Wildfire Smoke and Your Trip: Reading AQI Before You Go
How to read the Air Quality Index for your campsite or trailhead, what each number means for your body, and when smoke should change or cancel your plans.
Trailhead
Wilderness Survival
How to Make a Campfire: A Step-by-Step Guide
Build a campfire that lights on the first match: prep the site, stage tinder through fuel wood, light it low, feed it steadily, and put it out cold — plus how to check fire bans before you strike anything.
Early-Season Mosquitoes and Biting Flies: Repellents, Clothing, and Camp Defense in May
Survive the first hatch without losing your mind: time trips around peak emergence where you can, use permethrin on gear and EPA repellents on skin per labels, build wind and netting at camp, and treat unbearable spots as signals to relocate—not macho points.
Bears in May: Food Odors, Camp Setup, and What “Surprised” Actually Looks Like
Expect bears on the move when calories wake up before peak berries: store food and scented items per local law (lockers, canisters, hangs where allowed), cook and clean away from sleep sites when possible, make noise in brushy corners, and know the difference between a curious glance and a predatory press—your yell and your exit plan matter.
Spring Creek Wading Safety: Cold Water Kills Fast
Spring rivers look fishable and feel like a mistake — water in the 40s shuts down muscles in minutes. The survival math, the gear, and the habits that keep wade anglers alive.
How Thick Does Ice Need to Be? Ice Fishing Safety By the Numbers
Clear, fresh ice has real strength numbers — four inches for walking, five for a sled, eight-plus for light vehicles. Here's the full chart, plus why one number is never enough.
Surviving Floods – Preparation, Safety, and Recovery
Flood preparedness guide written amid the deadly July 2025 Texas floods: understanding flash flood and dam-failure risks, building kits and family evacuation plans, protecting pets and livestock, safety rules during a flood, and recovering through NFIP, FEMA, and USDA aid.
Build a Campfire in Wet Conditions: A Survival Guide
How to build a fire in wet weather: reliable ignition sources, finding dry tinder under logs and inside split wood, fire lays that shed rain, and troubleshooting when tinder won't catch or the fire dies out.
Cross Rivers Safely While Hiking
How to cross rivers safely on a hike: reading depth and current speed, unbuckling your pack, solo and group crossing techniques, what to do if you're swept off your feet, and the conditions when you shouldn't cross at all.
Encountering Wildlife on the Trail
Species-by-species advice for trail encounters with bears, wolves, snakes, mountain lions, moose, boars, goats, and bison — plus prevention habits like making noise and storing food, and when to stand your ground versus run.
First Aid for Hikers: Common Trail Injuries & How to Treat Them
Field treatment for the most common trail injuries — blisters, sprains, cuts, dehydration, heat illness, hypothermia, snake bites, and fractures — plus core first aid principles and the signs it's time to call for emergency help.
Navigate with a Map and Compass: A Hiker's Guide
Learn to navigate with a topographic map and baseplate compass: reading contour lines, orienting the map, taking and following bearings, triangulating your position, and adjusting for magnetic declination.