In theory, it would be grand.

In theory, communism works.

Flash forward to a Friday afternoon; the storm clouds are rolling in and we’re moving quickly to pitch the tent and load it with our sleeping necessities. As the first drops of rain begin to sprinkle the campground we unfold an additional tarp to keep us dry. The wind picks up, the rain intensifies, and we just barely set the tarp to cover our tent from rain and wind before the heavens unleash a torrent of rain.

Inside the tent, my fiance and I were entertained by reading books together and drinking a shit ton of beer. Lightning and thunder punctuated the entire first day of our trip, but we were drunk on beer and good feelings. The sun began to set and I laid down to relax.

“Uh, Matt?” she asked me, “The water from the lake is coming towards the tent.”

I sat up straight and looked through the tent window; yep, the buckets of rain were flooding the lake. The water was merely a few feet from our tent, threatening to drown us.

“Shit,” I said. Isn’t that just the universal phrase all men use when something unpleasant and unexpected happens?

What followed was a mad dash of cooperation and teamwork as the two of us undid all of our hard work. We untied the tarp, pulled up the stakes from the tent, and dragged everything another twenty feet from the water’s edge. Lightning crashed in the distance and thunder rumbled so hard I could feel it shaking the muddy ground.

Our campsite now moved to a more secure location, we dove back into the tent and spent the next few hours naked, trying to dry ourselves off with damp towels.

Call me a masochist, but this kind of beginning to a camping trip is a portent for a great weekend.

The rest of our weekend was filled with windy weather, intermittent rain showers, and tremendous heaps of laughter, but the highlight of it all was the jambalaya.

My favorite meal in all of creation, jambalaya is a weekly dinner in my home. With a lot of trial and error, we’ve come up with a pretty damn fine recipe. We excitedly brought the ingredients with us and cooked it for the first time on a campfire. It was smoky perfection, and was a perfect cap to our weekend of camping.

I’ll give you guys the recipe for it. Feel free to take credit for it as your own secret recipe if you’ve got people to impress. But if you do, you’ve got to make me a promise.

Promise that you’ll go camping sometime soon, and you’ll cook it over a fire with a few beers in your belly. It’s the best way to enjoy this filling and delectable recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup bell pepper,diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2-4 jalapeno, diced (while camping, I grilled the jalapeno and added them whole to the jambalaya)
• 1 cup tomato, diced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon creole seasoning
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (or cinnamon)
• 4 bay leaves
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced (up to your taste)
• 1/2 cup dry rice (white works better than brown for this recipe)
• 1 lb chicken, diced
• 1/2 lb chorizo sausage
• 12 ounces chicken stock
• 12 ounces of beer

You’ll need three bowls for prepping the recipe:

• One bowl for the peppers, celery, and onion
• One bowl for the tomato, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic, and bay leaves
• One bowl for the meat, nutmeg, and creole seasoning

Preparation

• Dice the peppers, celery, and onion and add into their own bowl
• Dice the tomato and mince the garlic, adding them to their own bowl. Add the sauces, the bay leaves, and the garlic
• Cut the chicken into cubes and add the sausage. I prefer buying chorizo sausage links and removing the casing. The meat seems less oily and greasy. You can also cut the sausage into a coin-shape if you prefer. Add these to a bowl and mix together with the nutmeg and the Creole seasoning

  

Cooking

• Add oil to a large saucepan and cook the peppers, celery, and onion on high heat for about 3-4 minutes
• Add the contents of the bowl containing the tomato, bay leaves, garlic, and sauces, reducing the heat to medium
• Stir the contents of the pot and add the 1/2 cup of rice
• Pour in the chicken stock and the can of beer, stir to mix ingredients
• Cover the container and cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice is just starting to become tender
• Remove the cover and add the meat to the pot, cook for about 10 minutes until the meat is done

Tricks for Cooking While Camping

• We precooked the rice at home and added it to the almost-finished jambalaya
• Save yourself some trouble and do the prepping (dicing vegetables, cutting meat, etc.) at home
• Bring a good quality hot pad for moving the cast iron pot

All done! This jambalaya pairs well with a hoppy IPA and good company, and it tastes best when the ingredients are from your own garden.

Enjoy!

The post Campfire Jambalaya: The Next Time You Go Camping, Try This Recipe appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Food Cooler

Some might say I’m a little obsessed with cooler maintenance. But seriously, I value preserving the integrity of my food and my cold beverages. Have you ever opened a cooler to find your bacon floating in a pool of greasy ice water? To prevent this travesty:

1. Acquire two or three large wide-mouth plastic jars with air-tight lids.
2. Fill the jars 3/4 with water and freeze. These will provide a contained ice situation for the first part of your trip.
3. When the ice melts, you can drink the water or use it for washing, and then refill the containers with party ice or, preferably, small hunks of block ice (see “ice pick” on the packing list). Keep all ice contained, thus preventing the bottom of your cooler from filling with treacherous water.

Another idea: make soup or sauce at home, freeze in screw-top  plastic container (the snap top kind may leak), and pack in your cooler. You’ll conserve ice while freeing up more camping time for lazing around.

Beverage Cooler

Always bring a separate cooler for beverages. This is particularly important if you’re hanging out with beer-drinking buddies who open the cooler every five minutes. If you keep your coolers segregated, you’ll conserve ice and prevent your food from getting rifled. You’ll want to buy ice for your drink cooler from the get-go, but add a couple of frozen water bottles to make it last longer.

Cooler Packing List: 

2 coolers

3 frozen water bottles

2 large plastic jars of frozen water

extra Tupperware for leftovers

ice pick

Permanent Portable Camp Kitchen

Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean you should resort to savagery and subsist exclusively on burnt hot dogs. Camping can be a fun time to do some leisurely cooking. (Tip from a pro: Everyone will be way more impressed with your culinary talents because people have lower standards when camping.) To save the headache of packing, keep a trunk or storage bin packed with a summer camp kitchen, including cooking oil and a box of spices. (You don’t need to spend a ton of money on this–most of these items can be found at yard sales or in your own overstocked home kitchen.)

A note on plates:

I try to be environmentally conscious, but dishes can get out of control if you’re camped in a spot with limited facilities. For larger groups I go with paper boats, which are sturdier, easier to balance, and more versatile than paper plates. You can get a good deal on a huge stack at Cash-and-Carry or another restaurant supply place. Or you can order online (they also have an unbleached version).

Other cool equipment:

1. This koozie is at once functional and pleasingly stealthy.
2. If you’re keeping your eggs in the cooler (a good idea if there’s wild animals around), consider this egg case, which is far superior to a disintegrating egg carton.
3. Luci solar lights are small, lightweight, waterproof, and put out a lot of light. Bonus: save on batteries.
4. I haven’t tried this particular model, but stretchy camp chairs are the best. (The more chairs you have the fewer people will be sitting on your beer cooler.)
5. Kitchen scissors are great if want to avoid dirtying your cutting board.

Ultimate packing list:

barbecue tongs

tinfoil

kitchen scissors

paper towels

heavy-duty Ziploc bags

heavy-duty garbage bags

plastic bin for washing dishes

folding dish rack and/or towel for drying dishes

dish soap

scrubby

2 large frying pans

large cook pot

cutting board

coffee cone

coffee filters

mugs

metal cups

paper boats

Tupperware bowls

extra-large Tupperware for mixing and/or salad

colander

2 decent knives

2 small cutting boards

forks and spoons

2 spatulas

large metal spoon

camp stove

lighter

ice pick

can opener

wine/bottle opener

salt

pepper

spices

cooking oil

drink koozies

pot holder

dish towel

optional (if you’re fancy):

vegetable peeler

cheese grater

kettle

cast iron dutch oven

food tents to keep the flies away

small cooler specifically for drink ice

cocktail shaker

simple syrup

bitters

The post Packing the Ultimate Camp Kitchen appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

It’s been said that a truck should come only in one of two forms: filthy and covered in mud, or totally spotless. Mud is a reminder of all the fun you had the other day, but holy crap it is hard to clean off the mud from your undercarriage (especially clay). And don’t get me started about your camping gear in the bed of your truck. It’s downright maddening trying to clean some of your gear when it gets covered in dirt and grime.

Inevitably someone comes up with the idea of wrapping their gear in black garbage bags, or to cover it in tarps with an inordinate amount of tie-downs to keep gear clean and dry. At best in that moment you look like a hillbilly headed to the county landfill. After a few miles the wind begins beating against your precious protective layer of garbage bag and tarp, suddenly a tie-down slips and your tarp begins flapping in the wind like an oversized super hero cape and starts fraying and falling apart. I know we all enjoy the idea of having a Superman cape that allows us to fly off to rescue Lois from the maniacal Lex Luthor, but your truck doesn’t need to look like a poor man’s homage to the Man of Steel with a tarp flapping in the wind.

No, I am not suggesting that you sacrifice valuable truck bed real estate by putting on a gaudy shell that makes you look like you wish you bought an SUV or (gasp) a family van instead of a manly man’s vehicle. No self-respecting man wants to look like that. He wants to throw his gear and motorcycle in back and ride in triumph down the street in glory with ladies turning their heads to behold his magnificence.

Enter the Tuff Truck Bag and ride with confidence knowing that your gear will stay dry and secure. The Tuff Truck Bag has solved all of those little annoying nuances associated with transporting your gear around while keeping it clean, dry, and out of view from prying eyes (for that day that you are hauling around a mountain of cash and don’t want anyone to know that you just robbed a bank).

I have been testing this bag all season to make sure I can weigh in properly and give an unbiased opinion on whether or not you should spend your hard earned cash on an enormous bag. And here are the highlights:

Hits
• All my gear stayed clean and dry.
• The bag has enough space to hold a large tent, a few sleeping bags, a stove, air mattress, lantern, and a couple small duffle bags.
• The zippers are sturdy and don’t feel like they will slip.
• PVC material is strong and didn’t rip when I threw a log on top.
• Strong corner D-rings allow for secure rigging.

Misses
• The opening is a little small and awkward to get my gear into. This was a bit frustrating when trying to push my gear to the back of the bag.
• The beige bag looks pretty dirty after a couple uses. More color options would be nice (real men want camo!).
• Rolling the bag up to store is frustrating as the included storage bag is small and flimsy.

Opportunities
• Create an additional opening on the opposite end for easier access.
• Provide a better storage bag that will stand up to abuse.
• Add a little more length to the bag to allow for more capacity.

Overall, I think this is a great idea that will keep my gear in great shape for years to come. The Tuff Truck Bag really stands up to its name and has withstood several beatings that my canvas truck bag would have failed on immediately. There are some opportunities for improvement on design, but the product is rock-solid and will serve you well for many seasons to come. Farewell Superman truck! Check them out for more information, or at least to watch what happens when a person climbs inside and goes through a car wash!

The post Dirt Don’t Hurt… But it is Nice to Keep it Off of Your Gear appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

At first glance, it’s the same vehicle as the 2015 Subaru Forester. That’s because it is. It’s basically a carry over with the exception of a few details. The exterior is the same, with the identical front fascias for both the 2.0 and 2.5 liter respectively. The inside follows suite. The biggest difference to previous year’s Forester is the center stack and the 4.3 inch screen which is now on the top. The 2.5 has it as standard, with the accompanying backup camera.

The interior of this generation Forester is a large improvement from the old one. The materials are much nicer, the fit and finish is better and overall, you don’t get that cheap feeling like you did before. Granted, it’s still not as good as some of its Japanese and especially European competitors but it more than makes up for with capabilities. Elsewhere, you have a 60/40 split for the rear seats and 74.7 cubic feet of space in total. The rear area alone offers 34.4 cubic feet.

The hood can house two different engines, depending on what you spec your Forester with. The 2.5 liter four-cylinder Boxer engine (horizontally opposed) develops 170 hp and 174 lb-ft of torque. It’s available with a six-speed manual and a CVT. Anyone who’s ever driven a car with a CVT will know to avoid it unless it’s a Lexus. We strongly suggest you take the manual. It’s more involving and enjoyable, even with the task of changing gears yourself in daily driving.

Weirdly, if you want more power you’re going to have to go for the turbocharged 2.0 liter flat-four. It develops an astonishing 250 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, a big power increase over the 2.5 liter unit. Get ready to have your bubble bursted however: it’s not available with a manual. Ah Subaru, why must you do this?

Still, you get the excellent Symmetrical all-wheel drive system like on most Subarus. In our opinion it’s one of the best all-wheel drive systems out there, and a big part of why Subaru is so great. It allows the Forester to be more than just a road car. It will by no means fill in the role of an F-150 Raptor for instance, but it will be more than enough for 90% of the people who buy it. Occasional of roading is not a challenge, but it does have its limits. All in all, a great purchase for what it is.

The post The Subaru Forester is more than a road car appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Firstly, there’s the leather-bound journal. This essential piece of kit has been logging notes an ideas of philosophers, sea captains, and explorers for centuries. But the journal that’s included does little good without a free-flowing writing instrument, and here a simple Bic or pen you stole from the Post Office just won’t do. Bespoke includes a wonderfully-analog fountain pen in their kit, and it lets your ideas flow through your hand to the paper as quickly and freely as air.

What else speeds up inspiration? An adult beverage. Good thing there’s a heavy-duty bottle opener included. And after you’ve drunk yourself to Dali levels of imagination, you could easily find yourself wandering off and encountering a bear of three. You’ll have your liquid courage to defend yourself, but even better is the Opinel Knife who’s design dates back to 1897. I’m sure it’s killed a few bears in all that time.

Even if you don’t make it out alive, at least your last days will have been recorded beautifully with everything that comes with the Bespoke Post Frontier box. I take this kit with me on my motorcycle adventures, and is easily how some of my best writing gets recorded. You can grab one here for yourself, or just in time for Father’s Day coming up.

The post Bespoke Post Helps You Be Creative appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Packing all the features we liked before (the cool lantern mode, the easy-clean body) the XL Plus brings with it 2 crucial improvements that we were begging for last time we looked at this product. Firstly, the Plus ships with it’s own battery rather than relying on you to supply the USB power source of your choice. Sure, most outdoor enthusiasts have several battery packs laying around (I know we do!), but still I want to open a product and have everything it needs to work right there in the box! Much more importantly, the Plus now includes 3 additional magnets that allow you to hang the strand in almost any configuration. Let me explain…

The last Luminoodle we got came with two magnets – one on each extreme of its 5ft. This was convenient if you wanted to hang it up, but only if you wanted to do so in a straight line. Now with three additional magnets, each slidable down the length of the strand, allow for some really great applications. Our favorite was in the engine bay of our project car. With this 10ft rope light, we were able to completely surround the engine bay rather than a single directional light source. This made finding parts and adjusting connections a breeze, and is going to quickly become a feature I can’t remember how I lived without it.

The Luminoodle XL Plus picks up where its predecessor left off and runs it all the way to the goal line. This is the perfect trifecta of a great working product, a great looking product, and a great startup company that only you are cool enough to know about. All kudos to the Power Practical team, they are on a run and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

The post The Perfect Outdoor Rope Light appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

And so it is that The Bet came to pass. Because my friend Gary and I share the same broken definition of friendship, we mostly bond over competing with one other over just about everything. Women, businesses, supermarket bills – it doesn’t matter. We’re like those old men you can find in the dark corners of any horse track who will and do bet on absolutely anything. Gary and I cannot be in the same room and not attempt to declare superiority of something or another. And then recently Gary had an idea:

What if we picked an extreme sport that neither of us had ever done, practice it for a year, then compete to see who is better at it? The winner is the best man for all time.

What a beautifully simple idea. It had the right amount of possible danger, adventure, and finality to it to firmly capture my interest. I agreed in principle, and we spent the next few weeks throwing absurd ideas like squirrel-suit sky diving and moose-wrangling back and forth. That is until one day when Gary came up to me with the same excitement in his eyes that he generally reserves for Mrs. Field’s ice cream sandwiches.

Offroad motorcycling. Overland backwoods trails stuff, getting from point A to point B without roads. Let’s do that!

Now is the point where I let you know that Gary has never been on a motorcycle, while I’ve ridden for years and owned several. My immediate answer was “YES” is what I’m saying. If he wanted to run this whole bet on something I already out-experience him on, so be it. To be fair, I had never taken a bike further offroad than a parking lot, but seeing as how he would have to learn how to ride a motorcycle before he ever touched dirt gave me a very confident feeling. Game on.

If you’ve been paying attention to FactoryTwoFour, you’ll know we bought an offroad racing Kawasaki. That was for The Bet. Now we’re building it up to destroy poor Gary and his Yamaha. We both bought our bikes on the same weekend, roughly Aug. 22nd. That means that on Aug 22nd 2016, there will be a reckoning. Let the best man win.

The Rules of the final showdown next year:

We will each compete in a neutrally sanctioned overland timed rally.

Whoever has shown himself to be the most skilled rider will be declared the winner. Skill will be determined as a combination of time, route, obstacles surmounted, and general bad-assery

2-wheels only – no sidecars/Urals

No passengers

Assistance from bystanders or each other is acceptable

If either party does not have a working machine at the time of the rally, it is the other man’s decision as to whether to postpone or declare an automatic loss.

Bike’s can be outfitted/traded in any way as the owner sees fit

Click here for Part 2 and our first major foray off the pavement - I promise 
it was painful for both of us...

The post The Bet – Overland Motorcycling Pt 1 appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

We decided we had seen enough of Grand Teton and given how big Yellowstone is we had to go back in there and find a new environment to set up our camp. We took the tent down and packed the car ready to head to Canyon Village. We bought whiskey and drove back through the gate to Yellowstone straight to Canyon and pitched the tent all over again. On the way, though, we saw a sign for “Mud Volcano” so we made a quick pit stop there. It’s a super strange and interesting mud pit, full of boiling hot water from the lava deep underground which apparently has been steaming and boiling for hundreds of years.

Once we got to Canyon campground and settled in we left to hike the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Oh, did I mention how many giant ravens call Yellowstone home? They’re everywhere, and they’re as big as chickens.

Anyway, we go to Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon (please don’t confuse this with The Grand Canyon in Arizona), and it’s seriously hypnotizing.

And the waterfalls at the canyon are HUGE.

And they’re beautiful.

The hikes at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone were plenty to keep us busy for the whole day, and we went back to Canyon campground before dark to build a fire and prepare for the next day.

Day 6 – August 29

We wake up a head out to a tiny village called Mammoth (with a population of about 300), with plans to stop at some geysers on the way. However, it’s important to note that Yellowstone is covered by burnt forest. That’s right, most of the forest there is burnt to a crisp from a seriously major wildfire in 1988 that burned just about all of it down. So along most roads we saw burnt trees like these:

We stopped in a valley covered by geysers with this scary little sign at the entrance:

Upon entering, we see water basins, pits and geysers – all of which are bursting with hot steam. The ground is too hot to walk on so there are narrow boardwalks for people to stay on without burning themselves. Any water we saw in this area was boiling hot and would seriously scald anyone who dares touch it. Again, it feels like you’re on an alien planet at Yellowstone. It’s definitely otherworldly.

After checking out that geyser-covered valley, we continued our short journey to Mammoth. First stop on arrival: Mammoth Hot Springs. I can’t emphasize enough how much this place DOESN’T look like planet Earth. The surface is too hot for any vegetation to survive, so it mostly looks like a dead planet around here.

Other parts glisten in the sun by a thin layer of scalding hot water flowing down.

And the rest of the Mammoth Hot Springs is in a terrace-like hillside, too hot to touch.

Next, we went into town, in search of hot springs that people can sit in like a Jacuzzi. To get there, we had to cross through the tiny village, and there were elk EVERYWHERE in town.

Sure enough, we found our “hot tub” destination. It was a point where an extremely cold river meets a boiling hot spring from the lava underground. When the boiling hot meets the freezing cold, it’s exactly like sitting in a hot tub. So we put our swimming shorts on, grabbed the bottle of whiskey and experienced a true sense of relaxation. It was exceptional. If you are in Yellowstone, go to Mammoth and ask where the hot spring is for people to sit in. It’ll be a major highlight of your trip. Oh, and more elk…

After soaking for a couple hours in the late afternoon, we headed back to the campground and drove through Blacktail Plateau on the way.

Day 7 – August 30

One of our main goals of that week was to see wolves and bears, but it was our last day and we still hadn’t seen any. We intentionally set our alarm clocks for 5:00AM because everyone who works in Yellowstone told us the best time of day to see bears is early morning. So we went to Lamar Valley (which we heard was the ideal location to spot bears). We walked around in the early morning fog, equipped with hunting knives, bear spray and binoculars – desperately searching for dangerous animals. To our surprise, we see bald eagles in the distance, and right next to them we spot wolves – three of them. Two gray wolves and a black one. Boom. If you want to see wolves in Yellowstone, go to Lamar Valley in the morning because there are wolf dens there. But be patient and bring binoculars.

We crossed that off our bucket list and continued bear hunting. After a couple hours and no luck, we gave up and went back to the campsite to cook up a meal.

During the entire week, the Ancient Aliens blessed us with perfect weather, so when we arrived back to the tent and it started to downpour with thunder and lightning, we couldn’t complain. We were really tired anyway, so we did our best to start a fire and cook in the rain, then retreated to the tent and took a nap. It was our only shelter.

After a long nap, we woke up and miserably took the tent down, packed our suitcases to prepare for the flight the next morning, and packed the Subaru. We had to leave some stuff behind, like our cooler. However, there is a store relatively close to the park that will ship items home for you at a low price. It’s called Send It Home and they’ll treat you right. Once the car was packed, we drove a couple hours back to Bozeman, but not without saying good-bye to one last elk.

During the ride back, we we discussed how it was really unfortunate that we never saw a bear. And in the middle of that conversation, we spotted a huge black bear galloping at full speed along the road beside us. Then it sprinted it off into the woods. Our mission was officially complete.

We arrived in Bozeman around 10PM, so we decided to kill time by seeing “As Above, So Below” at the movie theater. Despite the shitty ratings, I actually really enjoyed that movie and I definitely recommend it. Go see it for some serious entertainment. When the movie was over, we entered the airport and snapped back to reality.

The post 7 Days In Yellowstone National Park: Part Two appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Day 1 – August 24

My alarm clock sounds off at 3:30AM, just as I wanted it. I woke up after an hour of sleep. The evening before was David’s annual family party, LobsterFest 2k14, so I’ll sum up that moment with a quote from the original G-Funk pioneer, Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, we can better relate to:

“Woke up early in the mornin’ man
Runnin’ kinda’ late I gotta’ catch my plane
Feelin’ kinda’ funny from the weed and thangs’
Kinda’ glad I woke up so I can’t complain.”

I ran upstairs and guzzled water as the clouds in my mind cleared up and my brain rebooted. I knew I had a long journey ahead of me. I grabbed my Puma gym sack and double-checked to make sure I had everything I needed to carry on the plane. The rest of our supplies were already packed in Shawn’s car we were taking to the airport in Burlington, Vermont. I ran outside in the pitch black to see David and Shawn already at the car, looking through their luggage one last time before driving to the airport. Satisfied, we hopped in the car and were off.

Our connection flight from Burlington to Chicago to Bozeman, Montana is a sleep-deprived, hungover blur.

Boom. We arrive in Bozeman at 10:30AM, local time. We hustled to the car rental booths and picked up a 2013 Subaru Outback for the week, shoved our bags in it and started our 2-hour drive to Yellowstone. Along the way we stopped at a grocery store and stocked our cooler full of food (and beer) to last the week.

Upon arriving at Yellowstone vehicles have to drive through an entrance gate that is hauntingly similar to driving through customs at the Canadian border. The entrance fee for a week is $25 per car, or $50 for the whole year, which is super cheap. Just remember to keep your pass in the glove box if you want to leave the park or else they’ll make you pay again to come back in (which we learned the hard way). We paid, entered and felt victorious and ecstatic that the commute was over and we were finally in the park. Immediately after entering, we see bison along the road.

We stop to get a closer look at the bison then continue to Bridge Bay to pitch our Kelty tent, set up our supplies and cook a quick meal over a fire before exploring the area. Once we ate and packed a lunch, we set out for the remainder of the day to see otherworldly geysers and water basins of boiling hot water. (Yellowstone sits on top of North America’s largest supervolcano, waiting to erupt at any moment.) If you think geysers and water basins are boring, check them out at Yellowstone and think again. Entering Yellowstone park is like landing on an alien planet.

When dusk hit, we hurried back to the tent, made a fire with our Zippo Outdoor gear and cooked a pretty basic meal of chicken, potatoes and onions.

Day 2 – August 25

We wake up early, cook eggs and bacon over the fire, and pack a lunch for the day ahead.

We dressed for the weather and packed our bags with Case hunting knives and Frontiersman Bear Attack Deterrent, ready to explore the summit at over 10,000 feet known as Avalanche Peak. Of course, on our way to Avalanche Peak, we see wildlife along the road – this time they aren’t bison, they’re very massive elk.

Once we arrive at the trail head, we hiked the 2.5-mile trail and soaked in all the glory at the summit. The strangest thing about standing at the top of that mountain is how thin the air is. At such high elevation, the oxygen level is lower than normal, so we all felt very light-headed and a little nauseous, but we sort of got used to it as the view overpowered any uneasy feelings.

After taking in the view and documenting it with our GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition, we snapped back to reality and hurried down the mountain to continue exploring the land of Yellowstone. Next stop: Old Faithful. On our way there, we had really high hopes. It’s such a familiar name and just about all the images you see on a Google search make it out to be a geyser that jets a stream of water 150 feet in the air. Unfortunately, though, we arrived to see a weak cloud of steam pathetically rolling out of a sorry excuse for a pit in the Earth’s crust.

Old Faithful was a flop, so we promptly left to see the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is the largest hot spring in the United States. It’s a giant water basin of scalding hot water and what’s truly amazing about it is the color – the water in the center is sky blue with an outer ring of turquoise, and a second ring of yellow, then orange and red. It’s easy to see from above, but we could only see it from the walkway next to it, but it’s still impressive.

We spent the rest of the day gathering dry wood to make fires for food. And for those who would rather not hunt and gather wood, there are a few small shops in Yellowstone that will sell small bundles of firewood for $8 each.

Day 3 – August 26

We packed up the tent and all the supplies. It was time to find a new campground and we decided to explore Grand Teton National Park. It’s located right outside Yellowstone. On the way there we stopped at a small, yet famous, waterfall known as Lewis Falls.

Then we finally arrived at our new location to pitch the tent and settle in for a couple nights: Jenny Lake. If I can recommend anywhere to camp in Grand Teton, I would have to say Jenny Lake. Being there is really inspiring in itself. We chose a secluded area near the lake, made a fire and pitched the tent so that everything would be ready before dark.

With everything setup we decided to visit a small western community called Moose in Wyoming we had heard about. It’s very close to the campground and we spotted restaurant called The Pizza Pasta Company in a resort known as Dornans. It’s a really cool spot for a [relatively] cheap pitcher of local beer and great food. (Might I recommend the Nachos? It has bison in it.) And you can sit on the roof of the restaurant for an amazing view of the mountain range. With our bellies content with nourishment and our minds boozed-up we headed back to the campground to prepare for the night ahead. Did I mention how beautiful and inspiring Jenny Lake is?

Day 4 – August 27

We wake up, rush to make a fire, gobble down breakfast, pack our bags and set out to explore the mountain trails. After glancing at a map we decided to trek our way up to Inspiration Point, which is on a mountain by Jenny Lake. Immediately upon leaving we spot deer that have absolutely no fear of humans whatsoever.

We begin the hike.

On the way up we see a rocky slope covered with dozens of Pika. Soon after we come across a waterfall.

And then another waterfall…

After about an hour we finally reach Inspiration Point, and although the view is gorgeous, I expected more from the grandeur of its name.

After resting at the top of Inspiration Point, we started our trek back down the mountain, only this time our good friend David was in a reckless state-of-mind and skipped the designated trail. Instead, he decided to scale the mountainside and beeline directly to the bottom. Just remember that this land has been virtually untouched by humans so the mountain is steep, rocky and super dangerous (to say the least). Nonetheless, Shawn and I foolishly followed suit without any rock-climbing equipment and worn-out sneakers.

However, toward the bottom of the mountain we were rewarded with a close-up encounter with a massive moose, so the perilous hike straight down suddenly seemed worth the risk…

After thanking the Ancient Aliens for keeping the moose from trampling me, we hurried back to the tent to pack our bags for an adventure to the very small town of Jackson Hole to go rafting down Snake River. Our specific destination: Teton Whitewater. This is a place where they take groups of people on guiding rafting tours down Snake River, and we loved it. The staff there is super friendly and informative. After the hour-long raft journey down the river, we asked where we could eat great food in Jackson Hole and they recommended we try (very surprisingly) Thai food. Apparently Thai food is one of the most popular dishes in Jackson Hole, so we went to the most reputable restaurant appropriately named Thai Plate. The pad Thai is amazing and the price is right. If you’re ever in the Jackson Hole area, this restaurant is a must – and it’s BYOB!

We ended the night by building a fire, reclining our Kelty camping chairs all the way back, and staring at the stars. Maybe it’s because the high elevation, but for some reason the stars out there look bigger and brighter than I’ve ever seen. And there seems to be A LOT more stars out. We heard that Jenny Lake is one of the best places in the country to star gaze.

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