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Note: This giveaway ended 11/12/25. With winter on the horizon, we’ve partnered with our friends at Alaska Gear Company to give away a pair of their new Bunny Boot VBX LITE winter boots in the color / size of the winner’s choice – a $259 value! These waterproof, cold weather-ready boots are comfort-rated to -5F with an integrated vapor barrier system that keeps moisture out and the wool felt insulation dry. This is all in a lightweight boot that won’t weigh down your winter travels and has been designed from the ground up for active use in cold winter conditions. To Enter: Just leave a comment below on this blog post and tell us where you’ll be taking your VBX LITE Boots this winter if you win! Giveaway ends 11/12/25 at 5PM Mountain Time. ***Giveaway ended 11/12/25.*** Sign in to your TrailGroove Account or if you haven't signed up yet register with a new account to leave a comment. One winner will be chosen at random from the comments on this post and will be contacted via email. One entry total per person – however if you’re a TrailGroove Premium Member (or sign up before the giveaway drawing) and leave a comment on this post before the giveaway ends, receive an automatic bonus entry (for 2X entries!) in the giveaway. Be sure to follow Alaska Gear Company on Facebook and on Instagram to learn more about their outdoor gear. Note that by entering this giveaway you’ll be signed up for both the TrailGroove Magazine and Alaska Gear Company email newsletters. Already subscribed? Don’t worry, you won’t be signed up twice. Good luck!

I'm so excited that I won! Thank you so much! Cannot wait to receive the boots and wear them on my trail!

Trailgroove premium member here! I would use them for snowshoeing in our local national park. Hoping cold feet will become a thing of the past!

How fun! I'd consider using them at Mt. Rainier to snowshoe!

Warm feet on my Midwest Ice Fishing Excursion

Hiking three miles everyday, up and down hills, out in Yellowwood State Forest in Brown County, Indiana, often with a backpack for plein air painting. I have really struggled finding a truly waterproof boot for hiking. These boots look awesome!

Trekking Poles: I have 5,000km on a pair of Cascade Tech poles from Costco. Around $40USD and they have been delightful!

Another Tennessean here. I'm over near the western part of the state, though, where it doesn't get cold enough to warrant Bunny Boots. BUT for years I have been yearning to explore Sapmi (the Sami name for what nonindigenous folks call Lapland). I've been pining for a pair of Bunny Boots ever since I heard that they are, with good reason, ubiquitous in Alaska.

These boots will fit the bill perfectly as I'm stomping around in and around Fairbanks, AK. Alaska Gear Co rocks!

Winter wanderings along the Massachusetts section of the Appalachain Trail. These boots could really help me anchor into my mantra of ‘Trust your feet.’

I would use these boots during my winter hiking in the New Hampshire White Mountains. These waterproof mountain boots seem perfect for backcountry hikes and snowshoeing.

What an awesome giveaway! I would absolutely use these boots when I visit my daughter in Steamboat Springs, CO. It's already snowing there, and there are trails there to explore, whether there's cold snowy ice or not! YEEHAW!!!

Cool sweepstakes! For me, these would go through the forested hills and low mountains of the Finger Lakes and Catskills regions of upstate New York.

These boots look amazing and I’d love to put them to work with all my winter day hiking in north Idaho and eastern Washington! We recently started doing overnight backpacking, too, and I’m always looking to dial in that winter backpacking gear list. Hopefully these boots can help with that!

This was a very helpful read for me. I live in Reno, So Tahoe is right next door. At 59 yrs old I have become obsessed with the PCT. But I don't know if it is for me. The TRT is going to be my adventure next summer!

If you search the Internet you'll find a couple of places that rent equipment. GoPro seems to be a popular rent by some people just getting started. It's inclusive. Batteries, cards and the like. That way hikers sample a product and then buy or move on. Sony has some good quality cameras for rent through bigger camera stores. Some Sony models are great looking images and good sound recording. Good luck and it would be nice to hear what you used and maybe see a sample.

Hi Rob and welcome. What type of production quality are you looking for? Most would use a smartphone if you have one. For a higher production quality than that, and they are often pretty good, you’d be looking at some more expensive professional or higher end camera gear.

If they are out there at the same time and day, you’d probably have a good chance of a happenstance meetup right on the trail. But for pre-planning, a post in our Regional Discussions would be my suggestion.

The forested slopes of southeastern Oklahoma’s ironically named Sans Bois Mountains provide the backdrop for much of the excitement in “True Grit,” a novel by Charles Portis and two major motion pictures (1969 and 2010). You wouldn’t know it though, for the mountain peaks shown in the films suggest places farther west. Indeed, the movies were filmed in Colorado and New Mexico, but pursuing outlaws in post-Civil War Indian Territory, as the main characters are portrayed as doing in “True Grit,” was not just one of Hollywood’s fictional creations. Here in the foothills of the larger Ouachita Mountain range, deep forests and rugged terrain did indeed shelter folks on the wrong side of the law during and after the Civil War. During that conflict, deserters found refuge in these isolated backwoods. And for many years after the war, Indian Territory maintained a reputation for lawlessness. Legend has it that unsavory characters such as Jesse and Frank James, the Doolin Gang, and Henry and Belle Starr hid out in these parts, some even living in sandstone caves in the cliffs of the Fourche Maline River. Whether or not any of these notables ever used it as a hideout, the name “Robbers Cave” seemed apropos for the signature feature of this Oklahoma state park when it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps along the banks of the Fourche Maline in the 1930s. As for the decidedly wooded mountain range named Sans Bois, which is French for "without wood,” a creek with very little timber and its source in these mountains is said to have given the range its name. The dense forest is dominated by short-leaf pine and post oak, hickory and cedar, with dogwood and redbud adding color to the landscape. With its diverse geology and ecology, Robbers Cave State Park offers abundant opportunities for hiking and exploring. Hiking at Robbers Cave All of this makes for excellent hiking, with challenging terrain and beautiful scenery, and the cave itself is a must-see, although not a cave in the true sense of the word. Robbers Cave is more a crevice created by the shifting of inclined layers of sedimentary rock. It is easily accessed from a parking lot on the northeast side of the park via a short but steep climb. Whether or not Belle Starr ever set foot in it, climbing up, sitting inside and peering out is a satisfying accomplishment. No less interesting are the rock formations below the cave, which create narrow passageways reminiscent of slot canyons. It’s a worthwhile place to spend some time. Three main paths – Rough Canyon Trail, Cattail Pond Loop, and Mountain Trail – dominate the Robbers Cave State Park trail system, and the ability to connect them with a multi-use trail and four backcountry camp sites makes it possible to put together an enjoyable backpacking experience. The Rough Canyon trailhead is adjacent to the cave parking lot, and what hiker could resist a trail called “Rough Canyon”? The first mile lives up to the “rough” appellation with lots of rocky uphill, briefly running along a stream before opening up, then flowing into a dense pine forest. The trail continues uphill then intersects with the Cattail Pond Loop, which incorporates a stream crossing and circles the eponymous body of water, passing a primitive campground before it turns toward lovely Lost Lake. Surrounded by maples and covered with lily pads, this is an intensely beautiful spot in the fall, and its rock dam and attendant stone structure are worth investigating. The trail continues with lots of rocky downhill, returning to the cave parking lot for a total of about four miles. These trails can be mixed and matched for various distances and, on the west, they connect with the park’s 4.8-mile Mountain Trail. On the park’s southern end, the Deep Ford Campground serves as the primary starting point for the Mountain Trail. This is really the park’s signature trail, tracing the western shores of Lakes Carlton and Wayne Wallace before connecting with the Rough Canyon Trail. Finding your way can be difficult in spots, however. As the trail climbs above Lake Carlton, it is easy to veer off course, confusing the well-worn spur to the bluffs with the main trail. The bluffs must be explored, as the view is breathtaking, but remember that the main trail goes above the bluffs, not below. Other hiking and equestrian trail branches also create confusion along the way and the park maps are not all that helpful. But if you sort it out, you’ll come to the Rocky Top primitive campground on the northern edge of the Mountain trail, near the intersection with the Rough Canyon Trail. A multi-use trail connects with the Mountain and Rough Canyon trails, allowing creation of an overnight backpacking loop of about 11.5 miles in length. Robbers Cave is also perfect for day hiking, with abundant campgrounds and cabins built in the 1930s in National Park Service rustic style. In fact, the park is so full of intact historical structures that it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After a vigorous hike, take a leisurely walk to explore such structures as the 1936 bathhouse on Lake Carlton, now serving as the park’s nature center. And, with its huge sandstone rock faces, Robbers Cave State Park is a popular destination for rock climbers. Robbers Cave in bloom Then and Now While you’re unlikely to find any outlaws hiding out there these days, hiking at Robbers Cave State Park, near Wilburton, Oklahoma, offers a taste of the backwoods that attracted those renegades 150 years ago and perhaps a glimpse into what life on the run might have looked like in those cliffs above the Fourche Maline. Need to Know Information There is no fee to access the park but a $10 per day parking fee is charged (annual parking passes are also available). Parking is, however, included in fees for cabin/lodge room rental or camping. The park offers ample camping, including 86 primitive tent campsites. Tent camping in backcountry campsites and campgrounds is $16 per night. Make reservations, obtain a parking pass and get complete park information here. Getting There Robbers Cave State Park is located five miles north of Wilburton, Oklahoma on State Highway 2. Wilburton is about 160 miles from Oklahoma City, 130 miles from Tulsa, and 75 miles from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Best Time to Go Spring and fall are the best times to go thanks to cooler temperatures and more color in the landscape (dogwood and redbud in spring and maples and other hardwoods in fall). Winter is also a very good time to go, as temperatures are usually mild. In the summer, while ticks and poison ivy can be annoying, the trails are generally well groomed and shady, so hiking then can be pleasant as well. Maps and Books Oklahoma Hiking Trails by Kent Frates and Larry Floyd, and True Grit by Charles Portis. The Oklahoma Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer can help with getting to and from and exploring the area. The Ouachita Maps web site offers topo maps and detailed hiking directions. Also see the Robbers Cave Historical Walking Tour.

If you want to meet that price point, you aren't going to get a top of the line pack. You can get packs that are rated pretty decent if you go with something from Teton Sports. When Teton Sports first started selling packs online, they looked a lot like the cheap Chinese packs that were flooding ebay and Amazon, but they appear to have come a long way since then. They have a 20% off sale right now, and one of their nicer packs (Hiker 3700) had an even better discount for Memorial Day. Teton Sports has a "Limited Lifetime Warranty" I've never owned anything from Teton myself. https://tetonsports.com/collections/backpacks

Hi guys, I know nothing about backpacking. I’ve been tasked with finding packs for a retreat/camp organization in New England. The packs would be used year round by different people on short trips (3 days or so). Here’s their criteria: - 55-65 L - adjustable - durable (including withstanding rain, ice, and snow) - lightweight - the person that leads the trips prefers the Osprey Renn and Rook… …But here’s the hard part: they only want to spend around $100 a pack. Maybe a bit more for guaranteed durability so they’d last a few years. Any ideas on what brands/models to look for within those confines? It’s a bit hard to shop for a pack that could be used by many different types of bodies. Thanks!

First off you will need to determine what will be the average size of the hikers torso. Not everyone will be a medium torso length. Secondly, Osprey's warranty would get my first consideration for a heavily used pack. Your going to be hard pressed to find any decent pack at $100 each unless you buy used and a $100 used Osprey is a rare bird indeed. Gregory makes a decent pack also and may be in the price range. Lightweight and durable come at a price. It depends on what you consider to be "lightweight" and just how durable your willing to accept. The conundrum of the hiking world is that everyone wants a light pack that will last forever at absolutely the lowest price. There is no such pack or gear. Alas, you must also consider how many packs are for women and how many are for men. S-Straps and certain hip belts make a world of difference for women. You get the idea I'm sure. So lets set some real life parameters. Lets day lightweight is from 2.5-4.5lbs, average torso of medium height, easily replaceable/adjustable hip belt for people of different girths, is comfortable by the average persons opinion, can carry loads of 20-35lbs comfortably, and is made of durable enough materials. That sounds like an osprey all day. Suggestions: Osprey Rook/Renn 65L (#1 choice) retails at $180 https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/rook-65-ROOK65.html?packfinder=true Gregory Amber 55L retails at $200 https://www.gregorypacks.com/packs-bags/backpacking-packs/amber-55-126869XXXX.html?dwvar_126869XXXX_color=Arctic Grey&cgidmaster=packs-activities-backpacking Gregory Stout 60L retails at $200 https://www.gregorypacks.com/packs-bags/backpacking-packs/stout-60-126873XXXX.html?dwvar_126873XXXX_color=Fennel Green&cgidmaster=packs-activities-backpacking REI Flash 55L retails at $200 https://www.rei.com/product/148589/rei-co-op-flash-55-pack-mens REI Trailbreak 60L retails at $150 https://www.rei.com/product/168251/rei-co-op-trailbreak-60-pack-mens Gregory Octal 55L retails at $165 https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/213864/gregory-octal-55-pack-womens

Just an added note; REI is having a sale over Labor Day, and some of their packs are as much as 30% off. They would come close to meeting your budget. The Ospreys are about $180-200.

Yeah, well, for $100 you don't get Osprey packs. Packs are always a compromise between space, weight, and price. Given your requirements, and knowing how camps budget their funds, I'd sacrifice weight. After all, it's unlikely that you'll be using these for extended (five days or more) trips where weight really becomes more critical. If it were me, I would take this question to the nearest REI store and ask them to make you their best deal. You'll get decent quality, a reputable store that will take returns, and the advice of someone who is used to fitting packs to a lot of different people and bodies. There's no easy answer to this one, so plan on making a few compromises, and getting some packs that at least a bunch of people can use for a few basic trips.