There was a lot of drama
I’ve traveled many times to the beautiful Southwest corner of Utah. Eastern Utah has been so close, and so far, since moving to Denver, but I finally made it there. Six days of hiking, in and around Moab, with 10 people who were strangers to me, plus two guides. What could go wrong? I guess…
A chance to bloom
Mount Sniktau, one of my favorite summer hikes, is both stunning and harsh. The first mile up (which is also the last mile down) is a steep, forty-six percent grade with loose rocks and dirt, and the wind is rarely less than 10 miles per hour. I often chose Mt Sniktau as one of my…
It’s still winter
In September 2021 I wrote, Can’t You Hear the Whumpfhing. And darn, I am still hearing the whumpfing. Less subtle. More frequent. Increasingly frightening. It has been an active avalanche season here in Colorado. And, there are several big snow storms happening in our mountains as I write. It’s April. It’s still winter. So yes,…
There are endless ways to receive her rewards
I say it a lot, and I feel it even more. Nature heals. In 2024, I went on 88 hikes, thirty-seven of which were on trails new to me. For the past five years, I’ve been documenting my annual hiking activity (which includes snowshoeing). I’m never trying to achieve a goal, but I get out…
Another year of the best of the best
In 2023, I went on 86 hikes, thirty-two of which were on trails new to me. For the past four years, I’ve been documenting my annual hiking activity. It’s not a race. It’s not a goal. It’s not a competition with myself or anyone. It’s simply an important part of my life. My move to…
Loss is hiding in the trees
It was just nearly six years ago that Tim and I hiked in Rocky Mtn National Park. Instead of going to a main entrance, we chose an area that was actually only trail head parking. No gate. No ranger. And in fact, there were only a few other cars parked there. We honestly knew very…
The only way out is through
Although I am not a risk taker, I have rarely shied away from a challenge. And for me, one of the surprising things I’ve found in grief is, it has made me feel like there’s nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s an odd sense of invincibility. How can I be hurt? What could…
Making this journey possible
It is fairly frequent that I write about hiking, and always, it’s more than that. Because there are analogies with life and grief that shouldn’t be ignored. And because, maybe in part for that reason, hiking has been part of my journey especially these past four years. So with that in mind, I invite you…