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.

Featured resources

My Long-Distance Hiking & Paddling Gear

The gear I've come to rely on when I'm out for months at a time

Thru-Hiking GearBackpacking shelter, sleep system, clothing, cook kit, electronics, and trail essentials.Explore the hiking gear → Thru-Paddling GearBoat-based camping, safety, navigation, food, clothing, and expedition equipment.Explore the paddling gear →

MasoTaters Hiking / Paddling Guides

Guidebooks, maps & daily mileage
Michinoku Coastal Trail & Tokai Natural Trails In JapanHiking · August 24th to November 13th, 2026
GuideMapMileage Sheet
Yukon RiverPaddling · June 9th to August 7th, 2026
GuideMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Western Australia Bibbulmun Track, Cape to Cape YoYo, Larapinta TrailHiking · March 21st to May 19th, 2026
GuideMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Footram Trail AKA Foothills + BartramHiking · October 30th to November 15th, 2025
Coming soonMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Benton MacKaye TrailHiking · October 9th to 27th, 2025
Coming soonFarOut GuideDaily Mileage Sheet
Vermont Long TrailHiking · September 11th to October 5th, 2025
Coming soonMapDaily Mileage Sheet
American Discovery TrailHiking · March 27th, 2024 to November 30th, 2027
Coming soonComing soonDaily Mileage Sheet
San Diego Trans County TrailHiking · March 10th to 20th, 2022
Coming soonMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Continental Divide TrailHiking · June 28th, 2022 to December 11th, 2023
Coming soonMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Mississippi River Source-to-SeaPaddling · June 2nd to August 20th, 2023
Coming soonComing soonDaily Mileage Sheet
Condor TrailHiking · April 14th to May 15th, 2022
Coming soonMapDaily Mileage Sheet
Eastern Continental TrailHiking · December 29th, 2020 to October 26th, 2021
Coming soonComing soonDaily Mileage Sheet
Pacific Crest TrailHiking · May 4th to September 29th, 2020
Coming soonFarOut GuideDaily Mileage Sheet

Resources marked “Coming soon” will become active as they are published.

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