Starting From Zero A Beginning Hikers Guide I decided to start this blog post as a way to document my journey of getting back into hiking shape. Recently I had to have spinal surgery, and at the time, I was unable to hike further than about 3/4 of a mile without excruciating pain. I wanted…
Category: Skills
Campfire Cookin’
Spending time around a campfire with friends and family is a great way to spend a relaxing weekend. It’s made even better when there is delicious food to share! Cooking on a campfire may seem intimidating at first, but planning well can make it feel just as easy as cooking at home. Our Summit Hut…
Kathy Simko’s Arizona Trail Trek – Entry 2 – A Shaky Start
Almost everybody has many demands on their time; I am in this group. Long story short, I started the AZT exhausted. Because I was exhausted, I needed some rest and therefore got a late start leaving Tucson for the trailhead in Mexico. Thankfully, I was well organized ahead of time, so it could have been…
Kathy Simko’s Arizona Trail Trek – Entry 1 – The Journey Begins
Hi there! This is Kathy Simko and I am employed full-time by the Summit Hut. I am usually fitting feet in the footwear department, but currently I am thru-hiking the Arizona Trail, which traverses Arizona 800 miles from the border of Mexico to the border of Utah, and my trail name is Utah Zuke. I…
Cracked Code
In the jagged basalt-lined valley of Paradise Forks, there’s an orange tower that has split off the wall, leaning at just an angle to create the ultimate training climb. At the bottom, the space between the wall and the block is only a sliver to squeeze fingers into, but over 70 feet it gradually widens…
The Joy Of Tarps
If you are like me you don’t mind a little rain when you are camping. What I do mind is sitting in a damp tent for hours with no view fretting about getting my stuff even more wet if I have to crawl out to go to the bathroom. I also don’t enjoy the sun…
Backcountry Baking
A few years ago I read a tip in Backpacker Magazine about how to turn your cookset in to an oven using a technique called the twiggy fire. The long and short of the method is to build a fire on top of your cookset using twigs the length of you palm, no larger in…