I suspect you should not go to the Himalayas as unprepared as I am, despite all the reassurances the adventure guide companies offer about how any “reasonably fit” person can accomplish this trek without any specific training. … More Hummingbird Aims High
“There’s another reason,” the guide continued. “This is a reason you never touch any sea turtle at all. Not the eggs, not the adults, and not the babies. Not even if you think it needs help. It’s the reason you see all our volunteers wearing gloves.”
Uh oh, I thought, thinking of baby birds again. … More The Necessary Optimism of Baby Sea Turtles
And finally, let’s talk about trail names. Everyone on the AT gets one. It can be bestowed upon you by another hiker, or you can invent your own. There are no rules, and some people skip it all together. I studied the names scribbled on graffiti boards in the various shelters and have been amused by the huge variety out there. “Sticky Buns” is my current favorite. … More Seven Days on the Appalachian Trail: Stats! (and other lessons)
“Honey, I need you to open your eyes,” the PA said.
“Can’t… spinning…” I gasped. Gasping was the only way I could communicate at the moment.
“But I really need you to. Just for a second.”
I did my very best, but my eyes were twitching around in their sockets, refusing to stay still for even a second. I tried to toss cookies I’d run out of long, long ago. … More Seven Days on the Appalachian Trail, Day 8: the thing the happened after
Our hike today was incredibly laid-back. Well, except for how I forgot to refill my water before we left the hostel on a day with maybe no opportunities to refill so that we had to skim water off the top of a stagnant spring, and those two times we walked past hornet nests. … More Seven Days on the Appalachian Trail, Day 6: sunshine, hornets, people
Days on the road: 40 States properly visited: 7 (Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana) Miles driven: 5,997 National Parks visited: 8 (Grand Teton, Lassen, Redwood, Crater Lake, Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Glacier) Other National Park sites visited: 7 (Agate Fossil Beds NM, Scott’s Bluff NM, Oregon Trail NHT, Fossil Buttes NM, Craters of the Moon NM, … More The Great Northwestern Road Trip: Stats
“If you don’t stop picking huckleberries, we’ll be late for dinner!”
“So we’ll have huckleberries for dinner!”
“You burned, like, 6,000 calories today. If you eat huckleberries for dinner tonight, I’m going to have to carry you down tomorrow, and I don’t want to.”
Back in the car we ate sad peanut butter sandwiches and stared glumly at the list of hikes we wanted to do.
“It’s going to be tough to hike ten miles to Grinnell Glacier here, drive thirty miles, then do another three-mile hike to sleep,” I said, resenting the seven miles I’d already hiked today.
We considered other hikes nearer the campsite. We considered other campsites nearer the hike. No combination worked in a satisfying way.
“This is really stupid,” I concluded. “I want to go home.”
We took an 11,000-mile, 11-week road trip across the western United States in our 2013 Chevy Volt. It was one of the least-expensive ways we could have covered that much ground – though our available cargo space was a wee bit tight. … More What It’s Like to Take an 11,000-Mile Road Trip in a Teeny Electric Chevy Volt
The first night in a tent is the absolute worst. If one is not accustomed to sleeping in a tent, there is no way to focus on anything other than how inadequate your sleeping pad is, how clammy your feet feel, and all the noises the definitely-a-bear is making. Is it raining? Is a marmot stealing my boots? No really, what IS that bear doing?? … More How to sleep in the Tetons backcountry
Thither & Yon 