Merinoholics

It’s that time of year again! Thru-hikers are beginning their planning for the various treks throughout the United States. Whether it’s Northbound hiking the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail, hikers are gathering their gear and planning their routes. Our Merinoholic Lynley recounts her experience and what gear worked for her!

Sometimes a chunk would break loose and make me grateful for helmets, one time a piece broke loose in an awkward fashion that convinced me that perhaps it had not and this trickster piece of ice smashed into my nose when I looked up at it to see what was going on. But I continued with the climb, now with watery eyes and dribbling dots of red up the ice like Hansel with his breadcrumbs. 

Many people think Merino wool is reserved for the cold places of the word: where the sleet falls and the frigid cliffs loom over ice climbers, where the blizzards bring hail and numb the toes of fishermen on frozen lakes, where biting winter winds nip at the noses and ears of backcountry skiers and chill bone to the core. But merino wool, though very good for all of those things, is also one of the most versatile fabrics out there. I’m here to tell you another place you might have overlooked to sport your new merino clothing: the boat.

I often have such an itch to travel and explore new places I forget to appreciate the beautiful natural area around my home.

By Will Ulwick The "Terrifying 25" list in NH is not a list that is recommended for inclement conditions due to the danger. The plan for the day was to ascend King's Ravine via the Chemin Des Dames trail, loop...

Here in Alaska, we are fairly isolated, which means that the chances of contracting Covid are quite small compared to crowded cities. 

Nonetheless, on the first week of December, a friend of ours got sick and tested positive.

In the past few weeks, I’ve made a radical change and I am standing by it.

I decided to stop posting pictures of my trips on Instagram.

I know it is quite a serious decision but it is one that I feel good about.

For my birthday this year, I rented a Subaru and trekked up to Big Bear, California for a free day of skiing and two nights camping in the back of my car. Leaving Los Angeles around 9:00 AM, all of the East-traveling traffic had dissipated and I had an easy shot to the mountains and arrived there in about two hours. The road coming up 330 to 18 is one of my favorites in all of California. They call it the Rim of the World Highway because you run along the edges of ascendant mountains and through wild canyons that have expansive views of the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Basin below.

As much of the U.S. of A comes into the cooling fall temperatures we inevitably need to start looking for the best outdoor work clothing, and there are a few things to consider when researching your best options. First, how does the clothing’s material handle positive and negative temperature swings? Next, how does it handle lunchtime spills, or will it stink if you sweat while wearing it? Finally, what color and weight options are there to choose from? 

I used the red light of my headlamp to take a final check of my map and get my bearings before embarking down the valley once more. Keeping one eye closed, again, proved to be essential as exposing my one eye to even the red light turned out to make it useless for night time navigation, even on a trail that could almost be described as clear as a highway. As I walked into an extra wide flat bottomed section of the valley, things became slightly more clear as a dim white halo began to form on the distant daggered peaks to the left that would soon unveil a rising full moon. I stopped when I saw a large village in the distance to scan the area. The topography was flat and exposed, there wasn't much I could do to make my approach any more stealth-like, I would just carefully follow the trail in and be prepared to bail.

It is December in Los Angeles and that means that the weather is almost impossible to prepare for. You’ll wake up to a chilled morning and dress in a full winter coat, only to be baked in the hot sun...

By Martin Bril I used to think that I was in good shape. I could hike up a mountain quickly and spend hours post-holing in the deep snow of mid-winter. But the thing is, I could because I would push...

At the end of an unassumingly long washboarded dirt road, was the Lost Creek campground and a few places to park for backpackers. We suited up, an old heavy laden yellow pack for me and a bright orange dog pack for Koal. One last look at the car, a feeling of the pockets to make sure nothing was left, and we were off on this 27.7 mile journey! With over 6000 feet of elevation gain and experience not on our side, this was set to be a memorable one.

As an avid peakbagger, there is nothing more appealing than a list of peaks. Between the “Seven Summits”, the “128 Ultras”, or the “50 US high points”, there is a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment checking each new one...

Today, I am a tourist. I am on a climate-controlled bus with a glass top, stopping for curated prepackaged meals and scenic photo-ops through New Zealand’s famed Fjordland. I am being driven by a bus driver full of dad-jokes and...

It is amazing the things you learn to appreciate when you are cut off from certain comforts of the world. When I was living and working on boats, the thing I missed most was hot water. More specifically, I missed...

Ariel Pass An unknown man led the way last night, across crusty snow that bridged rushing streams, against cliff faces, and kick stepping up the final snowy ascent to Ariel Pass, I stepped in each of his faint snowy tracks....

A few months back, I picked up a copy of "Life on the Edge" by Jim Whittaker. Mt. Rainier is a centerpiece of the first few chapters, which got me curious about the mountain itself. After doing a bit of research, I concluded that it could be a good challenge at this point in my uphill habits.

There is one thing that I enjoy every spring and that is a trip up to Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota. This lake hides some of the biggest crappies in the state of Minnesota and every year it doesn’t disappoint....

Behind the Scenes of the Steitzhof Merinos John, one of our Merinoholics team members, takes us behind the scenes of his sheep farm in Montana. Note: The Steitzhof Merinos are bred specifically for hand spinning and are not used for...

Do you love spending time in the great outdoors—and being comfortable while you do it? It’s not a trick question; of course you do. If you prefer to be comfy, dry, and at an ideal temperature while you’re following your...