Backwoods Lake Saint Louis Setup

Hey Lake Saint Louis and Saint Louis, the new Backwoods is getting ready to open up on August 29th. Sneak peek here!

Me and my ExOfficio Insect Shield Bucket Hat from Backwoods

I love my ExOfficio Bucket hat with Insect Shield that I bought at Backwoods! 

This hat is truly amazing…I love the hat, but the insect shield is phenomenal! If you haven’t tried any of the Insect Shield products from ExOfficio, you need to check them out, Backwoods has a great selection. 

A couple of weeks ago I was camping in rain-soaked Kansas and the mosquitoes were thick.  I escaped the weekend bite-free by wearing my Insect Shield hat…which is more than I can say for my camping companions, who are now making a trip to Backwoods to check out the Insect Shield items.  The Insect Shield is odorless and works fantastic.  The insect shield will last through at least 70 washings and even longer if you don’t put it in the dryer.

Stop by Backwoods today or shop online at backwoods.com and check out the great products from ExOfficio!

Donald & Trey competing in the Bandera 100K

Backwoods & Salomon teamed up in May to give away one entry for the TransRockies Run, August 23 – 28, 2009 to one lucky team. The TransRockies Run is an exclusive 5 day, 113 mile trek from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, Colorado. (Only 150 teams are accepted to participate.) 

We received some really terrific entries and in the end Donald Rice and Trey Woods were selected as our winners to compete in the TransRockies Run. 

Here is a note from Donald as he prepares for the race that starts on Sunday…

  

 It’s less than a week away from the TransRockies Run 2009 and we, Trey and I, will be embarking in a six day journey across the Colorado Rockies. The anticipation and excitement increases daily as we get closer to race day and that energy reverberates towards our families as well. They seem to be as excited and high-strung as we are. We have planned and trained  for this race since we found out we won the contest, but with all the preparation I still have a little concern about altitude. I trained approximately at 600 feet and we will be running up to 12,000 feet. Even with this slight disadvantage, we are optimistic, motivated, and confident that we will perform beyond our capabilities and finish with our head held high.

 In our training, we tried to follow a format that simulated the race as much as possible with the exception of altitude and elevation. . We ran short maintenance runs during the week and long consecutive runs up to 20+  miles a day on the weekends. We peaked at running 76 miles per week on roads, trails, and treadmills. I cross-trained once a week which was usually a swim workout up to a mile. I also did an overnight trip at a local state park to get used to running and sleeping on a sleeping pad. It took discipline, sacrifice, and motivation to train for this event and the end result is that we have now the confidence to toe-the-line to a race that will test our physical and mental fortitude for six continuous days in an arena that is majestic, yet rugged and dangerous.

 

 I would like to thank most my wife for her never ending support, family and friends for their positive encouragement, and especially Backwoods for their gracious support and more importantly for providing two average guys the opportunity to accomplish a once in a lifetime adventure!

 

 Thank you!

~ Donald Rice

 

 

 

I recently returned from a trip to Peru, where, along with three of my good friends, we spent four days walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Two of my friends planned the excursion as part of their 5 week trek through South America so I really had no say in choosing an outfitter. (more…)

What a great OR show! The industry was upbeat and the show was very busy. Saw some new, cool products for Spring 2010. Trail running is a very big push for the industry and it shows – many vendors with many products for that sport. Montrail introduced their new trail running line, Osprey introduced their new hydration packs – Hydraulics – that looked terrific and have some very solid technology behind them, and many vendors had a solid line up of trail running attire. Kor has a very trendy looking water bottle where part of the proceeds go to various water “causes” around the world which is a great idea, and the Nau brand is looking stellar with a trendy but outdoor look. All in all, consumers have some great things to look for in 2010!