post thru-hike gear wrapup: Columbia OutDry ex-reign rain jacket and pants
If you’re going to be outdoors for any significant amount of time, you are going to eventually get wet and if you plan to walk the Te Araroa, you will get very wet. I always carry sturdy rain gear on my thru-hikes. I know it’s a cardinal sin in the ultralite community, but on the […]
password: bluebell
One Thursday in spring, bluebells explode into a sea of color like a holy shrine at Carley State Park, MN.
To: Mark Weatherall, Chief Executive of the Te Araroa Association
Kia ora, Mark. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me by phone on that cold, blustery and rainy day last March as I holed up in Otautau after an upsetting encounter with an aggressive male tramper. Your calming voice and sensible advice helped me complete the trail in Bluff full […]
Flower Power at Nerstrand Big Woods or: how I learned to say “Cutleaf Toothwort” without giggling
Jack Peaks Out Beauty of Spring Caped Crusader Anemone Fields Flying Nuns Toothy Grins Small Rare Precious Wild Blue Petal Grace
post thru-hike gear wrapup: La Sportiva Akyra mountain running shoe
You might recall that it was one year ago, while hiking the Coast-to-Coast and aliloop-of-the-lakes in England, that I became a true believer in using trail runners for backpacking. It turns out this is not just a fling. We’re talking full-on love affair made to last for the long haul and that’s because for the […]
spring song
The volume’s turned up on muddy trails at Minnesota’s William O’Brien State Park and my ears open to the music of early spring.
post thru-hike gear wrapup: Kavu Fishermans Chillba
It’s not that I have anything against baseball caps. I often wear them hiking, biking, kayaking, running, skiing, climbing – you get the idea. But for a long-distance thru-hike, I really need to cover more territory. I am a pony-tailed hiker most of the time, and there’s a lot of exposed skin. A wide-brimmed sun […]
post thru-hike gear wrapup: Granite Gear Crown2 60
When I purchased the iPhone that would become my camera, typewriter, microphone, editing studio and means of communication with the outside world, I needed to ensure it was big enough to handle all those tasks, but small enough to fit easily in the hip-belt pocket of my backpack. “Olive Oyl” – my Granite Gear Crown2 […]
the moment before
It’s gray and cold, my hoodie is tied tight at my chin. A tiny stream seeps from a pile of shriveled and melting black snow where a mummified squirrel is revealed, his tail a soft curve. Last year’s fall display crunches underfoot in a seemingly barren forest. But green rises in round pools of life, […]
post thru-hike gear wrapup: Leki Micro Vario Ti Cor-Tec pole
Gusts were at “extreme gale” in exposed areas and squally showers blew sideways the day I crossed Nelson Lakes National Park’s Traverse Saddle in New Zealand’s South Island. I made it to the top with enough clear sky to shoot a selfie even if I was barely able to stand. Going down, per usual, was […]
