King’s Travel Travel
Nov. 28, 2020
Colorblind Tourists in Tennessee Can Take in the Fall Foliage With These Viewfinders
pg. 9
The man who hiked it all pg. 6
The road taken pg. 14 The 11 best pairs of fleecelined leggings for winter travel pg. 20
CONTENT 04.
How to Power Your Electronic Devices in the Backcountry
06.
The Man Who Hiked it All
10.
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Colorblind Tourists in Tennessee Can Take in the Fall Foliage With These Viewfinders
13. How to Winterize Your Car for All Weather Conditions
14.
THE ROAD TAKEN
18. America’s Best and Most Beautiful Winter Hikes
20.
The 11 Best Pairs of Fleece-lined Leggings for Winter Travel
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How to Power Your Electronic Devices in the Backcountry Ryan Wichelns
Jul 16, 2020
From cell phones to GPS devices to headlamps, rechargeable electronics are becoming increasingly common on the trail. Stay powered with this strategy guide.
For better or worse, hikers are relying more and more on electricity when they head outside, especially on long treks. Cell phones are replacing dedicated cameras and GPS units. USB-rechargeable headlamps are becoming the norm. Keeping satellite communicators functional can be a matter of life and death. Inevitably, though, batteries need recharging, and determining the most efficient way to do so can be a headache. Follow the guide below to easily determine how best to juice your devices in the wilderness. 1. Determine your power needs. Make a list of all the electronics you plan to carry—phones, fitness watches, cameras, GPS units, satellite communicators, headlamps, and the like. Consider how often your devices run out of juice with normal use. For example, note whether or not you generally drain your phone every day and need to recharge its full capacity, or if you only use about half the battery every day. Once you have your list, do some research to find out how much power each battery holds, in Watt-hours (Wh). For devices that let you pull the battery out, like a headlamp, this number is often printed right on the battery itself. You can also peruse user manuals or online specifications. If you can’t remove the battery of your device and can’t find the battery capacity in Watt-hours, you might find a number listed as the mAh, or milliamp-hours instead. Divide this number by 1000 to get the amp-hours, then multiply by the voltage of the device (for smaller electronics, this is generally 3.7 or 3.8, but for larger ones, you might need to research that number as well). That final total is your Watt-hours.
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2. Find the right power pack. The Watt-hours number for each battery—which indicates how much power a battery holds—tells you how much electricity it will take to go from a completely dead battery to a full one. From here, estimate how many times you expect to recharge each item during your trip, and the percentage of that battery you’ll need to juice up. For example, if you expect to use 75 percent of your phone’s battery each day on a three-day trek, you’ll start with a full charge and need to recharge it twice before the end of the trip. Multiply the product’s Watt-hour capacity by the number of times you plan to recharge it and you’ll end up with a Watt-hour number that is the total amount of power you’ll need to recharge that device during your trip. In this case, the battery is 11.91 Wh and you’ll use up 8.9 Wh (75 percent) each day. If you’re hoping to recharge it back to 100 percent each night, you’ll need to carry a battery bank with no less than 17.8 Wh to keep your phone fully juiced at the start of each day on the trail. Your phone it likely not the only thing you need to recharge, though. Follow the steps above for each device and add all the required charging powers to come up with a total amount of power you’ll need to carry with you. Then, pick a power source that has enough Watt-hour capacity to cover your needs. For shorter trips, on which a phone is really all you need, the myCharge Adventure H20 3350 ($30; 3.2 oz.) has just enough power (about 16.75 Wh) to top you off, without taking up any more pack space than is necessary. On longer adventures, the Goal Zero Venture 30 ($100; 8.8 oz.), with its 29 Watt-hour capacity, is enough to keep a handful of devices going for days. 3. For bigger power needs, go solar. If your power needs are greater than any small, portable power bank can cover, adding a solar panel to your kit is the next step. Solar panels are rated in Watts produced in perfect conditions, i.e. full and constant sunlight. However, because those conditions are rare, you should assume you’ll only get a portion of that wattage over the course of a day. As a rough guide, setting the panel up in camp without regularly aiming it at the sun will provide two-thirds of the rated wattage. If you’re planning on clipping the panel to your pack and hiking with it, expect to only get 50 percent of its full capacity. Use those figures as a guide to adjust the wattage of your solar panel, then divide the Watt-hour capacity of your power bank by that adjusted Wattage of the solar panel to figure out how many hours of direct sunlight will charge the power bank. For example, Goal Zero’s Nomad 7 solar panel generates 7 Watts and the brand’s Venture 30 Recharger holds 29Wh. If you plan to hook the panel to your backpack for a day, you may only receive 3.5 watts from that panel, which means it would take a little more than 8 hours on a clear, sunny day to recharge that power bank—and longer on a cloudier day. Backpackers on the move will appreciate the size, durability, and simplicity of the Goal Zero Nomad 7 ($60; 1 lb.), which clips easily to a backpack and folds up small when it’s not in use. Basecampers posted up for longer periods of time might want to look at something larger, like the Nomad 28 Plus ($250; 3 lbs. with kickstand), to take full advantage of any available sun and charge power banks even faster.
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The Man Who Hiked it All Photographer Bart Smith, 58, has hiked nearly every mile of every National Scenic and National Historic Trail designated under the National Trails System Act. We caught up with him before his latest outing—a 3,700-mile trip on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—to talk about the hiker mind, trail magic, and seeing the elephant. Casey LyonJun
8, 2018
Casey LyonJun: How did this quest begin?
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Bart Smith: When I started the Pacific Crest Trail in 1992, I had a little hubris. I thought I’d walk and photograph the trail for a coffee table book, since there wasn’t one at the time. It took three years to do the hike, but the book [Along the Pacific Crest Trail] was well-received. So I thought, I’ve always wanted to do the Appalachian Trail. In 1998, I ran into Earl Shaffer [the AT’s first thru-hiker]. We ended up collaborating on a book called The Appalachian Trail: Calling Me Back to the Hills. After that, the Florida Trail intrigued me, partly because it was such a different environment. And from a practical standpoint, I knew there hadn’t been a book on it. Then, once I did the Ice Age Trail, I thought, Why not do all the National Scenic Trails? I got all those done by 2008, for the 40th anniversary of the National Trails System Act. In 2010, my wife, who’s my biggest supporter, asked me, “What are you going to do now?” “Well,” I answered, “there are those National Historic Trails.” The next year I started them. So it snowballed and got out of control. I don’t know if I bit off more than I can chew, but I’ve been chewing as hard as I can.
How does thru-hiking affect your approach to photography? I’m seeing the same stuff as other thru-hikers, but I take the time to stop and get the photo. I could be hungry and exhausted and looking forward to getting to camp, but I know that there could be an interesting moment if I wait around. Sometimes the best conditions for photography are when it’s about to storm. So I have to prepare for the storm, but I want to photograph it, too. Immersive is a good word to describe my approach. Thru-hiking gives me an opportunity to immerse myself in the moment and the scene and lets me be open to moments I might not have anticipated.
Do you go into each hike with a photography plan?
I try to capture the individual personality of each trail. When I came to the Appalachian Trail, I knew it would be a much different experience than the Pacific Crest Trail, which is so wide open and grandiose—whereas they don’t call the Appalachian Trail the “green tunnel” for nothing. I came to it with the mind-set that I’d be looking more at the ground cover while taking advantage of the views, of which there aren’t too many in certain parts of the trail.
What’s your favorite trail thus far?
Probably because I’m from the Northwest, it’s the Pacific Crest Trail. When I was a kid in Boy Scouts, we crossed it on a couple hikes. I remember looking south and the thought that you could walk all the way down to the Mexican border was captivating.
Do you have a trail name?
How many nights have you spent camping? Oh, boy. Let’s see. Probably four to five months per year for 20 years. So about 3,000 nights. To think about how many times I’ve put the tent up and taken it down—there are certain parts of camping that are so repetitive.
What’s your favorite time of day to walk?
The evening. Oftentimes, I will have walked 25 miles by then. I’m tired and my legs are sore, but I’m starting to notice the calmness of the evening and the smells in the breeze, and I’m just glad to be there.
What are some of your favorite moments on the trail? More often than not, they’re related to photography. On the Oregon Trail, you start walking across Kansas and Nebraska [along roads and some remnant wagon-wheel doubletrack], and you go a month without really seeing anything on the horizon. One thing I can really appreciate—and relate to the original travelers with—is the excitement you get when you come across Courthouse Rock and, in the distance, Jail Rock and Chimney Rock [near the Wyoming border]. I camped right behind Jail Rock, and that evening there was this rain squall that came out of nowhere. To walk so far without seeing anything on the horizon and finally getting to these important geological landmarks and to experience the storm behind them . . . one of the things that travelers along the Oregon Trail talked about was “seeing the elephant,” a moment of beauty that’s revealed after some kind of hardship. That was seeing the elephant.
For the last five years it has been Infinite Dust. In this day and age, it’s hard to realize how challenging it was for the pioneers heading west. Their faces would be white with dust and streaked clean where the tears fell. I’ve been in the dust, too, but not like that. It’s more of a metaphor than a reality. I don’t want to get too deep, but the one thing that’s going to live on is our dust. It’s going to become dirt and then who knows what. Maybe you’ll become another person, another animal, or another planet.
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What’s it like to live the dream? I’m kind of blessed in my way. I don’t want to give the impression that it’s all butterflies and flowers, but I’ve always loved photography, and every trail has its own personality. I just love the challenge of trying to photograph the unique characteristics of each trail. It drives me. My wife says I’m not going to be able to stop. Well, there are 1,000 or so National Recreation Trails. My wife joked about me doing that, but it’s hard to see it happening. Not unlike the elephant.
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BART SMITH’S JOURNEY ACROSS AMERICA Total Miles: 34,750
* Not a National Scenic or Historic Trail
1993Pacific Crest Trail, Mexico to 1-80 in CA (1,160 miles) Pacific Crest Trail, re-hiked High Sierra (130 miles)
1995-
1997Pacific Crest Trail, revisited multiple regions (50 miles) Appalachian Trail, remaining sections (650 miles)
1999-
2001Florida Trail, southern terminus to Perry (1,000 miles) Ice Age Trail, photoscouting (150 miles Natchez Trace Trail (445 miles)
2003 2005 2007-
- North Country Trail, three sections (3,500 miles) - Continental Divide Trail, southern half of New Mexico (250 miles) 2009 - Arizona Trail (800 miles) - New England Trail (220 miles) - Pacific Northwest Trail (1,200 miles)
- Nez Perce Trail (1,200 miles) - Trail of Tears (Cherokee Route) (850 miles) - El Camino Real de los Tejas (600 miles)
2011-
-1994 Pacific Crest Trail, Oregon border to I-80 (565 miles) -1996 Pacific Crest Trail, revisited multiple regions (200 miles) -1998 Appalachian Trail, Springer Mountain, GA to Harpers Ferry, WV and Katahdin, ME to VT/NH (1,500 miles) -2000 Appalachian Trail, revisited multiple regions (150 miles) -2002 Florida Trail, Perry to Fort Pickens (350 miles) -2004 Ice Age Trail (1,200 miles) -2006 Potomac Heritage Trail (400 miles) - North Country Trail, Wisconsin (215 miles) -2008 North Country Trail, Finger Lakes Region (400 miles) - Continental Divide Trail, remainder (2,850 miles) -2010 Continental Divide Trail, re-hiked southern Colorado (300 miles)
-2012 Oregon Trail (2,250 miles)
2013- Colorado Trail* (480 miles) - Long Trail* (270 miles) - Lost Coast Trail* (25 miles) - John Muir Trail, not concurrent with PCT* (40 miles) - Chilkoot Trail (35 miles) 2016-
- Juan Bautista de Anza (1,200 miles) - Pony Express Trail, from Salt Lake City to Fallon, NV (500 miles) - Star-Spangled Banner Trail (100 miles) - Washington-Rochambeau Route (600 miles) - Old Spanish Trail, Santa Fe to Durango (250 miles)
- Lewis and Clark Trail (3,700 miles ongoing)
-1992 Pacific Crest Trail, WA & OR (930 miles)
2018-
-2014 Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron Route (800 miles) - El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, U.S. section (400 miles) 2015 - Selma to Montgomery, during the 50th anniversary march (55 miles) - California Trail (650 miles) - Mormon Pioneer Trail (500 miles) - Ala Kahakai (180 miles) -2017 Old Spanish Trail, Durango to Los Angeles (950 miles) - The Iditarod southern section from Seward to north of Anchorage (150 miles) - Captain John Smith Chesapeake Route, sailed a section but otherwise drove, day hiked and photographed (20 miles) - Overmountain Victory Trail, both legs (330 miles)
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Colorblind Tourists in Tennessee Can Take in the Fall Foliage With These Viewfinders BY MICHELE HERRMANN OCTOBER 09, 2020
Devices alleviating red-green color deficiencies can be found at 12 outdoor locations in Tennessee.
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Photograph by: Natalie B. Compton
Photograph by: COLBLINDORGETTY IMAGES
Kent Streeb, EnChroma’s director of PR and partnerships, explained that colorblindness impacts the eyes’ photoreceptors — cells in the retina that respond to light and tell the brain what colors you see — by causing an overlap that makes them unable to distinguish shades such as red and green. “[The lenses] force a little bit more of a separation between that red and green overlap, so they’re getting a more accurate ratio of light. And then they see a broader spectrum of colors.”According to the National Eye Institute, there is no cure for colorblindness, but special lenses and contacts can help. Brian Wagner, assistant commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, said that implementing a scenic viewfinder that can showcase the state’s natural beauty seemed like a natural fit. “To know that we can take something the rest of us take for granted, and make that accessible for people who normally couldn’t see that — that just takes it to the next level,” he said.
After holding a casting call for those with colorblindness to test the devices, the first three viewfinders were installed in November 2017 at Ober Gatlinburg, a mountainside amusement park, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near Oneida, and the westbound Interstate 26 over-
look near Erwin in Unicoi County. Expanded two years later, the program now includes 12 stationary viewfinder locations statewide. Wagner anticipates that the tourism board will continue to work with EnChroma to set up additional viewfinders in more locations. The Berkeley, Cal-
ifornia, eyewear company is providing its technology to viewfinders in other states, too, with plans to add them in Sanibel Island’s J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon’s Mount Hood, and Amicalola Falls State Park in northeast Georgia.
Photographed by: Caitlin McCarthy
15-year-old Brett Stephens from Marion, Arkansas, trying the viewfinder in Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. He is amazed by all the colors.
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How to Winterize Your Car for All Weather Conditions By Madeline Diamond
October 20, 2020
Snow Brush and Ice Scraper
Snow Chains
A snow brush and ice scraper are necessities when you’re driving in winter weather. This version does double duty, but you can detach each end to use either the brush or scraper independently. Plus, an ergonomic foam handle allows you to get a solid grip on the tool while removing snow and ice.
If you’ll be driving in snowy and icy conditions, you’ll want to make sure you have snow tires, as well as snow chains on hand. This set from Security Chain is a best-seller on Amazon, and they’re easy to install, should the weather call for them.
To buy: amazon.com, $12
All-weather Wiper Blades Durable, all-weather wiper blades will make all the difference when you’re driving in rainy, snowy, or icy conditions. These blades have a bracketless design, which resists ice and snow build up, making them a solid option for use in the wintertime. To buy: amazon.com, $18
To buy: amazon.com, $87 (originally $150)
Tire Pressure Gauge Since changes in temperature can cause your tire pressure to change, you’ll want to check your pressure often. This simple tire pressure gauge is easy to use, and receives rave reviews on Amazon, making it a solid option to keep in your vehicle. To buy: amazon.com, $17
First Aid Kit A first aid kit is something you’ll want to keep in your car year-round, but it’s especially important in the wintertime. This compact kit has 120 essential pieces, and it includes everything from tweezers to bandages to disposable gloves. To buy: amazon.com, $28 (originally $40)
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The Road Taken BY: Holly Gable
Holly Gable and Angus Fulton exchanged their city life for a life on the road. Through work exchanges, they have learnt skills and knowledge on self-sufficient living and eco-building. But more than that, they have learnt about themselves, the power and contagiousness of kindness, and the profound happiness that comes through helping and sharing.
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While travelling between eco-villages in Denmark, we stumbled across The Self-Sustaining Village, and there we approached a man to ask if it would be ok if we parked and slept in their village carpark for the night. “Of course! And would you like something to eat tonight? We have a group meal at 6 pm; come along, it’s in the old farmhouse.” A little taken aback by the offer, we asked if he was sure and whether we should bring something. “It’s ok, I’ve invited you,” he replied. We arrived promptly and, sitting on one of the long bench tables in the farmhouse yard, ate a spectacular dinner of pulled pork, fresh bread, salads and chocolate cake. Nothing was asked or expected of us in return – although we hung around and helped with the washing up. In the eco-village, each family had built its own unique, experimental house: straw bale homes, wooden homes, tiny homes, container homes, entirely-recycled homes, geodesic-dome homes, no-right-angles-allowed homes, homes built inside of greenhouses... The food is communal; they grow as much as they can, each person contributing 4 hours a week to the farm, and they buy all non-grown produce wholesale as a group. Every evening at 6pm a dinner is served; it rotates as to who cooks, so on average each adult cooks once every 15 days, for 60 people. From Denmark we travelled north, approximately 2000 kilometres through Sweden and Norway, via fjords and ferries, otherworldly glaciers, and 8-kilometre long mountain tunnels, up toward the midnight sun. On Engeløya, Angel Island, Norway, we met Eva, Clive, Astrid and Odin, a Norwegian-English family of artists, designers and filmmakers, at their timber-house overlooking the harbour. Within hours of arriving, seven of us plus two dogs crammed into their little boat. Overladen, we headed off around the peninsula on an evening trip to Lundøya island, spotting en route porpoises surfacing for air. In front of us, the Lofoten Islands drew a continuous seismogram across the horizon, and in the late night daylight we watched the sun dip down for a midnight dance with the island peaks before returning to the sky.
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As our second winter approached we discovered that Finland and Estonia do forest huts really well – free-to-use log cabins with fire pits, cooking stoves, log stores, compost toilets, sleeping decks, and usually a discarded sausage or two in the bins for Jella. London awoke our bin-foraging instincts, and now we can’t drive past a supermarket bin without slowing to see what treasures may await. At Solbacka, an eco-village in a forest in Finland, Sunday night was ‘bin night’, and we’d lift near to €1000s’ worth of food and drink from the local town supermarket bins. Mostly organic produce, all edible and much packaged in plastic, depressingly ready for landfill, was intercepted and the village was fed for the week. The Finns are true hunter-gatherers, and, as well as bin foraging, they taught us a lot about forest foraging for mushrooms and berries. At Solbacka eco-village, natural-building workdays often ran enthusiastically into the dark, stacking cordwood walls from huge tree-trunk logs, stamping straw, sand and clay together into cob and sculpting that cob around straw bales, or clambering around the roof with a nail gun, fixing external boards to the timber house ready for winter. Our bodies and minds were rewarded with the shared ritual of mealtimes and the sacred sauna space, a place of softening, calm contemplation, and sitting together in quiet celebration of our interdependent existence with nature.
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Sculpting a house using natural materials – a home that looks and feels as if it has grown from the earth itself – is food for the soul, and we started to dream of creating our own more rooted space. Christmas approached and family beckoned, so we made our way across Europe, from east to west, to Portugal.
In Portugal, where land is relatively cheap, the surf is good, the people and weather are warm and easy-going, we have been stationary for a while, digesting what we’ve experienced and putting some of our new skills and knowledge into practice. We’ve been able to buy a three-hectare plot, upon which we are creating a space to share what we’ve learnt with others and to further our own learning. Our van-home stays with us, but by not moving too far from one place for a while we will get to experience the evolution of a project, over time and through the seasons. Our aim is to live simply, to explore and experience, to create, to help and experiment, and to gain a greater connection with communities and the natural world. We hope that our journey inspires others on theirs, as others’ have inspired us on ours. •
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America’s Best and Most Beautiful Winter Hikes
BY EVIE CARRICK
OCTOBER 18, 2020
From Colorado to Oregon to Maine, these incredible winter hiking trails offer beautiful views, wildlife-spotting opportunities, and fewer crowds. If you have a habit of stashing your hiking boots the moment cooler temperatures arrive, you’ve been missing out. In the winter, the nation’s best hiking trails clear out and you can walk for miles without seeing another soul. Strap on a pair of snowshoes and stomp across glittering, snow-covered fields, or avoid the snow entirely and head south, where you’ll find plenty of dry terrain that’s too hot to brave in the summer.
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The secret to winter hiking is making sure you have the gear necessary to stay warm, kick through snow, and outsmart the sun. Appropriate footwear and versatile lightweight layers are key — we like Patagonia’s Nano-Air Hoody, which stuffs into a bag easily, leaving plenty of space for extra hiking snacks. And since the days are shorter, you’ll want to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to finish your hike before darkness falls and the views you came for disappear. To get you started, here are some of our favorite winter hiking trails.
Jud Wiebe Trail in Telluride, Colorado From the top of this trail, which starts and ends right in town, you can watch skiers at the Telluride Ski Resort or imagine life in this mountain town. Telluride may be known for its snow, but thanks to Colorado’s 300 days of sunshine, this approximately three-mile hiking trail remains relatively dry year-round. And if you happen to visit after a big snowstorm, strap on a pair of microspikes and bundle up — the hike is just as beautiful under a layer of snow.
Watchman Trail in Zion National Park, Utah The dry heat of southern Utah that typically deters hikers in the summer is welcomed in the winter. The Mars-like landscape of Zion National Park is just as beautiful in the winter — and more so if you happen to catch it with snow. In an easy three miles round-trip, this trail transports you to a land of sandstone spires and prickly pear cacti that bask under the desert sun year-round. If you want to get cutesy — and support national parks while you do it — sport some Zion gear from Parks Project, a brand that gives to national park conservation efforts.
Cumberland Trail in Cumberland Trail State Park, Tennessee The in-progress Cumberland Trail will be 282 miles once it’s finished, traveling across Tennessee from north to south. To get your feet wet, head to this popular trail in the winter, when hikers tend to clear out. If you have a full day to spare, take on the nine-and-a-half-mile Possum Creek section, where you can ogle waterfalls as you walk along the picturesque, wooded creek.
Cape Falcon Trail in Oswald West State Park, Oregon If you need more than stunning vistas to get you hiking in the winter, head to Oregon where you might glimpse a pod of gray whales midway through your day. On the approximately five-mile Cape Falcon Trail, you’ll reach a 100-foot outcropping where you can pull out your binoculars and monitor the wintery water for their telltale spray. Your chances of spotting a whale are best in December and January when they’re migrating from the Bering Sea to Baja, so make sure to pack an extra layer and enough fuel to keep you motivated for the hike back.
Gorham Mountain Trail in Acadia National Park, Maine
There’s more to Maine than golden summers filled with lobster rolls and double-scoop cones. While it can be a chilly place to visit in the winter, the stark weather empties popular routes like Gorham Mountain Trail, giving winter hikers the chance to see the coastal splendor without the crowds. For this three-and-a-half-mile loop, you’ll need a pair of snowshoes or cross-country skis, so you can float on top of the snow as you climb through a spruce forest and over snow-covered granite.
Mazama Ridge Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington It’s practically impossible to visit or live in Washington without noticing Mount Rainier. The massive (and active) volcano tops out at 14,410 feet above sea level and seems to dominate the landscape. You can play at the foot of Rainier year-round, but there’s something a little extra special about getting out when the peak is covered in snow. Strap on a pair of snowshoes and conquer the six-mile Mazama Ridge Trail, which offers near-constant views of Mount Rainier and the Tatoosh Range.
Florida Trail in Suwannee River State Park, Florida The wonderful thing about living in a country that has everything from mountains to beaches is that a winter hike doesn’t have to feel wintery. In northern Florida, you can hike in 60-degree temperatures and sleep in established shelters with hot showers in the dead of winter. From the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, hike past cypress trees and limestone bluffs on the nearly eight-mile trip to Holton Creek River Camp. If you want to mix it up, consider taking on the next section by boat. Either way, pack along a sun shirt and some sunscreen to keep you protected from all angles.
Roundabout Trail in Steamboat Springs, Colorado This cowboy ranching town has more winter Olympians than any other spot in North America, and once you’re there, it’s easy to see why. The town lives for winter — and while Steamboat Ski Resort is family-friendly, it has its fair share of expert terrain. When it comes to winter hiking, all you need is a pair of snowshoes to explore one of the many snowshoe trails departing from the on-mountain Thunderhead Lodge (which sits at an impressive 9,080 feet above sea level). We recommend starting with the flat, one-mile Roundabout Trail, but if you’re feeling strong, continue on to Duster, which leads to the Rendezvous hut at 9,325 feet.
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The 11 Best Pairs of Fleece-lined Leggings for Winter Travel Winter travel calls for extra cozy wardrobe essentials like these best fleecelined leggings for women. We’ve rounded up 11 pairs to shop before your next winter adventure. BY MADISON ALCEDO
NOVEMBER 16, 2020
I have a love-hate relationship with packing for winter trips. Everything you want to wear, including cute chunky sweaters and chic winter combat boots, takes up so much space in your suitcase that you barely have room for anything else. This year, I’ve finally found the non-bulky answer to the pants you can basically wear with anything during the winter: fleece-lined leggings. They are the addition to your comfy travel outfit you never knew you needed, they’ll keep you super warm once you arrive and begin sightseeing, and they’re the most comfortable option for après-ski, if that’s on your agenda. You might already have a favorite pair of leggings for traveling, but your wardrobe definitely needs a winter version, I promise. There’s nothing worse than finding out your beloved leggings really do nothing to keep you warm and block out wind; fleece-lined pairs are made to do just that. When looking for a pair of the best fleece-lined leggings, just double-check that they actually have that extra layer of lining, which is obviously key for providing warmth and protection from the wind or snow.
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Whether you’re using these leggings as a base under your ski pants or are swapping out your traditional travel leggings for a warmer style, you’ll be glad you have room in your suitcase for a few pairs once you step out in that brisk air. Below, we’ve rounded up the best pairs of fleece-lined leggings for women to wear all winter long.
1. Cakcton Fleece Lined Leggings
With more than 1,700 five-star reviews and the option to buy in a two- or three-pack, we’re dubbing this the best pair overall for both your wardrobe and your wallet. Amazon shoppers love that these thick leggings keep you warm and vouch that the one-size option fits several types of figures really well. To buy: amazon.com, from $8
3. Primaloft ThermaStretch Fleece Tights
2. Ugg Ashlee Double Knit Leggings
With a 100 percent polyester pile lining, you can wear these leggings solo and still stay warm or layer them underneath your snow pants. For both sightseeing and skiing, the banded waist provides extra support to help the leggings stay in place. To buy: zappos.com, $75
If you need a thick pair of leggings for winter workouts, this option should be your go-to. The interior is made with a plush brushed fleece liner that will keep you extra warm during outdoor runs, while the exterior polyester fabric is guaranteed to reduce odor and wick away moisture when you kick your workout up a notch. To buy: llbean.com, from $80
5. Under Armour Women’s ColdGear Authentic Leggings
When you need an extra layer on your legs, pack this top-rated pair. While these Under Armour leggings seem thinner than most fleece-lined leggings, they’re still a great base because they’re lined with a brushed material that keeps you cozy. To buy: amazon.com, from $40
6. Plush Fleece Lined Liquid Moto Leggings
For a chicer pair to wear while traveling, these moto leggings are our top pick to go with basically anything — those chunky sweaters and winter combat boots included! They look super stylish on the outside, and on the inside they’re made to keep you cozy on the go thanks to the polyester and spandex lining, which also provides some give in the fabric (just in case you end up in an uncomfortable airplane seat).
7. Athleta Peak Hybrid Fleece Tight
Available in three winter-worthy colors, these leggings made our list because of their versatility. They look fashionable in every color, which means you can wear them dressed up or down as they block out freezing winds. To buy: athleta.gap.com, $108
To buy: shopbop.com, $93
9. Columbia Women’s Glacial Fleece Printed Leggings
4. Hue Fleece Lined Denim Leggings
For the best pair of fleece-lined leggings that look more like pants, we’re loving this style from Zappos. While they may appear to be regular jeans, they have a more comfortable elastic waistband and are a thicker option to wear in cold temps. To buy: zappos.com, $54
8. 90 Degree By Reflex High Waist Fleece Lined Leggings
As one of the best-priced pairs of fleece-lined leggings on Amazon, this style comes with a handy side pocket for your phone and is available in 21 different colors. These leggings are a must-have for your cold-weather travel gear collection, especially since the brand cites they’re “made to feel like your favorite sweatshirt” — we’ll take multiple pairs, please! To buy: amazon.com, from $26
10. Soma Smoothing Fleece Lined Leggings
11. Romastory Winter Warm Women Velvet Elastic Leggings
Amazon shoppers say this pair is better to wear as a base layer instead of using them for activewear, meaning they’re perfect for those ski trip days when you just can’t seem to get warm enough. One reviewer even said they could live in these all winter, which is enough for us to buy a pair in each of the four available patterns.
Looking for fleece-lined leggings guaranteed to fit petites? This is the pair. With a 26-inch inseam, the leggings are shorter than most traditional styles, so they won’t bunch up at the foot or require you to roll down the top. Plus, this pair is guaranteed to retain its shape rather than stretch out after a single wear.
Let the extra coziness ensue — this pair of leggings will be one of the most comfortable pairs you’ll ever put on thanks to its velvet exterior and fleece interior. If you only pick up one pair of leggings made for winter, let it be this option that Amazon shoppers say “feels like you’re wearing the best kind of leg blankets.”
To buy: amazon.com, from $27
To buy: soma.com, $69
To buy: amazon.com, $15
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