A photo-journal of a visit to Redwood State & National Parks

September 20, 2021

I don’t have a particular narrative to go with our photos of our time in Redwood National & State Parks. My jaw dropped open the moment I saw my first redwood, and I really didn’t manage to get my mouth closed until we left. (Good thing banana slugs can’t fly.) I was just in a perpetual state of awe the whole time. That doesn’t make a very interesting story, though. … More A photo-journal of a visit to Redwood State & National Parks

Craters of the Moon: extreme hot, extreme cold, extreme solitude, and extreme awesome

August 28, 2021

“There’s not a lot of shade out there. You’re welcome to stay with us tonight if you don’t want to fight the heat.”

A sparkle of doubt crept into my exuberant plan. The hike to our camp site would cover about four miles. We’d have to wear our big packs. It would be hot. Relentlessly hot.

But… but… I wanted to be one of less than a hundred people! Also, there were volcanos back there I wanted to collect.

“We don’t have to go right away,” Dustin said. “Why don’t we go do some of the frontcountry trails, see some of the caves, then we can start out for the wilderness when it starts to cool off?”

This plan sounded eminently sensible, so I sent a note to his highness confirming my enthusiasm for hiking in three-digit temperatures, and we set off for the loop road. … More Craters of the Moon: extreme hot, extreme cold, extreme solitude, and extreme awesome

Climbing Mount Saint Helens

August 19, 2021

At some point about halfway through, I demanded of Dustin: “Whose terrible idea was this, anyway?”

“Yours,” he said. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Oh,” I huffed, because huffing was the only way I could get air in and out at the moment. “Right.”

“But I supported the idea,” he added. Supportively.

“It was a great idea,” I gritted out through clenched teeth as I hauled myself up over another sharp rock.

… More Climbing Mount Saint Helens

Lassen Day 2: in which we are finally chased out by the smoke

August 12, 2021

One foot in front of another, again and again. I could not refrain from checking my watch every few minutes to see how many feet of elevation I had put behind me. I celebrated every twenty feet. Climb twenty feet enough times and somehow you get there. I was grateful not many other people were idiotic enough to start this climb in the hot heart of the day, which meant at least I wasn’t being passed by every other tourist in the park. … More Lassen Day 2: in which we are finally chased out by the smoke

Climbing Lassen Peak while California burns

August 8, 2021

bump-ass hell” while talking to the ranger, and got laughed at. Apparently the appropriate pronunciation is “bumpus,” but… “bump-ass” is an easy and practically mandatory mistake to make. I even refuse to make apologies to Kendall Vanhook Bumpass, the unfortunate explorer who discovered these springs in the 1860s by accidentally falling leg-first into one of them. (He lost the leg, making him the most brilliant object lesson in park history. Don’t leave the boardwalks, kids.) … More Climbing Lassen Peak while California burns

Day 3 on the Teton Crest Trail, in which marmots attack!

July 26, 2021

Not a bear, I thought, but it’s something big. Do moose graze at 3am? In any case, I was sure it was rooting around in the vegetation several yards from the tent, and not rooting around in my backpack, stored just outside my tent flap. I shifted around, making a little noise, hoping to scare it off. The one thing I was definitely not going to do was look outside, as doing so was a surefire way to turn the creature into a bear. … More Day 3 on the Teton Crest Trail, in which marmots attack!

How to sleep in the Tetons backcountry

July 25, 2021

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