Allison Woods at Backpacker.com

Whatever happened to Allison Woods? Gear aficionados and readers of Washington Trails magazine will recall her longtime tenure as WTA's gear editor. During her seven years of writing The Gear Closet column, Allison reviewed tents, sleeping bags, GPS units, coats, backpacks and much more.

So what is Allison up to these days?

In addition to her "day" (or is it night?) job as a stage tech for the 5^th Avenue Theatre, Allison is keeping plenty busy. An avid angler, she works with the Trail Blazers and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to stock fry in high mountain lakes. She has started her own blog, allisonoutside.com. And as a freelance writer, she has taken her gear reviewing to a much bigger audience - Backpacker.com. So far, Allison has penned four reviews for the online version of the magazine:

• Outdoor Apps for Android Users
• Stoic Wraith Rain Jacket
• Tilley TWP1 Waterproof Hat
• Vasque Jules Trail Shoe

She'll have another out soon - approximately one every two weeks. If you want to follow her reviews, you can search for "Allison Woods" on the Backpacker.com website, or just use this search string.

You'll get the same well-researched reviews as you did during her time with WTA, but she'll be sharing her knowledge with many more people.So don't be surprised when you find another hiker wearing their muddy Vasque Jules shoes, their wide-brimmed Tilley hat, their lightweight Stoic Wriath rain jacket while trying to identify animal tracks with their Android phone.