Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is scary. Having your main chute fail? Even worse. Having the backup fail? Shit just got real. And that's just where Jared “CCT Peaches” Pietras, an Air Force Combat Controller, found himself during what was ...
Adventure
How One Woman Prepared to Race in the Iditarod
Gliding across the snow on a dogsled is a perception changer. Traveling by dog team opens up the wilderness. In a world filled with mechanical transport, allowing a team of Alaskan huskies to pull you across a frozen muskeg or through the taiga is a ...
How Generations of Loggers Have Kept the Petersen Ranch Sustainable
In a small, dead-end valley in Springfield, Oregon, on Camp Creek, three generations of the Petersen family still work the ranch they have owned since 1941. Over the decades, despite the majority of the land being devoted to a variety of things ...
3 of the Best Winter Snowshoe Adventures
Floating across the frozen backcountry on snowshoes is a unique way to see the wilderness. But finding a place to go out and enjoy the snow can be hard. A good summer hiking trail may not be a good snowshoe hike, but areas that are hard to access in ...
6 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever This Winter
This can be a hard time of year. The holidays are over, and we’re ready for spring — but it’s still winter. For many people that means not leaving the house, or the couch, until the middle of March. But let's face it, there are only so many shows you ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Snowshoeing
Blinded by the wind and stung by the cold, we set up our camp as the day grew dark around us. The two of us had snowshoed to Dogsled Pass, deep in the Talkeetna Mountains of south central Alaska. We hoped to explore nearby alpine valleys over the ...
3 of the Most Beautiful US Hikes for Viewing Fall Foliage
When the air turns crisp and the days get shorter, it’s time to put on an extra layer (or two) and prepare to take in one of nature’s most aesthetically pleasing seasonal changes — fall foliage. Fall is one of the best times to hike — it’s cool but ...
The Beer is 6.2% Alcohol, and 7 Other Things I Learned the Hard Way at Oktoberfest
For the majority of my life, Oktoberfest has been just another tradition — like Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day — that we Americans appropriated for the express purpose of drinking our freakin’ faces off. I didn’t know much about the festivities ...
Logging in Alaska: The Complex Battle Waged Over Tongass National Forest
From thick coastal forests to high alpine peaks and sprawling glaciers, Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest stretches over 16.7 million acres. If the Tongass were a state, it would be larger than West Virginia — but it’s also almost devoid of ...
The Basics of Layering Clothing for Fall Hikes
Outdoors clothing needs to meet the conditions a hiker will face. How hot or cold is the climate? How intense is the planned activity? Is rain or snow in the forecast? What about changes in elevation? Outdoors people are often told to “dress in ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Butcher
In the eyes of this butcher, the craft of cutting and selling meat is making a comeback, and he couldn’t be happier that its role in human history is being celebrated. “Butchering is the second oldest profession known to mankind,” said Paul ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Carpenter
On top of being a physically demanding job, carpentry is more of a visual process than most people realize. When you throw in the extreme weather often found in the northeast United States, it takes a special kind of person to excel in this line of ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Industrial Inspector
His service in the U.S. Marine Corps was key to this industrial inspector and entrepreneur’s career. Jay Locatelli was in a Marine Recon unit from 1998 to 2000, stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. He started his own industrial inspection ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Electrician
Dilan Call has been an electrician for 11 years, and currently works out of the Local 490 union in Concord, New Hampshire. While being an electrician isn’t always an easy job, Call sees it as a key component to the American economy, and he’s ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Firefighter
Even after a residential blaze gave him third-degree burns, firefighting was a lifestyle Arron Williams couldn't leave behind. He got hooked after going on a ride-along in high school, and now going into his seventh year with his local Fire ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Metal Fabricator
More than anything, metal fabrication is a profession that requires precision and care. Those who perform the job start with large pieces of metal, and then cut, weld, burn, machine, and form them into a final product. That product could be anything ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Welder
Welding is strenuous work, but creating something with your own hands is inherently satisfying. There are many different types of products that welders have a hand in creating. For welder Travis Kasperson, who creates agricultural implements such ...
Hard-Working Americans: The Blacksmith
The mix of art and craft keeps this blacksmith of 20 years going. Jonathan Rummel, owner/operator of Hand Forged Works in North Andover, Massachusetts, sees himself as both an artisan and a craftsman. “I think there’s a fine line between the ...
The Art and Craft of Picking the Perfect Campsite
Any hiker planning to spend a night outdoors needs to choose a good campsite. This may seem obvious to the experienced outdoorsman, but any pro knows that no one is above refreshing the basics. And let's face it, sometimes the options aren’t obvious. ...
3 Iconic Hikes in the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain range in North America. Webs of ridge lines and towering peaks wind through the western United States, and every hike finds a new way to impress travelers. From daunting technical ascents like Grand ...
4 of the Best Hikes in the Northeast
To many, the American Northeast can be summarized as the New York-Boston corridor — but there is so much more to see. From scenic coastlines to serious mountain ranges, there are many options for people who love the outdoors. Though this region has ...
4 of the Best Hikes in the Midwest
They don’t call them the flyover states for nothing — many simply see the Midwest as flat, uninspiring land between the mountain ranges. No doubt, it’s hard to compete with the spectacular scenery of the far western states. However, the vast swathes ...
5 of the Best Day Hikes in the Southeast
From the Louisiana swamps to the Virginia mountains, the American Southeast may lack the towering vistas that inspired people like John Muir and Ansel Adams, but Appalachia has tremendous charm and beauty. Thousands upon thousands of miles of ...
3 of the Best Hikes on the American West Coast
The vistas of the American West have inspired people from John Muir to Ansel Adams to venture into the wilderness. Stunning mountains, clear lakes, and rushing trout streams draw all brands of travelers who enjoy spending time outdoors. Stretching ...
A Victim of Violent Crime Is Now Training Hundreds of Women How to Shoot
Fourteen years before Rick Ecktor taught hundreds of people how to safely handle and shoot firearms as the head of Legally Armed in Detroit (LAID), he was the victim of a violent crime. Ecktor had just finished working in his detached garage. ...
Historic Hikes: 4 Must-Visit Trails for History Buffs
Almost any hiking area has some sort of history tied to it, but sometimes a historical connection makes a hike even more special. When we walk over old trails, we see what others saw and get a sense for their universe. History is never far from ...
Get Outside, Stay Outside: Stop the Bugs Coast-to-Coast
Whether you’re in the woods, on the trail, or camping in your backyard, summer insects are a fact of the outdoor life. They can range from mildly annoying to seriously dangerous, but with proper care, it’s relatively easy to reduce the risk. While a ...
5 Scenic Battlefields Every Hiker Should Visit
To hike on a battlefield is to hike through history. The artillery pieces used for bombardments are silent now, either used as decoration or removed entirely. In many places, in fact, the signs of the bygone conflict are hard to see. Hiking is a ...
Koh Tao, Thailand: An Island to Dive For
The heat hits me like a solid hand, buffeting my entire body as I open the door of the cabin, stepping out of the air-conditioned interior of the ferry and onto the deck. It’s hot enough to suck the air from my lungs. I start sweating almost ...
The Top 7 Thru-Hikes to Tackle in North America
Sometimes a day hike or a weekend backpacking trip isn’t enough. If you’re feeling the call of the wild — that urge to be outside and survive in the elements for an extended period of time — you’ll want to consider long trails meant for ...
