Category: Blog

Review: Kokatat Meridian Dry Suit

October 12, 2010
Photo by Nathaniel Wilder - nathanielwilder.comPhoto: Nathaniel Wilder

After wearing a Kokatat Dry Suit for 15 days in the Arctic, it’s no wonder why Kokatat is the leader in the paddlesports attire field. This suit performed superbly, as expected: it kept me dry and warm, it was easy to put on and take off, and it was plenty comfortable.

A group of friends and I embarked on a 15-day journey down the Kongakut River in the far northeastern corner of Alaska from the Brooks Mountains to the Arctic Ocean in packrafts and inflatable kayaks. Granted, we didn’t hit much (if any, really) whitewater. At most we paddled through a very mild Class III. So, the risk of getting totally immersed in the water was slim – though, it did happen to 3 of the 4 packrafters. Ironically not to the one wearing a full dry suit (me)! The others on the trip were wearing various combinations of dry bottoms, dry tops and neoprene. As long as they stayed in their boat, they remained plenty dry, save their feet. Another score for the dry suit with booties: dry feet snuggled in toasty wool Teko socks for the whole trip.

Review: OR Lateral Dry Bags

September 21, 2010

These 45L lateral waterproof bags worked great for the 15-day river trip in the Alaskan Arctic. Check out more about them under the Gear Review section at offyonder.com.Lateral access to my gear was a phenomenal convenience on my recent 15-day river trip in the Arctic. The biggest concern anyone has regarding the functionality of a dry bag is “does it keep my gear dry?”. In short, yes. Granted, I never tipped my boat to have it mauled by massive rapids as a potential test. But everything I put in those bags for days on the river stayed totally dry – guarding against full over-the-bow waves and a few squalls of rain.

Review: TrekSta Men’s Evolution Trail Shoe

August 30, 2010

At the time of writing, I have used these shoes in the Brooks Range of the Alaskan Arctic, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, The Mahoosuc Mountains of Maine and to climb 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado. In short, they're great and the NestFit foodbed is amazing. Traction is superb. Check out more about these shoes at offyonder.com.The TrekSta Evolution is a really great all-round shoe. Putting them on and experiencing the NestFIT insole for the first time was a unique experience. The textured insole felt odd at first, but once my foot was in the shoe and settled the tri-density footbed and well-researched last wrapped around my foot and felt very secure.

RMC Centennial Reunion

August 8, 2010

Back in the fall of 2006 I enjoyed a beautiful season as the caretaker for a cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This weekend, I’m back in the small mountain town of Randolph to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) with many of the great people who have also served as caretakers as well as those who have worked on the trail crew. On Saturday morning Al (who hired me to be the caretaker) and I hiked up to Crag Camp where we sat in the mountain sunshine and chatted with a few folks who stayed up there that night. We then hiked over to Gray Knob Cabin where I lived for two months. The large logbook on the table only had a dozen blank pages left and was the one I had started while working there. It was fun to read the entry I wrote about the first substantial snowfall that season on the first page. I wrote a little note to document this visit and headed back down.

That evening over 150 people gathered for dinner (I made a pot of chili to contribute), dessert, RMC trivia, and photos of previous caretakers and trail crews from each decade represented. We even did a photo of RMC Antarcticans as it seems this little club sends quite a few folks down to the ice.

Below are some of the photos I took as a caretaker in the White Mountains. Photos of the reunion are most likely to be found on the RMC website.

Click on any image to see more photos or to buy a print.

And there it is: Gray Knob Cabin. Tucked in just below tree line on the north side of Mt. Adams in New Hampshire. At 4,370' it is the highest year-round residence in the northeast.

Click on “Full Story” below or the title above for a quick look at a few more images.

Final Touches: Kongakut River

June 21, 2010

Car TetrisThe trip is on. I departed PDX at 9.30pm in the dark and chased the sun down by flying north and arrived in Anchorage around midnight where, though it was overcast, it was still dusk out.

Nathaniel Wilder with Sune and Lindsay Tamm picked me up and we stayed up until 2.30am catching up on all the corners of the world we had been to since seeing each other last, fully aware that we had the next 18 days to do this on the river and that we should get some much needed sleep.

Ghost Town Visit

March 3, 2010

After a wonderful few days of diving into the Gospel of John, Adventure Unlimited offered a few trips off camp for the boys. One group went to Leadville to check out the mining museum and I took a group to St. Elmo. Just half an hour from camp up a side canyon this little town has mostly been abandoned. Many old buildings still stand, and it does say that folks are welcome to wander down the road, but asked not to poke around in the buildings and someone does actually own them still.

The town didn’t keep the interest of the group much, but a nice hike further into the mountains was perfect after sitting and studying the bible for 3 days. Here’s a few of the shots I got. Click on any of the images to see the rest of the gallery: