the heel risers breaking twice. Heel risers are short metal bars that you can raise and clip into place to set your heel on when you are walking uphill. Instead of setting your heel down flat on the snowshoe, you stand on the heel riser making less work for your calves as you climb up hills. Obviously these need to be sturdy because they’re going to take a beating from people standing on them repeatedly. The pair I have aren’t quite as strong as they need to be.

Aside from the heel riser issue the Atlas Mountain 25 Snowshoes are a great choice for a pair of snowshoes. The elastic attachment to the binding and the light tube frame make it an excellent snowshoe for cruising around on the trails and through light snow. If you’re looking for something for gnarly, icy conditions, and need traction more than anything. I’d opt for the MSR Lightning Ascents instead.

Other Reviews of the Atlas 12 Series Snowshoes

Reviews on Trailspace

Review on Backpacker.com

Review on Highball Blog

The post Atlas 12 Series Snowshoe Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I’ve had the chance to use a few different GPS over the last couple years. They were all Garmin but they all had different features that I could test out and see if I liked. There were things that I liked and things that I didn’t like. I used my friends of families when I could so I didn’t have to buy my own. I finally got one of my own and opted for the Garmin Colorado 300 because of the slightly bigger screen and faster navigation method than was the standard at the time.

Little did I know that the Colorado wasn’t going to last very long. Garmin discontinued it soon after I got mine. Fortunately I never had any problems with it and aside from one little thing I never liked about the interface, it served me well adventuring over many kilometers dirtbiking, hiking, skiing and running.

The only big problem with it was that you could only have one saved track showing at once on the map. For the most part this wasn’t a problem. If you wanted to follow a trail you displayed the track and away you went. It was an issue when I would go to areas that I had been before and had saved tracks from. I wasn’t sure where each track lead and where I had been already. I could cycle through the tracks, displaying each one in turn to see where they lead but that was incredibly time consuming. In the end, without any updates from Garmin, I was stuck viewing only one track at a time.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was heading out to check out a climbing area I hadn’t seen yet on my dirtbike. The power lines and dirt roads were rough but fairly clear. My Colorado was firmly attached to it’s handlebar mount and directing me where to go. I was following a track from a friend. On the way back, roads sloped mostly downhill. Not a problem for my knobby tires, I’ll just go slow and lay off the back brake so I don’t skid too much. I was almost back out onto the pavement and one my way home when I noticed something missing from my handlebars.

In the middle of the last little hill I came down, the Colorado and popped loose from hit’s mount and gone sailing down onto the rocks. If you aren’t familiar with the Colorado, it’s got a wheel above the screen for navigating through the menus. That had popped right off. The screen had a good gouge in it. It wasn’t turning on. This wasn’t looking good.I searched for a good 15 minutes for the wheel but came up empty-handed. I tossed the remains into my bag and headed home, wandering what would come up my mangled GPS. On one hand, I wasn’t very happy about having to spend a few hundred dollars to get a new gps unit. On the other hand, a new line of Garmin’s had just come out and promised to be one of the sweetest trail GPS yet. Sad or excited. I wasn’t sure which.

I in touch with Garmin, whom, to my surprise, directed me to their repair shop in Canada. For a decent fee plus shipping I could get a refurbished Colorado. Could I get a credit towards a new one? Nope. Ok, so another dilemma; Do I wait a few weeks and pay to get a refurbished version of a gps I don’t really like sent my way, or do I check out the brand new GPS at my local shop, Valhalla Pure.

I know which one is more fun.

Enter the Garmin Montana 600

So needless to say, I checked out the new gps units. I knew the Garmin 62 series would be nice, and there was the Oregon line that had the touch screens as well. Then there was the primo, top-of-the-line radness that Garmin had just released called the Montana. At first glance, it was entirely impractical for hiking and really anything else that I’d want to do with it.

The 62 had the best antennae you could get out of any of the GPS. But it still had the tiny little buttons that were so clunky on the 60csx and 78 series I had used before. Nice for finding things and tracking but terrible if you wanted to jot down a waypoint name. Ten minutes later you can have a nicely named waypoint.

The Oregon series is about the same size as the 62 but has a touch screen. That’s nice, solves the problem of entering waypoints. You get a nice touch screen to add your comments and waypoint names too. It wouldn’t take forever. I think the screens had been updated since the first versions that were almost impossible to see in the sun. A possible ding against the Oregon’s though.

Then I played with the Montana. Large yes, but not much bigger than a 78 series I had used before. A laundry list of new features definitely piqued my interest.

Paperless Geocaching

My Colorado was actually able to do this but I didn’t use it much. I didn’t have a premium subscription to Geocaching.com and didn’t get the hints downloaded to the unit so I had to write them down anyways. I decided to try the whole deal out. I have a premium membership now and have found 4 geocaches with the Montana. If you you geocache this is definitely the way to go. No paper and a couple clicks to get all the info from Geocaching.com to the unit and back again. My only gripe with it is that you can’t click on the geocache on the map and get the hint for it. You have to go through the list of geocaches and find it through there.

Landscape or Portrait viewing mode

It’s like holding a big iPhone. All you do is flip the unit on its side and you’ve everything turns for you. It’s definitely my preferred way to look at the map and to type in waypoints. I wish the keyboard was set up exactly the same as the iPhone’s because that’s what I’m in the habit of typing. I keep hitting the shift key when I think I’m hitting something else. I went from almost never renaming waypoints to writing full sentences about them. It’s just so nice to do with the landscape touch screen.

Enabling and disabling tracks on the map

My big problem with the Colorado was solved with the Montana. You can show and hide any tracks you want on the map. If you want to do a bunch, it’s going to take a while. You can only do one at a time. It would be a definitely improvement if they could make it easier to do a bunch at once.

Lithium ion battery pack or 3 double A batteries

I almost didn’t buy it because it has a lithium ion battery back for power. Don’t go scoffing that decision by Garmin though. They changed it up and made a really smart decision afterwards to add the compatibility of the battery pack OR 3 double A’s. The battery pack recharges right in the unit so when you have it plugged in at the computer, it’s charging for your next adventure. If you kill the battery out in the woods, pop those 3 spare double A’s in there and away you go. 16 hours for the pack and 22 with the double A’s.

Nuvi-like car controls and talking car mount

This was half the reason I ended up being it. I wanted a Nuvi, one of the in-car GPS that talks and does that great stuff. I didn’t want to buy both though. Throw the Montana into it’s powered car mount with a speaker, load up some road maps and it will talk to you just like a Nuvi. Perfect. A solid trail GPS and a Nuvi in one. I haven’t actually used this feature yet as I’m waiting for the car mount to arrive at Valhalla Pure. I’ll throw up an update when I get a chance to test the vehicular side of things. I’d like to get a handlebar mount for the dirtbike as well but I’m hesitant to have another incident that killed the Colorado.

4 inch touch screen that you can actually see in the sun

The other reason I bought the Montana. The screen is huge. 4 inches to be exact. It’s bigger than an iPhone. When you are trying to see where trails, logging roads and possible routes go on the screen of your GPS, it just can’t be big enough. The old Oregon’s had some coating on the screen that made it very difficult to see in the sun. No problems with the Montana. I was out on the weekend with it in the sun and no problems at all. No squinting, no hiding in a dark room just to see the screen. The touch screen makes all the difference in the world with navigation and typing out waypoints and geocaching notes. What would take at least 5 minutes with buttons or a roller takes less than 30 seconds on the touch screen. I am worried how on long the screen is going to last bouncing around in a backpack or in the elements. I think a hard case for over the screen is going to be on order.

Bundles of waypoints and tracks for each adventure

This might just be a new update for Garmin’s Basecamp software but now you can bundle waypoints and tracks and ship them around on and off your device. They call it an Adventure. A perfect name for a group of things. You can also add images to that if you have pictures on your Montana. I didn’t get the version with the camera but one has a 5 megapixel camera. The photos are geotagged and uploaded to your computer with the tracks and waypoints.

Adventure Time

And that is the story about how I got a Garmin Montana 600 in my pocket. I would say it’s time to head out on an adventure but it’s more likely that it’s time to hit the sac! If anyone’s got a good story about their GPS, feel free to share it in the comments!

The post Garmin Montana 600 GPS Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Tom Mangan at Two Heel Drive posed the deep question earlier this week.

Why do we hike? There are so many different answers.I loved reading through all the different posts. Tom has them all linked up at Two Heel Drive if you want to check them out or search Twitter for #whywehike.

There were so many different responses. Everyone had their own individual reasons for getting out there and hiking mile after mile.

Mine are similar.

There are the fitness reasons.

Hiking can be an incredible workout and is always good exercise. I would happily take some wandering down a trail or over a mountain over staring at the wall at the gym any day!

There are the nature reasons.

It’s amazing to get back to nature. Get out of the city. Get out of the hum and the stress and all the tense people rushing from here to there. I don’t live in a very big down and I still feel it. People that have to be somewhere. They have to do something. And they’re always rushing while they’re doing it. How can it not be nice to step away from that and listen to the birds chirping, the streams gurgling and the wind flowing through the trees.

There are the social reasons.

I’m almost always hiking with friends and family. I do go for a wander every once in a while by myself but most of the time it tends to be a great experience with friends and family that I wouldn’t normally get sitting around on the couch watching a movie. There’s just something about experiencing those amazing places and vistas with the most important people in your life that makes everything else fade away.

And then there are the other reasons that I’m not really sure how to explain. Adventuring, exploring, needing to know what’s around the next corner. There’s many different ways to describe the urge to see what’s out there, what’s around the next corner. What if it could be the most beautiful vista you’ve ever seen? What if it was an amazing animal you had never seen in the wild before. What if those last few steps to the peak marked the highest you had ever been before, or the farthest. There’s just something about being in those places that you’ve never been to and pushing yourself past what you thought were your physical limits that entices me back into the wild every single time. Whether it be hiking, running, mountain biking, skiing or snowshoeing, I’m always fair game to explore a new place.

There’s also the beautiful scenery and the awesome stories you get to tell to your friends who stayed at home and did laundry. 

The post Why We Hike first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I’ve rounded up a ton of reviews of the Lightning Ascents. They’ll be able to give you the pros and cons of these awesome shoes in case you’re looking for a new pair.

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/msr/lightning-ascent/#reviews

http://hikinglady.com/reviews/gear-reviews/msr-lightning-ascent-25-snowshoes/

http://sectionhiker.com/msr-lightning-ascent-snowshoes/

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web07x/ms-jr-msr-lightning-snowshoes

http://www.backpacker.com/fall-gear-guide-09-gear-review-msr-lightning-ascent-snowshoe/gear/13544

http://www.hikinginfinland.com/2010/01/video-msr-lightning-ascent-review.html

Lightning Ascents on Amazon

The post Link Roundup: MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoe Reviews first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Main Items

Snowshoes

Hiking Poles

Pack

Clothing

Waterproof Jacket

Waterproof Pants

Warm clothing

Toque

Gloves

Hiking boots

Gaiters

Sunglasses

Food and Water

Lunch

Camelback with water

Thermos with warm drink or soup

Navigation

GPS

Map

Compass

Miscellaneous

Camera

Chap Stick

Safety

Headlamp

Emergency Blanket

First aid kit

Satellite Communicator

Cell Phone

Also check out the Resort Skiing Gear Checklist and the Ski Touring Gear Checklist.

The post Snowshoe Day Trip Gear Checklist first appeared on Pack & Trail.