Guides And Articles

Guides & Articles

Planning resources, gear that survived the trail, lessons learned, and deeper writeups from our long-distance hiking and paddling adventures.

Gear & Trail Life

Gear, food & field systems
My Favorite Thru Hiking Camp Shoe: The Walmart Special All Foam Flip FlopGear review How I Track My Hikes & Paddles Using Google SheetsPlanning & data What I Carry to Stay Charged Thru-HikingPower & electronics Matt & Jen's Favorite Thru Hiking Trail DinnerTrail food Gear I Used to Hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2020Complete gear list Pacific Crest Trail 2020 Gear Deep Dive: ElectronicsGear deep dive Guidebooks on the Go: Turning Print Guidebooks into Searchable PDFsField reference Surface Go Tablet/Laptop Hybrid for Travel BloggingGear review Pat's Backcountry Beverages Backpacking Beer ReviewImportant trail research Hiking Cameras: Olympus TG4 vs Sony TX30 vs Apple iPhone 7+Gear comparison
Older gear & technology articles
Garmin 650 Followup ReviewOlder technology Garmin Basecamp and the Curse of the Corrupted (-ish) .NET InstallOlder technology Garmin Oregon 650 Initial ThoughtsOlder technology Synching Garmin Basecamp Across Multiple Machines Using DropboxOlder technology

Mississippi Source to Sea

7 articles
Our Mississippi River Thru Paddle By The NumbersBy the numbers Why the Mississippi River Might Be the Best Long-Distance Trip in the U.S.Overview Two Ways to Finish: The Atchafalaya vs Main ChannelRoute comparison Canoe vs Kayak: What We Used and WhyBoat selection How We Got to and From the RiverTransportation & logistics Powering Our Paddle With a $250 Voltaic Solar BoxGear & power River Coordinates, GPX Tracks, & DistancesNavigation & data

American Discovery Trail

2 articles
My American Discovery Trail Thru Hike By The NumbersBy the numbers Planning Resources for Hiking the American Discovery TrailPlanning & navigation

Triple Crown Trails

PCT · CDT · ECT
Triple Crown of HikingCollection overview

Pacific Crest Trail

My Pacific Crest Trail 2020 Thru Hike By The NumbersBy the numbers Planning & Preparation for Hiking the Pacific Crest TrailPlanning Pandemic Crest TrailSeries introduction Southern California DesertRegional writeup Sierra NevadaRegional writeup Northern CaliforniaRegional writeup OregonRegional writeup WashingtonRegional writeup

The PCT gear list and electronics deep dive also appear under Gear & Trail Life above.

Continental Divide Trail

My Continental Divide Trail 2022–23 Thru HikeBy the numbers & retrospective

Eastern Continental Trail

Eastern Continental Trail 2021: Key West to Canada By The NumbersBy the numbers 302 Days and 5,000 Miles Later: Hiking Key West to CanadaTrip retrospective

Theodore Solomons Trail

Guide & complete trip
Matt's Guide to the Theodore Solomons TrailTrail guide Hiking the Theodore Solomons Trail North: Roads End to YosemiteTrip writeup Hiking the Theodore Solomons Trail South: Horseshoe Meadow to Roads EndTrip writeup

Miscellaneous Articles

Other useful writing
Living the Life of a Divemaster Trainee: Looking Back & Lessons LearnedDiving Living the Life of a Divemaster Trainee: Working the Similan Islands & Koh Bon Via LiveaboardDiving Living the Life of a Divemaster Trainee: Dive Guiding the Boonsung WreckDiving Living the Life of a Divemaster Trainee: A Typical Day Around the ShopDiving Living the Life of a Divemaster Trainee: Arrival & the First WeekDiving Why I Love the DesertEssay