Recently my website host reminded me that it has now been three years since I started this blog, something that came as a surprise to me. From the beginning it has seemed like an easy and natural process, like walking. The words come easily each week as long as I keep moving. In the beginning I envisionedContinue reading “Walking Away from It All”
Author Archives: Colleen Drake
Tender Blades of Grass
I would like to do whatever it is that presses the essence from the hour. Mary Oliver One of many wonderful things about living in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, as I did for several years, is the close proximity to Yellowstone National Park. Though I rarely went there in the summertime, preferring not to competeContinue reading “Tender Blades of Grass”
Pondering the Magic
The best silence opens up clues to deeper mysteries, and the world gets ever more wonderful as we go. David Rothenberg in Bug Music Christmas has passed, and during this quiet week between that holiday and New Years’ Day, I often ponder the magic. We are reminded of it by the “right jolly old elf” whoContinue reading “Pondering the Magic”
In Praise of Slow Hiking
I have never been a fast hiker, even without a heavy pack. I have never seen any reason to aim for speed on the trail. I am on the trail because I want to be in that beautiful place on that beautiful day, and I want to take my time to savor the experience, breathing deeply ofContinue reading “In Praise of Slow Hiking”
Still on the Trail
O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, That thou no more will weigh my eyelids down, And steep my senses in forgetfulness? William Shakespeare in Henry III Over the past couple of years that I have been writing this weekly blog, I have learned that the posts I shareContinue reading “Still on the Trail”
Things that Go Pop in the Night
It seems that the more I distinguish my true needs from my wants, it is a shock to realize how little is enough. Kathleen Norris When I first became a serious backpacker in my late teens there were no sleeping pads available that were light enough to be carried on the trail. On car campingContinue reading “Things that Go Pop in the Night”
Found
Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. Henry David Thoreau Last week I posted about getting lost in the Pasayten Wilderness after forgetting my map on a day hike. That experience changed me in ways I did not fully understand until many years later. The fear that nearly overwhelmed me thatContinue reading “Found”
Lost
There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls. George Carlin Many years ago on one of my long treks in the Pasayten Wilderness of Washington’s North Cascades, I set up camp in a lovely site near Crow Lake, one of my favorite sites, for it included a rustic chair thatContinue reading “Lost”
Among the Champions
Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life. John Muir As my readers know, I grew up in western Washington. In times past most of that area was covered by old growth forest from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific, but by the time I was bornContinue reading “Among the Champions”
My Mountain Home
Readers of these posts will have figured out by now that I am not a big fan of crowding on our nation’s scenic trails. The title, The Solitude Trail, is a dead giveaway. I was dismayed then to drive across the North Cascades Highway a couple of weeks ago, which I wrote about in lastContinue reading “My Mountain Home”
The Solitude Trail 