With the hubbub generated by the discovery of the monolith in Utah, leave no trace, as well as general backcountry etiquette is back in the news. We published this back in 2017, but the discussion is worth continuing, especially for new readers out there, as we contemplate our place in the backcountry, and how our … Read more
Stones: We’ve built pyramids and castles with them and painstakingly cleared them out of farm fields, using them to build low walls for fencing. We marvel at the rocks in the Grand Canyon, Arches and Grand Teton national parks. Yet a perplexing practice has been gaining ground in our wild spaces: People have begun stacking … Read more
I went for a trail run yesterday and logged almost two hours through the tall grass, wildflowers, and absurdly steep hills in my back yard. That I’m running at all feels like a miracle. That I woke up this morning with no pain anywhere in my body feels even more like one. In December 2011, … Read more
I’ve always pictured myself with a partner who wants to explore the world with me, that stereotypical romantic vision of a soulmate with whom to share all the epics: learning to surf in Hawaii, skiing in Argentina, backpacking across Nepal. Even just heading out for a last-minute backpacking trip together, or a post-work mountain bike … Read more
I’ve always pictured myself with a partner who wants to explore the world with me, that stereotypical romantic vision of a soulmate with whom to share all the epics: learning to surf in Hawaii, skiing in Argentina, backpacking across Nepal. Even just heading out for a last-minute backpacking trip together, or a post-work mountain bike … Read more
There are roughly 18,000 gas-powered vehicles in the USFS fleet. That number will likely be changing in the coming years as the Biden administration signed into law an executive order that by 2027 all vehicles purchased by the feds will need to be zero emission vehicles. The USFS is getting a head start on that. … Read more
When you go out hiking, have you ever included a jar of salsa in your backpack? Most don’t. But a man who became stranded while hiking in Southern California did last month and it saved his life. Perhaps we all should. Eric, last name unknown, from Oceanside, California, had been hiking near Big Bear Lake, … Read more
When you think BC, you think snow, yes? Maybe mountain biking? Or maybe you’ve heard of or been to Tofino, a surfing “hotspot” vibe town that caters to beginners who want to learn to surf at a beach under the pines. Well, Pete Devries here, Canadian surfing royalty, knows BC can rival any far-flung tropical … Read more
Early in the morning hours of Thursday, December 1, a man driving a snowmobile across the forty-five miles between Noorvik and Kotzebue, Alaska, became stranded. It’s not clear what happened, but it was dark (there are just three and a half hours of daylight there now) and cold (22 degrees) and he pulled out his … Read more
It’s full-on winter surf season here in Northern California, and already, the below scenario has happened this year. It happens every year, the first truly scary moment in the surf. As I was practically soiling my wetsuit praying my recently surgically repaired shoulder would hold through the imminent violence, this essay popped into my head … Read more