Doug Johnson joined BackpackingLight.com in October 2003 and is both a reviewer and the Trekking Systems editor. He lives in Redmond, Washington, with his also-adventurous wife Amy. Doug is an outdoor fanatic and has loved the freedom of exploring ever since his folks taught him to ride a motorcycle at the age of TWO (his dad welded up the custom training wheels!) These days, Doug loves to mountain bike, whitewater canoe, snowshoe, trail run, and cross country ski…but he is especially passionate about backpacking and mountaineering.
His journey to ultralight began when he and a friend took off on a week of the PCT in high school – with behemoth packs of 70 pounds! From there he started cutting weight (and toothbrushes) until discovering Ray Jardine’s approaches to the sport 4 years ago. Since then, his packs have trimmed to less than 10 lbs. and he has enjoyed many ultralight trips- especially in Washington, Utah, and Montana.
Doug is also a gear freak (this comes from his dad) and has always loved researching, selecting, and fiddling with gear. When he found Backpackinglight.com he had a major life breakthrough- “There are other people out there that think like me!” This is his favorite site and he is totally stoked to be working with such great people who are as obsessive about gear and the outdoors as he is.