Category: Trail Knowledge / Gear / Product Reviews / General Interests
The Catchall Category.
Road to the AT: The Beginning
As far back as I can remember one of the things my father has always said is that he wants to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in his lifetime. Most of the time when I was growing up this was a “someday” muse. Something he…
Hiking into the Future: What comes next.
I’ve been on hiatus from blog posts since a work promotion took me from Indiana to Texas to launch a new Amazon building. The move was expensive and taxing and work has been so hectic that I’ve only been able to day hike twice…
Dehydrating Healthy Trail Food
One of the big struggles that you face when you’re out on the trail is balancing nutrition with the amount of calories that you need being as active as you are when you’re hiking. A lot of people turn to instant meals that are…
Closing out an Active Month
The Free Range Hikers have seen quite a few trails this month and a myriad of different weather conditions that coincide with your typical Midwest winter. We got out to see the natural cave formations on the Rock Shelter trail, muddy trails at Fort…
The Art of Winter Hiking
The winter months, after the holidays once the trees have come down the turkey has been consumed and the extended family has been tolerated to your near breaking point. It’s at this point that we find ourselves struggling to stay active or even motivated…
Tents Vs. Hammocks: The Great Debate
One of the subjects you’ll hear debated the most between hikers and backpackers is the preference between tent camping and hammock camping. This is probably something that you don’t think about a whole lot until you do some research, talk to someone who enjoys…
Product reviews
It’s been a fun week for the Free Rangers, if you consider 104 fevers, spinal taps, and lopsided Super Bowl victory after-parties fun. I’ll let Aaron explain more (HIPAA violations anyone?) at his leisure, but… I will say that the plan for this weekend,…
Esbit CS585HA 3-Piece Lightweight Camping Cook Set for Use with Solid Fuel Tablets (Esbit 1300 Degree Smokeless Solid Fuel Cubes for Backpacking, Camping and Hobby – 20 Pieces Each 4g) Included as add on through Amazon.com
I want to start this post off by saying that anytime you buy something that you intend to use on a hike, while camping, or anytime you are going to have to rely on the product whatsoever, you need to be sure to test…
Stepping back to me
When I was six, my family moved into a big white house on the edge of town, a mile north of the Wabash River. I was the younger of two boys, and we were lucky enough to have parents who settled into the neighborhood…
Getting ready for the AT
I spent an inordinate amount of time today getting ready to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT). I don’t know when I’m going to accomplish it, but I know that I will. How do I know that? Because I’m planning to do it now. Back…
Book resolution
I made a resolution today. Really, it was just a minute ago. I have a huge library of books. All kinds of topics, you’d be amazed. My resolution is that I’m going to read a book, then give it away. My town recently introduced…
Hey Fifty
Becoming an antique causes reflection – a sort of after action review (AAR) of the first half of one’s life. One of the big conclusions I arrived at (and this may reveal aspects of my character to you) is that I have failed to…
Aaron
Jim
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