The Trailhead
Every journey has a first step. And some of the greatest, most meaningful journeys begin at trailheads. Welcome to ours! Here you’ll learn about gear, see route and trail intel, and dive into stories, images, and videos from our global community of adventureheads like you. Think of it like "The Third Place"–not home, not work, but your other most important/favorite place. The spot to hang out around like-minded people and have your life decisions and priorities validated. You won't need to justify your latest gear purchase or explain why you're using up all your paid time off hours to this crowd. They get it. Let’s go!
Oh, Canada: Packrafting The Northwest Territories
Words & Photos by Paul Burbidge // Videos by Dylan Stewart
We’d made the Mackenzie River and the trip was over. We still had 100 kilometers of river to paddle but the unknowns were behind us an...
Bikepacking Alaska's Nulato Hills
Video by Luc Mehl // Photos by Luc Mehl + Eric Parsons
The Nulato Hills are a relatively unknown area of Western Alaska, even to experienced ambassador Luc Mehl, who has grown up in the stat...
Packrafting Alaska's Arctic Wildlife Refuge
Words & Photos by Don Carpenter
[Note from Don] When I wrote this story, I had no idea that the debate over drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would surface again so soon. Thi...
Whitewater Packrafting 101: 10 Things You Need to Know to Paddle Safe + Strong
To celebrate the launch of the River Rescue Throw Bag, we asked Hyperlite Mountain Gear ambassador Mark Oates to put together a comprehensive guide to technical paddling—call it packrafting 101. A ...
Oh, Canada: Fat Rafting Kluane National Park
Words & Photos by Paul Burbidge The May long weekend is the year’s first real chance to get out in the mountains and paddle. In 2016 our plans had been thwarted by a faulty river gauge that was...
The Soul of Essentialist Backpacking: Forrest McCarthy’s Philosophy On Ultralight
Forrest McCarthy seeks big adventures in remote, wild landscapes. He learned to rock climb, eventually going on to work for Exum Mountain Guides, so he could more completely explore the Grand Teton...
Foolz Tour IV aka Desert Therapy in South Central Utah
Words & Photos by Steve “Doom” Fassbinder
Say you were given the unfortunate choice of having only one place in the world to explore in your life; what would it be? Not a scenario that I would ...
Winter’s Last Gasp: Glory and Defeat in Alaska
As we bid another busy week adieu here at Hyperlite Mountain Gear HQ, we thought we’d pass along another absolute banger from The Provo Bros. Why, you ask? Well, aside from the fact that this parti...
Four Reasons Your Old Ski Touring Gear List Just Isn’t Cutting It This Season
Sometimes it’s the things that go unsaid that are the most telling. For instance, when people say that they’re into the outdoors, they’re also most likely not big fans of crowds. Sure, we might mai...
Ultralight Winter Backpacking Sleep System Strategies
Words by Matt Jenkins & Elyssa Shalla
Matt Jenkins and Elyssa Shalla, backcountry rangers at Grand Canyon National Park, have been exploring the deserts of the southwest together since they me...
River of Dreams: Packrafting Oregon’s Kalmiopsis Wilderness
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ambassador Mike Curiak’s adoption of ultralight techniques and philosophies evolved slowly, he says, as garage gear and his own DIY stuff became increasingly available. But ...
Utah Powder Packing With the Provo Bros
Neil and Ian Provo have a good thing going. Just two years apart, they seem to have somehow managed to achieve the kind of sibling synergy more common in twins. One zigs, the other zags. Ian skis; ...
