Matt Holmes

119 Articles

POOP!  I’m going to talk about POOP!  It’s going to get real.  Because I’m feeling like the honey badger tonight (“honey badger doesn’t give a ****!”).  Yes, people have written plenty about shitting in the woods before.  Few, however, will have been quite as detailed and as graphic as I

We just returned from a three-night camping trip for labor-day weekend, exploring new areas in southern CO and northern NM.  It was filled with the usual: the giggles of super happy little boys messing around in the tent at bedtime; Emerson laying in the dirt playing with his cars (everywhere);

This post is about building your own custom first aid kit, or else improving the one you have.  With three boys, we use the first aid kit far more frequently than back in the day.  Before kids, I was much more cavalier about injuring myself.  As a parent, I want

The family camped out at a spot in American Springs last night, hopeful of observing the Perseid meteor shower.  Some friends joined us for the campfire portion, which made it a super fun evening.  We didn’t end up seeing many shooting stars before retiring to the warmth of the tent,

On our recent Utah roadtrip, we took the boys up a portion of three separate slot canyons: Fry (Frylette), Leprechaun, and Little Wild Horse. (I’m just getting around to putting up some details about the activities from that trip).  The boys were ecstatic about the actual canyon bits, and grumbly

This is pretty much just a review of the Osprey Poco Plus child carrier.  Easily one of the best kid-gear purchases we made, we have used ours extensively over the past 6.5 years.  In looking back through the picture library, I see that we have so many precious memories associated

Well, unbelievably, we did it.  I took all three boys up to Colorado by myself this past weekend to find some Colorado alpine camping–  high and cool and up a bumpy 4wd road that thins the herd.  Our notional purpose was to hike Mt Huron, a Colorado 14er—one of 54

The Santa Fe and Carson National Forests have implemented Stage 3 fire restrictions, which means that we aren’t allowed in them, at all.  Not even for hiking or climbing, let alone camping.  This deprives us of all nearby camping and outdoor recreation.  This weekend we decided to explore the Rio

I’m big on navigation, and big on being prepared.  For twenty-five years I have been using various navigation tools and trying to keep abreast of the technology.  Knowing how to use a GPS well has saved my ass many times in the remote Utah desert, finding and escaping slot canyons.

Muley Point, on the southern end of Cedar Mesa in southwest Utah,  has a beautiful road, a rarely-visited scenic overlook, and kickass campspots, all in one. If it were located along a major road it would be a must-stop photo opportunity and overrun with tourists.  But the overlook happens to

We just completed a surprisingly successful ten-day family roadtrip around southwest Utah.  The whole family, all of us jammed in the xterra, camping at 8 different campsites in 10 nights, driving every day but one.  It was a lot of driving, but we managed to split it up over the

Whichever tent gets you out camping is the best tent for you and yours.  That said, I really don’t like those stand-up-inside multiple-room monstrosities.  Perhaps there is a place for them (in the dumpster?) but in my opinion they are too cumbersome to set up, and too weak to provide

The Dungeon is a climbing area, but one need not be a climber to appreciate it.  I climbed regularly at this spot nearly twenty years ago, when I was a student at Los Alamos National Lab.  But only recently–now that I’m a middle-aged climber and have young kids–have I realized

The headlamp springs to mind as possibly the most useful camping tool there is.  Not only for camping, either.  I keep one in my vehicle, and I mounted a 3M hook on the wall next to my bed to hang one there as well.  All-in-all, including the ones we have

I have checked it out for you–I have driven across the emptiest stretches of the map, those maximally bereft of gas stations, and I have determined that you can ALWAYS get from one gas station to the next. Just last weekend I traversed the longest empty spot on the map

(happened Apr 7, 2018, writing this Jan 17, 2022) Ortega West is a bouldering area in the Carson NF that some friends of mine developed. I don’t climb much these days, but the parking spot makes for a great, remote camping spot anyway. I took the boys up there by

Cave of the Winds is a Los Alamos local destination that is surprisingly secret; I have met lifelong locals who have never heard of it.  It’s a cave.  A classic, straight-out-of-a-movie cave.  Big and dark, with some small side passages to explore.  The boys love it–what boy wouldn’t?  When I

Living in Los Alamos has its advantages and disadvantages.  We don’t have anywhere decent to eat, and we may only have one or two decent places to get a drink.  BUT… I can come home from work at 5 and still go camping with the boys in national forest, on

(written 1/17/22 about a trip 1/21/18) Another dad and I took our families to the Long John yurt at Enchanted Forest x-country ski area, just east of Red River, NM. It is an excellent beginner yurt experience: the hike is short (2.25 miles one way), the trails are groomed, and

(written 1/17/22 about a trip 12/30/17) Did I already use this as the title for a blog post? Well, even if so, it bears repeating. Once upon a time I lived in Crested Butte, teaching high school at a a private boarding school for competitive skiers and snowboarders. The teaching