Duration: A total of 5 nights and 7 days on the trail so far. Location: Testing in the Wasatch and Uinta Ranges Best Uses: Backpacking, Multi-day trips for those looking to go “light weight” or even climbing day trips where a larger pack would be needed. Yays! Size is great. I could easily fit a…

With the Fourth of July staring us in the face, I figured I would share some of our favorite camping items for family fun! These range in price and size but have each added tremendous value to our camping trips. 1. BugLit This little LED “buggy” looking light is my newest favorite piece of gear…for…

The emergence of the barefoot movement has been met with a lot of hesitance from people like…well, me. I am straight up old-fashioned. And have had years honed in athletics with the gooshy-supportive-shoe stuff thrown at me. Then last year, as I spent more and more time rock climbing (ie. minimal shoe) and doing yoga, I noticed…

I read a great article by my fellow blogger, Cragmama, about the benefits of letting your kids go barefoot indoors and out. I’ve heard the stats before, benefits that include: Promoting natural development Increased body awareness relative to its space Increased strength and agility in the feet, ankles and legs. I love the lifestyle bare feet…

I have several backpacking pet peeves. Bad (or not enough) food, bad sleep. They can take what would be the most amazing experience and make it unenjoyable. The first time I saw an ENO hammock was about ten years ago on a group camping trip. One of the guys pulls out this hammock that is stuffed…

Gosh, when looking for a tent, where do you start?! Honestly, when we first had kids I wished we had started here. I never really considered Kelty as my brand of choice when tent shopping but I have been more than pleasantly surprised! We sort of figured we only use it backpacking when the kids…

The #1 gear item on our list for this summer’s Backpacking Project 2013 was kid’s backpacks. Now I don’t expect them to carry much…but I NEED them to carry something!  But in my opinion kid’s packs are tricky. Most are designed for school, for obvious reasons. But we needed and wanted something with a little…

Footwear for kids is tricky… Do you go with a stiff sole or soft? How about traction? And if I finally settle on a pair of shoes, will I have to buy new ones in three months because they’ve already grown out of them?! We’ve put most of the major outdoor brands through the paces…

The sun warmed my skin and the crisp breeze brought a smile to my face. Spring in Telluride. Just talking about it makes me want to go back! My [new] husband and I stumbled into some random store and low-and-behold I found the down vest I’d been looking for, waiting for in fact. Eight years…

There are outdoor brands for every body shape, but rarely is there a brand that fits every body. When I got married, my husband was blown away by how difficult it was to shop for pants with me. I think we both dreaded it more than the dentist. And when we found something that worked,…

Happy Earth Day everyone! In honor of our life-filled-spinning-orbe I figured I’d cover a company that cares as much about the natural products their shoes are made of, as they do how comfortable they are. They strive to use natural products like leather, rubber and Jute in the construction of their shoes. Birki’s, known by us…

Since the moment our kids could hike on their own two feet, we’ve been searching for the right kid pack. And we’ve had mixed success. But at least I can say we’ve tried a ton of backpacks…and I now know exactly what we want in one. As part of our Backpacking Project 2013, we are…

For years we’ve been trudging along in stiff, hard, HEAVY hiking boots. And then trail running emerged on the scene. Along with it, the shoes began to change. People needed/wanted the lightweight comfort of a running shoe but with more stability and traction. Personally, I think this might be one of the best advancements in…

We’ve gotten a fair chance at testing out the Strom snowshoes through the last month or so…but this last week they were put through the ringer. Along with a few adventurous moms, we took our twelve kids on an introductory snowshoe / winter hike in the beautiful Wasatch Range. It was every gear tester’s dream….

We’ve just recently been introduced to DucksDay kid’s clothing products. Our two-year-old is pictured here in the kid’s mitten and DucksDay snow/rain/wind suit (review coming soon). And we are pretty stoked about these products! As an outdoor blogger, I get a LOT of questions about how to keep kids warm, and “are there any mitten…

Is a water bottle just a water bottle? Should it be? I’ve never thought about it all that much till I stumbled across my first Hydroflask at Outdoor Retailer. It is my first multi-tasking tumbler. Well sort of… But I’ll get to that in a minute. What is a Hydroflask? Ready for this mouth full?…

My experience of snowshoeing is limited and…old school. The snowshoes I frequented most often before a month ago were at least 10-12 years old. And for quite a while now I’ve thought, “A snowshoe is a snowshoe. How can they improve on the design?” But Tubbs has worked for over 100 years to make walking on…

What is an Edgie Wedgie and what does it do? The Edgie Wedgie (or ski tip connector), is simply a rubber tube with clips on each end that keep your child’s ski tips together. The reason? Keeping the ski tips together aids in teaching a wedge, essential in stopping. A secondary use is for those young…

Better late than never, right? Well, that is my theory for this post. A week and a half ago we scavenged the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City. What was so fun this trip was that I got to try out a bunch of gear, that ended up being awesome. (Yes, we’ve tried…

Each kid is different. Hense each skier is different and what works with one, might not with another. Well, today we are talking all about using a ski harness when skiing with your little ones. If you’d like to see a previous review of the Lucky Bum ski harness, you can find it here: Ski…