Sockwa - The Ideal Slackline Shoes - Review

A few weeks ago I grew tired of watching TV every night, and wanted something to do localy outdoors. Believe it or not, Midland isn’t an outdoor friendly town. We have a few city parks, but nothing that offers decent outdoor recreation. So in an effort to stay active outdoors I took up slacklining...and I’m hooked.

Sockwa The Ideal Slackline Shoe

There’s only one problem...Stickers. Midland is over-run with stickers. Which makes slacklining barefoot (the best, and preferred way to slackline) impossible. So I set out to find a good pair of slackline shoes. Which was my next problem. There jsut isn’t much information out there about good slacklining shoes. Nor is their much info on what type of shoe works best. I even went in to ask the experts at REI, everyone told me to go barefoot, when I explained my problem...they had nothing to offer.

Sockwa The Ideal Slacklining Shoe

It was about this time in my search that @SockwaSlack began following me on Twitter. Their tagline stated “Sockwa is a new breed of natural footwear...Ideal for slackliners.” With a little research I found out Sockwa produces a unique type of minimalist/barefoot shoe, which they claim has the “thinnest sole possible”, allowing for “maximum tactility and natural foot movement.” It is the closest thing to going barefoot possible. I decided to contact Sockwa and see if I could give them a try.

The incredibly thin sole on the Sockwa G2. Pefrect for Slacklining

After almost a month of slacklining in my G2 Sockwas, I am a believer. Nothing compares to the feel of Sockwa on the slackline. The difference between my Merrell Bare Access 2 (also in the Minimalist/Barefoot category) and the sockwa’s are night and day, especially on the slackline. The sockwas really feel just like going barefoot. Possibly even better.

The Difference between my Merrell Bare Access 2s and the Sockwas is night and day

The Sockwas allow me to feel and conform my foot to the line while also providing just the right amount of added traction. I can walk over stickers, sticks, and more without hurting my feet, they are small and flexible (more like a sock then a shoe), and feel great with or without socks. I have to agree with Sockwa, they really are “Ideal for slackliners.”

Sockwa The Ideal Slackline Shoe

If you are looking for a great pair of slacklining shoes, I encourage you to give Sockwa a try. You can purchase straight through their website, or you can use the links below to support MyLifeOutdoors. (I earn a small commission on every sale.)

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Capitan Mountains Wilderness NM - Backpacking in the True Wild - Lincoln National Forest

Sometimes I think we forget why we call it a Wilderness. The land is wild. In some of the more frequented wilderness’ in america the land can seem tame. This is not the case with the Capitan Wilderness of the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. This small little wilderness situated just north of Ruidoso NM has almost been forgotten if not abandoned by the forest service. Which makes this wilderness quite a bit more wild than others I have hiked in.

A view from near the top of Capitan Wilderness NM

The entrance to Capitan Wilderness

A good friend wanted to take a trip, and I hardly like to go to the same place twice. The small Captain wilderness has always intrigued me so I planned a two night trip up to Capitan Ridge and back.

We set off late in November heading up the Pierce Canyon Trail (T61). I was a little worried about water sources since most of the southwest is still suffering from a terrible drought. But my fear was misguided, before long we heard the wonderful sound of trickling water coming down the canyon. We stopped to fill up and eat a little lunch before heading up to the ridge. This was just the first leg of a large loop we had planned. Little did we know, the Wilderness had other plans.

One of the only still standing trail signs we found.

We welcomed this small stream, it was the only water we found.

Just past our lunch stop the forest opened into a huge burned out area from a fire not long ago. The trail crosses the stream, switchbacks once up the canyon, and continues along the east facing slope of Pierce Canyon. We, however, didn’t go that way. Where we ate lunch must be where most people turn around, because it was the last time we were certain of the trail. From there on to the ridge the trail is very faint and even misleading. My friend and I continued along the canyon bottom looking for signs (any signs) of a trail. It wasn’t until heading out that we finally found the original trail and could see how far off we were on our trip up.

Large burnt out area from a recent fire. The trail is like this most of the way. Look for rock cairns (like the one on the left of this photo) to help you find the trail. 

Haveing lost the trail we encountered numerous downed trees and large boulders making the hike slow going. We eventually found a rock cairn on the western facing slope of the Canyon. When or where the trail switches to the other side...I still don’t know. We managed to stay on the trail for awhile thanks to a few well placed rock cairns. As we neared the top we lost sight of the trail again. I decided to pull out my GPS and see if it could help us. It was no use, even when the gps said we were dead on, we could find no sign of the trail. No problem, we knew we eventually wanted to camp on the upper ridge, so we planned to continue to climb until we ran out of mountain.

A view over the west ridge. 

Crossing the narrow stream

The actual trail does some funny things here. It wasn’t until coming down that I was able to determine its actual path (or at least most of it) It does not do what is shown on the map or GPS. According to my Guide Book for the Lincoln National Forest, the area is so little used that the forest service only comes out once every two years to clear downed trees. As I said before, it seems the forest service has completely abandoned the area. When we could find the trail, downed trees (probably made worse by the recent fire) made the trail almost impassible in places. It was truly a wild place.

We encountered frequent downed trees like this both on and off the trail.

It seems the forest service has done zero maintenance since the fire. We barely saw this sign laying among the rocks, luckily we weren't in need of this trail junction. 

We eventually made it to the ridge and set up camp right on top. We had originally planned to summit Capitan Peak, but the state of the trails made any progress almost impossible. Instead we enjoyed a quite dinner by the camp fire with amazing views.

View from the highest ridge. 

By morning we were running low on water. Not wanting to risk dried up water sources, nor see the state of other trails (they could have been worse). We decided to go back to last water we had seen, camp one more night down low and head out in the morning. Going down we were able to find the trail where it had lost us in our journey up. But even then it was elusive. There is one large cairn next to an old burnt out tree stump that marks a huge switchback in the trail. This rather large switchback is not indicated on the map, or GPS. Look for the Carin in the picture below (it is easy to miss) and head southwest up to the ridge before turning back north. You will save yourself a lot of trouble.

This rock carin stack against the tree stump is your ticket to staying on the trail. It is easy to miss, but when you see it head southwest up to the ridge, then head back north to the main ridge.

We made it back to our original lunch spot from the day before and began looking for a campsite. My friend was having a little trouble with one of his hips and began to think he should head out. We were just a couple of miles from the car and decided we could eat hamburgers in town if we headed out now. We skipped the second night, which was a good idea considering the state of my friends hip over the next two miles. It seems all the ducking under trees (sometimes climbing over) had really done a number on him. The wilderness had shown us she was still in charge, we where willing to let her have her reign.

A large horned toad we found along the way.

If you plan to head out in the Captain Wilderness check with the Smokey Bear District of the Lincoln National Forest. Ask them when the last time they had trail maintenance in the area. If it is at all recent, you should be good. Otherwise, you might enjoy the nearby White Mountain Wilderness a little more. It is a little less wild.

The Hike:

Distance: 10 Miles (Round Trip)
Starting Elevation: 6571feet
Ending Elevation: 9263 feet
Elevation Change: 2692 feet
Here is a GPS (GPX file) of the Peirce Canyon Trail

Resources: 
I highly recommend the Map and Guide book featured below. The map is published by the Lincoln National Forest Service for the Capitan Mountain Wilderness. I use it extensively when hiking in the Lincoln National Forest. Purchase it through this link and help support MyLifeOutdoors.

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$500 to Summit a Mountain of Your Choice - From Post Grape Nuts Cereal

I wanted to put out a quick post about a wonderful opportunity from Post Grape Nuts. Grape Nuts is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's historic summit of Mount Everest. Apparently Sir Edmund Hillary took grape nuts along with him to the summit 60 years ago. To commemorate the anniversary, Grape Nuts is looking for a few good outdoor types to summit a local peak (of your choice) and take some new Grape Nuts Fit Cereal samples with you. If you apply (and are selected) Grape Nuts will send you a free High Sierra daypack, a summit flag, and some sample cereal, bowls and spoons to hand out on the summit. If you take a picture of your trip and send it back to Grape Nuts, they will give you $500 cash. Not a bad deal.

I applied to be a Summit Sampler myself. This is how it works. You have until April 19th to apply to be a Summit Sampler. If selected you get the gear and summit the mountain indicated in your application on or around May 29th (the actual anniversary of Hillary's Everest Summit). Take a picture of your trip, and you get $500 cash. Follow the link here to apply, I hope to see you on the summit with some Grape Nuts in hand.

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Washing Down Sleeping Bags and Jackets

If you spend anytime in the backcountry, chances are you own some down gear. Down sleeping bags and jackets are lightweight, incredibly warm, and super compressible. Just like everything else, down gear gets dirty (and smelly) and needs to be washed. But down gear is so delicate and expensive, that washing it is a little more complicated than just throwing it in with the rest of your laundry.

I’m going to focus on how to wash two different types of Gear. A down jacket, and a down sleeping bag. The jacket’s tag has wash instructions, and yours may too, be sure to check the washing instructions before washing any gear. My down sleeping bag on the other hand, has no instructions. So lets tackle it first.

Down Detergent.

As I mentioned before down is expensive, delicate, high end gear. To keep it protected you want to avoid standard washing detergents. Be sure to use a specialized down detergent like Down Wash from Nixwax. And since we don’t have washing instructions we are going to avoid the potentially harmful motion of the washing machine. Nixwax suggests hand washing in the bath tube, which is what we are going to do. Wash your Down Sleeping Bag in the Bath Tub. Fill the bath tub about 2-3 inches deep and add 3 ounces of down wash. Don’t use too much water or the detergent will be too diluted. Soak your down bag in the tub and gently agitate it by hand. Be sure to use gloves to keep the harmful detergents away from your skin. My sleeping bag was too large to be completely submerged in the water so I gently flipped, rotated, and turned the bag inside out to make sure it was completely washed. Be sure to properly support a wet down bag when flipping or moving. Wet down can be so heavy it will rip straight through the bags baffles. Once the bag is sufficiently clean be sure to rinse with fresh water. Continue to rinse until the water runs clear.

Nikwax Down Wash

Wash You Down Bag in the Bath Tub

Nikwax Down Wash instruction Label

Dry your Down Bag. 

Once again, wet down can be so heavy it will rip your bags baffles. For this reason we don’t want to throw the bag in the dryer. Being sure to properly support your wet down bag lay it out flat somewhere to air dry. To do this I laid three kitchen chairs on their backs and draped the bag across the legs. I threw some towels underneath to catch dripping water. With this method the bag is properly supported and exposed to air on all sides. It took all night for my bag to dry. Periodically I would flip or turn the bag inside out to allow it to dry a little quicker. Once the bag was mostly dry I went ahead and threw it in the dryer along with a couple of tennis balls. The tennis balls help fluff and break up clumps of down inside the bag. Be sure to set the dryer on “low” or “air only” to keep from melting the shell.

I laid 3 kitchen chairs on their backs over a couple of towels to dry my down bag.

Throw in a couple of clean tennis balls to brake up down clumps

Store your Bag Uncompressed. 

It’s not good for down to stay compressed for long periods of time. The stuff sack that came with your bag should only be used when you are on the trail. When your at home store your bag in a large cotton sack. I use a cotton storage sack made by Kelty specifically for this purpose.

Down Sleeping Bag stored in a cotton sack

Down Sleeping Bag stored in a cotton storage sack. I use this sack made by Kelty

Wash Your Down Jacket. 

The down jacket is a little bit easier. With smaller baffles it is less likely wet down will rip through the seems. The jackets label allows for front loading washing machines which are pretty common these days. I followed the label on the Jacket along with the Nixwax instructions.

Washing Instructions for my down jacket. 

Clean Out Your Detergent Dispenser. 

Probably the hardest part of washing down in a washing machine is cleaning out the detergent dispenser. Standard detergents can be harmful to your down gear, so you don’t want any residue mixing in with the down wash. I pulled the detergent drawer completely out and took it to the kitchen sink for a good washing. I had to scrub old detergent out of the despiser with a brillow pad making sure to clean even the hard to reach places. I then went back to the machine and cleaned out the path the detergent flows down to get into the wash. Once it was sufficiently clean, I tossed my down jacket in by its self and pored 3 ounces of down wash in the dispenser. I made sure the washer was set for cold water, gentle cycle with minimal spin cycles.

I cleaned out the detergent dispenser in the kitchen sink

Make sure to use cold water, and low spin.

Drying your Down Jacket

After the washing machine the down jacket came out mostly dry. (probably due to the spin cycle.) The instructions allowed for a drying in a dryer and so I threw the jacket in with a couple of tennis balls. A little while later and the jacket was dry and smelling fresh.


Be sure to check your gear for specific washing instructions and read the label on your down wash. I hope your gear smells as good as mine the next time you take it out on the trail.

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Floating the Frio River, Texas

Back in October my family and I went to check out Garner State Park for the first time. Having lived in Texas all my life, it was practically a sin that I hadn't been to Garner yet. But for good reason....Garner is by far the most popular park in Texas. The one thing I hate more than anything else is crowds encroaching on my time in the outdoors.

Floating the Frio River, Texas

Our solution was to take a short river Trip down the Frio River. Even with every campsite in Garner full, no one was willing to venture the cold Frio river this late in the season. We had it all to ourselves.

My mom and dad had joined us to celebrate my Daughters 3rd birthday. I own a couple kayaks perfectly suited for Texas rivers, but needed a couple more if everyone was going to enjoy the river. I did a quick internet search and found Star Rentals just south of Garner State Park. They offer single and tandem sit on top kayaks as well as inner-tubes for paddling or floating the Frio River. We got one single and one tandem Ocean Kayak form Star Rentals. The owner, Chuck, shuttled us and the boats down the road to the put in on Country Road 350. He then took his personal truck down to the get out and left it there for us to use. Chuck and Star Rentals were very accommodating and helped make our trip a huge success. If you are in the area and looking for a good river outfitter, I highly recommend Star Rentals.

Star Rentals on CR 350 just south of Garner State park

Star Rentals on CR 350 just south of Garner State park

We put in at County Road 350 at the widest park of the river, which was a dead end. As it turns out the narrow, fast flowing, part of the river was the actual flow. We backtracked carrying the heavy boats 100 yards across rocky uneven terrain. When we finally got back in the boats we calmly floated about another hundred yards before running into what appeared to be a barbwire fence across the river. It turned out to just be bailing wire, but still seemed to be an unnecessary hazard. If I am correct it is illegal to stretch fences across public rivers in Texas. Had the water been flowing a little faster, it could have been a real danger. The Rest of our trip was calm and relaxing. Most of the rapids were small and fun to negotiate. The river was flowing pretty low witch required us to drag the boats in spots. There was only one major rapid which everyone but the wife and I portaged.

Fence across the Frio River

Small Dam on Frio River

My youngest sleepin on the Kayak 

A large rapid with barely enough flow to be runnable. 

The trip took about 3-4 hours total, but times are dependent on river flow. The flow for us was very low. We took out at 7 bluffs where Chuck’s truck was waiting. We loaded the kayaks into the back and headed back to Star Rentals. It was a fun, relaxing enjoyable trip for the whole family. Our next adventure was a short hike through Garner State Park...

The water was cold, but not too cold to swim. 

To get to Star Rentals from the Dallas - Ft. Worth area take I-35 South to Austin. From Austin Take US 290 West to Fredericksburg. In Fredericksburg take Hwy 16 West towards Kerrville. At I-10 turn right and go West on I-10 West to Hwy 41. Take Hwy 41 West to US Hwy 83. Take US Hwy 83 South through Leakey. Stay on US Hwy 83 South 9 miles to CR 350. Turn left on 350 and continue about 2 miles and watch for Star Rentals on the left.

From Houston take I-10 West towards San Antonio. In San Antonio as you travel west on I-10 stay to the left to remain on US Hwy 90 West. From San Antonio Take US Hwy 90 West to Sabinal. At the traffic signal in Sabinal turn right on Hwy 127. Stay left on 127 as you leave Sabinal, taking 127 to Concan. Take US Hwy 83 North at Concan to CR 350. Turn right on 350 and continue about 2 miles and just watch for Star Rentals on the left.

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