(10/25/05) I'll admit I'm hooked on Desperate Housewives. But there certainly is enough drama on these hiking trips to create our own mini series. I guess that makes me Gabriela O.

(9/30/05) Our mission: finish backpacking 265 miles across Vermont’s Long Trail, south to north.

Backcountry Found is the only officially registered gay owned backpacking business listed in the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA). As a gay owned business, they are committed to providing quality gay friendly vacations and adventures.

Has this ever happened to you? A deep sense of dread slowly builds in the back of your mind. Soon you will be participating on a one week backpacking trip, and you still hadn't found a pair of boots that fit. You toss and turn at night imagining the inevitable blisters that would surely riddle your miserable feet by month's end. Through the 20+ years that I have been backpacking, I have rarely owned a pair of boots that truly fit my feet. And I’m finding that as I’m getting older, it’s becoming even harder to find that perfect fit!

Member Doug Dye hiked the Appalachian Trail in the Fall of 2001 from Springer Mountain in Georgia to the Delaware Water Gap. This summer he picked up where he left off. Read up on his latest email s regarding the progress of his journey.

A well-supplied backpack can transform a recreational walker into

• a wilderness adventurer
• a model of self-sufficiency
• a movable grocery store

In bearcountry, it is imperative that all food, including freeze-dried and canned foods, beverages, and odorous items such as soap, toothpaste, and sunscreen be secured from bears when not in use.

Forget about the color and the fancy logos. What really matters when ing a new backpack is making sure that it's a good fit for your body.

The 10 Essentials are all about peace of mind. During a routine backcountry trip you may have no need for several of these items. But if something unexpected occurs, you don't want to be caught without them—they could even save your life.

Member Doug Dye hiked the Appalachian Trail in the Fall of 2001 from Springer Mountain in Georgia to the Delaware Water Gap. He plans on picking up where he left in June of 2001. Read Part One of his journey here.

The number one function of your sleeping bag is to keep you warm at night.

Learn when to use a day pack, soft pack/rucksack, internal frame backpack, and external frame backpack.

When backpacking, clothing both keeps you comfortable and keeps you safe from the wilderness perils of heat-related illness, dehydration, and hypothermia.

Buying a tent may have been a big step for you, but now that you have made the purchase, you need to take care of your tent to ensure that it serves you for many seasons.

One way to deal with huge distances between water sources is to plan to dry-camp.