I doubt anything else about camping has changed so much as sleeping. When I was a lad I always just slept on the bare ground. As a bit of a sissy, my only concession to comfort was to dig the traditional hip hole (which was derided by tougher-minded types) then maybe lean my head on […]
I know I have promised the pattern and instructions (or even production and sale) of this for years following my original post about it in The Deerhunter’s Tent way back on May 12, 2016. I also realise heaps of people have made (its progenitor) their own Tyvek Solo Fire Shelter using the pattern and instructions
Today marks my 1600th post here at The Ultralight Hiker. Quite a milestone. And time maybe to recall the last hundred or so – or roughly the last year. A year ago in February (2022) I finally ‘bit the bullet’ and had that pesky worn old left knee replaced with a shiny new titanium one.
People need to be more widely dispersed in the back country, the very opposite of the (Nuts to) Leave No Trace folk, who have got it all wrong. I know you may not want to hear this, but please read on. Just camping alone with my dog, Spot in the trackless Victorian Alpine wilderness (2021).
Undaunted by our (unsuccessful) fiftieth anniversary foray on the Dusky, a couple of days later we decided to give the Kepler Heli-Hike a try. It involves a (claimed) 3 1/2 hour walk down from the Luxmore Hut to Brod Bay on the Western shore of Lake Te Anau (pretty accurate – for us anyway –
I will let Della begin (from her Facebook post about it): “First of our Fiordland adventures: (More to come later). We spent 3 magical days on the Dusky Track. On the first day we crossed Lake Hauroko in a water taxi and spent the night with the Hauroko Hut all to ourselves: Not everyone’s notion
I have been a fan of Joe Valesko’s Zpacks for nearly twenty years – back when he was just a lad sewing all the packs himself. We have kept in touch. I have tried many of his products as they became available and generally promoted them. I doubt there has been any single person who
Before heading right off into the backcountry it’s best to test your gear and your skills somewhere much closer to home where you can walk away from your mistakes a little more easily. Sometimes these mistakes can be pretty bad, so it will pay to Be Prepared. My new Deerhunter’s Tent undergoing testing right now
I know lots of you have seen this photo before as I have used it as a signature image for some time. Unsurprisingly a number have asked, ‘There must be a story behind that stag, Steve. Tell us about it’. Well, here goes…You can no doubt tell by how much I have aged that it
A sequel to an earlier post, Gully Walking I have always liked Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ even though I realised long ago how much he/it owed to my even more favourite poet, Edward Thomas who was also a close friend of his until his death in WW1. However I too, early in
