Author Archives: Colleen Drake

When fear dominates our sense of possibility collapses. Sharon Salzberg The title for today’s post is from a trail guide to the Beartooth Mountains in northern Wyoming. It is the title of a section that includes of course all the usual recommendations for avoiding dangerous bear encounters, and since, in the words of my WyomingContinue reading “Yes, Fortunately There Are Bears”

You are my nameless wildness. Marc Bolan A recent article in Backpacker magazine which purported to suggest what we should and should not worry about as hikers advised that we are thirty-three times more likely to be struck by lightening than to be attacked by a bear. I found this only minimally reassuring since unluckyContinue reading “Nameless Wildness”

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves–slowly, evenly without rushing toward the future. Thich Nhat Hahn Those of you who have followed my blog likely will have figured out by now that I have a one-size-fits-all solution to whatever may be wrong in theContinue reading “On the Trail with Teacup”

Yet to learn to see, to learn to hear, you must do this–go into the wilderness alone. Don Jose I first started hiking alone in my early twenties and had started my first job as a Registered Nurse after graduating from college. I was newly married and had begun the life I thought I wanted:Continue reading “Go into the Wilderness Alone”

Walk close to me. I’ll shelter you. William Barnes I was eight years old when I went on my first backpacking trip with my family. We hiked just a short distance up the Skokomish River in Olympic National Park to a well named site called Camp Pleasant, about three to four miles from the trailheadContinue reading “Sheltering in Place”

I have two doctors, my left leg and my right. George Trevelyan A few days after I posted last week about my oversized first aid kit, I came upon the “new and improved version” I created a couple of years ago when I was preparing to hike the Pacific Northwest Trail and wanted to lightenContinue reading “The New and Improved First Aid Kit”

You may do this, I tell you it is permitted. Begin again the story of your life. Jane Hirshfield Readers who listened to the blog a couple of weeks ago will know that throughout most of my lifetime of hiking, I carried a very large pack. I was not alone in this. The term “ultra-lite”Continue reading “The Eight Pound First Aid Kit”