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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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  • Aaron Zagrodnick 243
  • Mark Wetherington 76
  • PaulMags 27
  • Susan Dragoo 27
  • Steve Ancik 17
  • tmountainnut 12
  • David Cobb 11
  • Eric 10
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  • Cinny Green 6
  • HikerBox 6
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  • AndreaL 5
  • Daniel Anderson Jr 5
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Entries in this blog

Trips

Hiking the Grand Canyon: Hermit's Rest to South Kaibab

Winter had been especially harsh, even while living in the mild climate of Colorado’s Front Range. Multiple subzero nights had made me tired of the cold, longing for a warm retreat. As good as a tropical vacation with white sandy beaches sounded, I felt the need to get out and get dirty in the desert. I had backpacked into the Grand Canyon a year before in the spring of 2013, but it was an unplanned trip, and I had been very lucky, grabbing a walk-in permit for Bright Angel Campground.
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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Technique

Backpacking & Hiking Jargon: Contour Interval (Mapping)

On a topographic map, the contour interval is the physical elevation difference between each contour line, usually expressed in feet or meters. The smaller the contour interval, the more accurately landscape features and any elevation changes will be represented. Understanding contour lines and the interval when performing map and compass navigation are key skills to have, and especially useful for offtrail travel, though be aware that micro features are not always well reflected – a slope that
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Technique

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Trips

Desert Paradise: Backpacking Capitol Reef National Park

I have never been inspired to do a multi-day trip from an overlook, but that was before Capitol Reef. In May of 2013, I took my dad to southern Utah for a road trip. I was still recovering from surgery, limiting myself to merely driving. On our way home, we drove the Burr Trail, a scenic backway through the heart of Capitol Reef National Park, and on the map I saw a point called Halls Creek Overlook. We decided to drive out of our way to see it, and I was blown away by the scale that could be se
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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Technique

Backpacking & Hiking Jargon: Topographic Map Scale

On every decent map, a map scale should be provided near the legend. Map scale can be used to determine the level of detail a map will possess and is expressed as a fraction formula, such as 1:100,000. What this means is that every 1 unit (inch, foot, etc.) is representative of 100,000 of the same unit on the ground. For example, 1 inch in this case is representative of 100,000 inches in real life. Map scale can get a bit confusing. A small scale map will have a larger fraction and a large scale
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Technique

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Trips

To the Basin: Backpacking the Trinity Alps Wilderness

I sat with my face squished against the passenger-side window, trying to get a better view of the toothy white summits jutting above the western horizon. Driving south on Interstate 5, Mount Shasta hardly seemed worth a glance compared to this jagged range I hadn’t even realized existed. Pulling up Google Maps, it didn’t take long to identify the range. A quick search brought stories of rugged traverses of knife-edge ridges and lakeside campsites ringed by granite cliffs. Looking back at the sno
mgraw

mgraw in Trips

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Trips

Hiking The Subway in Zion: Trip Report & Bottom-Up Guide

Imagine standing in a circular tube of smooth stone around 30 feet high with emerald green pools of water at your feet and golden, glowing light shining through the entrance of this natural wonder. This would be the destination of the Subway hike in Zion National Park. Especially during the fall color season of early November, the Subway hike should be on your short list. You’ll need to be prepared for a rugged, backcountry day hike that requires some route finding but the rewards are quite high
DustyD

DustyD in Trips

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Trips

Hiking the Trails of the Pioneer Mountains: Take Two

When a trip has great scenery, plenty of lakes with nice-sized trout, and hardly any crowds it seems to be worth repeating – even if that means leaving some other destinations on my “places to hike list” for another year. Fall weather had arrived – and with snow already falling in the high country (but fortunately not sticking in most places, at least not yet), I found myself getting rather anxious about which trips to wrap up the backpacking season with. Internal discussions about prioritizing
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Trips

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Technique

Anatomy of a Mountain: Backpacking and Hiking Jargon

Mountains rarely conform to the version a child might draw of a simple inverted cone. Instead, they often sprawl in many directions and are rumpled with lumps and divots, like an unmade bed. The very highest of the lumps is the summit, which may be part of the humped or domed mass of mountain, or it may rest at the tip of a sharp point, in which case it's also a peak. A single mountain may have multiple peaks, but only one summit. From summits to spurs and buttresses, a mountain is ma
AndreaL

AndreaL in Technique

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Technique

Becoming a Trail Naturalist: Hiking & Observing Nature

When I first started hiking, I knew the names of only a few wild denizens of the forest: ponderosa pine, gray jay, Colorado columbine. Over the years, as I learned to identify more trees, birds, and wildflowers, I also began to see more. As I hiked down a trail, greeting familiar plants like old friends, I realized they grew among a leafy ground cover whose name I did not know. I became more attuned to small movements that drew my attention to an insect, bird, or mammal. I noticed the
AndreaL

AndreaL in Technique

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Trips

A Hiking Guide to Historic Fire Lookouts in the Cascades

Washington's Cascades have an unfriendly reputation. Unlike the Rockies and Sierra, whose alpine basins and gentle saddles allow for easy travel, the Cascades are a maze of serrated ridges and deep, heavily-forested valleys containing swift-flowing rivers. While miners built high roads in Colorado in the 1800s that now service trailheads, most Cascades trailheads are in valley bottoms barely above sea level, deep in the dense coastal forest. The crux of a climb is often escaping 4,000 feet of ve
seano

seano in Trips

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Trips

Hiking the Amazing Oregon Coast Trail: A Report & Guide

Years ago, Governor Tom McCall of Oregon had a strange idea: he wanted to make all the beaches of Oregon open to the public, as he felt that the beaches belong to the people of Oregon. Now 382 miles of state trail exists from California to Washington along the beaches of Oregon, over headlands, through state parks and Federal land, and as rights-of-way over private land – some of the most beautiful country the state has to offer. Most of the trail is along the beach or along maintaine
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Trips

Introduction to Hiking the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness

The Anaconda Pintler Wilderness is an overlooked gem in the state of Montana. It doesn’t have the notoriety of a Glacier National Park, or the iconic awe of “The Bob” (as in the Bob Marshall Wilderness), but it has the solitude and grandeur of some of the best wilderness the west has to offer. Lying in the vicinity of Butte, Montana, but closer to the copper-smelting town of Anaconda, this wilderness is part of the spine of the Rocky Mountains and also encompasses a 45-mile stretch of the Contin
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Trips

Hiking in Solitude: The Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

The snow began to fly even before I put on my hiking shoes, but wasn’t this still August? It was, but any mountain range worth its salt was going to have snowfall in August, and this seemed to be the norm for me backpacking in Wyoming. Besides, I’d rather have snow than rain any day, and these colder temps meant only one thing: the death to millions of mosquitoes! Rugged terrain and a scenic waterfall in the Bighorn Mountains. A Backpacking Loop in the Cloud Peak Wilderness
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Technique

Trail Tip: Hiking in a Wintry Mix / Rain & Snow

The words “wintry mix” are horrible enough to hear if you’re just commuting to your job, but they’re even more terrible if they’re in the forecast for a backpacking trip. When a wintry mix is predicted, it often means that a backpacker will have to deal with multiple forms of precipitation – rain, sleet, snow, and perhaps even freezing rain – as the temperatures fluctuate from night to day or due to elevation during a trip. What might start off as a miserable cold rain can shift to sleet before
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Technique

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Trips

To the Chinese Wall: Bob Marshall Wilderness Backpacking

There’s a geologically interesting Chinese Wall that’s not in China. It is part of the million-plus acre Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana and consists of a 15-mile, 1000-foot cliff of limestone that runs north to south along the Continental Divide. The last time I hiked along the base of the wall was in mid-June during my hike of the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. That time I post-holed through 4-12 feet of snow, so I wanted to return in nicer climes and for the opportunity of bette
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Trips

Hiking through Rubies: Backpacking the Ruby Mountains

Recently I set out to explore the Seven Devils Wilderness in Idaho and walk a 27-mile loop through those mountains, but a large fire in Hell’s Canyon diverted that plan at the last minute. The Ruby Mountain Wilderness of Nevada had long been on my “to do” list, and this seemed like a good time to change plans and head south. The Rubies were misnamed in the 1800s during the gold rush, when a group of army explorers thought they’d found a range filled with rubies; instead they discovered only
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Trips

Thru-Hiking the Hayduke Trail of Utah & Arizona

Something is evoked in people when they envision hiking in the Southwestern United States. The unique and remote terrain triggers that wanderlust for exploration in remote and untouched places that few travel. There is that excitement and fear of the terrain and elements mixed with the calm and clarity of the scenery. In the late 90s, two men who had a great affinity for the Southwest, Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell, wanted to do something that would encourage more to venture to those hard to r
Wired

Wired in Trips

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Trips

Short and Sublime: Day Hiking the John Muir Wilderness

If you’re traveling on California Highway 395 along the striking escarpment on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite and looking for a high-elevation hike deep in the heart of the mountains, but you only have a day or less, various roads off the main highway take you up to trailheads between 8,000 and 10,000 feet quite easily and quickly where you’re immediately immersed in stunning alpine scenery. For example, out of the town of Bishop, you can take Highway 168 stra
Madeline Salocks

Madeline Salocks in Trips

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Technique

Backpacking and Hiking Jargon: Compass Declination

Declination refers to magnetic declination – the difference between true north and magnetic north. This poses a conundrum when navigating and utilizing maps, as maps are oriented to true north, but your compass needle points to magnetic north. This difference between true north and magnetic north will be listed on any decent map and can be looked up online. Magnetic declination will vary by location, and many compasses allow you to adjust for the exact declination of an area to make n
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Technique

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Trips

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness: A Cascades Backpacking Trip

One can easily say that Washington State holds some of the most beautiful, untouched, and rugged terrain in all of North America. At breakfast one could wake up on a driftwood littered beach on the coastline of a temperate rainforest, and by dinner be jumping into a glacial lake of the high Cascade peaks. With some of the most amazing wildlife covered landscapes and best backpacking in Washington and even in the United States, one can spend the rest of their lives trying to explore and conquer a
J. Parascandola

J. Parascandola in Trips

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Technique

Backcountry Nordic Skiing: An Introductory Guide

It is a cold, blustery day in the Colorado backcountry. The mountains are covered in a blanket of snow. The tree branches are bending under the weight of the previous night’s snowfall. A canopy of branches is over the trail. My breath forms a cloud in the morning air. My cheeks are cold. I do not dread heading into the mountains in these conditions. I embrace them. I am about to explore the backcountry. Not plodding through the snow in boots. Or stomping down a path with snowshoes. I plan on gli
PaulMags

PaulMags in Technique

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Technique

How to Make a Quick & Easy Backcountry Snow Shelter

When hiking and backpacking in the winter, having the knowledge and preparation to easily build a snow shelter is an essential skill. Some people even prefer snow shelters over tents during the winter because they are quieter and warmer than even the best 4 season tents on the market, which can be very pricey too. Even for people that do not plan on spending any overnights in the backcountry during the winter, knowing how to quickly construct a solid snow shelter is a good skill to have in case
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Technique

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Technique

Backpacking Trail Tip: Hot Water in a Nalgene (Sleeping)

While ultralight disposable bottles reused can make great and lightweight water containers for summer backpacking, as fall begins to make its presence known with crisp nights, the occasional dusting of snow, and with backcountry trips often featuring more extended back to back bouts with wetter weather, staying warm is at the forefront of my mind. While my efforts here focus on selecting the proper, and proper amount of, insulation across the board, sometimes nothing beats a source of warmt
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Technique

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Trips

Backpacking the Tetons: Grand Teton National Park & More

Memories can be painful and happy. As I drove through the darkness past the national park boundary near Moran Junction, I reflected a bit on my last trip to the Tetons. In June 2001, my Boy Scout troop took a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone, and during that trip we backpacked one night up Granite Canyon. I know it was my first backpacking trip outside of Colorado and maybe my second or third backpacking trip ever. Two distinct memories pop out from that trip. I remember how beautiful the mou
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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Trips

Spooky and Peekaboo Gulch: A Slot Canyon Loop Hike

Southern Utah, the Colorado Plateau Desert; of all the world this place is unique. Here the desert is a maze. Canyons and gulches dissect the plateau into a great network, a labyrinth of lost alcoves and secret glens which one could spend a lifetime exploring without even scratching the surface. This is a land of colorful sandstone sculpture, carved by water as the artist. Water can do incredible things when sandstone is its canvas. Given time, a tiny river here carves a grand canyon.
michaelswanbeck

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