Author Archives: Colleen Drake

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”