Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine Let the world turn in the trees, and the mystery hidden in the dirt swing through the air. Mary Oliver Twice a year in the spring and fall I go to visit a friend who has a rustic cabin in the Painted Desert of Arizona nearContinue reading “Strolling with the Desert Fathers”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Good-by to the Lodge
The world is always ending somewhere. It just depends on whether it falls in your line of vision or not. Akwaeka Emezi On Monday morning I got up and opened my laptop, as I do most mornings, and was surprised to see a message from a friend that said simply, “Oh no!” I clicked theContinue reading “Good-by to the Lodge”
Discovering Red
One can speak poetry just by arranging colors well. Vincent Van Gogh I grew up under the gray skies of western Washington. While heavy rains rarely fell, a light drizzle was a common occurrence, especially in the winter and spring and fall. . .well, almost all the time. The trade off for this abundant precipitationContinue reading “Discovering Red”
My Happy Place
Life is the hospital where healing takes place. Oliver Sacks The happy little girl you see above was born less than four years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In that photo, if my estimate is correct, I would have been about three or four years old, so the nationContinue reading “My Happy Place”
Hiking Broken
Let go or be dragged. Zen Proverb Readers of my blog may recall that I fractured my shoulder about six months ago. When it happened I recall feeling hopeful that I would have the entire autumn and winter to recover, then would be back on the trail by spring. Isn’t that the way it isContinue reading “Hiking Broken”
Poop Patrol and Other Trail Pastimes
Wilderness is not just the preservation of the world, it is the world. Gary Snyder If you have been reading my blog for awhile you have no doubt figured out that I am not a big fan of crowds, especially on the trail. It is of course a recurring theme in these posts, one IContinue reading “Poop Patrol and Other Trail Pastimes”
Set Apart
The photo you see above is Cathedral Rock in Sedona, where I spent the last week. There must be dozens of Cathedral Rocks in this country, as well as Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Mountain, or anything else that points towards the sky and fills us with awe. Sedona’s Cathedral Rock is so named because it isContinue reading “Set Apart”
Wild Strawberries
Be here. Be present. Wherever you are. Be there. Willie Nelson It is late winter, which means I almost always want to be someplace other than at home, away from the snow that lingers, the icy paths that make walking treacherous, the gray skies, the weight of it all. That is why I find myselfContinue reading “Wild Strawberries”
Lost Trails
I was pleased last week when a reader recognized the trail I described in my tale of cold and warmth and knew it to be one that has been long abandoned. The Boundary Trail once spanned the width of the Pastayten Wilderness from Horseshoe Basin in the east all the way to Ross Lake. TheContinue reading “Lost Trails”
Turning towards the Sun
This is the time of year when I look outside and long for warmer days. Spring is still a month away, and even when it officially arrives it will not likely be warm here where I live in the North Country of Washington state. It will yet be several months before the trails in theContinue reading “Turning towards the Sun”
The Solitude Trail 