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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Best food for a 15-day trekking expedition

  • Breakfast. Pretty easy. These days I just tend to take some Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain bars, dried apricots, and a whole bunch of Starbucks Via instant coffee. Starbucks Via ranks alongside Vibram soles, closed-cell foam pads, Gore-Tex, and the internal-frame pack as one of the Greatest. Backpacking. Things. Ever.
  • Lunch. Really hard. I mean, what can you pack for lunch on a long trip? On trips up to four or five days I take bagels, peanut butter, salami, or canned tuna (the small cans). My friend Jake takes pita bread. Maybe try dried fruit.
  • Dinner. Pretty easy. I often take dried soups like those from Nile Spice, empty them from their cardboard container, and store in zipper-top plastic bags. Freeze-dried dinners work because they’re light. None are that good, but I’ve found that Italian-themed dinners like Mountain House’s Lasagna with Meat Sauce for Two ($6.50) are at least decent. That’s two servings, though. Not two full meals.

Monday, June 20, 2011

The BestTravel Pants

Yes and no. There are several decent pants out there that do a pretty good job of taking you from a pilgrimage to the café to the gallery. They also all sort of scream "I am a tourist!!!" That's because they're what tourists wear. Sort of like Americans and baseball caps.
A good example is the Arc'Teryx Palisade Pants ($129). Similar to Arc'Tery'x higher-end soft shell trekking/climbing pants, the Palisades have a nicely low-key look, coupled with a little bit of stretch in the fabric, and a gusseted crotch. They wear well, shed dirt, dry quickly.
Another good all-around travel pant is the Ex Officio Nomad ($65). Not quite as technical as the Arc'Teryx pants—they don't have the Palisade's flat-profile pocket zippers—but they have durable nylon fabric that can take quite a bit of abuse and still look decent. The two color choices (light khaki or cigar—sort of coffee) go well with nearly any shirt and sweater.

best boots for a long hike

Is it possible to find a comfortable boot for a trip like this?

The boots you have now clearly don’t fit, so pretty much anything will be an upgrade. Still, you're asking a lot for one pair of boots.

The desert part is the most difficult. You'll want boots that are fairly light, breath well, and won’t cook your feet. In the desert, water protection isn’t an issue, but for the East Coast and other areas, getting a waterproof boot is key.

One boot that might work is the Scarpa Kailash ($190). I say that because I just wore a pair for four days of backcountry travel in the Grand Canyon, which is as much of a desert as the Mojave. On a hot day—we had some temps around 90—they were a bit warm, but not bad. Very comfortable. I also wear them up here in the Pacific Northwest, so that’s a testament to their versatility. The Kailash is a mid-weight boot, ideal for tough day hikes or multi-day trips with moderate loads. They got a suede and fabric upper, Gore-Tex booties, and a nylon shank.

Best lightweight two-person tents

Oh, there are a zillion tents out there. It’s largely a matter of what style you like, and maybe even what the tent looks like.

The Big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL2 ($279) is typical of what should work for you. It’s a well-made, four-pound tent that accommodates two people. The upper section of the canopy is mesh for good ventilation, and it has a full-coverage fly for ample weather protection. It also has twin doors and twin vestibules, which means you can store shoes or boots in one vestibule and leave the other clear. Setup is relatively easy; the five poles join together to create the tent’s exoskeleton and the canopy clips onto the poles.

The Sierra Designs Meteor Light 2 ($290) is a classic tent. It’s heavier than the Jack Rabbit, at about six pounds, but it's also sturdier and larger. It has two doors and two vestibules. Setup is easy with three poles.

There's also the Marmot Limelight 2 ($199), which comes in at five pounds and has a single side door—fine for one person. It has a very simple two-pole setup.

A really good value is REI’s Half Dome 2 ($179), a spacious and light tent at about five pounds. It's well ventilated, sets up easy, and also has two doors. Plus you get light, strong DAC poles that are usually found in pricier tents.

Timex Global Trainer GPS Watch


It has an absolutely huge face, but Timex's Global Trainer GPS Watch makes checking your vitals (speed, distance, heart rate, elevation, and more) a snap, and it's lighter and less unwieldy than it looks.

If you're a multi-sport athlete, it's nice to have a device that you can use for running, cycling, and swimming, and that describes the Timex Ironman Global Trainer. The Global Trainer's multi-pane display may be configured to show the performance stats that are important to you, and you can select and set up an array of training zone alarms for distance, speed, and heart rate. Serious triathletes or cyclists who have bike power meters will find the Global Trainer to be compatible with a range of ANT+ capable power meters.

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