Summer heat has hit! Here’s a few tips from our friends at in the National Park Service to keep in mind when planning your next summer adventure.
⛰️ Plan – Hike as early in the day as possible. Avoid hiking in the afternoon when the heat and sun are at their highest point. This time of year the sun does not set until after 9:30 pm. Evening hikes might be a cooler option! Just be sure to be safely off the trail before dark.
💧 Prepare – Bring extra water and stay hydrated. Many trails do not have reliable water sources along the route. Any surface water in a park needs to be filtered or treated. For parks with water sources, use a water bottle with a filter and mark water points along your route before heading out. If the dogs are coming along, be sure to pack a collapsible water bowl for them.
☀️ Protect – The sun is out and it’s the time of year to make sure you have strong sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and clothes that are light and breathable like the Woolpower Tee 200 or Tee LITE. Check your gear before you head out. Make sure to bring all the essentials – especially bear spray.
🏕️ Check on yourself and your hiking companions throughout your hike to assess their condition. Heat related illnesses are very dangerous and can be deadly. If anyone feels unwell or exhibits signs of heat stroke, contact the Park Rangers for assistance.
We hope you enjoy your summer hikes! We’d love to see your photos and hear your spring hiking stories!
Tag us on Facebook and Instagram @woolpowerus to share your stories and photos with us!
Weekend Adventures Around the world with Posie Strenz
Welcome back to our Weekend Adventures with Woolpower series! In this series, we are travelling around the country to meet some of our Woolpower users and see how they use their gear during an adventure. This weekend takes us up to the Catskills in New York for a chat with Posie Strenz – @posiestrenz – about a trip around the world in Woolpower!
Woolpower – Hey Posie! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. We were excited to hear you and your family took a trip around the world with your Woolpower a few years ago. Tell us a little bit about that adventure…
Posie: We hadn’t been able to travel much in years and rented out our house for nearly a year. We wanted to fulfill a long-time goal of getting to places we’d never been. It’s actually a very economical way to travel. Our younger son was happy to be world schooled for half of fifth and sixth grade. He enjoyed taking a break from the traditional school routines. The route was tremendously educational!
My husband and I each carried a backpack and our son carried his travel guitar on his back. We left on January 1st, 2016, first basing ourselves with friends in Malaga, Spain, then moved on to Morocco, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Borneo, Australia, New Zealand, with a final quick stop in Hawaii on the way home. We met new friends and saw old friends too.
Annapurna Base Camp 2016 | Photo by Posie Strenz
Woolpower – What an amazing experience for your family! When did you first discover Woolpower? Has it become an integral part to your family adventures?
Posie: In 2015, I was driving from the Catskills to Hudson, NY for a meeting when my tea thermos cup popped open spilling all over me as I was driving – right down to my socks. Having no time to spare, I called the shop owner of the store in the building I was meeting at and he told me to go in and take what I needed. I got a pair of Woolpower socks and soon discovered they were the best socks I’d ever found. I was leaving to go around the world on January 1 carrying only a backpack, and knew they had to be among the few pairs I brought!
During our trip we stopped in the Himalayas. After a whole day of hiking, it was great to put on my Woolpower socks to keep me warm all night in the unheated lodges, or to have them on to be cozy while doing snowy parts of the trek. My first pair made it all the way around the world, and I was still using them in the Catskills four years later with no holes! Finally, one disappeared but I had kept the packaging because I knew I wanted to order more, which I did!
Last Day in the Himalayas | Photo by Posie Strenz
Woolpower – Sounds like you really love our socks! Which pair are your favorite?
Posie: My favorite pair would be the black 200 socks.
Woolpower - Tell us about your favorite spot or a special moment during your trip around the world!
Posie: My favorite adventure was the 8-day trek in the Himalayas doing the Annapurna Base Camp trek with my husband and eleven-year-old son. We carried our own gear. The combination of hiking in a location with such striking scenery, while physically challenging ourselves hiking all day long for eight days straight, where you can only go on your own two feet, and experiencing it with loved ones made for an extremely special experience.
Woolpower – We know travelling around the world is a little challenging at the moment due to COVID-19 restrictions. What are some of your favorite spots in New York to adventure or hike?
Posie: I’m fortunate during this time especially to be living in the Catskills, where hiking trails abound. I do the Overlook hike pretty much every week, and other longer trails whenever possible.
On the Overlook hike, you can see the ruins of an old hotel and views of the Hudson River, Ashokan Reservoir and the surrounding Catskill Mountains.
Posie at Overlook Mountian 2020 | Photo Courtesy of Posie Strenz
Thank Posie! What a unique world adventure in Woolpower. Have a Woolpower Weekend adventure you’d like to tell us about? Email or tag us on Instagram @woolpowerus for a chance to be featured.
Stay Warm! – Team Woolpower
Let’s go
Want to see the Ashokan Reservoir?
Take a Virtual Bike Tour and experience the Ashokan Reservoir with narrators Chris White, Kevin D Smith and Posie Strenz
On the eve of her sixtieth birthday, Nina Shengold embarked on a challenge: to walk the path surrounding the Catskills’ glorious Ashokan Reservoir every day for a year trying to find something new every time. Armed with lively curiosity, infectious enthusiasm, and renewed stubbornness, she hits the path every day with all five senses wide open, searching for details that glint. As Shengold explores the secrets of this spectacular place, she rediscovers the glories of solitude and an expanded community, both human and animal. Step by step, her reservoir walks rekindle connections with family, strangers, and friends, with a landscape she grows to revere, and with a new sense of self. Her personal journey will resonate with outdoor enthusiasts and armchair hikers alike.
The Ashokan Rail Trail (ART) is open to the public from sunrise to sunset year-round. The 11.5-mile recreational trail runs along Ashokan Reservoir between West Hurley and Boiceville. The ART trail surface is 12 feet in width and surfaced with highly compacted fine crushed stone. Both the trail and trailhead parking areas (including the portable restrooms) are ADA compliant and accessible for persons with disabilities. The ART is open for non-motorized uses, including hiking, walking dogs on leash, bicycling, running, nature observation, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. The ART trailheads are plowed in winter, but the trail itself is not.
Welcome to our Weekend Adventures with Woolpower series! In this series, you’ll meet some of our Woolpower fans and learn how they use their Woolpower gear during weekend adventures.
Today we’re travelling up the coast to Southern Ontario and the Boreal Forest for a chat with Matt Dewey – @mattt.dewewy – about his weekend adventures in Woolpower. Matt is an avid outdoorsman and guide. Fishing – more specifically ice fishing – adventures are his specialty.
Photo Courtesy of Matt Dewey
Woolpower – Hey Matt! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. We’ve been following your ice fishing adventures on Instagram for a while and were so intrigued by them. Ice fishing seems like an interesting sport! Tell us a little bit about how you first got into it.
Matt - My late father raised me in the outdoors – hunting, fishing, camping exc.. He had taken me out a few times when I was younger and I’ll never forget the very first time he took me out – I was maybe 5 or 6 years old – we were catching Mudpuppies ( Aquatic Salamanders). It was a strange first experience! As I got older and more independent, I fell in love with ice fishing – around the age of 16 – and have spent almost every day on the hard water in the winter since.
Aquatic Salamander Mudpuppies have small eyes, a paddle-like tail for swimming, and external gills that look like feathery projections near their head. – Photo Courtesy of DNR –
Woolpower – Ice Fishing looks cold. We’re getting chills just looking through the photos…brrr! When did you first discover the warmth of Woolpower? Has it become an integral part to your ice fishing trips?
Matt - I discovered Woolpower probably 7 or 8 years ago; I was really getting into bushcraft and indulging in nature/fishing every second I got. Through researching YouTube videos and from personal experience, I knew I needed better clothing and gear to make my outdoor passions more enjoyable. I used my first or second paycheck to buy my first Woolpower pieces (long johns and socks) and that’s when Woolpower became an integral part of my fishing and anything outdoors – especially in cold temps – gear!
Borreal Forest // Mississagi River – Photo Courtesy of Matt Dewey
Woolpower – Which Woolpower piece is your go-to, can’t leave home without it in your pack?
Matt – Definitely socks and long johns. The thicker long johns as my mid-layer is key. I can’t count how many people in the past have had cold feet on the ice and asked me how I stay so warm even though they have similar footwear most of the time. It’s all about the socks! I love my Woolpower socks. I like to say there’s no bad weather with the right clothing!
Woolpower - What has been your most interesting or comical ice fishing trip?
Matt - Probably the most interesting experience I have had ice fishing was a few years back. I was fishing Lake Simcoe in Ontario with a few buddies and a snow storm came through. Our gear and other huts were flying around on the ice. There was no snow at all on the ice so anything without grip was gone. Made it difficult to chase stuff down!
Woolpower - We know anglers love a good fish story! What is the biggest / best fish you have caught through the ice?
It’s not easy to choose my biggest/best fish through the ice. I often target multiple different species throughout the winter, but I will say over the past couple of years I caught two of my personal best – a 29″ Whitefish & 38” Northern Pike. The Pike I caught through 38 inches of ice!
Photos Courtesy of Matt Dewey
Woolpower – For people interested in getting into ice fishing, what would you recommend?
Matt - Get the basics for gear – all you need is a rod, reel, lures and some warm clothing – like Woolpower!
The biggest thing when first getting into ice fishing is learning about ice safety! Never go on ice without following all the safety precautions. You can usually find ice safety information and info for your local area on the internet.
Thanks Matt! What a unique Weekend Adventure in Woolpower!
Have an adventure you’d like to tell us about? Email your Weekend Adventure or tag us – @woolpowerus – on Instagram for a chance to be featured.
Spring is finally upon us! For some of us, it means packing away our heavier Woolpower gear for the summer months and pulling out our 200 / 400 / LITE collections.
Before we dive into washing your Woolpower, there a a few characteristics about wool as textile that we should cover. First, the beauty of wool is it’s ability to absorb and neutralize bad odors. It is by far superior to other textile materials and easy to care for. Second, the keratin in wool actually breaks down the bad smelling bacteria from your skin naturally to “self-clean”.
Did you know the core of wool’s fiber is composed of two types of cells that each absorb different amounts of moisture? That’s right! The first type swells more than the other causing a constant motion friction to occur between the two. This unique characteristic creates a mechanical, self-cleaning effect of the fiber. While moisture collected on the surface of a textile promotes bacteria growth – the outside of the wool fiber will stay relatively dry. The surface of the fiber in wool is water repellent, which prevents bacteria growth and its resulting bad smell. Know that we’ve covered wool’s unique characteristics, let’s dive into washing your Woolpower!
As we prepare our gear for storage, there are a few things to do. First, check each piece for spots that might need a light brushing off or a quick spot treatment. Separate into good to store and need to wash / spot clean piles. Now, on to the next step!
SPOT TREAT
To spot treat, wet the spot and add a tiny bit of Woolcare – our wool cleaner of choice. Gently work it into the stained area(s).
Remove soap and dirt with a wet Lint-Free Cleaning Cloth—be sure to remove all soap. After that, dampen the cloth as you need to and repeat the process until satisfied. Allow to dry and you are ready to store your jacket until next season.
Woolcare
Made from lanolin, woolcare is both gentle to the environment and your clothes. Woolcare contains no enzymes and only low-impact renewable surfactants and will pro-long the life-time of your Woolpower garment.
Occasionally, you just can’t get the smell of that last adventure out of your jacket or socks and it’s time for a wash. Trust us, we’ve encountered enough skunks on the trail to have an interesting dinner story or two! Our Ullfrotté Original and Woolpower LITE undergarments can be machine washed at 60 °C / Gentle Cycle with our Woolcare laundry detergent and tumble-dried at a medium heat or laid flat to dry.
The surface of wool’s fibres is covered with small scales, which means that wool clothing can become bobbled when washed. But Woolpower’s clothes are treated so the wool is machine washable.
KEEP COLORS SEPARATE
You’ve probably been told at some point in your life to wash your colors with colors and whites with whites…well we’re going to say it again. Wash all clothes with similar colors – darks (Black, Dark Navy, Pine, Forest Green, Grey, Anthracite) or lights (Nordic Blue, Grey) (Cerise) (Grey and Rose) (Petrol). They might shed a bit in the first few washes, but don’t worry it’s natural. If you are worried about colors running, feel free to drop in a color catcher sheet.
DRY FLAT
You can expedite the drying process by laying the item flat on a clean towel. With the item in its original shape, roll it up in the towel to remove excess water. Unroll and lay flat in to dry. When drying, avoid direct sunlight and heat sources – such as the radiator – because they can yellow, shrink, or damage wool.
To remove wrinkles, we recommend steaming for the best and safest finish. Never iron, as ironing will crush or flatten the natural structure of the fibers.
WON’T SHRINK
Because wool is a natural fiber, it will contract up a small bit when washed. But don’t worry! Your Woolpower gear will stretch and shape comfortably to your body when you put them on next season.
FLIP THEM INSIDE OUT
A PRO tip – wash your the clothes inside out to extend their lifespan.
While we sometimes use the washing machine to get out tough exterior stains like coffee, grass or ketchup, most of the time we’re aiming to freshen our items up from the kind of dirty clothing gets just by being worn by a person.
During a typical day of wear, clothing comes into contact with our bodies as we move and sweat, often leaving them in dire need of washing. By turning your Woolpower items inside out in the washing machine you can ensure that the sweat areas are coming in as close contact with the Woolcare as possible.
STORING
Always store items clean to avoid inadvertently providing a “food source” for bugs. Prevent bug and moth infestation by storing in a breathable cotton storage bag with a zip closure. Storing in plastic encourages yellowing and can trap mildew-causing moisture, a prime environment for bugs.
We hope you find this information on washing your Woolpower helpful as you decided how to prep your gear for summer storage!
Mille Porsild joins an elite group of athletes this year as she journeys to Alaska to compete in the Last Great Race on Earth – The 2021 Iditarod. The wild Alaskan territory may seem daunting to most, but not to Mille.
A seasoned musher, the Danish adventurer has made over 16 long-haul expeditions through the circumpolar Artic with freight dogs. The Iditarod Race is quickly becoming familiar territory for Mille. She took on Alaska’s most grueling race last year as a rookie and added “Iditarod Rookie of the Year” to her resume with her 15th place finish. Porsild is one of a handful of women to claim the title in the race’s 48 year history.
The Iditarod presents many challenges along the way – sub-zero temperatures, blizzards, and gale-force winds. Mille expects her gear to live up to the weather and protect her from the Artic conditions. She was introduced to Woolpower in the early 2000’s at an Outdoor show in Utah. Her GoNorth! Adventure Learning team received the Long Johns 200 and 400 as part of a sponsorship and as they say the rest is history. “Until that point, we had been wearing synthetic long underwear. I never have since. 20 years later, I am wearing the long johns from back then – amazingly still the best’ said Porsild ‘I have truly benefitted to such an extreme extent from the Woolpower products — my second skin basically — that allows me to do what I do.”
Mille and several other explorers founded GoNorth! Adventure Learning as a way to connect classrooms with their experiences on the trail. It’s a unique way for students to experience the Artic and explore topics like: dog mushing, sustainability, the environment and traditional cultures. Each year, she heads out on an Artic expedition with 22 Polar Huskies and millions of students worldwide tuning in.
With the Iditarod quickly looming on the horizon, the team at Woolpower US thought it would be a great time to upgrade Mille’s well-loved gear. We shipped a box up to Alaska with a few of her favorites and some other pieces we thought might be useful on the trail.
What’s in the mail to Mille?
Mille and 46 other mushers will head to the start line on March 7th to begin their 2021 Iditarod run. Follow @woolpowerus as we track Mille and her team along the trail!
