Those who dwell. . . among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Rachel Carson I started hiking and backpacking while quite young, and I have to admit. . .that was a very long time ago. When I first started backpacking alone in my early twenties, I oftenContinue reading “In Praise of Reservations”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Getting to the Tops of Things
On Climbing the Sierra Matterhorn after Thirty-One Years Range after range of mountains Year after year after year. I am still in love. Gary Snyder The summer between my junior and senior year of college I took a mountaineering class. I needed one more physical education credit to graduate the following spring, and climbing mountainsContinue reading “Getting to the Tops of Things”
One Step at a Time, One Stitch at a Time
That’s it, I guess. Just go on living, whether you feel like it or not. Anton Chekhov My readers will not be surprised to learn that I have a life apart from hiking, though my hiking life will always be the axis around which everything else revolves. Still, the winters are long where I live.Continue reading “One Step at a Time, One Stitch at a Time”
The Season of Mud
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. Kurt Vonnegut Winters settle in for a long time in northeastern Washington, and when the snow finally melts it is replaced by mud, thick and dark, the kind that sucks your boots off when you stepContinue reading “The Season of Mud”
The Funnest Day
Be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. Rumi My regular readers will know that I was a single mom for most of my twin daughters’ lives and that they grew up with only myself to shepherd them through childhood challenges. When my marriage to their father endedContinue reading “The Funnest Day”
Lost in the Bighorns
Having no destination, I am never lost. Ikkyu Well, okay, I was not exactly lost. But the trail that was supposed to take me back to my waiting vehicle at Paint Rock Lake could not be found, and I was on the last day of a three day hike, scheduled to be back to workContinue reading “Lost in the Bighorns”
When the Ten Essentials Are No Longer Essential
Do not be surprised that the return of the light lifts your spirits. Do not be surprised that warmth on your back calms you and makes you glad. Feel your spirits lift as the sun rises higher in the sky: this is part of you, this snaky gladness, part of who you have been forContinue reading “When the Ten Essentials Are No Longer Essential”
Why I Am Still Not a Thru Hiker
When we walk like we are rushing, we print anxiety and sorrow upon the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth. Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet. ThichContinue reading “Why I Am Still Not a Thru Hiker”
Why I Am Not a Thru Hiker
Wanderer; your footsteps are the road, and nothing more, wanderer, there is no road, the way is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again. Antonio Macrado, Proverbias y cantares XXIX in Campos de Castilla In 1968 when the PacificContinue reading “Why I Am Not a Thru Hiker”
What’s for Dinner?
Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece. Nadia Boulanger Younger hikers. . .and even younger old hikers. . .may be surprised to learn that there was a time when convenient packets of oatmeal and cocoa and other staples of the hiking diet wereContinue reading “What’s for Dinner?”
The Solitude Trail 