Ah, spring. The days get longer, the flowers bloom, and a young man's fancy turns to outdoor recreation. After a few weeks spent sitting in the office ogling the blue sky without, we can't take it anymore. So we're stepping out to the Sierras for three days of Wired Spring Camp.

This is our annual trip to the wilderness where we go test the latest high-tech gear for the rivers and trails. Sure, outdoor equipment is a bit of a departure from our usual purview of phoness, tablets, e-readers and apps. But there's a great story here. For example, the materials in this stuff have gotten pretty advanced -- kayaks are now crafted from carbon fiber and titanium, sunglasses are polarized and coated with hydrophobic microparticles, and underwear is woven purely from synthetic, moisture-wicking fibers.

Hydration packs have become all but ubiquitous on the trail, so we'll be testing some of the latest models. Footwear continues to get more advanced, and we'll be trying out a few styles (maybe a pair or two in white, since it's after Memorial Day). Mountain bike prices drop while performance continues to rise, so we'll saddle up on a few of the latest steeds. A few of us are really looking forward to the super-light latte set made especially for camp stoves.

Innovation breeds convenience -- you can get lazy on the river or get gnarly on the single-track in greater comfort than ever before -- but it also brings up a mind-boggling array of options. Do you go with DriClime or NanoSphere? What exactly is HydroSilk? Do you ditch old-school leather for new-school ADIPRENE+? We'll parse the nuances.

So geek out with us, not just over the gear, but the fun you can have with it during the warmer months. For the rest of this week, we'll tirelessly (or, more likely, exhaustedly) post videos and photos of our adventures, and reviews of our favorite gear, here on Gadget Lab. It'll be fun. Promise.