Norovirus can spread quickly through shelters, hostels, privies, and trail communities. Learn how hikers and backpackers can reduce risk through proper hygiene, water treatment, and smart trail habits.
Category: Backpacking
Best Hiking Snacks for Energy on the Trail
The right trail snacks can turn exhausting miles into manageable ones. Learn the best foods for hikers and backpackers to stay energized, hydrated, and mentally strong on the trail.
How to Choose the Best Backpack for Hiking and Backpacking
Choosing the right hiking backpack can completely change your experience on trail. Learn how proper fit, pack sizing, and ultralight backpacking trends affect comfort, endurance, and overall hiking performance.
The Miles That Connect People
Long-distance hiking does more than challenge the body. It creates connection between strangers through shared hardship, vulnerability, kindness, and the simple act of moving forward together mile after mile.
The Best Long-Distance Hiking Trails in the United States
America’s long-distance trails offer more than miles and mountain views. From the Appalachian Trail to the Continental Divide Trail, each path attracts a different kind of hiker — and a different kind of transformation.
Hiking Hydration Tips: How to Avoid Dehydration on the Trail
Hydration is about more than carrying a water bottle. Learn how to stay hydrated while hiking and backpacking with smart planning, electrolyte support, water filtration tips, and trail habits that keep your body strong mile after mile.
Grounding Yourself on the Trail : Managing Anxiety & Depression Outdoors
When anxiety and depression take over, your mind can feel impossible to quiet. This guide explores how hiking and time in nature can ground you, regulate your nervous system, and bring you back to the present—one step at a time. You don’t need a long trek, just a willingness to step outside and begin.
Backpacking Then and Now: How Hiking Gear Has Evolved from 1950s to Today
From canvas rucksacks and canned food to ultralight gear and GPS apps, backpacking has come a long way since the 1950s. This article traces the history of hiking culture, honoring pioneers like Grandma Gatewood and exploring how gear—and the mindset behind it—has evolved along the Appalachian Trail.
5 Tips for Staying Hydrated on the Trail
Staying hydrated is essential—especially when you’re logging miles under the sun or climbing steep switchbacks. Dehydration can sneak up fast and hit hard, affecting everything from your mood to your muscle performance. Whether you’re heading out for a short loop or a multi-day trek, these five hydration tips will help keep your energy up and…
How to Cowboy Camp: A Beginner’s Guide to Sleeping Under the Stars
Cowboy camping—no tent, just stars overhead—is one of the purest ways to experience the outdoors. This guide breaks down what it is, how to do it safely, and why so many hikers swear by it.