UpNorthica

I took my life into my own hands last weekend, when I lured an unwitting group of testers to a cabin in Wisconsin and made them all try… instant coffee.
Before you, too, cringe, consider this: Starbucks VIA just may be the best solution for coffee on the trail. It comes in small pre-measured packets, [...]

After canoeing last week through parts of the Boundary Waters ravaged by the 2006 Famine Lake fire, I had to smile at this one…
Duluth illustrator Rick Allen’s logo design for a microbrew, offers up sage words. And, as always with Mr. Allen’s work, it’s served with a chaser of mirth and wit. Witnessing how just [...]

I was up last night until umpteen o’clock, prepping meal ingredients for an overnighter on the Namekagon River. With all the planning, portioning, storing and bear-proofing measures taken, my food will be traveling way more safely and comfortably than my buddies and I. Though all the effort was for just one meal— breakfast burritos — [...]

Craftzine is definitely not on our regular rotation of manly, testosterone-inducing sites  (I hear that snickering,) but right now it has an interesting post on camping cook kits.
While the author prefers a kit that would take up most of a pack, she does advocate for bringing along as little packaging as possible. More importantly, it’s [...]

Ever reach into the food pack for some mallows, only to discover the sun’s heat has fused the bagful into one huge, sticky clump of Stay-Puft? …Is that really such a bad thing?
Here’s an easy hack to guarantee less s’mess with your s’mores.

At home, empty the bag of marshmallows into a large ziploc.
To it, add [...]

There’s nothing quite like fumbling around neck-deep in underbrush and mosquitos, trying to spot an adequate tree from which to hang your food bag:
Lessee, you tell yourself, there are those jack pines nearby, but the branches won’t support more than my fleece hat and a t-shirt, soaking wet. That birch, on the other hand, has [...]

A simple but fantastic way to cook your fishes without the dishes.
I’m a huge fan of cooking with the flames, coals and ashes of a campfire — the meal always tastes better. This is gonna happen in my near future. You bring the catch and I’ll get a fire started. Via Backpacker.

It’s summer, time to breakout the “kiss the cook” aprons and charcoal. But grilling anywhere outside of your backyard generally requires you to show up at the park a 3AM to squat on a grill, or try to avoid starting a massive wildfire with your Hibachi (I’m looking at you, guy who used to use [...]

A hydration bladder for wine? Lemme put it this way: If I were soloing in Quetico for 17 days carrying only a fanny pack — I would still figure a way to cram this inside.
PlatyPreserve is the long-awaited wine storage solution from hydration wizards, Platypus. And for foodies like me, who love the challenge of [...]

What if those shiny, fancy titanium sporks, actually *weren’t* the End All Be All camping utensil?
Someone’s made an interesting Venn diagram proposing a few ‘nother kinds of hybrid cutlery. Funny. I guess we’ll now have to err on the side of preparedness and pick up all of them at the outfitters. Via Kottke.

When packing a trail lunch, there are two halves of me that vie for the role of Menu Planner:
The Hiker in me is practical, wanting only raw materials to give me energy. Carbs, proteins, maybe a modest sugar boost, but don’t go crazy. Keep it simple this time, don’t pack a whole picnic. We’re trying [...]

Less than half-excited about your default instant oatmeal breakfast? Tamia over at Paddling.net extols the virtues of hot cereal on the trail.
Besides a good list of ingredient options, she opens the vault and shares a few recommended recipes for that Most Important Meal of the Day. There are also some good ideas for toppings [...]

Listen up, Outdoorsmen: Ever discover that your only trailside snack option is one of the wife’s “specially formulated for women” granola bars? With flavors like Lemon Zest and Chai? A situation as disgusting as it is, embarrassing. Don’t settle with living that way – you’re your own man, so why not design your own energy [...]

We’ve all done the $9 freeze-dried trail dinners. Tasty? Sure, but nine bucks seems a lot, next to that default packful Rice-A-Roni and Zatarain’s. And crap, let’s face it — anything’ll taste good out there.Thankfully, finding dehydrated and freeze-dried food in bulk is becoming an easier alternative, via the power of the Interweb. This is [...]

Cram your food pack with this on your next trip –– it’s Crapola. A deliciously sweet-but-not-too-sweet granola loaded with organic ingredients like dried cranberries and apples, my first bag of this stuff barely survived the drive home.
Owners Andrea and Brian Strom make Crapola locally in Ely, where they first began selling it at the farmers’ [...]