Below is some of what we love — and why we love it. Click on the link for more information; in some cases, links to the item on Amazon are provided. We will update this list regularly. The categories are:

• Clothes
• The Little Things that Really Help
• Reviews
• Food

Clothes

The Buff

Twice a year we endorse the Buff, that stretch tube of microfibre fabric that can be worn a dozen ways — as ear muffs, as cowl, as hat, as balaclava, as blindfold for a nice nap on a sunny day. Most of those are winter adaptations. Come summer, the Buff makes a dandy lightweight headband to help you keep the sweat out of your eyes. When you enter a meadow or other clearing, pull it over the top of your head to protect your head from sunlight. And when you hit a cool creek? Dip it in the water and give yourself — your face and neck in particular, a cooling bath. Encounter a sandstorm? You get the picture. Check it out here.

Smartwool Merino Beanie

I’ve been reminded these past few frigid weeks of how much I love my Smartwool Merino Beanie. I’m not a Smartwool devotee in other areas, but I do love the beanie: it’s snug but not tight, lightweight and compactable (I can stuff it in a coat pocket when I warm up), and it’s durable. It’s one piece of gear I don’t need to think about (except when I can’t find it), and for what it is, it’s pretty inexpensive, priced at $25. Check it out here.

Driving shoes

You take a great hike, get back to the car and realize your boots are caked in mud. Makes you wished you’d packed a pair of shoes for the drive home. But who wants to buy an extra pair of shoes just for driving? No one, of course. And you don’t have to. Simply take the hiking shoes you’re ready to decommission and use those instead. They’re comfy, and they still have a little life left (though not enough to hike in). The perfect solution. And good for your car, too.

Treat yourself (to socks!)

We don’t have a specific gear recommendation this week. Rather, an admonishment to treat yourself to a new piece of gear. Maybe it’s a piece of gear you don’t necessarily need, but a piece of gear you really want (packs fall into this category for me). Maybe it is a piece of equipment you need, but have been putting off because of the cost. Here’s a thought about that: Buy it now and you’ll have a full hiking season to use it — makes it more cost effective, you know? March yourself down to your favorite outfitter — again, now! — with the promise to not return home empty handed.

Personally, I plan to be hiking this weekend in a new pair of my favorite sock: the Darn Tough Men’s Quarter Midnight Hiker. Snug, durable, and long-lasting. Check ‘em out here.

Marmot Precip

Here’s the thing about rain jackets: you can spend $100 on a rain jacket, you can spend $500 on a rain jacket. And both work about the same, especially in warm weather. That’s why we’ve long gone for the Marmot Precip EcoJacket, a lightweight beast that that does an especially good job — for a year or two. It excels in warm weather — that is, temperatures much above 60, above which you’re likely to get as wet from working up a sweat as you are from getting soaked by rain. It’s got zip pits for ventilation, a couple of pockets, and right now, if you buy one in certain colors you can get it for a fraction of its retail price of around $100. Check ‘em out here.

Warm weather socks

We’ve had our first 80-degree hiking days of the season — and the beginning of the mysterious “sweaty foot season.” Why, we wonder, are our feet suddenly hot and sweaty during a hike? I mean, I haven’t changed a thing, and yet … . And yet that’s the problem — you need to change a thing, that thing being your socks. Those wool socks you’ve been sporting all winter, the ones that have kept your feet nice and toasty? They may be too much for warm weather hiking. Most hiking sock makers make socks for a variety of conditions; often, you can tell their suitability for warm weather hiking based on their cushioning. Socks with medium and heavy cushioning will make your feet sweat; switch to a lightly cushioned sock and to either an ankle-length or crew sock: come summer, cool feet are happy feet. For more on what makes a good summer hiking sock, check out this post from BestHiking.net, which also makes five sock recommendations (see photo).

Gaiters

We’ve been having trouble of late with grit getting into our hiking shoes. The reason? No gaiters. The last time we bought gaiters was maybe 20 years ago, and we bought the wrong kind for our needs. Thus, we haven’t used them and we’ve been gun-shy to invest in a new pair. Then we ran across GearLab.com‘s “The Best Gaiters of 2024.” A dozen gaiters tested for various conditions (keeping water out, keeping dust at bay, ease of use, etc.) and ranked for your consumer needs. Check it out here. 

Liner gloves

Gloves, like socks, come in many permutations, one, seemingly for every conceivable situation. But when it comes to hiking in the Southeast, you pretty much just need one type of glove: a lightweight wool liner. The Smartwool Liner Glove is a good, relatively inexpensive ($24) choice, keeping your heat in even when the temperatures drop into the 30s or slightly below. It doesn’t get much colder on most of our hikes; that and the fact they’re lightweight, have a touch-screen-friendly thumb and forefinger, and are flexible make them ideal for most of our winter hiking. And if you find yourself in more severe conditions requiring a heavier glove, well, these are liners — you can count on them to pitch in. Check ‘em out here.

Gear 99-cent backup gloves

I was walking down King Street in Hillsborough a while back when I saw a cardboard box with the sign, “Gloves, 99 cents.” Too good to be true? Nope, the box was filled with jersey-material gloves that had been unearthed from the deep storage of Dual Supply. I slipped a pair on, they came home with me (after I paid for them). The beauty of these gloves wasn’t just their price, it was the fact they could be balled up and tucked into my pack, forgotten about until that day not far in the future when I find myself on the trail in weather colder than expected — and without gloves. My main gloves, that is, because I’ve got my trusty 99-cent backup gloves waiting to bring warmth to my grateful fingers. (Note: you may not be able to score backups for 99 cents, but you likely can find them for less than $5.)

Traction devices

We love to hike in winter, and we’re not about to let a little thing like snow and ice keep us off the trail, especially when there are several economical over-the-boot traction devices that provide grip on a slippery trail. But which one to get? The answer, it appears, depends in part on the conditions you’ll be hiking in. If you’re on a trail that likely will be icy and snowy throughout, then slip-ons with metal spikes appear to be the answer. Microspikes, for instance, get good reviews for durability and grip in ice and snow. The downside: if you go back and forth between snow and ice and rock surface, the spikes wear down quickly. Then there’s the spring coil-type devices, such as Yaktrax, which get their traction from coils wound around rubber bands. They go back and forth from snow and ice to hard surface more easily, but can slip off and snap. One advantage to the latter? Price. Yaktrax can be had for about $25, Microspikes about $70.

The little things that really help

50 feet of cord

It’s not one of the 10 Essentials, it likely comes in at 11th. But a good run of hiking cord — reflective, if possible, with a break strength of around 225, 250 pounds — is well worth the 2.5-ounce investment. Rain moving in and you need to throw up a tarp? You’ve got your ridgeline. Suddenly hit a rock scramble that’s difficult to maneuver in a pack (especially a backpack)? You’ve got your rope to hoist your gear. An unruly hiking companion who needs restraining? Well, perhaps not. But you get the point. Staves off those woeful moments when you find yourself saying, “If only I had a rope.” 

Freezer Ziplocs

You do so look forward to lunch on a long day hike. Even if it’s simply a robust PBJ, brimming with chunky Skippy and oozing with strawberry Smucker’s, it’s a key component to a successful hike. Now imagine your chagrin upon opening your pack come noon and discovering the flimsy plastic sandwich bag you’ve entrusted with your tasty repast didn’t withstand the impact of that tumble you took: your PBJ has exploded beyond recognition and now covers the inside of your pack. Tsk.

That likely wouldn’t be the case had you used a gallon Ziploc Freezer Bag. And yes, Ziploc, because that is the choice of the Appalachian Mountain Club, which notes in a blog: “They’re thicker than your average sandwich bag, which averages 1.5 mil in thickness (a mil is 1/1000th of an inch). Most freezer bags are at least 2 mil; Ziploc brand freezer bags are some of the thickest at 2.7 mil.” Further, notes the AMC: “What’s more, a thickness of 2 mil or more allows manufacturers to produce the closure strip at the same time the bag is produced. On thinner sandwich bags, the closure strip has to be laminated on (and can potentially peel off with repeated use).”

What’s more, if you crave something hot for lunch, you can fill a bag with soup mix, ramen, whatever and add boiling water! The bag will hold and you can dine straight from it. Another plus: Ziploc Freezer Bags also relatively inexpensive.

The basic Bic lighter

“I can’t get this to ignite,” Kimberly said — for the third time — as she punched away at the recalcitrant pushbutton igniter on her camp stove. “Can I borrow your lighter? Again?” Thank heavens and a hot dinner for the basic Bic lighter. The ubiquitous point-of-purchase device that costs maybe a buck fifty and can be your best friend on the trail, from getting your dinner underway with your cookstove to starting the campfire that will keep you and the crew gabbing late into the night. Buy one, tuck it away with your cookset. Actually, buy two: stick the second in your hip belt pocket or your pack brain and forget it’s there — until you need it.

Waterproof matches

It’s one of outdoor life’s little pleasures: getting a match to strike — to see, to light a stove, to light a campfire — when it’s miserably wet. The match we rely on: Coghlan’s Windproof, Waterproof Storm Matches. They come in a watertight case that includes two striker sections and will burn for 10 seconds, more than long enough to light the Pocket Rocket and get water boiling for your ramen.  Learn more here. 

Backpacking thermometer

It’s an odd thing to be obsessed over just how cold it gets on a trip, but it’s an odd thing that just about all of us are obsessed by. Once on the Appalachian Trail north of Asheville we were especially curious about the overnight low. The forecast was for 19 degrees, but at an elevation 2,000 feet below ours. We speculated it might get as low as 17. Then, Saturday we ran into a couple of thru-hikers who said it was 13 at their camp, which was about 1,000 vertical feet below ours. It’s all about bragging rights, I reckon. Anyway, next time we head out we plan to have an accurate take on the temperature using one of five thermometers recently tested by AmericanStateParks.org. The candidates range from a $6.49 keychain thermometer to a $29.88 digital readout. Their top choice: the BTMeter Anemometer BT-100 . Read the review here. 

No-waste doggie water bottle

You love hiking with Farfel, but there is one thing that drives you nuts: When you think it’s time for a drink, Farfel doesn’t always agree. You fill his collapsible bowl with precious water from your personal stash, he looks at it, looks at you, looks back at it, then becomes fascinated with a dust mote dancing by. Grrr. If you can relate, then check out the Avelora Dog Water Bottle. Farfel looks thirsty, you pull out the bottle, flip a switch and fill the reservoir on the end, then offer Farfel a refreshing drink. Should Farfel decline, tilt the reservoir upright and the water flows back into the 12-ounce bottle, for future consumption, should Farfel develop a thirst. Learn more here.

Headlamps

Headlamps, like diaries, are personal things. Some folks just want a durable torch that’s cheap and shines a light. They don’t care how much it weighs (Heckuva good way to build neck muscles!). For them, a basic $13 200 lumen Energizer lamp with three modes will suffice. Others want the flashiest thing on the market, say, the Zebralight H600w Mk IV, with a whopping 1400 lumens (be seen from space!), $89 price tag be danged. And there’s a passel of options in-between. Which is why we refer you to the GearLab’s most recent look at the subject, “The Hunt for the Best Headlamps.” Over a six-year period they’ve reviewed 63 headlamps; in this article, they give their thoughts on 27 of them. Check it out here.

Picaridin insect repellant

In today’s “Resources” section we provide a resource for folks who really like to investigate every conceivable option before making a decision. That would not describe the GetHiking! braintrust, to employ that term lightly. When it comes to insect repellent we go with picaridin over DEET for one simple reason: Both will kill mosquitoes, but picaridin has been shown to do a better job of keeping skeeters at bay. Simple decision for us. Check it out here.

Extra washers for your Sawyer filter

I’d found a spot on the stream with decent flow, took a seat, reached into my water treatment stuff sack to grab my Sawyer filter and — odds are if you have a Sawyer you know what’s coming next: the white plastic gasket that assures a tight fit between dirty bag and filter, was gone. To quote Ralphie, “Oh, fudge!” Despite the fact it pops out every time I use it, I hadn’t gone the extra step to pack a spare. Bree, however, had. “I always bring an extra; I give ‘em away all the time.” Only smart Bree didn’t have an extra official replacement, which can cost upwards of a buck a piece — she’d gone to the hardware store and got a bag of suitable washers for about a tenth the cost. The dimensions, to make sure you get a tight fit:  0.99 x 0.99 x 0.13 inches.

Thanks again, Bree.

Headbands and wrist bands

Tube socks — I get why those went out of style. But headbands and wristbands? Talk about utilitarian and groovy gear. If you weren’t around in the ‘70s (or were and can’t remember), sweatbands were a go-to piece of gear for sweating basketball players. A headband kept the sweat out of your eyes, wristbands kept the sweat from running down your arms and saturating your hands, making ball handling a challenge. But toss on a combo of headband and wristbands and you were one cool — and dry — athlete. And you can still get them! A company called Suddora sells them for just $9.99 a set! That’s right, headband and wristbands yours for under $10. Worry not about blurred vision obliterating rocks and roots, nor about being able to hold on to your poles. 80 percent cotton, 12 percent spandex, 8 percent nylon; check ‘em, out here.

Digital zipperpull thermometer

How many times have you been on a hot/cold hike and someone says it must be at least 95/25 degrees? Now, you know they’re high/low, but without proof, who’s to say with certainty that they’re wrong? That’s why you need to spring for the Sun Co. Digital Zipogage, a digital thermometer that clips to your zipperpull, and at the push of a button gives you a more accurate temperature reading. End of debate — and for only about $21, by going here.

Anker 325 Power Bank

Frankly, there are a lot of good portable power banks out there that get good reviews and that can be had for not much more than $20. But if you want to be absolutely sure you don’t lose a phone charge — and don’t mind helping out your fellow campers to boot, check out the Anker 325 Power Bank. With 20,000mAh it can provide 5 full charges to just about any cell phone. And with two ports you can charge two phones at the same time. About $40.

Sewing kit

For everything from one-hour day hikes to multiday backpack trips, it pays to have a sewing kit in your arsenal. For mending everything from blisters to rips in your pack to holes in your pockets (Hey! Where’d my gummies go?), a simple sewing kit could be the best $2 you spend on gear. Check on out here.

Cooling towel

A bandana dipped in a stream, then wrapped around your neck feels great on a hot summer’s day. But the effect can be short-lived. A cooling towel, on the other hand, is more absorbent so the wet lasts longer, and its composition somehow manages to cool the water, increasing the cooling effect. It’s not like jumping into a pool of ice, but it can make a big difference on a hot day. We’ve used the Chilly Pad from Frog Togs and been quite pleased. Now we just have to remember where we put it before the weekend hits. Check it out here.

Whistle, while you hike

You’ve fallen on the trail, and you can’t get up. Grand as it would be to push a button, proclaim your dilemma and have help magically appear, you’re in the wild with no cell service. What you need is a whistle, a strong whistle that you can toot three times to signal you’re in distress. A signal that can be heard a mile away. You need the Slim Rescue Howler Whistle from SOL (Survive Outdoors Longer, in case you were thinking something else). The whistle is small, emits a 100db signal, and weighs just a few grams. It fits easily in a pocket, or to a zipper pull. Best of all, it comes in a pack of two, so your hiking buddies and can toot back that they’ve heard you and are on the way. $10 for the both of ‘em Learn more here.

Forget-about-it flashlight

As we near the end of of Daylight Saving Time and and are noticably losing daylight by the day, we issue our periodic call to stash an extra flashlight in your pack. Our recommendation? The 9-LED Ozark Trail flashlight you can get at WalMart for a buck. Nine LEDs may not seem like much, but it’s enough to light your way back to the car after the sun has set — and it’s a lot easier to activate than the flashlight on your smartphone. A spare torch: for a little more than a buck, it’s perhaps the best hiking investment you can make. 

Reviews

2024’s best little knives

GearLab, the Consumer Reports of outdoor gear, also appreciates the importance of little knives. Over the past decade they’ve tested more than 45 pocket knives, 21 of which were considered for their Best Pocket Knife of 2024 review, released in November. As always, they rank them on various factors, from Best Buy to Top Pick. All specs are included. Check out the review here.

Knives, multitools

Morakniv Knife and Fire Starter

This is much more than your run-of-the-mill knife. Or fire starter. In fact, it’s both wrapped into one. 

This extremely sharp knife is flexible and all around sturdy. In the handle you’ll find a fire starter. With this one tool you can split kindling, light a campfire, and gut and clean a fish. The fire starter works equally well when wet, and has predictable performance at all altitudes (unlike many other methods). Additionally, it lights not only wood, but also starts gas-stoves and barbecues. The sheath comes equipped with a clip so you can have it close by at all times. This little knife will have you prepared to trek through a blizzard or through the Amazon — and fire up the stove for a spot of tea en route. About $28. Check it out here.

TSA knives

Need a multi-tool or knife cheap? Better still, need a signature gift you can give to all your outdoorsy friends that will have them saying, in the good way, “Oh, you shouldn’t have?” Ever wonder what TSA does with all those knives, multi-tools and other pointy objects they confiscate at airport checkin from people who forgot (usually) they were carrying? In North Carolina, they wind up with State Surplus Property and are sold to the public at ridiculously low prices. Benchmade knives, folding knives, Kershaw knives, buck knives, multi-tools and more, you’ll find them all at State Surplus stores in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Greenville, Wilmington and Pembroke. For more on these locations and State Surplus in general, go here.

Station IX Trail Ultra neck knife 

A neck knife — a knife worn around your neck for easy access in the event of trouble on the trail — wasn’t something I’d given much thought to. Until I saw The Prepared Wanderer’s review of the Station IX Trail Ultra (also called the Number 7). The small knife, about 3 inches in length, fits in a sheath attached to a chain that you can hang around your neck. You get into trouble and don’t have time to fetch your knife out of your pack, it’s right there. What makes it especially attractive is your ability to customize it into a versatile survival kit (see Media: The Prepared Wanderer). $50. More info here.

Food

Tuna packets

Lunch on those long hikes — like those you’re taking this fall — presents a conundrum. You want it to be nutritious and fuel-efficient, you also want it to be tasty. One popular option has long been tuna, what with its high protein content. Trouble is, tuna typically needs a little help to catapult it into the tasty category. The Bumble Bee people have not only injected tasty into the mix with its new line of flavored Snack Kits (Spicy Thai Chili, Lemon & Pepper, Sun Dried Tomato, to name three), but they’ve also added convenience: the 2.5-ounce servings come in a pouch that includes a little spoon! Each packet also provides 15 grams of protein (if just 70 calories). Topping out on 5,520-foot Standing Indian Mountain this past Saturday after a 6.6-mile climb, I was pleasantly surprised by my Chipotle tuna, which had a mild, but not overwhelming, kick. Convenient, they taste good, and they’re only a little more than $1 a pack. Check out your options here.

Sport Beans

I’m not a big fan of eating on the trail, even on a long hike where having a little boost to get you through can be crucial. Mainly, it’s a digestion thing: I like to keep moving and doing so while eating a PBJ can be counterproductive to an effective digestive process. No need to elaborate. Thus, I lean toward Sport Beans, which have carbs, electrolytes and Vitamins B&C. Frankly, though, I just like sucking on them to slowly extract their flavors, which include red, purple, yellow, green and orange. Keeps the saliva flowing, too. Check ‘em out here.

The post Gear: Not all the gear, just what we use (and why) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

*  * *

A hiker hung around after Sunday’s hike. “Got a minute to answer a question?”

“You bet,” I said. I love answering questions about hiking. 

“Can you recommend a pair of hiking shoes?”

 Any question but that question.

Hiking shoe recommendations are among the most useless recommendations that can be made. It’s fairly easy to comment on brands in general: this one is m more durable, that one comes in pretty colors. But if you have high arches and I have flat feet, or your foot is narrow and mine wide, the shoe that works for me won’t necessarily work for you.

But instead of acknowledging this, I started rambling on about every shoe I’ve ever owned (starting with a pair of PF Flyers, the same shoe worn by my favorite basketball player of the day, Bob Cousy!). How I wish this conversation had occurred just three days later, because on Tuesday, the way to answer the question became clear: answer it with a series of questions.

* * *

Tuesday, I spent the better part of the day at a clinic conducted by Obōz Footwear. The purpose was to educate staff from Great Outdoor Provision Co.’s seven North Carolina stores on how to properly sell hiking shoes. Preferably Obōz, but basically to get hikers in the shoe right for them. Here are some key takeaways from the presentation, lead by Peter Carioscia, who is part of Obōz educational team (his official title: Touring Tutor).

• American v. European feet If your feet are American, get a shoe designed for American feet. Americans have more of a V-shaped foot, meaning our forefeet are wider than a European’s foot. (It was unclear how many generations it takes for a foot to become American.) Thus, American-designed shoes, such as Obōzs, tend to have a more snug heel fit and a more open toe box.
• Waterproof shoes They work — in the right environment. And the Southeast, Peter says, isn’t that environment. Waterproof shoes don’t breath as well, and that can lead to sweaty feet here in the land of heat.
• Keep your shoes clean Especially waterproof shoes; dirt can clog the shoe’s pours, keeping them from letting your feet breath and creating a variety of woes.
• Leather Working Group If your boots contain leather, make sure they are Leather Working Group certified. Group members undergo an annual audit to make sure humane and sustainable practices are observed throughout their leather-supply chain.
• Shoe fabrics. There are pros and cons to the various types of shoe material:
  • Full grain leather is the whole hide, is the most durable and also takes the longest to break in
  • Nubuck is the top layer, is pretty durable, takes less time to break in
  • Suede is the layer closest to the critter, it’s soft and comfortable but not as durable
  • Nylon offers good support
  • Polyester is softer than nylon and more flexible.
• The right time for a fit. Try on hiking shoes at the end of the day, after you’ve been on them and they’ve spread our, as opposed to the beginning of the day. Also: get your feet measured both while you’re standing and when you’re sitting. 

* * *

And that brings us to, Psst! Brannock. The Brannock Device is that clunky measuring tool that 

was an integral part of the shoe-buying process when you went for your back-to-school Buster Browns, but is only occasionally brought out today. It measures your foot for its key dimensions and, in Peter’s opinion, should always be your first step when buying shoes because the key to a comfy fit is making sure you have a good fit. And that starts with making sure you have the right size. Two problems here:

• Most people don’t know their shoe size. They may know how long their foot is and how that number translates to size, but the number that’s truly important is the arch length, which the Brannock Device can measure. Arch length and perceived shoe size are often different, possibly by two sizes or more. Your arch length should reflect the true size shoe you get because it better reflects the mechanics of how your foot works and how a shoe is built to respond accordingly. For instance, if you measure for a size 9 shoe but your arch length is 11, you’re probably better suited to a size 10 or 1.5.
• Most people don’t know their foot width. Men tend to over identify as wide, women tent to under identify as such. And, adds Peter, often people who think they have a wide foot actually have an arch-width issue. Get measured; it makes a difference.

Finally, Peter says, when you go in to try on shoes and you think you’ve found a pair, walk around the store in them for 20 minutes or so: any fit issues should start to reveal themselves. 

To Peter’s recommendations I add this: buy local. Even if you’ve been wearing the same shoe for years and love it, there’s no guarantee it hasn’t been tweaked and will fit the same. The convenience of Amazon is outweighed by the odds of getting a shoe that fits like it should. Even a cosmetic change can affect the fit. Go into your local outfitter, try several pair, get the pair that works. 

In short, invest the time in your hiking shoe purchase. “Your shoes,” says Peter, “are your connection to the outdoors.”

The post If the shoe fits … appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

This week’s focus: Gear, including a shoe and socks

Salewa Ultra Train 3 ‘speed hiking’  shoe

I’m protective of my feet: without their support I not only miss out on my favorite recreation, I’m deprived of a living as a hiking and backpacking guide. So when I’m approached by a shoe manufacturer about test-driving one of their fleet, I’m a bit apprehensive: when you hike about 40 miles a week you can’t afford for them to be unhappy. It helps, though, if you’ve had good experiences with the manufacturer’s line. Such is the case with Salewa, which sent me a pair of Ultra Train 3s a couple months back.

I’ve hiked in Salewas, off and on, for about a decade. I’ve been particularly happy with the Ultra Train line, though I’m not a fan of the elastic lacing used in the Ultra Train 2. Fortunately, that system has been replaced in the UT3 by traditional laces, which offer more flexibility in securing a snug fit. 

The UT3 is categorized as being for “speed hiking,” a cross, I suppose, between a traditional hiking shoe and a train running shoe. I can see that: the shoe is light (357 grams, or about 12.6 ounces per shoe) and appears spare at first glance. Which brings me to the first thing I love about this shoe:

• No sore feet. On a hike of more than 10 miles or on a backpack trip, the first thing to go for me are my feet. Often, my soles start getting tender after a couple hours of hiking. Not so with the Salewa Ultra Train series. I’ve put more than 300 miles on my UT3s in two months, and I don’t recall a time when my feet cried uncle before the rest of my body did. (And it’s not that my feet are suddenly less tender; I’ve hiked in other shoes and boots during this time and have experienced soreness.) Even with 28 pounds or so on my back, no soreness, bringing me to my second favorite thing about the UT3 …
• Good for backpacking. I’ve done a couple of backpack trips in the UT3s and have been surprised by how they’ve handled the load. I’m neither an ultra-lighter nor someone who brings multiple changes of clothes depending upon my mood: again, my full pack weight is typically 26, 28 pounds. The shoes … well, to quote the Salewa web site, “The sole and midsole work together with Motion Guidance technology to support natural movement and ensure stability over any terrain.” Not exactly sure what that means from a tech standpoint, but it does handle the load and does so with another thing I love about the shoe…
• Stability and grip. Again, I’m not good with interpreting the UT3’s specs, but the shoe’s innards to a good job of providing stability, and the soul has a grip you wouldn’t assume by looking at it. On the morning I’m writing this, my buddy Will and I took an early morning along the Eno River. We came to an unbridged drainage that had steep and muddy banks; I made judicious use of my trekking poles for balance, but the shoes did a much-appreciated job of grabbing onto the slippery slope. Likewise, this past weekend hiking in the Wilson Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest, an area with lots of rock and water, I was further challenged by intermittent rain. The soles — again, with more than 300 miles on them — were faultless on rain-slicked rock and mud. 

The Altra Lone Peak is generally considered the top lightweight hiking shoe, especially by thru-hikers (the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, et al). I’ve had three pairs of Lone Peaks and can see why. With the Salewa Ultra Train 3 you get many of the Lone Peak’s attributes, but in a shoe that’s more stable and, based on my experience, more durable. An especially good shoe choice as we head into prime hiking season and you start logging more miles.

Learn more about the Salewa Ultra Train 3 here.

Warm weather socks

We’re coming up on our first 80-degree hiking days of the season — and the beginning of the mysterious “sweaty foot season.” Why, we wonder, are our feet suddenly hot and sweaty during a hike? I mean, I haven’t changed a thing, and yet … . And yet that’s the problem — you need to change a thing, that thing being your socks. Those wool socks you’ve been sporting all winter, the ones that have kept your feet nice and toasty? They may be too much for warm weather hiking. Most hiking sock makers make socks for a variety of conditions; often, you can tell their suitability for warm weather hiking based on their cushioning. Socks with medium and heavy cushioning will make your feet sweat; switch to a lightly cushioned sock and to either an ankle-length or crew sock: come summer, cool feet are happy feet. For more on what makes a good summer hiking sock, check out this post from BestHiking.net, which also makes five sock recommendations.

Farm to Feet No Fly Zone socks

As soon as it warms up, which it finally is, hikers want to know: What about ticks? Well, they’re out there. And we advocate fending them off starting from the ground up. As in, with Farm to Feet’s No Fly Zone hiking socks treated with permethrin. Permethrin wards off common biting insects such as mosquitoes, flies, chiggers, midges, ants and, yes, even ticks. Plus, Farm to Feet socks are not only made in the USA, the company is based in Mount Airy! And, the socks are 100 percent merino wool. Check ‘em out here.

Convertible pants

We’re in that time of year when it can be cold when we start down the trail, hot by the time we return (or vice versa). That makes it an ideal time for convertible pants, a k a zip-offs. Pants that can go both ways: in the early morning chill, they’re pants, providing full-leg protection and warmth. Then, when things start to heat up, you zip off the legs and — viola! — shorts! We won’t recommend a specific make or brand, but we do suggest that you get the kind with a side zipper up the side of the calf, making for speedy ons and offs without having to take off your boots. Also, make sure they’re made of a quick-drying material. If you need a little direction in selecting a pair, check out SectionHiker.com‘s list of “10 Best Hiking Pants,” which includes four convertibles (including the best bargain of the bunch, the Columbia Silver Ridge Convertible).

The post Wednesday Wisdom: A great summer hiker (and the socks to wear with them) appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

This week’s focus: gear.

It’s funny the pieces of gear that can excite us most. One day it’s a new pack, the next it’s a Ziplock bag. Today, we focus on the Ziplock end of the spectrum.

See the light: Black Diamond Moji Lantern

Winter backpacking brings with it many delights: mountaintop views afforded by a naked canopy, fewer hikers on the trail and better campsite options, among others. It also brings long nights: it’s not uncommon to spend 12 to 14 hours huddled in your tent waiting out the cold and dark. That’s why in winter it’s especially important to have a good light source that makes your tent feel homier and even a bit warmer. And that’s why we’ll be picking up a Black Diamond Moji lantern for our trip this weekend on the Appalachian Trail. The Moji is simple, lightweight (4.37 ounces), beams out 100 lumens and has a dimmer function. And, it’s one of the least expensive backpack lantern options, retailing for $19.95. Learn more here.

How cold? Best backpacking thermometers

It’s an odd thing to be obsessed over just how cold it gets on a trip, but it’s an odd thing that just about all of us are obsessed by. Last weekend on the Appalachian Trail north of Asheville we were especially curious about Friday’s overnight low. The forecast was for 19 degrees, but at an elevation 2,000 feet below ours. We speculated it might get as low as 17. Then, Saturday we ran into a couple of thru-hikers who said it was 13 at their camp, which was about 1,000 vertical feet below ours. It’s all about bragging rights, I reckon. Anyway, next time we head out we plan to have an accurate take on the temperature using one of five thermometers recently tested by AmericanStateParks.org. The candidates range from a $6.49 keychain thermometer to a $29.88 digital readout. Their top choice: the BTMeter Anemometer BT-100 . Read the review here.

Dry bag alternative: Freezer Ziplocs

You do so look forward to lunch on a long day hike. Even if it’s simply a robust PBJ, brimming with chunky Skippy and oozing with strawberry Smucker’s, it’s a key component to a successful hike. Now imagine your chagrin upon opening your pack come noon and discovering the flimsy plastic sandwich bag you’ve entrusted with your tasty repast didn’t withstand the impact of that tumble you took: your PBJ has exploded beyond recognition and now covers the inside of your pack. Tsk.

That likely wouldn’t be the case had you used a gallon Ziploc Freezer Bag. And yes, Ziploc, because that is the choice of the Appalachian Mountain Club, which notes in a blog: “They’re thicker than your average sandwich bag, which averages 1.5 mil in thickness (a mil is 1/1000th of an inch). Most freezer bags are at least 2 mil; Ziploc brand freezer bags are some of the thickest at 2.7 mil.” Further, notes the AMC: “What’s more, a thickness of 2 mil or more allows manufacturers to produce the closure strip at the same time the bag is produced. On thinner sandwich bags, the closure strip has to be laminated on (and can potentially peel off with repeated use).” (Read the blog for more insight here.)

What’s more, if you crave something hot for lunch, you can fill a bag with soup mix, ramen, whatever and add boiling water! The bag will hold and you can dine straight from it. 

Ziploc Freezer Bags also relatively inexpensive: you can get a 28-pack for less than $5.

Finally, a beef with wasteful obsolescence 

On a scouting hike in the coastal plain in February I went to mark a waypoint on my GPS and discovered that the soft rubber button — called a Rock ’n’ Roller — used to navigate between screens had popped off. I retraced my steps for a quarter mile, to no avail. No biggie, I thought, I’ll just get a replacement part.

Not exactly. The missing part was on a Garmin Colorado 300, which Garmin replaced more than a decade ago with the Oregon, Garmin’s first touch-screen GPS. When I Googled a replacement part, I was taken first to a website with all sorts of electronic replacement parts. Alas, not this one: they had done exhausted their supply. I went to another site that wanted a dollar to tell me whether they had the part; I passed. As a last resort, I went to Garmin’s customer support. This is always my last resort, as I’ve never had a productive (or civil, really) interaction with Garmin. We don’t have that part anymore, I was curtly told by the chatbot.

It’s not that I’m miffed that I need to buy a new unit for at least $400 (though I am). It’s more that the device is perfectly functional, save for this one silly part. I thought of the growing number of outdoor gear and equipment makers, lead by Patagonia, who encourage you to use their gear until there’s no gear left to use. Not, apparently, the case with Garmin. 

Before I succumb to a new GPS, I will search a bit more. The part on the site that no longer had it in stock, was less than $30; it’s worth a bit more sleuthing.

In the meantime, if you have a spare Rock ’n’ Roller (it goes where the blue hole is in the photo) that fits a Garmin Colorado 300, give me a yell. Let’s talk.

* * *

GetHiking! enewsletter

Find tips, gear recommendations, our hikes and trips and more in our weekly GetHiking! enewsletter. Sign up here.

The post Wednesday Wisdom on Gear: Ziplocks, lanterns, thermometers … and a beef appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Aha! as in, “Aha, I need to grab another layer or two!”

As Aha! moments go, it’s one of our favorites. We love hiking late-fall-into-winter: the air is typically dry, the diminished foliage lets you see deeper into the woods, the increasingly angled winter sunlight seems to lite the forest from the ground up.

And yes, it’s cold. And we suspect some of you may shy away from hiking in the cold. But you shouldn’t give up an outing in the woods just because there’s a nip in the air. There are ways to work with the cold so you can enjoy some of the aforementioned attributes of cold weather hiking. Here are some of our favorite ways to cope with the cold.

Start smart. The big mistake most folks make at the start of a hike is that they’re overdressed. Bundle up before the hike, sure. But when the hike leader indicates you’re about to head out (as he/she should), shed a layer. You might be cool for a minute or two, but you’ll warm quickly.

Keep close tabs on your personal thermostat. An easy and efficient way to regulate body heat is with hat and gloves. Your head and hands and are two of your easiest heat vents to regulate. Start your hike with a wool cap and gloves to keep heat from escaping. Once you warm up, shed one or the other. Give it a few minutes to see what effect the change is having. Getting a chill, put it back on.

Pack smart. If you’re undecided between a lighter fleece and heavier fleece, pack both. And pack more snacks than you might in warmer weather; you burn more calories in the cold.

Layer up at breaks. When you stop for a snack, grab a layer before you grab your gorp. You’ll want to retain the heat you’ve built up hiking, and this will do it.

Hike in the sun. On an especially cold day you can up your odds of staying warm by choosing a trail that lets in a bit more light. That can mean picking a trail that you know has more hardwoods, which have shed their umbrella of leaves for winter, rather than hiking under evergreen pines. That can mean looking for trails that are double-track, which are wider and thus have a wider opening in the canopy, rather than narrower single-track. A couple ways to distinguish between the two on a map: a wider double-track may be marked with parallel dashed lines, and trails marked as “multiuse,” especially if they allow horses, are more likely double-track.

Hike in the sun II. Pick a trail with a southern exposure. You’ll need to know how to read a topo map to pick a south-facing trail. 

Hike early. You’ll want to take advantage of the sun as much as possible. So start early, when the trail is still be in shadows, and finish while the sun is at its brightest, rather than finishing as the sun is setting, the air is cooling and, if you’ve mismanaged your layering, you may have worked up a little sweat.

Hike early II. Remember that the sun sets early this time of year. Today, for example, official sunset in Raleigh is 5:14 p.m., with diminishing light remaining for another half hour. Note that with the winter sun lower in the southern sky, you will lose light hiking the north side of a mountain even earlier. The temperature can drop like a rock once the sun sets.

More about layering. Add layers to get warm, then, at the first hint of sweat, strip down to cool down. We actually have a whole post on layering, which you can check out here. 

We’ll have a warm day or two, certainly, over the next four months. But for the most part, we’ll be hiking in the cold. 

Enjoy!

Hike with us!

As always, keep an eye on our GetHiking! Meetup sites for information on our regular day hikes throughout the late fall and winter; find the GetHiking! group nearest you, here.

Plus, here are two of our upcoming programs restricted to winter for reasons that will become obvious.

GetHiking! Tuesday Night Hikes. At least once a month from November into early March, we’ll hike into the night on a different trail. The hikes will be about 3 to 4 miles long and will be followed by hot chocolate! Winter tie: Hiking in the dark, for many of us, is the only way to get in a midweek hike! Learn more and sign up here. 

GetHiking! Winter Wild: Discover New Adventures Where You Most Love to Hike. As we mentioned above, one of the things we love about winter in the woods is the reduced understory, which offers views deeper into the woods. It also lets you hike deeper into the woods. That’s the premise of this monthly hike series that begins later this month and continues into March. Learn more and sign up here.

The post Warm up to cold weather hiking with these strategies appeared first on GetGoing NC!.