Rock Climbing at Carderock, Maryland – DC’s Closest Crag

This article may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!After a few years of climbing here in DC, I finally made it out to climb at Carderock on the Fourth of July. It’s funny because it is pretty much the closest outdoor climbing crag …

Stormy, Hot, and Humid: Climbing at Seneca Rocks with PATC-MS

This past weekend was the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club – Mountaineering Section’s annual Fourth of July get together at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. About 15 or so folks from the DC Metro Area braved an extremely violent wind and thunderstorm and a weekend of appallingly hot and oppressively humid weather to get together for climbing at Seneca Rocks, WV. It …

Feathered Friends Jackorack Long Term Review

Feathered Friends Jackorack: Ultralight Windshirt Review

5/5 Stars Simply put, the Feathered Friends Jackorack is an awesome little windshirt and I recommend it to pretty much everyone. I bought mine way back in May 2011 and it has been on every single trip since that time—from regular backpacking trips in the Mid-Atlantic, to Rainier and Baker, to ice climbing in New Hampshire, to cragging at Seneca …

Old Rag at Sunrise

Backpacking White Oak Canyon, Stony Man, and Old Rag at Sunrise

Saturday morning, three of us from DC UL Backpacking headed out to Shenandoah National Park for waterfalls, some strenuous climbs, and absolutely stunning vistas over the course of 19+ miles on this Old Rag backpacking trip. The highlight of the trip was a bright and early alpine start for an Old Rag sunrise hike to watch the sun come up …

Climbing at New River Gorge Memorial Day Weekend

I joined a small group of twelve or so DC area climbers who were taking advantage of the long Memorial Day Weekend to make the more than five-hour drive to the popular New River Gorge in southeastern West Virginia. Some of the group was old faces but most were new to me on this New River Gorge Memorial Day trip. …

Going from a Traditional Hiker to an Ultralight Backpacker

It’s been almost three years since my first backpacking trip out here on the East Coast. I had been living in DC for almost two years with not much exploration of nature beyond the Beltway. Being from the Northwest I had initially kind of (unfairly) dismissed the hiking and backpacking opportunities available here in the Mid-Atlantic. Well, after so much …