Over the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with hiking. This is not that unusual: if you work a fulltime job, the time available to spend on recreation is limited, and we’re also limited by the weather and season. (Oh! how I miss being a college student!) In the past, I’ve always accepted that there’s only so much time available, and there’s always next year. Inexplicably, I’m feeling a sense of urgency this year: what if there is no ‘next year’?

I promise, this isn’t a philosophical post. Continue reading →

Although I’d planned this trip, I didn’t feel really “prepared.” I think that’s because I’ve spent one night on the trail in the last few years, and this was just my first multi-day solo trip in about twenty years. This was also the first backcountry test of the hammock. Lots of variables! Fortunately, this is an area that’s fairly well-travelled, and there are a lot of forest roads that intersect the trails; if a hiker is in distress, it’s fairly easy to get to a road and get to where one may encounter a person with a motor vehicle. Continue reading →

Because this will be a long post, I’ll also write a short “What I Learned” post. If you want more detail about the trip, read the other post as well. This short post is mostly a humorous review of my failures. Continue reading →

I visited my parents this weekend. I took advantage of their large yard with stout trees to test out my hammock. This is the part where I launch into a lengthy explanation about the hammock. If you’re only here for the hiking, scroll down until the font color changes.
Continue reading →

Yes, I am writing a blog post about camping. Continue reading →

I should be super-busy right now, trying to juggle my paying gig & yard work & practice hikes & bike rides. In fact, I should have been headed up to Umtanum Canyon this morning and hiking the Yakima Skyline trail this weekend. But I’m not. I am admitting defeat. Continue reading →

I finished.This is my race report for the Snake River Island Hop. Trust me, the title will make sense.

I signed up for the 100K last fall, on a whim, for all the wrong reasons, after promising myself I’d take the winter off of training to work on core training & burning off some of the extra forty pounds of fuel I’m carrying. And a month or so into training, the pain in my slightly-damaged knee led me to quit running altogether and to train to walk this event. Walking 62 miles in 14 hours? Not possible – not for this body. Continue reading →