Jump to content


TrailGroove Blog

  • entries
    267
  • comments
    633
  • views
    289,504

Contributors to this blog

  • Aaron Zagrodnick 178
  • Mark Wetherington 41
  • Susan Dragoo 7
  • HikerBox 5
  • Steve Ancik 5
  • George Graybill 4
  • JimR 3
  • michaelswanbeck 2
  • MattS 2
  • Kevin DeVries 2
  • Jen 2
  • Adel 1
  • PaulMags 1
  • Karen Garmire 1
  • Rob Newton 1
  • tmountainnut 1
  • Grace Bowie 1
  • mgraw 1
  • Allison Johnson 1
  • Doug Emory 1
  • HappyHour 1
  • SarahLynne 1
  • Barbara 1
  • jansenjournals 1
  • Tephanie H. 1
  • Steven Genise 1
  • Eric 1
  • Greg Jansky 1
  • Isak Kvam 1

Gear | Trips | Food | Technique | Reading

Entries in this blog

Ultralight Winter Travel Book Review

Even among the most avid and enthusiastic three-season backpackers, winter backpacking is an intimidating prospect. The long and cold nights, the high consequences of mistakes, and the challenges of travel in snowy terrain – not to mention the specialized equipment often needed – dissuade many people from heading out on overnight trips during the colder months. While winter conditions certainly make backpacking more difficult in several regards, winter also has unique rewards born of its frigid

Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Reading

Backpacking and Hiking Songs: 11 Favorite Classics

Whether you’re driving across the country to finally hike that classic mountain range that’s been on your mind for years or simply on the way to your local trailhead, perhaps nothing can get you ready for the hike like the perfect song or hiking playlist. And hey, there’s nothing else to really do in the car anyway. On the flipside, it could be argued that nothing is more annoying than getting the latest pop song – that you happened to hear on the radio right before locking the car – stuck in yo

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

Trail Tested by Justin Lichter

Over a decade ago now, Justin Lichter (also known by his trail name Trauma) released a collection of insights, tips, and stories detailed across more than 200 pages in his book Trail Tested. If you haven’t heard of Justin yet, he’s quite famous in the long distance backpacking and hiking community – having hiked over 35,000 miles in his career. Not only has he completed the Triple Crown of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails – he’s done it twice. Throughout his tra

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

Book Review: I Hike by Lawton Grinter

A couple years ago I came across The Walkumentary, a film produced by Lawton Grinter (trail name Disco) detailing the southbound CDT thru-hike that he completed in 2006 along with his partner P.O.D. and a loose group of other hikers. The film really shows the viewer not only what it’s like to hike and to do so every day, but also what it’s like to do so along the CDT, where a thru-hike frequently involves longer, more remote stretches between resupply stops and staying “found” can at

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

Originally published in 1968, Desert Solitaire is a work of non-fiction describing Edward Abbey’s experiences during a season while working as a park ranger – at what was then called Arches National Monument in Utah, before the Park and before the paved roads. The book is an American classic and is likely already on many bookshelves of those who appreciate the natural world, and I read the book for the first time many years ago. It had been long enough to read again however, and as we chang

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

Wind River Trails by Finis Mitchell

I’ve dreamed about flyfishing for golden trout in the Wind River Range ever since I picked up a flyfishing magazine when I was about 13 years old that had a short article detailing a backcountry trip in pursuit of the elusive golden trout. Even at the time I was an avid fisherman, but what I read about in that article was the polar opposite of the type of fishing and the type of outdoor experience I was familiar with. While the magazine has long been misplaced, and internet searches to track dow

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

By Men or by the Earth: By Tyler Coulson

In the spring of 2011, and after leaving his life as a corporate lawyer, Tyler Coulson set off from the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware coastline to undertake a western journey across the United States with Mabel, his adopted dog and companion. Destination: Pacific Ocean. Method of travel: Foot. After 3500 miles and millions of footsteps, Tyler recounted the journey in By Men or by the Earth. Of course, there’s a deeper story to most long walks, and Tyler dives into not only the day to day exper

Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Reading

Book Review: The Carry Home by Gary Ferguson

In his beautiful and evocative memoir The Carry Home: Lessons from the American Wilderness, acclaimed travel writer Gary Ferguson breathes emotional and humane life into the Mountain West. After 25 years of marriage and as many seasons sharing a USFS ski patrol hut, Ferguson’s wife Jane passes away suddenly in a tragic canoeing accident in northern Ontario, dividing Ferguson from not only his partner and best friend, but from his identity in relation to her. In recognition of her last wishes, he

Steven Genise

Steven Genise in Reading

The Hidden Life of Trees Book Review

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben (Greystone Books, 2015) is an approachable book of bite-sized chapters explaining the mysteries of trees. Ever wondered if trees can talk to each other? How they know when to drop their leaves in the fall (and why)? That they can lower the blood pressure of hikers beneath them? Wohlleben answers all these questions – and brings up fascinating others – in this easily-digestible book that’s sure to make a tree-hugger

Isak Kvam

Isak Kvam in Reading

×
×
  • Create New...