Those of you who read last week’s post will understand why it is I am focused again on death and loss. It is a good time of year to ponder such things. The needles of the larch trees have largely been shed by now, and the paths are golden in places where they have fallen.Continue reading “Learning to Grieve on the Trail”
Tag Archives: Aging Hikers
Lessons from the Sky
Hikers and backpackers all know what it is like to seek healing on a mountain trail. I used to call it walking away from the pain. Over the years I learned that the message from the trail was always the same. Whatever it was I was worried about did not matter very much when viewedContinue reading “Lessons from the Sky”
A Long Winter’s Nap
How many times can summer turn to fall in one life? Charles Wright “It feels like fall.” That is what passes for small talk this time of year when commenting on the cooler temperatures, shorter days, or the brilliant reds and golds that mark the season. I mark this time of year with a varietyContinue reading “A Long Winter’s Nap”
Savoring the Warmth
I have returned recently from a backpacking trip that will unfortunately be added to my list of really bad trips. It is a reminder that there is much about hiking that we do not control, such as the weather. There are also things that we do control, such as the gear we carry with us.Continue reading “Savoring the Warmth”
Still Fiddling Around
It’s not the load that weighs you down, it’s the way you carry it. Lena Horne I have had a backpack since I was eighteen years old, when I carried my brother’s old Boy Scout pack on the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier. Obviously over the many years and miles that have followed I haveContinue reading “Still Fiddling Around”
Looking Back from Higher Ground
The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one’s curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills everyday. Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of the Senses For a period of about ten years I spent a week or twoContinue reading “Looking Back from Higher Ground”
A Peak Experience
Like most hikers and backpackers I have enjoyed climbing to high places over the years, though I would not consider myself to be a “peak bagger.” Dangling from a climbing rope or pounding pitons into solid rock has always been a little too scary for me. I prefer to have my feet on solid ground,Continue reading “A Peak Experience”
A New Companion on the Trail
The common denominator in all these conditions—whether in the lungs, the muscles, or the bones—is overwhelming pain… It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way withContinue reading “A New Companion on the Trail”
Remembering Mom’s Home Cooking
In 1968 when several friends and I decided to hike the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier to celebrate our graduation from high school, I volunteered to plan and prepare all of the food for the trip. That meant planning, shopping, and packing lightweight food for five girls for ten days, a daunting task. What IContinue reading “Remembering Mom’s Home Cooking”
Hiking the Duck
In old age I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail. Navajo Prayer Last week I completed my first backpacking trip of the year. Ordinarily such an event would be no big deal. Until a few years ago I typically would do an early trip in the spring, several short ones during the summer months, andContinue reading “Hiking the Duck”
The Solitude Trail 