Backpacking Light Magazine Podcasts: Recent Episodes
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Erin and Hig's mothers weigh in with childhood anecdotes that give us a glimpse of young explorers in the making.
Erin and Hig discuss their minimal first aid kit and strategies for staying alive and well throughout a year of wilderness trekking.
Carol Crooker chats with Erin and Hig about their favorite spots to visit along the Pacific coast no matter what the season.
Carol Crooker puts Erin and Hig through Backpacking LIght Magazine's own version of the Newlywed Game. Secrets and insights abound.
Ron Craighead interviews Montana artist Monte Dolack on growing up in the Big Sky State and on the Backpacking Light-commissioned fine art poster print, "Light in the Wild."
NOLS Rocky Mountain discusses the process and progress of the 40-Pound Initiative, a branch effort to reduce student pack weights to 40 pounds or less for all Wind River courses.
Carol Crooker exposes the insanity of Bretwood Higman and Erin McKittrick. Three pounds of shared sleeping quilt for minus 30 degree weather?!
John Coffer is out of step with modern life – and that’s just the way he likes it. Carol Crooker talks with John about his journey to contentment.
John Coffer declared his independence from conventional choices when he was 26. Three decades later he lives in a self-built cabin without AC electricity or indoor plumbing, yet has visitors from around the world. A New York art gallery has the tintype photographs he is famous for on display. He is content. Lightweight backpackers are accustomed to making unconventional gear choices. John's story may inspire you to unstick your life by making choices you didn't realize you had.
Roman Dial makes history by securing the first permit for a packraft/backpack trip in the Grand Canyon and on the Colorado River.
Ron Craighead explores the emotive value of wilderness with author, adventurer, and magazine editor Cameron McNeish of Scotland.
Carol Crooker talks with veteran packrafter Elaine Mayer about the joys of packrafting. Packraft can more than hold their own in group trips that include more traditional boats.
Ken Knight concludes his interview with Erin and Hig as they spend a few days in Valdez, Alaska. Delving further into the longboat, gear repair, keeping feet healthy, and what they expect next, are the main topics of discussion.
The Primus Eta Express integrated canister stove seen at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2008.
Part 1 of 2. Erin and Hig discuss their travels from Cordova to Valdz. Topics include: making hot gravel beds with fire, use the the packrafts as a longboat, how they capture some of the splendid video and photo imagery it has been our pleasure to view, and much more.
On January 22, 2008, Backpacking Light staff left the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market Backcountry Basecamp in Snowbasin, to explore the Utah backcountry and compare three approaches to backcountry ski touring that might be considered by winter backpackers interested in mountain travel.
After a full day at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2008 Bacountry Magazine stgaff dicsuss some of the trends surrounding snowshoes and similar gear.
The last part of the series. Carol talks with Senior Backpacking Light Editor Don Wilson about his expereinces during this course.
Erin and Hig finally reach Cordova, Alaska and recount some of the adventures that brought them the rest of the way from Icy Bay.
Erin and Hig hole up at Icy Bay Lodge around Thanksgiving having braved storms, ice, and wonderful scenery as they work their way along Alaska's Outer Coast.
Carol Crooker talks with course participants Jim Bailey and Kevin Sawchuck about cooking navigation, group dynamics, and more.
Carol Crooker talks with WT3 course participant Mike Clelland. Mike shares some insights into group travel and how it can differ from solo trips.
Carol Crooker talks with WT3 lead instructor about Backpacking Lights Wilderness Trekking School program.
What do Erin and Hig eat on this journey and how do they cook it. How do they handle resupply when town are often quite small and quite far apart. Carol Crooker finds out.
After seven months and 6,875 miles Andrew Skurka has completed the Great Western Loop hike. Ken Knight talks with Andy about the highs and lows, notable gear, remarkable events, and much more.
Carol Crooker chats with Justin Lichter (trailname, Trauma) about his recent adventure swimming around Lake Tahoe, a 72-mile week-long trip, without a wetsuit or even brightly colored swim cap.
How has the wilderness changed throughout the trip, how does the country Erin and Hig are passing through affect the people who live in it, how does it affect people far away? These are just some things they talk about with Carol Crooker.
Ken Knight concludes his interview with Robert Hausam about the TGO Challenge. The focus shifts to the gear Robert used including Nano tarp and bivy, Cocoon clothing and quilt, and a Bushbuddy Ultra wood stove.
Ken Knight talks with Robert Hausam about his epxeriences during his first coast-to-coast hike of Scotland during the annual TGO Challenge.
Carol Crooker talks with Francis Tapon, whose is now on the back-half of his Continental Divide Trail yo-yo hike, about the trip and the ultralight gear he has used throughout.
Carol Crooker talks with Justin Lichter, a.k.a. Trauma, about his next big trip. Simply backpacking isn't quite enough anymore; he's adding long-distance swimming to his human powered trips.
Join Carol Crooker and several others on a day hike before the chaos of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007 sets in.
Manufacturers and retailers are not the only ones who attend the Outdoor Retailer Summer and Winter Market events. Advocacy groups come too. Ken Knight learns what a handful of these groups hope to achieve by attending; their goals and missions.
Carol Crooker catches up with Erin and Hig in Bella Bella, British Columbia. They discuss the nature of risk, the place of people in the world, and how to best get along and have some fun along the way.
Adults are not the only ones who travel in the backcountry. Many children venture out too. Children have different needs than adults and the gear they carry has to take this into account. More companies are designing gear for kids. Carol Crooker visits several working in this burgoning market.
Backpackinglight staff chat about their impressions, favorite and fun items at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007.
Carol Crooker talks with Bob Molen about the status of Big Sky Products' tents and customer service.
Carol Crooker talks with Erin and Hig about packrafting and how their journey along the wild coast has gone so far.
Tips and strategies from the wives of three back country explorers on managing front country adventures while temporarily flying solo.
Ken Knight talks with Brian Frankle and Karen Skurka about trip planning and support team logistics.
Matt Hage and Agnes Stowe have returned from their climb of Denali, a.k.a. Mt. McKinley, in Alaska. They went ultralight and Carol Crooker talks with them about their gear and what they learned.
Carol Crooker talks with Erin McKittrick and Bretwood (Hig) Higman about their upcoming 4000 miles journey along the Pacific Coast from Seattle to the tip of the Aleutian Islands chain.
Andrew Skurka discusses his philosophy about backpacking as well as the connections between the wilderness and the rest of the country with Ryan Jordan.
Carol Crooker interviews Matt Hage about his temas attempt to summit Mt. Denali never carrying more than 30 pounds of gear.
Ryan Jordan continues his interview with Andrew Skurka about the gear he will use throughout his Great Western Loop Hike.
Andrew Skurka is at it again: 6,875 miles of backpacking through the American West. Ryan Jordan learns what his overall plans are.
Ken Knight, Mike Clelland!, Carol Crooker, and Glen Van Peski discuss the limits, both perceived and real, of ultralight backpacking.
Carol Crooker interviews senior NOLS instructors, who discuss the major hurdles to NOLS' going light, and propose solutions to many of the dilemmas facing NOLS in the context of going light today.
Backpacking Light's Ken Knight, Ryan Jordan, Will Rietveld, Steve Nelson, and Mike Martin discuss winter backpacking strategies and gear. With a variety of contexts, from subzero cold in Montana to the relatively mild Sierras, and places in between (including the Great Lakes region, North Idaho, and Colorado), you'll find an interesting mix of discussions about everything from shelters to clothing to sleep systems.
Carol Crooker talks with Andrew Skurka after he survives a 400-mile ultralight backpacking trip through northern Minnesota in the dead of winter.
An audio interview with Ryan Jordan about Bozeman Mountain Works' philosophy, design, and production, from ORWM 2007.
Carol Crooker interviews Doug Clark, VP of Timberland's Invention Factory, about the conception and performance of the very strange looking soles on the new GoLite footwear line - they call it the "metamorphic" suspension system.
Carol Crooker interviews Demetri Coupounas of GoLite about factors that change designs between concept and production.
Carol Crooker interviews Wayne Edy, founder of Inov8, about design considerations for women's footwear, from Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2007.
Carol Crooker interviews Andrew Skurka at a resupply point along his 400-mile winter thru-hike in Northern Minnesota. Part 1 of 2 - stay tuned for Part 2 next week, when we decompress with Andy and analyze what worked - and what didn't - following the end of his adventure.
Carol Crooker interviews Glen Van Peski, founder of Gossamer Gear, about trekking on the Pacific Crest Trail while carrying less than three pounds of gear.
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2006 (August 12) dispatch on the topic of integrated canister stove systems, featuring news from MSR, Primus, and Jetboil, comparisons of each system, and their applicability for lightweight backpacking.