The conditions could not have been better for an overnight snowshoe backpack in The Inyo Craters area of Mammoth Lakes than it was this last weekend. There was lots of snow, sunny balmy weather, and lots of fun and friendship to go around. 2010 was as nice as 2009 was brutal. Here are [...]

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As the green tendrils of spring begin creeping their way through the backcountry in and around San Diego,  I thought now would be a good time to highlight some of the fantastic winter gear we at Outside San Diego have been testing.
Osprey Manta 25 Daypack
The Osprey Manta 25 Daypack is one [...]

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I had the somewhat dubious pleasure of spending a very soggy weekend backpacking with a Wilderness Basics Group to the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness area this last weekend.  This fast, high mileage backpack from the northern edge of the park down into the canyon bottom was punctuated by almost continual rain from lunchtime on Saturday, [...]

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I have always been a down jacket kind of guy.  I love the feel of down,  and the lightweight warmth that it provides. I have always worried about the classic achilles heel of down, and avoided bringing it on trips where I thought there would be any sort of precipitation involved, bringing my heavy bulky [...]

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I have had the opportunity to use the Merrell Outbound hiking boots through the fall and the early winter.  I have put some miles on these boots, and they have served me well.  Boots are one of those tricky things whose performance is dependent an individuals foot in relation to the fit .  A pair [...]

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