Spokane River Loop, Riverside State Park, Spokane, WA
I was supposed to be backpacking for two days on Mount Hood. It sure seems like many of my sentences begin with “I was supposed to.” Sigh. I was especially excited about this trip. This trip was to a place I have never been, with people I have never met. And I had nothing to […]
Trail of Ten Falls, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
May our misguided spirits always be bulletproof and our mad-hatter minds be drunk on imagination forever – Erin Van Vuren. I’m convinced that to not give up when learning to live with chronic illness, I have to be the most stubborn I’ve ever been and “drunk on imagination forever.” I freely shed expectations put on […]
Dog Mountain and Spirit Falls, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Add professional fucking hill climber to my fucking resume, thanks. Especially if it gets me places called Dog Mountain with views of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens, and there is a fancy 10 am summit cocktail. Dog Mountain, in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, is approximately 6 miles with nearly 3,000′ elevation […]
Cannon Beach, Oregon
Following our backpack trip to Eagle Creek Recreation Trail, J-Go suggested we go to Cannon Beach, Oregon – a place she loves and that I’ve never been to. It was a two-hour drive from the trailhead. The drive is beautiful, winding through incredibly lush coastal forests almost the entire way. We camped at a private campground […]
Eagle Creek Recreation Trail, Cascade Locks, Oregon
Many months ago, while all adventurers in the north were aching for winter to clear off trails so we could go back to the wilderness, J-Go and I had made a plan to backpack Eagle Creek Recreation Trail. Five years ago, this trail was closed due to the devastation caused by a teenage boy who […]
Deep Creek Canyon Loop, Riverside State Park, Nine Mile Falls, Washington
Deep Creek Canyon is so beautiful. You walk through the forest, along a ridge, then through a field, before you cross a beautiful bridge and then walk along the river. I hosted this full moon night hike for my group, Inland Northwest Hikers. I was so lucky to do it with Barbarian Scientist, My Therapist, […]
Icefields Parkway, Banff National Park to Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
The top 5 most scenic drives in the world, according to The Luxury Travel Expert and a hundred other sources, are: Icefields Parkway is only a six-hour drive north of Couer d’Alene and is where I spent a full day exploring with Barabrian Scientist last week. It is a 232km road that begins/ends at Lake […]
Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Imagine trying to wade through cement while holding two bowling balls above your head while also living your life. You see that most people do not have to do it that way, and you also remember what it was like to be more like them. The struggle requires you to make a decision to keep […]
Charleston, South Carolina
South Carolina was where I began adulthood. When I turned 18 years old, I promptly enlisted in the US Army, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was my boot camp location. I attended boot camp at a time when there were still many male-only boot camps, which meant that Fort Jackson was considered a cushioned place […]
Northrup Canyon, Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington
Go hike Northrup Canyon right now. Go! If you wait any longer, then you’ll miss this. It is vibrant and lush and overrun with countless marmots, but as the heat of summer in central Washington sets in, the green will turn brown, wildfires will smother the crystal blue skies, and rattlesnakes will be out. I […]