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9 Signs You're an Old School Backpacker

Fads come and go, but you've been a backpacker through it all. Here are a few signs you're a diehard dirtbag.

Author:: Shey Kiester
Publish date:: Mar 5, 2014

You thru-hiked a long trail before it was cool.

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Dog

Beginner Skills

Appalachian Trail, Baxter State Park

nepal

katmai bears

Weird Outdoor News

southwestern cairns

Best Foods for backpackers Quinoa Salad with Kale image by Carmel Zucker

Backpacking Food Basics

Go beyond granola bars and make these energy-rich essential foods part of your trail diet.

Cheryl Strayed’s wry, touching memoir about her months solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as a 26-year-old will speak to anyone who has ever looked to the outdoors for soul-searching and reinvention.

Whether read before the trek, during the adventure, or after it's over, these books remind us why we love the wild.

Best Outdoor Women of Instagram

These adventurous ladies are the up-and-coming all-stars of the outdoors.

1.Gather two standard cans of beer (or one standard and one tallboy—the tallboy is better for maximum sun coverage), duct tape, a knife, and if you can, a marker and pair of tough scissors.

Nice job. You’ve forgotten your sunglasses and your hat. Lucky you thought ahead and brought duct tape and beer. Here’s how to put them to use keeping the sun out of your eyes.

2015 Spring Book Preview - Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer’s Search for Wonder in the Natural World

From alpine obsession to the search for Abbey's grave, here are six new books for every backpacker's reading list.

The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains By Barry Blanchard (Oct 7; Patagonia Books) A rip-roaring combination of fast times and soaring summits, renowned alpinist Blanchard reflects on the wild days when, in his words, “rock climbing was dangerous and sex was safe.” If you’re an adrenaline junkie like him, this bio is for you. [image courtesy Patagonia Books]

6 new books that backpackers will love this season.

In 2013, Fort George released a mere 2,200 cases of this delectable treat. Named after the record company of the same name, the Tender Loving Empire brings an ethereal tangerine hue to the table, rounding out the killer flavor. http://www.fortgeorgebrewery.com

Enhance your next hiking trip with these local craft brews that (handily) come in cans.

Far and away the most popular pick on our social media channels, Abbey's masterpiece is a luminous reflection on two summers in Utah's canyonlands.

Readers weigh in with their picks for the best outdoor books of all time.

At shelter 1

A few of the shelters and lean-tos found along the length of the Appalachian Trail © Jeff Chow