Backpacker - May - June 2021

In this issue

AMERICA’S FRIENDLIEST SUMMITS
Who says hiking has to be hard? This summer, set your sights on 15 peaks that don’t play hard to get.
BY LAURA LANCASTER

PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
A hiker on the Camino de Santiago in Spain drops modern convenience to try and find humanity at its most essential. There are few guarantees in life; there is always The Way.
BY PATTY HODAPP

The Last Best Place

Add your voice to the call to protect Montana’s Gallatin Range, a critical–but unprotected–habitat bordering Yellowstone National Park.

1 min

Finding Home

Our writer reconciles her family and her future on the path to Harding Icefield.

5 mins

The Long Way Down

Active Pass member Robin Mino takes the rocky route on the descent from Huemul Pass to Lake Viedma in Patagonia.

1 min

Now Blooming

Flowers aren’t just for meadows. Look up to see spring among the branches.

3 mins

Eye of the Storm

Foul-weather backcountry days have an allure all their own.

1 min

Long Trail – Go Big

How I got my footing back as a 300-pound adventurer on the Long Trail.

6 mins

Falling Over a Cliff

Courtney Henderson, 19, and Gavin Caruso, 23, fell 50 feet during a storm in June of 2020. Only one survived.

4 mins

America's Friendlist Summits

Some high points require expert skill, a bit of luck, and probably some suffering. Not these. Here are 15 peaks—high on views, low on effort—that don’t play hard to get.

10+ mins

Breathe, Repeat Hike

A pilgrim seeking peace and purpose on Spain’s famed Camino de Santiago finds much more.

7 mins

Emily Ford – Thru-Hiker

Late last December, Emily Ford, 28, of Duluth, Minnesota, took her first steps on Wisconsin’s 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail with a borrowed sled dog named Diggins. “I was laid off from my job as head gardener at the Glensheen Mansion, and I took full advantage,” she says. Ten weeks later, she became the first woman and second person ever to thru-hike the IAT in winter.

2 mins

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Backpacker Magazine Description:

The Outdoors at Your Doorstep
Backpacker connects with 1.1 million readers for whom outdoor adventure is the centerpiece to a vibrant, experiential lifestyle. Within the pages of Backpacker, readers find the very best in close-to-home trip ideas and done-in-a-day adventures that they can easily schedule into their busy lives. But beyond hiking and backpacking, Backpacker features the latest in a wide variety of outdoor sports, including cycling, fly-fishing, mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing and more.he Outdoors at Your Doorstep
Backpacker connects with 1.1 million readers for whom outdoor adventure is the centerpiece to a vibrant, experiential lifestyle. Within the pages of Backpacker, readers find the very best in close-to-home trip ideas and done-in-a-day adventures that they can easily schedule into their busy lives. But beyond hiking and backpacking, Backpacker features the latest in a wide variety of outdoor sports, including cycling, fly-fishing, mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing and more.he Outdoors at Your Doorstep
Backpacker connects with 1.1 million readers for whom outdoor adventure is the centerpiece to a vibrant, experiential lifestyle. Within the pages of Backpacker, readers find the very best in close-to-home trip ideas and done-in-a-day adventures that they can easily schedule into their busy lives. But beyond hiking and backpacking, Backpacker features the latest in a wide variety of outdoor sports, including cycling, fly-fishing, mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing and more.