One of the girls on my Outward Bound trip, Danielle, had a fear of heights. As 16 year olds we spent so much time saying we had fears or phobias of things that made us nervous or uncomfortable—spiders, the dark, public speaking—that meeting someone with a genuine phobia was almost surprising. It was a non-issue …
Month: April 2016
Earth Day
A day late, but in honor of Earth Day, a few of my favorite forests, on the other side of the world and close to home. Bamboo Forest, China The teepee my aunt Sandi married her now wife, BJ, in. In her backyard forest, Manchester, VT (photo taken by Brenda Hamm) I'd like to note …
Sheep Lake, WA
Hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail to Sheep Lake, June 2015
The Elusive Moose
I have always wanted to see a moose, the quintessential wild animal of North America, present both in our wilderness and our history. Teddy Roosevelt named his progressive party the Bull Moose Party. When Thomas Jefferson was tying to prove to his French competitors that the United States was not, as the French claimed, a …
Meeting Troy
It was going to be a long day. We knew that from the start. After 5 days of sunshine, it was threatening rain, and we would be reaching Blowout Peak, which promised great views but was one of the highest elevations we would reach. There was also the question of where we would stop that …