Backpacker – August 2019

TRAILCHAT

Your opinions, photos, and feats

JULY/AUGUST 2019

12 BACKPACKER.COM

YOU DID IT WRONG

In this issue’s skills feature (“You’re Doing it

Wrong,” page 103), we set out to correct 100

of the most common mistakes hikers make.

We asked our Twitter followers: What’s the

most memorable blunder you’ve ever made on

the trail?

Packed poorly

38%

Ignored an illness

31%

Got too ambitious

31%

BACKTR ACKING

In our May/June article on fly fishing (page 41), a

fly that we identified as an Adams was actually a

Parachute Adams.

In “10 Rules of Solitude” (page 66, May/June), we

ran a photo of a hiker on the Chimney Tops in Great

Smoky Mountains National Park. Though the trail

has reopened after fire damage, the outcroppings

on the summit are closed indefinitely.

@backpackermag

Tag your ’grams #trailchat for a chance to be featured here and on our Instagram feed.

STARRY SKIES

“Forgetting the tent was

one thing. But feeling super

cocky about how strong

I was because my pack felt

so light was the real salt in

the wound.” –@tjsez

@zionadventurephotog

Rancho Feliz, Cannonville, Utah

Utah’s vast deserts and dark skies make for gorgeous stargazing, and adventure photographer Arika

Bauer captured the heavens at their best at Ranchito Feliz, a private campground tucked into the

middle of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Reserve the site for yourself at bit.do/

ranchitofeliz, or see our other suggestions for amateur astronomers starting on page 94.

Charge ahead on life’s great adventures with

the comfort, fit and support of the versatile

New Sawtooth II Collection.

#LeadTheWay