Founded in 1948, LEKI has been making trekking poles for ages. While the company started making aluminum ski poles, they now make nearly every type of outdoor pole under the sun. The Carbonlite AERGON is LEKI’s top of the line, ultra-lightweight pole that competes against the likes of the Black Diamond Alpine CF that we…
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Review: Osprey Exos 46
Osprey has been an independent backpack manufacturer for 35 years. In that time, the company has managed to refine their products to the fine forms you see today. Earlier this year, the company came out with its new ultralight Exos series packs. The Exos comes in 34, 46, and 58 liter sizes. At 2 pounds…
Update on California State Parks
Over the past few months, we have been following the status of the California State Parks system closely (here and here). In their latest announcement, California State Parks will be increasing camping fees from $10 to $21 per night, and increasing day-use fees from $2 to $5, effective Monday, August 17. This is the latest…
Trail Review: Spider Gap Loop
The Spider Gap loop has some of the most beautiful vistas in the Cascades packed into a fairly small area. This 35 mile loop has a wide variety of scenic views and is roughly 3 hours from downtown Seattle.
Review: Patagonia Bly Mid Gore-Tex Hiker
Patagonia recently added some new footwear models to their Women’s line, one of them being the Bly Mid Gore-Tex hiking boot (named after famed adventurer, Nelly Bly). The Bly has all the right components to make up a quality hiking boot: leather and polyester upper with a Gore-Tex waterproof lining, a midsole designed specifically for…
Review: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir
The Therm-A-Rest NeoAir raises the bar for all other sleeping pads on the market. Previously, a sleeping pad was a giant bulky piece of gear that you had to either strap to the outside of your pack or sacrifice a large amount of space inside your pack to bring along on a trip. As a…
Review: MSR Reactor Stove
When Jetboil launched its original stove, the backpacking stove world was turned on its head. Suddenly, an entirely new level of efficiency was possible. White gas stoves looked antiquated as a result. Justifiably, the Jetboil was a huge success. It took a few years, but MSR came out with a response to the Jetboil. This…
In the Daily Hiker Test Lab
We have been busy testing a bunch of new gear and will be featuring reviews of them in the coming weeks. Here’s just a few of the products we currently testing in the Daily Hiker labs: Hydrapak hydration reservoir Osprey Exos 46 pack Patagonia Women’s Bly Mid Gore-Tex hiker Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag…
Ice Age Trail
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is just one of eleven trail networks with this designation (the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail is another). Contained entirely within the state of Wisconsin, the Ice Age trail showcases landscape sculpted by glacial flow over 12,000 years ago. The thousand-mile trail network was founded in 1958, and was…
Still time to win a pair of Dansko Acadia clogs
If you haven’t entered already, you still have a few days to win a pair of clogs from Dansko’s new Acadia collection–deadline to enter is Friday, August 7, 2009 at 12pm Pacific. Here’s how to enter: Just send your name, shoe size, address and contact information to contest@dailyhiker.com. Please type ‘Dansko Shoes’ in the subject…