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Sodium Bicarbonate and Hiking – Can It Improve Performance?

There are a variety of nutritional substances and supplements that can improve your hiking performance. These range from macro-supplements used before or after hiking, to creatine with its ergogenic and possibly hydrating effects on the muscle. But is sodium bicarbonate supplementation something that can enhance your hiking performance? I go through the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s Position Stand on …

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How Many Calories Are Burned Hiking?

How many calories are burned when hiking depends on several factors. A 4ft 10in, 100lb, 70 year old female, carrying no pack, and walking on flat land will only burn 130 calories per hour. But a 6ft 2in, 180lb, 18 year old male, carrying a 40lb pack up a steeply sloped hill will burn 710 calories per hour. Most hikers …

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Indian Cove Campground Review

In this review of Indian Cove Campground at Joshua Tree, California, I’ll give you all the necessary information to decide if this high desert camping area is right for you. I’ll also go through the frequently asked questions the internet is currently asking about this campground. But beforehand, I’ll walk you through getting there, directly below. Indian Cove Campground Location …

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Topanga State Park Camping News – 4th Quarter 2022

Update from Janurary 2023: Musch Trail Camp has reopened. See my updated camping news article. Musch Trail Camp Closed I was on site at the Musch Trail Camp at Topanga State Park on October 18th, 2022. The camp is still closed due to a waterline repair project happening at its bathroom facility. This particular bathroom is a running water bathroom, …

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Gatorlyte Rapid Rehydration Drink – Your Questions Answered

PepsiCo’s Gatorade division recently rolled out a new sports hydration product called Gatorlyte, marketed as a ‘rapid rehydration’ drink, with electrolytes and carbohydrate. Since then, the internet has responded with tons of questions. In this article, I will answer some of these, for my ongoing nutrition series. Let’s go… What is Gatorlyte? Gatorlyte is a sports carbohydrate and electrolyte beverage …

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Camping Topanga State Park – Everything You Need To Know

Topanga State Park has one campsite inside its boundaries – Musch Trail Camp. I’ll go over everything you need to know to successfully camp at this unfrequented site in the Santa Monica Mountains. Backpacking To Musch Trail Camp The very first thing you need to know about camping in Topanga State Park is that you have to backpack into the …

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What’s Up With The Big Agnes Rapide SL – Review

The Big Anges Rapide SL is one of the most comfortable backpacking sleeping pads on the market. It’s thick enough for side sleeping, is easy to inflate/deflate, is quiet, and made of durable, long lasting material that can take some wear. It’s a bit hot in the Southwestern US summers, when paired with a sleeping bag, for hot sleepers, but …

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Calculated Jetboil Backpacking Stove Efficiency

This article is a report of experiments on the Jetboil MiniMo cook set’s backpacking stove, regarding its efficiency. This particular stove gets high marks across the outdoor community concerning its minimal fuel usage. So I’m quantifying this efficiency for the sake of future comparison to itself in different conditions or to other stove systems. Experiment 2 is a more controlled, …

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Jetboil Fuel – Everything You Need To Know

In this article I will answer the many questions people are searching for about Jetboil fuel, otherwise known as Jetboil Jetpower, used with Jetboil and competitor backpacking stoves. What is Jetboil Fuel? Jetboil fuel is a lightweight canister of 80% isobutane and 20% propane mixed gas, that is universally compatible with common backpacking stoves made by Jetboil, MSR, GSI Outdoors …

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How To Clean Your Jetboil Burner

This is a step by step guide to cleaning the burner on your Jetboil stove. It applies to the stoves that come with the Jetboil MiniMo, MicroMo, and SuMo cook systems. There may be times when you are using your Jetboil stove to cook soups, sauces, and hot chocolate, and for whatever reason, the contents of your pot boil over …