Continental Divide Trail hike

  • Snowstorm in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

    At the mountaineering shop Elaine and I worked at in Boulder, Colorado, we sold a variety of maps highlighting regions and trails for adventure. Some of the maps cycled through quickly – the Indian Peaks, Summit County, Rocky Mountain National… Continue reading

  • Touring Around the Fires

      Several days before Helena, I was multitasking. Between making dinner, purifying water, and writing in my journal I got thirsty and grabbed a water bottle. Gulp, gulp, gulp – and then I paused, a mouthful of water still in… Continue reading

    Touring Around the Fires
  • Montana is not all burning…walking the CDT to Helena

    If the news cast an accurate portrayal of the situation in Montana in autumn 2017, one might think we’d be unable to continue – if not already charred to death – as a result of forest fires everywhere. Images of… Continue reading

  • Ten Things

    Sometimes you have to find the things that were good, rather than dwell on the things that were not. This section, as we poured over maps of the area in Darby, was looking bleak. Smoke filled the sky, and every… Continue reading

    Ten Things
  • CDT Pain Cave, Eclipses and Wolves

    As the long summer turns to the dog days of August, the trail follows suit. After the wild splendor of the lush Wind River mountains and the sublime beauty of Yellowstone, we’ve entered terrain that is a little less spectacular… Continue reading

  • Bumping Between Borders

    After a double zero in Yellowstone, the legs feel much more recovered, and my headspace has improved too. It has been a lot of fun to walk around the Old Faithful area to look at all the geysers and hot… Continue reading

    Bumping Between Borders
  • North to Yellowstone National Park

    Foggy morning in Yellowstone. North. The word has power. It invokes images. Wild images of deep pine woods, dancing aurora night skies, wolves sliding through the shadows, fog rising off lakes, owls hooting calls to one another through the night.… Continue reading

  • Out of the Winds

    Sometimes, even after a full zero, it’s still tough. The infected blister I got in the Red Desert didn’t heal (shockingly) in one day. But options are low, and mostly the option is forward, northward, ever onwards. So despite green… Continue reading

  • CDT Journal: Into The Winds

    Dense fog came rolling through the spires as we approached the top of the pass. Thick clouds, heavy with moisture, banked on top of each other, so close I could pull their damp woolen threads down around me. After a… Continue reading