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My name is Benjamin Eaton and I represent a handful of brands and would like to talk to you about doing some gear reviews.
As the exclusive wholesale distributor in the U.S. of the following brands, I will be your main contact for testing and reviewing gear from these brands:
-Beal (climbing equipment)
-Cypher (climbing equipment)
-Peregrine (camping equipment)
-Olicamp (camping equipment)
-Outdoor Designs (gloves, headwear, gaiters)
-Vaude (backpacks, sleeping bags, tents)
-Grivel (climbing equipment)
-Edelweiss (climbing equipment)
-Singing Rock (climbing equipment)
-Movement (backcountry skis)
Thanks,
Benjamin Eaton
Liberty Mountain – Communications Specialist
March 25, 2015 at 2:37 pm
When I click on the link for the Black Forest GPX file, it responds with a message that it cannot find it.
Thanks
Parrot
August 10, 2015 at 4:08 pm
When you did your 7 day solo of the Superstition Wilderness,where did you park your car???
Thanks, Rich N Pismo….
December 28, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Ha, great question! I got dropped off at the first water trail head and picked up at Lost Dutchman State Park.
December 29, 2015 at 5:22 pm
Hey.. Happy camper here from Colorado…I love what your doing… I watched your superstition hike and would like to do the same or similiar in a couple weeks.. Could you recommend a trail map or book? I have the trails West book by Jack Carlson….and also I wasn’t clear was this a 97 Mile loop? Thanks so much for any info you can help with..cheers ~ Happycamper
January 14, 2016 at 11:54 am
Hi, sorry to just get back to you. I was out on a weeklong hike in Big Ben National Park last week, just getting back home.
For maps, I used this free 24k Arizona topo mapset on my Garmin Oregon 450 GPS:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/1/
If you have this map set you can just download the gpx file of my hike and use that to navigate with. The other resource that was really helpful for the Supes was http://hikearizona.com/map.php. I just used the hikearizona site (and their great forum) along with the above maps to plan my trip, didn’t pick up any books. Nowadays I use caltopo.com for my route planning. You can export your created route to a gpx file as well as printout maps. Free to use it too.
The total was 92 miles. Not a loop though, since I started at First Water Trailhead, and ended the hike at Lost Dutchman State Park. I had a ride to and form the trailheads from a cousin who lives in the area. But, you could easily make this a loop by adding a few extra miles, hiking back to first water from Lost Dutchman. I think it’s only like 3-4 miles, but it might be some road walking.
Let me know if you need any other help planning the trip. Should be a great hike, it was for me.
January 22, 2016 at 6:17 pm
We’re from SE MI too! Wondering if you have thoughts for a bigger capacity tent. We’re trying to fit 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 medium dogs (plus gear.. vestibule?) in one tent. Looking at the BA Three Island, but I think we need more space and we just can’t find anything so far.
March 7, 2016 at 7:16 am
Hi Jenny, thanks for commenting! Unfortunately I don’t have any recommendations for a tent of that size, as I have only slept in 1 or 2 person tents.
March 12, 2016 at 2:23 pm
Hi! I’m a writer for MLive and I’ve been trying to track down a good photo to run with a story about the sinkholes in Pigeon River State Forest. Wondering if you’d consider letting us use your photo of Section Four Lake, with attribution and a link back? Let me know, thanks for your consideration!
Emily
May 18, 2016 at 12:49 pm
Hey i read your trip summary, my roommates and i are planning a weekend in the winds and a week summitting in colorado. We will be leaving the second week of August and im just wondering a few questions i couldn’t get great answers to online; how long did the drive to Big Sandy Trailhead take, how bad were the bugs ive read they shouldnt be bad this time of year but your story said otherwise, and how crowded were the trails or trail head in from Big sandy. Thanks again for all your info!
July 24, 2016 at 10:11 pm
How long, from where? We started from Lander, and it was probably about 2 hours. The dirt road to Big Sandy took a while, it was like 40 miles. So that’ll be an hour, given the condition of that road. It wasn’t bad but you will definitely have to take your time in a few spots. The bugs were pretty bad most of the trip. Some sections were horrendous, like near Glacier Lake. There were many biting black flies that would bite even when you are walking your fastest. Maybe I got unlucky with the bugs. Big Sandy trailhead was almost completely packed when I arrived to drop off my car and wait for my shuttle ride to Green Lakes. That was on a Thursday (August 14th) late morning or midday. Green Lakes was a lot less crowded, but there were a couple other hikers passing through. I saw the most people within a day’s hike of Green Lakes and Big Sandy, where I probably saw 90% of all the people I encountered during the whole hike. I didn’t see anyone between Titcomb Basin and Rainbow Lake, a solid 2.5 days hike. Even Titcomb Basin had few people, a supposedly popular area. Overall I was really impressed at how few people I encountered. The further you are from those trailheads, the more solitude you’ll find.
July 25, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Hello,
Can you please provide me more info on your use of OpenStreet Map? What is the process like for you to upload GPS to OpenStreet and then post on your webpage? Any help would be great as we would like to try and have a similar map feature on our backpack blog page but the program does not seem to create an interactive map like you have created. Thanks!
August 6, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Hi Brent, I am using the “WP GPX Maps” plugin for wordpress. Within the settings screen for WP GPX Maps, I simply upload my GPX file and the plugin outputs a shortcode that I can insert into my post. Hope that helps!
August 7, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Neat video, accidently ran into it. Your Superstition Hike of 2014. Whether you knew it or not you photographed and hiked right past many Spanish Monuments. There’s a ancient science to these things of which you may not be aware of or aware of the Lost Dutchman Mine which actually could be just a Treasure Trove by the Peralta’s that the Dutchman found. In any case, Yes there is Spanish Monuments in Your Video. I certainly enjoyed watching it, I’m too old to re-visit the Supers but I’d been in there in the 1970’s when there was lot’s of activity in there. I live in Paso Robles California and our local mountains here of La Panza has a lot of these Spanish Monuments to Lost Mines too.
October 18, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Good hikes. I just watched your Superstition hike. Some of those trails are brutal. With higher day temps and chilly nights. I am curious as to the total weight of your pack. And how many ‘meals’ you are consuming a day and how much water you carry. 7 days seems pretty heavy.
Any advice to keep the weight down over such duration?
March 27, 2017 at 6:01 pm
Hi MetalBackpacker,
I very much enjoyed your beautiful High Sierra Solo Hike Video! I love that area. Thank you for sharing your fun experiences and for giving me good insights into key areas I plan to explore in the future such as Carol Col, Alpine Col and Dancing Bear pass. Also thanks for making the GPX track available. I used it plan my September trip.
http://caltopo.com/m/U0PT
I think I noticed a pack strap mount for your GoPro on your pack. If so what kind do you use? Do you use a gimbal or plan to use one?
Is the Metal just heavy or death?
Thanks again for sharing your stuff , Phil
July 1, 2017 at 4:57 pm
Hey Phil,
You read my description of Alpine Col and still wanna do it? Man that was a rough one. It was suggested to me to do The Keyhole instead of Alpine Col, but I was stubborn and wanted to do it anyway. Glad I did now looking back on it, but if I were to pass through that area again I’d probably take The Keyhole. Your route looks like a good one. I really liked Granite Park and Bear Basin, any loop that combines those two is going to be good.
I was using the GoPro chest harness and/or head band for a while, but I switched to the PolarPro StrapMount. It’s a a mount that is meant to fit over the a backpack strap, like a sandwich. I really like it. My only complaint is that sometimes it’s tough to slide the camera mount out of the main body of the StrapMount.
I have been eyeing a 3 axis gimbal, just not sure how I’d use it yet. Most are made for selfie stick use, which I almost never do. Seems like I’d be pretty bulky hanging off my pack somewhere and I’d be worried about breaking it. Plus the extra weight. But other than that, yeah I want one!
Death metal is the best metal! Not too many backpacking metalheads out there!
July 26, 2017 at 10:04 pm
Hi MetalBackpacker,
I am interested in licensing one of your images for a museum exhibit in Canada. Please get in touch over email if you are interested! Thanks very much, love your photos…
January 28, 2020 at 4:30 pm
I found your channel on YouTube and wondered if you may be interested in connecting with the author of our newest book release, Heroes of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It would be great for John to share some of his experiences with you, or to get you a review copy of the book maybe?
Let me know what you think!
Thanks so much and happy Tuesday!
Best,
September 15, 2020 at 5:18 pm
Hey Eric,
My name is John and we had a brief conversation on facebook about your Winds clip. I just saw your update video. I’m not looking to edit more videos than I have myself, but I’d be interested in joining you for a hike or part of a long distance one. Personally, I enjoy the social nature of sharing a hike with people, which is why I have my own blog and such. Anyways, hopefully I’ll see you on the trail.
John
March 31, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Hey John, I hear ya on not wanting to do any additional editing. Got any summer trip plans planned, or any idea where you’ll be this summer? I’m going to start my trip planning in a few weeks for the summer, I really have nothing planned yet but I am open to linking up sometime if the logistics work out!
Eric
April 1, 2021 at 1:46 pm
Thank you for hiking through Nevada and publishing information. I live in Henderson and I’ve enjoyed hiking in Nevada.
June 27, 2021 at 12:56 pm
hi. great trailer. super excited to see your film and hope to see some spots i been to and some i’ll for sure need to visit. when where is film out. thanks
June 29, 2021 at 11:10 am
Hi,
I’m wondering if you had to get a backcountry permit for California – Sierras Route trip. Where/when did you get the permit? Through Reservation.gov or just at Ranger Station.
Thanks, Rob
July 12, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Hey Rob, I got them through the Ranger station. They left them outside in a box so I could pick them up after hours. They were very accommodating!
July 26, 2021 at 6:56 pm
I have one question related to your CDT Hike.
Since I’m planning doing the hike this year, but I have one issue. I am hearing impaired. When I sleep at night I’m basically 100% deaf.
So I wanted to ask you, how often did you hear animals close to your camp at night?
Especially when you got to the northern states where bears/wolfs are higher in numbers.
January 26, 2022 at 11:15 pm
Hey Matthew, hearing animals close to camp was not super common. Maybe 1/5 nights, I might have heard something. And only a fraction of those would have been something that had me wondering, what is that? But these were usually cows (almost always cows), or maybe deer or elk. I was definitely more “aware” of noises at night from Wyoming north. I personally didn’t have any nighttime animal encounters that were scary, though. I think these nighttime animal encounters are not much of a worry to the hiker that is good about storing food and masking smells. I use the OPsaks for an odor barrier and they work great.
January 27, 2022 at 12:04 am
I have really enjoyed your videos. I am a resident of SE MI so it’s nice to follow a Michigander. I had a question about your tent the Notch. I bought a Stratosphire 2 and I love it. I was looking into a 1 person Tarptent and was wondering how you have liked it. I was curious about the Protrail or Aeon but also was thinking about the Notch as well. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Also was curious on the durability of it.
February 18, 2022 at 12:06 pm
Hey John, I love the Notch! I used a Moment for years before the Notch. I bought the silnylon Notch a few years ago, then they came out with the Li version. Henry at Tarptent was kind enough to sell me just the new outer fly, to use instead of the old silnylon version, saving me a few hundred bucks. Anyhow, it’s big enough for me (I’m 5’11”). I LOVE the two vestibules. That’s the big one for me. I don’t see myself ever going back from a dual vestibule tent. Throw your gear in one side, have the other side open for coming in and out. You can set this tent up with only 4 stakes which is another big thing for me… the zpacks tents always claim low weight but they require like 12 stakes and guylines. The Notch does well in the wind, when you have solid ground for your stakes.
As far as durability, I have a few hundred nights on the Notch’s bathtub floor/mosquito netting and that has held up exceptionally well. As I mentioned, I bought the new dyneema (Li) outer fly to replace the silnylon one. The silnylon held up great, never had any issues with it, with probably 150+ nights on it. I now have well over 100 nights on the dyneema version now, and the only issue has been one small rip, that may have been my fault. The dyneema fabric is very easy to patch though, it’s basically like applying a dyneema sticker over the tear, and it’s been solid and waterproof ever since. The dyneema definitely seems like it requires a bit more care in handling to avoid rips and tears compared to silnylon though. Also with the Notch, it’s trekking pole supported. Twice I’ve made the mistake of not having the trekking pole tip pushed into the grommet all the way, causing it to slip out nd puncture the outer fly. This happened once on the CDT (silnylon version) and once on the Basin and Range Trail (Dyneema version)> Both times I was able to easily patch the tent and never had any issues in that spot with water getting in. But it can happen when you are tired at the end of a long day.
Hope that gives you some insight on the Notch!
February 27, 2022 at 2:44 pm
I appreciate the devotion to wide open landscapes. Very effective viewing from home. Can you tell me what camera/mic you’re using?
I’m impressed at how good the production value is. The lav mic, seems slightly less dynamic. I would like to get your advice on what is best after the time you’ve put in. Thank you for the adventure.
June 29, 2023 at 4:16 am
Hi Nathan, which video are you referring to? I’ve used different cameras over the years and my equipment setup is changing every so often.
June 29, 2023 at 3:13 pm