Backpacking

My Dog Lay Down on the Trail and Refused to Move Five miles into the Chelan Lakeshore Trail, my dog, Basil, walked past me, stopped in the middle of the trail, and lay down. Not the “this shade looks nice” lie-down. The other one. The one that means I have consulted my remaining resources and we are done here. Basil has never done that before. We were five to six miles from where I’d planned to stop for the day, it was pushing 90 degrees, and there wasn’t nearly as much shade as we were used to. The nearest camp was a mile away, and the plan I’d spent weeks building needed to adapt to the circumstances — fast. So I picked him up and started walking. ...

When I set out for the Enchantments last spring, I decided to swing hard toward ultralight and threw everything in a Zpacks Arc Haul Ultra 70L. The pack delivered on its promise — genuinely light, handles weight reasonably well — but by the end of the trip, my back was wrecked from chafing. The bungee back panel that creates airflow between the pack and your back is great in theory, but in practice the constant micro-movement rubbed me raw. For a trip that’s supposed to be one of the highlights of the Pacific Northwest hiking calendar, spending the last two days thinking about your back is not what you’re paying for. ...

13 miles, 3,400 feet of gain, a 35-pound pack, and a dog who demanded fetch when we got home. A long-overdue training hike ten minutes from my house.

Backpacking the Enchantments: What Happens When You Aren’t Expecting to Win the Lottery The Enchantments are one of the most competitive backpacking lotteries in the United States, so in 2025 I entered the lottery fully expecting to lose. But I ended up winning on my first try (Fellow backpackers, don’t hate me!) So now I had a problem. I’d entered the Enchantments lottery the way you enter a sweepstakes on a cereal box: no real plan, no expectation of winning, and that when I eventually won in a few years, I would have much more experience and training under my belt. The plan was to enter for a few years, build up a proper gear kit, and eventually do it right. Instead, I got a permit for a July 4th weekend on my very first attempt. ...