Backpacking

Backpacking Along Colorado’s Highway 285 Corridor

by Andy Amick

In early October, I took two separate backpacking trips, with both of the trails being accessed from Highway 285 as it headed west from Denver towards Buena Vista. Even though trails were within an hour of each other, the terrain and scenery was quite varied. The reason for ending up along Highway 285 was simply […]

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The Magic Of The Woods

by Andy Amick

In the last post on balancing being a dad and a dreamer, I discussed my conundrum of spending time outdoors with my boys as wells as having my own personal athletic ambitions. Soon after that post, I took my boys out for two nights of backpacking. Clarity came. The conundrum was gone. Getting outside often […]

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Finding A Sleeping Pad For Side Sleepers

by Andy Amick

I’m a side sleeper.  One who prefers to curl my legs way up into an almost fetal position when I’m sleeping. The other night while testing out my Tour Divide sleep setup, I woke up several times with pain in my bottom knee when sleeping on my side.  It occurred when sleeping on either side […]

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The Ultimate HIker’s Gear Guide By Andrew Skurka

by Andy Amick

Although long distance hiker Andrew Skurka‘s book is titled as a gear guide, it offers some good background information on his style of hiking and how he decides on what gear to carry for each trip.  I found the information on planning for a trip and the sample gear lists to be the best parts […]

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6 Lightweight Shelter Options

by Andy Amick

After detailing my own shelter system, I thought I would list a few other options for bikepackers or backpackers looking into lightweight shelters.  There are A LOT of options, and a full list of all gear shelters would go on for pages.  This post details 6 shelters which have different designs and materials.  Some of […]

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Why Buy Cottage Gear

by Andy Amick

As someone who grew up in a small business family and now runs a cottage gear company, I guess I have a slightly deeper desire to buy and use cottage gear when possible.  But what drives other people to buy gear from a cottage company rather than a large mainstream gear company? This post digs […]

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Cottage Gear Defined

by Andy Amick

When you get into the world of lightweight or ultralight camping gear, a large majority of that gear is made by very small companies.  A lot of these companies are even single person operations with gear made in their basement or garage.  The term “cottage” gear maker is given to these sorts of companies. Obviously, […]

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Dreaming Of Multi-Day Trips With Kids

by Andy Amick

Hopefully, you’ve already made you plans and reservations for this summer’s trips.  If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Over dinner the other night, my kids and I started talking about trips and places we would like to explore.  Yes, these are the dinner conversations we have, especially when my wife is out of […]

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Simple Lightweight Gear Repair Kit

by Andy Amick

Recently, I updated the items I carry for gear repair on bikepacking trips.  All items are now packed in a single ALOKSAK bag making my gear repair kit more organized and waterproof.  The idea for this came from Stick’s Blog and his post on his updated ditty bag which comes in at a very light […]

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Happy Friday – Not So Marathon Edition

by Andy Amick

Happy Friday!  Tomorrow I’ll be running in the Rock n Roll Denver half marathon.  It was supposed to be a full marathon for me, but I missed a couple months training so I cut it back to the half.  Initially, it was very frustrating, but by accepting the setback, I was able to do more […]

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