MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

50 ML BLUE WINTER 2019 it barking in there, it’s like 15 or 20C. You could be in there in shorts and t-shirt, but ten minutes after feeding the fire it would go out and it’s back to outside temps. You still need a -20C to -30C sleeping bag.” Atkins is a top-level athlete spending much of his time packing as light as possible and going as quick as he can. He’s set numerous speed records on trails including the Canmore Quad, the Lake Superior Coastal Trail and the Kalalau Trail. Buck Miller, a former pro road cyclist, has a much different wilderness ethos. “It was interesting because Eric and I come from a lightweight backpacking approach,” says Atkins, “which works okay on the mountains and on trails, but a lot of Buck’s experience has been real bush travel, which is what we were doing. Buck had more traditional stuff; he had a canvas anorak, and basically everything he had was wool. Eric and I had more synthetics. All of Buck’s stuff was a lot more redundant than some of our stuff, but a lot heavier. I think his sleeping bag weighed seven pounds, whereas mine was probably two. I had to let go of my typical packing approach. I wasn’t going to go out and buy a moosehide wardrobe, because I already had gear that worked.” Miller, who just moved to Huntsville from James Bay, describes himself as a “traditional whitewater, northern river, canoe-tripping kind of guy.” TOP Buck Miller (L) and Ryan Atkins cross the umpteenth frozen lake. ABOVE Miller (L) and Atkins on a route-finding break.