Five Miles Further

After a few miles with ~30lbs on your back, a proper stretch is the difference between feeling okay tomorrow and not.

Here's going through a post-hike stretch routine.

One of the most important skills you can learn is navigation: map and compass, GPS, or observational. Regardless of method, the ability to read a map and know where you are at all times is crucial. It's a basic safety skill, but it also opens the map in entirely new ways. It lets you go anywhere, explore everywhere.

What a feeling.

No one would accuse me of being the silliest on the trail, or the life of the backcountry party, so I greatly appreciate the energy and appropriate silliness of our Five Miles Further community members. Even when tired and a bit hungry, these people make me smile.

Join us at www.fivemilesfurther.com/members

We've been using the Sawtooth by on recent guided backcountry trips and it's been the perfect way to unwind after a day of grinding up the mountain.

Collapsing down to about 20 inches but extending to twelve feet, this is a great rod to bring on outings with a lot of river and creek crossings.

My first photographic hero was a NatGeo photographer named Galen Rowell (1940–2002). He was a climber, mountaineer, adventurer, and photographer whose "first thought was always of light" before he raised his camera.

Without a subject to give scale to the landscape, he would often photograph himself as a silhouette or a shadow in the scene. While "romanticist," his self portraits created a sense of connection and oneness with the landscape, rather than dominance over it.

I found Galen's book "The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography" as a 16 year old in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Today, in my forties as a mountain guide, I find myself in the same Sierra Nevada he loved, making images that are echoes of his. My, how the world goes round.

At 67, Debbie crossed a log high above a stream in Sequoia National Park. She's been training with us for A YEAR and used her core strength, steady feet, and no hesitation.

We're always assessing risk and consequence in the field. We were sure she could do this. She nailed it with style.

That's what a year of work looks like!

Marmots are out there and they like to chew on sweaty, salty shoulder straps. Always hang your gear if you're in marmot territory.

We use a clothesline tied taut with a trucker's hitch, pre-rigged with alpine butterflies, and then a simple stick as a toggle through the pack hang loop.

Sleep well and don't wake up to destroyed gear.

We often hear clients say they want to learn navigation. What they tend to really mean is, "I'm scared of getting lost," which is a very reasonable and smart anxiety.

To manage that anxiety, we teach traditional navigation on every trip in two ways:

Observation Navigation: getting your head out of the phone and actually looking at the world around you as a means of wayfinding (this requires map reading).

Map and Compass: When the destination is not visible or the distance to be covered is far, we run on-trail workshops teaching navigation and immediately put clients in the lead so they lead the way and get real experience in a safe and supervised way.

Consistently, this is TOP 3 of client takeaways after the trip, after which they "get it" and have the skills to work through the land and not fear they'll get turned around or lost.

After a long day of walking, I happened across this client using a stone as a surprisingly comfy pillow as she watched the sunset rise up the granite bowl of this alpine lake.

During the last portion of daylight, sunlight travels through significantly more atmosphere to reach 10,000+ foot peaks than it does at midday, since the sun sits low near the horizon. That longer path scatters out most of the blue and green wavelengths, leaving mostly red and orange light to strike the rock directly — producing the deep, saturated color while the sun is still above the horizon and the peaks remain in direct light.

New adventure unlocked! Our first canyoneering trip is in the bag and was an absolute success. My friend and fellow guide, Keith Thomas with in the lead on this one, with Gigi Corkett, Cade, and Jim in tow.