Calipidder.com

The 2010 Calendars are here! Every year I wait until the last minute to print calendars, and usually do just a personal run of a few to give to family at Christmas. I had a calendar last year at Cafepress but was disappointed in the print quality...

I thought this was important enough to get its own entry. When you spend hundreds of dollars on a garment, you want to treat it as carefully as possible. I’ve always associated hand washing and hang drying with the utmost or care, so that’s how I’ve approached washing my outerwear in the past. Well...

Okay kids, it’s time to get our geek on here at calipidder.com. Put on your lab coats and grab your Bunsen Burners. One of the most interesting parts of the Gore-Tex Blogger Summit was learning about the core science behind what makes a garment waterproof and breathable. ...

I managed to squeeze in a long dayhike, finally! Since the Sierra backpacking season ended I haven’t gotten out on a lot of long hikes and I’m definitely missing it. On...

The Gore-Tex Blogger Summit was a short whirlwind of tours, education, entertainment, and fun with fourteen other outdoor bloggers and many Gore associates...

Tomorrow morning I take off to the Gore-Tex headquarters for the first (I think) Outdoor Blogger Summit...

On Saturday I participated in the first annual Wildlife Refuge Amazing Race at Don Edwards S.F. Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Since it was the first year, it was a small event with ten teams of 2-5 people each...

A few months ago I wrote about how I take my favorite coffee, fresh ground Peet’s, into the backcountry. I’d arrived at this technique after years of trying out different instant coffees, melita cones, french press adapters, and other coffee contraptions designed for the backpackers. In...

Through the magic of Twitter and the Interwebz, I have found myself with the opportunity to attend the Gore-Tex Blogger Summit at the end of October...

Happy fall! Up until Saturday, I was still functioning in 100% summer mode - summer can’t quite possibly be over, right? Although I wasn’t really ready for it, on Friday we hopped in the truck and headed out to 395 to check out the colors. It...

Finally, an easy day! Today was the day when our plans diverted from the original itinerary. Our original plan was to go offtrail from Sapphire Lake and head over McGee Pass and into McGee Lakes...

We continued with the ‘easy’ portion of our trip on the morning of Day 5 by turning off the John Muir Trail and heading up Piute Canyon to Humpreys Basin. Ab...

On Day 3 we awoke to cloudy skies, but fortunately it made for a wonderful sunrise over Darwin Bench and The Hermit. Our day included a lot of mileage, but less than two miles with a full pack on our back. After sunrise, breakfast, and packing up, we picked our way down the John Muir [...]

The big day! I’ve been wanting to get over Lamarck Col for a long time. Typically used as a quick approach into the Evolution area of the Sierra, it’s not as trivial as going over an easy pass like Piute or Bishop but it does save quite a lot of mileage. There is an easy [...]