The North Face Denali Jacket

If you buy one piece of The North Face gear you should probably get this jacket. The Denali is just fashionable enough to wear out at night and just nice enough for me to wear to work everyday. The 300 series Polartec polyester fleece is warm enough to wear into the 40's or 50's over a t-shirt and also has just enough wind resistant to stand up to about 10 mph gusts. The polyster is also naturally hydrophobic so when it gets wet it retains heat and dries quickly. You can shake this jacket and watch the water come off.

For the outdoors the Denali holds up as a solid 3 season backpacking jacket. It is a little heavy and oversized for my taste but its versatility has forced me to bring it along regardless of its shortcomings. The polyester breathes well while insulating and the shoulder fabric is strong enough to endure hours with backpack straps rubbbing against it. I think my favorite thing about it is that it makes the perfect camp pillow. Fold the jacket up a few times, stick it in a soft shirt, and you have the perfect vehicle to rest your head on. It is warm and soft and does not compress too much (like a down jacket) or spread flat to be uncomfortable by the end of the night. I enjoy using this as a backpacking pillow so much I have considered bringing it on summer trips when I truly did not need it.

Pretty much everyone I know has one of these jackets for wearing around town, but few people realize this is an excellent piece of gear for backpacking. My only complaint is that it should be a little more stout against the wind; if it was I would bring this jacket on every backpacking trip.

Long John Performance: Smartwool versus Patagonia

For my first snowshoeing trip I decided I needed more than one pair of long johns. I bought a pair of Smartwool Midweight Bottoms for general backpacking use a few years ago. I typically would throw them on at night when the sun started to go down and wear them under my pants until climbing into sleeping bag. Since they are merino wool they are soft, odorless, and warm while also wicking sweat away. Since I would be snowshoeing and sweating I wanted a pair to wear each day. I love testing new clothing and building up my gear box so I wanted to try something new. I went with the Patagonia Capilene 3 Bottoms which are basically synthetic versions of the Smartwools. Here is a breakdown of the performance:




Smartwool ($75) - For warmth, softness and cut these can't be beat. The merino wool insulates in the cold and transports sweat when working hard. The fabric is soft enough that these are the perfect cold weather sleep wear. And there is something about the fit around the ankles that is perfect (although the seat is a little dumpy). I wore these after the first day's climb and to bed, and the all day the second day (downhill). For warmth underneath a windshell layer these really can't be beat.







Patagonia Capilene 3 ($45) -I wore these the entire first day underneath my snowshell pants. They were warm enough that I ended up opening my knee zips after a few hours of climbing but they kept my legs dry and I was never uncomfortable. Even while shoveling snow to make base camp the sweat never clung to these longjohns. The elastic waist band and elastic at the ankles were a little too tight but the overall performance was impressive.

Bottom Line - If I was looking to buy one pair of longjohns to last me forever I would go with the Smartwools. They are soft enough to wear at home and perform well enough to wear while doing intense physical activity. If you need to buy multiple pairs for a trip and are on a budget the Patagonia Capilene is a great economical choice. They performed as well as the Smartwools while sweating (the polyester wicks better than the merino) but the Smartwools were warmer while standing around at camp. It depends on the situation but both of these longjohns perform well.

Empowered by Gaiters

There is something empowering about wearing gaiters. When combined with durable snow pants and hearty winter boots you feel like you could be walking through knee high lava flows and be fine.
Mine are the Outdoor Research Verglass Gaiters. They are affordable ($45), durable, waterproof, and not vomit inducing ugly. Over two days of snowshoeing and potholing up to my knee my feet remained dry and these remained in place. The calf strap is sturdy and never came loose. The leather straps were easy to adjust (before they were frozen over). The velcro front made putting them on easy even after the spent the night getting coated in ice.
They are not without their problems though. Maybe I have skinny legs for my shoe size but the calf strap had to be cinched almost all the way down to stay up on my leg. While the strap never came undone I did end up with an annoying bunching at the top of the gaiters and the actual strap sticking out to the side. This could theoretically get snagged on something. My second complaint may happen with all gaiters. The lace clip at the toe always came unhooked. This never impacted the performance of the gaiters but had circumstances been different I would want these more firmly locked onto my shoe. I may add a little ring onto my boots so that I have something more secure than crossed laces to hook my clip around.

A Sweet Jacket for a Friend

My friend Tommy and I do not always see eye to eye when it comes to politics. He is from the more rural Inland Empire in San Bernadino and I from white collar blue voting Marin County. He watches 24, I watch the Daily Show. He listens to Tom Licus, I listen to NPR. But one thing we CAN agree on is how ironically tasteful this jacket is. I think I am going to surprise him and send it to him. It is available here for the irrationally low price of $20.95 USD.

My Snow Boots - Keen Summit County

I began shopping for snow boots in anticipation of a winter backpacking trip in the fall. While the trip didn't materialize until mid-January I had these boots under the bed for a few months. One thing I have learned about Keen boots is you can pull them right out of the box, slip in your Superfeet, and hit the trail. Before my snowshoe trip (with the broken snowshoes documented here) I had worn these boots for all of an hour inside my apartment. I then wore them for an additional 30 minutes the night before our departure. But when I threw them on the next morning they performed beautifully.
I have never owned a pair of snow boots so this was virigin territory for me. Based on reviews at the REI website and the fact Keens just fit my feet I figured these would be a solid option for snowshoeing. These boots were very comfortable right out of the box and I didn't have any blisters or soreness after our first day of hiking that covered 4 miles and 2000 ft of altitude gain. At night, as temperatures dipped into the 20's and we were stuck milling about in our snow surrounded camp, my toes did start to go numb. These boots could use more than the 350 gram KEEN.WARM insulation, especially in the toes. The toes did stay completely dry at all times, which is the most important thing, and the comfort can't be beat.
I now have three pairs of Keens - these winter boots, the Targhee II Mids, and the Arroyo IIs for water wear. The Targhees are my go to boots for all hiking. They are the most comfortable shoes I own, have the wide toebox I need, and lace up just right. They have been up Mt. Whitney (no blisters after 22 miles in one day) and have also been on a hike where I was basically walking through a river for 4 miles. They can do everything. The rubber knobbies have started to come off the shoe but they have yet to fully detach. This is a very common occurrence with Keen and from what I have read the only real problem with any of their shoes. I still recommend these to everyone with a foot shaped similar to mine.
And full disclosure, I have yet to wear the Arroyo IIs after buying them on sale. Hopefully I can find a wet hike or a warm rafting trip to wear them on in the near future.

Staying Warm in the Wild and in the Apartment

I am not sure when I became infatuated with Pendleton but there is something about these rugged wool shirts that calls to me. I think the appeal is one part history, one part form, and one part function.

History: Pendleton Woolen Mills was founded over 100 years ago and started churning out Indian Blankets in 1909. The town of Pendleton, Oregon was home to the mill and as many as 20 brothels as recently as 1947 (although you never know how trustworthy wikis can be). The personal history for me doesn't go that far back (I tried to buy one off ebay in February of '09 that was lost in transit) but my dad recently gave me one of his and one of my grandfather's original Pendletons. Since my dad's is about 40 years old that probably places my grandfather's at about 60 years old. It is really interesting to see how the cuts have changed over the years from boxy (my grandfather's), to tails and more slim (my father's), to a modern overshirt (the western style Pendleton my fiance just got me).

Form: Aside from the recent plaid rage these shirts have had a handsome, masculine vibe since they were introduced in 1924. The evolution of the shirt's shape shows how they have evolved with fashion over the last 60 years. The overshirt Ariel recently bought me works in any casual environment with its more slim tailored cut, two breast pockets, and polished snaps.

Function: Other than my newfound family history with these shirts I love the warmth and usefullness these provide. These shirts are the original techincal outdoor gear. Before sweat was "wicked" with "breathable" materials you had to stay warm while wet. Wool was the ideal material for this, far surpassing down for its performance in moist environments. (Sheep get wet, but stay warm. Down is actually the insulation geese have underneath their feathers. Feathers keep the down dry.) I can envision the previous two generations of Maffei's going camping or fishing wearing the Pendletons I now have in my closet.