When pleasure can be found, it is fit to catch it. Samuel Johnson When i first started backpacking alone in my early twenties, for the occasions when I would need extra warmth, I carried a pair of long johns, wool pants in a bright red plaid, and a Cowichan sweater my parents had found buriedContinue reading “Cozy in Camp”
Tag Archives: Aging Hikers
Riding on a Snail for 55 Years
Age is simply the number of years the world has been enjoying you. Unknown What a nice surprise it was this week to receive this card in the mail with the illustration you see above. It was a thank you card from Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) congratulating me for being a member for fifty-five years.Continue reading “Riding on a Snail for 55 Years”
Summer in My Soul
The trick comes in planning next summer’s vacation while knowing that next summer is not promised to anyone. Sallie Tisdale With fall now officially begun it seems a little odd to be writing about the season that has just passed, but it was an especially good one for me, and that seems worthy of celebration.Continue reading “Summer in My Soul”
Geography Is Destiny
The quote that serves as the title for today’s post is from Abraham Verghese, best selling author of Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water, works of fiction about life in Ethiopia, where the author lived as a child. I came upon the quote when I was trying to learn more about him andContinue reading “Geography Is Destiny”
Getting to Just Right
Yesterday I was clever. That is why I wanted to change the world. . . Today I am wise. That is why I am changing myself. Sri Chimney My last post (When Ultra-Lite is Too Lite, August 6) drew a huge number of comments from my readers, more than I have ever received from aContinue reading “Getting to Just Right”
When Ultra-Lite Is Too Lite
Each step of a journey alters the person who makes it. Jane Hirshfield The photo you see above was taken before I had even left the trailhead on the first day of a nine day trek through the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Just as I was setting out on the trail I met someContinue reading “When Ultra-Lite Is Too Lite”
Alone but Not Lonely
Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way? Henry David Thoreau When I first started hiking alone in my early twenties people asked me a lot of questions, on and off the trail. There were alway two consistent themes: The first was, “Aren’t you afraid?” That was not hard toContinue reading “Alone but Not Lonely”
On the Trail with Teacup
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. Edward Abbey For weeks I had been putting off this trip. We had abundant rain that continued most of the spring, and three days without precipitation in the forecast seemed like an impossibility.Continue reading “On the Trail with Teacup”
Going Out in Joy
For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace, The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12 My backpack is propped against the legs of the kitchen table, and gear is strewn about onContinue reading “Going Out in Joy”
Finding Strength in a Twig
As people who want to live a good, full, unrestricted, adventurous, real kind of life this is certain instruction we can follow: see what is. Pema Chodron I encountered my first subalpine larch tree on a backpacking trip in Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness, an area I came to love because of its isolation and beauty andContinue reading “Finding Strength in a Twig”
The Solitude Trail 