The best ultralight backcountry food can be made right in your kitchen with dried ingredients bought from the local grocery store. Tune into our conversation with Aaron Owens Mayhew, a registered dietitian who founded Backcountry Foodie, a backpacking meal planning service. Owens Mayhew explains that the old rule of packing two pounds of food per day can be broken with careful and creative menu planning. Plus you won’t want to miss her break-down of macros, enlightening us to the perfect ratio of carbs, fats, and protein to carry us through those long days on the trail.

Learn how to photograph the night sky, including star trails and the brilliant Milky Way, with these five pro tips from landscape and action photographer Scott Sady. Sady covers the fine details of gear recommendations, how to find the best location, and editing tips, so you can get the best results.

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 always be prepared for what’s ahead with these key map sources.

The longest thru-hike in the US is currently being created and tested. Join American Perimeter Trail mastermind Rue McKenrick from a town stop in western Michigan on this episode of the Out and Back Podcast. McKenrick shares what inspired this 12,000-mile project, his vision for the trail, and his crazy encounters along the way.

Battery drain stinks, and often hits the hardest at the most inconvenient times. Countless factors can threaten the life of your phone battery, like cold or blazing hot temperatures, or even how many apps you’ve recently used. Whether you’re out for a 3-night backpacking trip, casual day hike, or a few hours on the slopes, there’s no escaping the inevitable drain. Whatever your adventure looks like, these tricks will help you save the juice in your phone and keep Gaia GPS up and running longer.

Quickly upload tracks, routes, waypoints, and areas with one click on gaiagps.com/map. Now when you find a route or file from another website or source, you can import them directly to your Gaia GPS account. Expand your adventures by importing obscure off-road routes, new hikes, or recommended adventures.

Get the inside scoop on Justin “Trauma” Lichter’s ground-breaking thru-hike adventures on Out and Back this week. Trauma delves into getting stalked by lions in Africa, hiking 2,000 miles across the Himalayas, and thru-hiking the PCT in winter. He shares his trove of knowledge about international resupply logistics, winter navigation, and finding what it takes to push your own limits.

If you’ve ever wondered why your pack felt so heavy, it might be time to re-examine what you’ve stuffed in it. In this deep dive, our in-house expert provides a detailed gear list with photos and walks you through how to plan your multi-day backpacking trip from scratch. Review how to choose a location, understand the history of your destination, plan your route, manage hazards, and find resources for planning food and gear.

Find over 300,000 mines, mills, and known mineral deposits with the new Mines and Mineral Resources map. Discover the history of old mining sites, new locations for metal detecting, and handy details about mine and mineral sites across the United States and beyond.

It’s not too late to catch one of the most striking meteor showers of the year. Whether you’re looking for a romantic date night, an opportunity to really wow a first-time camper, or a quiet night to yourself, the Perseids are not to be missed. Find the dark skies near you and catch the meteor shower with these tips.

Tune into the Out and Back podcast for a talk with Will “Akuna” Robinson. An army vet and the first Black man to complete the thru-hiking Triple Crown, Akuna shares how hiking helped him recover from PTSD and depression. He opens up about hate he has experienced on social media, how outdoor brands can be better allies to people of color, and how he handles an overwhelming number of media requests during this time of racial reckoning.

Tune into the Out and Back podcast for a talk with Liz “Snorkel” Thomas about thru-hiking budgets and urban backpacking. As a pro hiker, author, and expert gear reviewer, Snorkel shares her tips on how to cut costs on the trail and unearths the secret costs no one thinks about. The Queen of Urban Hiking also talks about creating and completing thru-hikes through 14 US cities. Tune in to hear about her weirdest trail food cravings, and her favorite thru-hike ever.