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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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  • Aaron Zagrodnick 239
  • Mark Wetherington 76
  • PaulMags 27
  • Susan Dragoo 26
  • Steve Ancik 17
  • tmountainnut 12
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  • HikerBox 6
  • Karen Garmire 6
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Gear | Trips | Food | Technique | Reading

Entries in this blog

Technique

Tips for Photographing Mushrooms: The Flowers of Fall

Mushrooms are the flowers of fall, and photographing them may look easy but it’s not. Here are a few helpful tips to use when photographing them. First, you’ll want to correctly identify the mushrooms you shoot, so pick up a good mushroom book to help with identification. My favorite book on fungi is Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora. I also recommend his mushroom field-pocket guide. When I photograph mushrooms, I often begin with a document photograph. This helps me identify the m
David Cobb

David Cobb in Technique

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Gear

2025 REI Reward / Dividend Release & Member Guide

The arrival of spring brings a lot of things for the outdoor enthusiast to get excited about, including longer days, warm temperatures, and melting snow for those of us in the north. However one additional perk that spring brings is the annual REI Member Reward (previously known as the REI Dividend) release. For REI members, this is the time of the year when REI Co-op members receive their rewards from REI purchases you made during the 2024 season. Gear-up with the help of REI Member
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Technique

Backpacking & Hiking with Dogs: A Getting Started Guide

Backpacking can be a challenging endeavor in itself – at times in our effort to get back to basics and simplify life by hitting the trail we find ourselves poring over gear checklists, rushing to make the trailhead at a decent hour, or planning trips that just push the mileage a bit too far. With all this in mind, adding another component to the equation might not be the best idea. But once you find your rhythm, adding man’s best friend can be a great addition to any trip – and there aren’t many
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Technique

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Trips

Hiking & Exploring The Great Plains: Overlooked Wildness

The Great American Desert. The flyover territory. Flat. Boring. Uninspiring. All names or descriptions given to an area of North America that is five-hundred miles wide and two-thousand miles long. This area is The Great Plains. The Great Plains are arguably the most American of all landscapes. What people over the world often conjure up when the American West is thought about. The wide open spaces, the vast landscape and the sky above. Seemingly limitless. Extending forever. The Grea
PaulMags

PaulMags in Trips

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Food

Quick & Easy 3 Day Backpacking Meal Plan (with Recipes)

It’s Wednesday, the weekend weather forecast looks good, and the boss just said you can have Friday off. Now all you need to do is pick your trail, grab your gear, and you’re in for the perfect long backcountry weekend. The only thing that’s standing between you and the trail is food. You know that good food can make or break a trip, and you’re determined to make this a good one. Ah, the food dilemma. You could drive to the nearest outfitter and stock up on three days of freeze-dried meals,
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire in Food

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Food

Build Your Own Trail Chili: Backpacking Dinner Recipe

Double down to beat the winter chill with a steaming bowl of hot chili. The beauty of this recipe is the ability to tailor it to suit a variety of diets and taste preferences. It’s naturally gluten free. Choose a non-meat protein option for a vegan or vegetarian variation. Tone down the spice by choosing poblano peppers or mild canned green chiles and omitting the jalapenos. Pour on the heat by using Anaheim peppers, extra jalapenos and a full two tablespoons of chili powder. Makes tw
Karen Garmire

Karen Garmire in Food

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Technique

Backpacking Luxury Items: 8 Lightweight & Favorite Items

Every backpacker should have a slightly miserable trek just once in their life. Nothing extreme – just one with a bit of good-old fashioned discomfort. Maybe a rock under a sleeping bag, or a slightly damp boot during a section of a hike – it’s during those moments of less than easy explorations that the true value of the little amenities becomes evident, and much more appreciated. The small bits taken for granted on daily basis are sincerely cherished on the trail. That being said, there is no
Claire Murdough

Claire Murdough in Technique

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Gear

Backpacking and Hiking Jargon: Micron (Water Treatment)

A unit of measurement equal to one-millionth of a meter, or a thousandth of a millimeter. You’ll almost certainly hear the term micron used in relation to backcountry water filtration methods. The standard micron size of most popular water filters is usually around .2 microns, but there are filters available with both smaller and larger pore sizes. What’s best? It depends. Most of the things you can actually see in a water source are quite large and will be caught by almost all filters, but
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Silnylon Fabric: Backpacking and Hiking Jargon

Often referred to simply as "sil". Nylon fabric impregnated with a silicone coating on each side. Fairly economical. Typically offered in a 30 denier (30D) fabric weight, with lighter options sometimes available. Often used in lightweight shelters, tarps, and backpacks due to its strength, light weight, and waterproofness. Non-breathable. Silnylon has been a popular backpacking fabric for many years, and although silpoly (sil-polyester) has gained traction in recent years, silnylon's
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Food

The Backpacking Food Cache: Versatile Recipe Ingredients

Grandma Magnanti was an amazing cook. The stereotype of Italian American Sunday dinners that lasted for hours was a reality during my childhood. A multi-course meal that started at noon and ended at about four was common. And the food itself? Often a modern “foodies” delight with now-gourmet dishes such as stuffed artichokes, dark and savory greens sautéed with olive oil and garlic, fried zucchini flowers, and a simple but packed-with-flavor macaroni course such as ziti (to name just a few dishe
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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Trips

Hiking, Backpacking, & Exploring Enchanted New Mexico

In the “must see” places of the outdoors, certain areas seem to garner the most publicity. All names that are found in glossy photos for post cards, magazines or coffee table books. Destinations any backpacker would love to, and should, see at some point. Places to be added to their memories and experiences of where they have spent time in the outdoors. But among these places cataloged, discussed and portrayed in glossy photos is a place of deep canyons, ancient Puebloan sites, high a
PaulMags

PaulMags in Trips

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Trips

Backpacking the Elusive Eagle Rock Loop of Arkansas

I wince with every step as I cross the river. Bare feet had seemed like a good idea. But now, after too many crossings to count, my soles feel the pain. I grip my trekking poles for stability against the current and tread cautiously on the slick stones, picking my way to the other side. The river glitters in the late afternoon sun. Jessica and Shay are already on the opposite bank, searching for yellow blazes. Before attempting this crossing, we had bushwhacked away from the last vestiges o
Susan Dragoo

Susan Dragoo in Trips

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Trips

Backpacking in Kluane National Park: A Remote Yukon Hike

Canada. The Yukon: it’s almost synonymous with adventure. And exploring the glaciated terrain of Kluane National Park on foot is an exercise in adventure any way you go about it. Just a few miles into our trip, the trail we’d been following quickly dispersed into a vast valley that I am certain some countries could fit into. The trail of your choosing was the only real path through the snaking mud pits of the low and glaciated brown river. The river which, I assumed in spring, covered our walkwa
jansenjournals

jansenjournals in Trips

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Reading

Wild: A Film Review by a Pacific Crest Trail Thru-hiker

I thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail a while ago, so I was interested to view the film adaptation of the Cheryl Strayed book Wild to see how a long-distance hike was handled as a Hollywood movie. But Wild, the movie isn’t a hiking film; it’s more about a woman’s relationship with herself rather than her relationship with nature. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallèe, Wild follows Cheryl Strayed (played by Reese Witherspoon) on a 1,100 mile cathartic walk along the Pacific Crest Trail. Wild Movie
David Cobb

David Cobb in Reading

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Food

Backpacking & Hiking Recipe: Electrolyte Trail Mix

In the world of sports nutrition, the word “electrolyte” refers to minerals dissolved in the body’s fluids that are lost in perspiration. Those little packets of sweetened electrolyte powder or brand name drinks allegedly offer all you need to replenish lost electrolytes during endurance exercise. But real food is often the best nourishment and includes both what you know you need and what you don’t know you need. For electrolyte replenishment on the trail, it is so easy to create a trail m
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Trips

The Lost Girls Ride Again: Hiking the Ouachita Trail

The rock looms large in my headlamp as I stand, trying to gather both my wits and my hiking poles. The sun is long gone, and we are hiking in the dark along the ridge of Fourche Mountain, searching for a flat place to pitch six tents. The guidebook says there is good camping somewhere up ahead, but we’re desperate to stop and in this blackness can see very little beyond the trail’s edge. We are section-hiking the Ouachita Trail, a 223-mile national recreation trail running west to eas
Susan Dragoo

Susan Dragoo in Trips

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Trips

Hiking Algonquin Peak in the Adirondacks of New York

Algonquin Peak, the second highest peak in New York, lies within the confines of the Adirondacks. She’s the crown jewel of the MacIntyre Range standing at 5,114 feet, dwarfing all but one peak around her. My husband Nick and I had the privilege of hiking Mount Marcy (the highest peak in NY) and Algonquin a few years ago. Mount Marcy left me with tendinitis in my knees while Algonquin was more forgiving. We have be pining to get back ever since. On a recent weekend, Nick and I found ourselves wit
sarahtied

sarahtied in Trips

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Trips

Hiking Mount Monroe: White Mountains, New Hampshire

For a long time, just thinking about climbing Mount Washington gave me chills and made me nauseous. A few years ago, Nick and I were in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for the first time. Reaching the top of Mount Washington (whether by car, foot, or railway) is a must do. It is the highest peak in New Hampshire and the highest in the Northeast. It is known as the “Home of the World’s Worst Weather” due to the convergence of three different weather systems at its peak. Clear summits are few
sarahtied

sarahtied in Trips

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Gear

How Not to Lose Your Tent Stakes: Heat Shrink Tubing

Although the venerable titanium shepherd's hook stake is an ultralight favorite, if you've ever used a set you know that one of their drawbacks is their ability to blend into their surroundings when loose on the ground. This can make packing up in the morning frustratingly difficult as you search for that last stake that's somewhere on the ground in a very specific area, but seemingly invisible. To assist, there is one way that will help ensure your set of titanium shepherd's hook stakes all sta
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Glow in the Dark Zipper Pulls: Backpacking Trail Tip

Instead of blowing your night vision out with your state of the art LED headlamp to find that tent and / or sleeping bag zipper late at night, one tip I like to utilize is to use a short length of glow in the dark paracord as a zipper pull for your sleeping bag and tent zippers. Now you can get out of your tent at night without having to fumble to open zippers and can quickly locate your zipper pulls potentially without even having to use your headlamp. When sufficiently "charged", gl
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Food

Crispy Nut Crackers w/ Pepper & Salt Backpacking Recipe

Crispy food has enormous sensory appeal, and this gluten-free cracker also offers great nutrition. We all know nuts are full of omega-3s and minerals as well as protein. Himalayan salt has 84 minerals and trace elements making it important for electrolyte replacement. The high levels of piperine in freshly cracked pepper are an anti-inflammatory. This nut cracker delivers great taste as well as all these benefits. After a spicy bit of cracked pepper, a touch of coconut offers a lightl
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

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Food

Cool Ginger Blueberry Cherry Tea Backpacking Recipe

While I’ve shown how to make dehydrated juices in earlier cuisine recipes, here’s the easiest of all…and you only need dried fruit and a pinch of salt (to add those essential electrolytes). I chose blueberries, cherries and ginger because they are especially high in micronutrients critical for the vitality of backcountry exercise. Cool Ginger Blueberry Cherry Tea First the technique: just add a ¼ cup dried fruit and a pinch of salt to your water bottle. Using a wide mouth bottle is bes
Cinny Green

Cinny Green in Food

0
Trips

Hiking the Donjek (Dän Zhùr) Route: Kluane National Park

The opposite bank is tantalizingly close, just a couple of meters away. In fact, it would be fewer than 10 paces on solid ground. Instead, we can only gaze longingly across the un-crossable, raging river that stands between us and the next section of our route. We are stuck on the west bank of the Duke River. It’s a crushing defeat. On a normal hike, this would be a mild inconvenience, but we are on day six of a backpacking epic that is far from normal. View of a scenic upland section
DKim and PatriciaV

DKim and PatriciaV in Trips

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Trips

Hiking & Camping in Goblin Valley State Park Utah

Located a solid 102 miles from the tourist base at Moab, Goblin Valley gives quiet respite from all things civilized. First discovered by cowboys roaming the range in search of lost cattle, this geological playground was designated as a state park as recent as 1964. Originally the site was known as Mushroom Valley, the name inspired by the comically organic appearance that the rock formations take. Since then, the title of Goblin Valley was added, giving the park an otherworldly name
Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith in Trips

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Food

One Pot Thanksgiving Style Backpacking Dinner Recipe

Thanksgiving is the traditional time to give thanks and praise for the blessings in our life. And we often celebrate those blessings with a large dinner shared with family and friends. The centerpiece of this dinner is typically a turkey. Since moving to Colorado, I’ve had all but a handful of Thanksgivings somewhere in the backcountry. Thanksgivings are typically spent among the red rocks and canyons of Utah. And out in the backcountry, I am thankful for the beauty around me, sharing it wi
PaulMags

PaulMags in Food

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