It has taken me a long time to come to grips with this but I am finally ready to say it: thruhiking has ruined my relationship with food. First of all, I just want to start by saying I’m not writing this post to garner pity or receive assurance about how I look. This post […]
I’ll be the first to admit, when I look back on this year I am reminded of some of the best memories I have ever had mixed with some of the deepest emotions of despair I have ever felt. Standing in the middle of a circle of friends and family as they pronounced Kyle and […]
Day two dawned overcast and crisp and we were out of camp like the crack of a whip. But when we got to where the trail split – one fork headed the way we had come and the other heading off into the unknown – we hesitated. As always I was worrying. The ranger had […]
Kyle and I eyed every car that pulled into the parking lot. Why were they there? Did they look like they might be interested in permits? Most cars seemed to be filled with people who just needed a quick trip to the bathroom before hitting the road again. After they left we would relax back […]
There is something seductive and smooth about the way you climb crack. Slowly inserting your hand into a long dark crease in a face of granite, twisting and feeling until your hand locks into places and then slowly moving the other hand above it, in line, pulling down softly, feeling the crystals stick to your […]
For labor day we decided to go real classic – we found a fun big group of people and we went backpacking in a very popular spot. It was great. We had promised to take my mom backpacking and we had put Goat Rocks on our calendar early in the summer. We couldn’t wait to […]
We are staring up a human sized hole in the rock and Carl is looking at me, holding a piece of trad gear in his outstretched hand. “Do you want to lead this first pitch?” I responded, taking the piece and clipping it to my harness, “Sure, but what do I do? I mean I […]
On weekends when Kyle and I had commitments (see work camping trips and fundraising events) we tried to find scrambles that we could accomplish in a day. They don’t quite deserve a blog post all on their own so I am going to squish two of them together into one. Hibox Mountain: We went out […]
“Man, this is alpine AF,” mused Michelle as we stepped into our incredible campsite that Kyle had found, with views of Mount Stewart, larger than life, on our doorstep. Goats frolicked all around us, their little hooves rat-a-tat-tatting on the granite. The air was piney fresh and a light breeze ruffled our sweaty hair. Nelson, […]