Ask Me: Where to Backpack First Time in Yosemite
Hi Michael, Going to Yosemite this year, 4-day trek. The Valley and hopefully Half Dome. Never been. Any suggestions? Jody Cibolo, TX @soldierscoach [Originally sent as a message to...
View ArticleMy 25 Most Scenic Days of Hiking Ever
By Michael Lanza You’ve had days like this. Maybe it was a dayhike, or a single, exceptional day on a backpacking trip or hut trek—one so gorgeous and inspirational that it forges a lasting memory as...
View ArticleThe 10 Best Dayhikes in Yosemite
By Michael Lanza I’ll say it up front: The U.S. National Park System is without equal. The natural beauty, variety, pristine character, and scale of it have no parallel in the world. And everyone...
View Article10 Awesome Fall Backpacking Trips
By Michael Lanza The imminent end of summer always feels a little melancholy. After all, it marks the close of the prime season for getting into the mountains. But it also signals the beginning of a...
View ArticleThe 12 Best Uncrowded National Park Dayhikes
By Michael Lanza The best-known dayhikes in America’s national parks are certainly worth adding to your outdoor-adventure CV. Summits and hiking trails like Angels Landing in Zion, Half Dome in...
View ArticleExtreme Hiking: America’s Best Hard Dayhikes
By Michael Lanza Imagine this: You’re heading out on a long, beautiful hike deep in the backcountry, but instead of a full backpack, you carry a light daypack. You’ve avoided hassles with getting a...
View ArticleAsk Me: Is Early June Too Early For Hiking Mount Whitney and in Yosemite?
Michael, My wife and I, mid-30s, are planning a getaway week (from our kids 3 and 5) for the first week of June. We’ve booked cheap round-trip flights from Cleveland (900’ above sea level) to Las...
View ArticleBackpacking 150 Miles Through Wildest Yosemite
By Michael Lanza In early evening on a bluebird September day, deep in northern Yosemite National Park, my friend Todd Arndt and I—with legs a little weary—reached our fourth pass on a 23-mile day,...
View ArticleThe 5 Best Backpacking Trips in Yosemite
By Michael Lanza After years of exploring all over Yosemite on numerous backpacking trips, I’ve learned two lessons about it: Few places possess Yosemite’s breadth and variety of scenery and inspire...
View Article5 Perfect National Park Backpacking Trips for Beginners
By Michael Lanza So you’re a novice backpacker, or you’re backpacking in a big, Western national park for the first time, or you have kids you want to take on a relatively easy backpacking trip—and you...
View ArticleThe 10 Best National Park Backpacking Trips
By Michael Lanza Olympic, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Glacier, Zion, Grand Teton, Mount Rainier, Canyonlands, Sequoia, Great Smoky Mountains. To backpackers, these names read like a list of America’s...
View ArticleThe 25 Best National Park Dayhikes
By Michael Lanza America’s most stunning landscapes are protected within our 59 national parks, and some of the finest corners of our national heritage can be reached on dayhikes. Many can be done by...
View ArticleBackpacking Yosemite: What You Need to Know
The first major Western national park I backpacked in was Yosemite. I wanted to begin exploring America’s big, iconic wilderness parks—and like a lot of backpackers, I thought: Where else would I...
View Article10 Great John Muir Trail Section Hikes
By Michael Lanza Like moths to a flame—or perhaps pikas to talus—at some point, many serious backpackers will decide they must thru-hike the John Muir Trail. But some will wonder whether they’re ready...
View Article10 Adventures to Put on Your Bucket List Now
By Michael Lanza Are you looking for great trip ideas for your bucket list? Well, you’ve clicked to the right place. This freshly updated story spotlights seven of the best wildlands in the U.S.,...
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