If you enjoy both the excitement of biking and the solitude of backcountry camping, bikepacking offers a thrilling way to explore wild places. In this guide, learn nearly everything you need to to get started – including the best bike options, how to pack your gear, and how to plan and navigate routes. Plus, get tips for preparing your body and bike for that first adventure.
Adventures
-
Whether you cherish carving the perfect line, hiking up to breathtaking views, or overlanding through enchanting desert planes, we are united in our love of the world around us. Join us and our friends over at Protect Our Winters in getting outside to protect the places we love to play. It’s easy: record a track of your adventure, and you can win a free Premium membership, among many other cool prizes.
-
Take your adventures off-road with the best maps for overlanding. This list includes favorites like USFS Roads and Trails and Motor Vehicle Use Maps, plus a few bonus maps you might not know about. Discover new trails, go further off the grid, and be prepared for what’s ahead with these key map sources.
-
Take your adventure planning to the next level by learning to create routes like the pros. Join our Gaia GPS expert as he shows you step by step how to build a multi-day hiking route, save your plan, and share it with a friend for offline use.
-
Knowing how to read a topographic map is the foundation to any backcountry adventure. Through the use of contour lines, topo maps bring a 3-dimensional element to a 2-dimensional paper map, allowing you to visualize the rise and fall of the land and “see” the depths of canyons, the location of boggy meadows, and the height and shape of mountain
-
Meet Kevin and Sarah McCuiston of Lifestyle Overland in episode 5 of the Out and Back podcast, presented by Gaia GPS. The McCuistons quit the 9-to-5 grind a few years ago to take up a nomadic lifestyle on the backroads in North America. Learn about their transition to full-time overlanding, their tips for traveling long distance with a toddler, and their trusty rig — “Silver,” a Toyota 4Runner towing a Turtleback Trailer. Kevin also talks about his favorite camp meal and Sarah discusses why she has taken over as the primary driver in Lifestyle Overland adventures. Tune in today to learn more about their tips on how to get rolling in the sport of overlanding.
-
Tune in to episode 4 of the Out and Back podcast with Blue Ridge Outdoors 2020 Hiker of the Year (https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/go-outside/best-of-the-blue-ridge-2020/2/) Daniel White. Known as the Blackalachian in the outdoor community, White tackled his first thru-hike in 2017 when he set out on the Appalachian Trail with no experience camping. In fact, the first night he spent in a tent was his first night thru-hiking the AT.
In this episode, White recounts the ups and downs of his AT completion, opening up about a racist encounter at his camp near the Mason-Dixon line on the AT. He takes us through his “powerful” ride on the Underground Railroad Trail, and his trips to Europe last year, where he hiked across Scotland and completed the Camino Del Norte in Spain. Fueled by both adversity and kindness from the people he met along the way, White’s drive for solo adventure shines through in this interview.
When you think of the Himalayas, images of Everest and K2 probably come to mind. But scaling those formidable peaks only scratches the surface of what the region has to offer. Ski mountaineer Luke Smithwick has made it his goal to ski 500 beautiful and iconic backcountry lines in the world’s highest and most expansive mountain range. Tune in to the Out and Back podcast to learn why Smithwick thinks Himalayan backcountry skiing is worth a trip halfway around the world.
Wilderness ranger Mary Cochenour conquered her fear of solo backpacking, only to discover she was not alone after all. She was being stalked! Tune into the Out and Back podcast to hear Mary recount this thrilling tale. Mary reveals how this sketchy incident inspired her to keep backpacking solo. And she shares insight on how and why to face your fears.
Tune into the Out and Back podcast today as backcountry navigation expert and guide Andrew Skurka weighs in how to stay found in the wilderness. Known for laying down first tracks on three enormous hiking routes in the U.S, Skurka has become an authority on map and compass navigation. Tune in to hear Skurka’s story about his path from “living on crumbs” as a full-time adventurer to becoming a guide, gear reviewer, and author on all things backpacking. Also, don’t miss his discussion about the value of carrying both paper maps and digital maps, what’s in his navigation kit, and the one simple thing that will keep you from getting lost in the backcountry. Spoiler: it’s not triangulation.