My skin is very light and I dread the prospect of slathering on sunscreen and the amount I'd have to carry into the backcountry would weigh more than all my other toiletries combined. So the search for the perfect sun hoodie was an important quest for my backpacking and hiking kit. You won't believe how many sun hoodies I've tried this spring to get just the right one for hiking the JMT/Nüümü Poyo this summer! My initial requirements for the perfect sun hoodie included the following: •...

Outside my Big 3, which are the basics of a tent, backpack, sleeping system (bag & pad), my next heaviest collection of gear is my medical stuff—fridge, solar panel, and back-up battery. When I told my hiking buddies last summer that I was bringing my fridge for medication they all say they assumed it would look like a fridge and couldn't imagine how I would carry it, lugging a big box up the hills in the backcountry. See the fridge? It looks like a metal water bottle bottle inside that...

I've been planning to backpack the John Muir Trail, also known in Paiute as Nüümü Poyo or the "People's Trail," for three years now. But it's been elusive each time. And this year is no exception...I'm now planning for next summer! What's different this time is that it isn't my body that is not cooperating. Instead, it's my husband's. A really bad sprain and ligament tear is putting our plans on hold for this summer. Last year it was my stress fracture and the year before it was my hip...