Resources

More of photographer Nick Meers’ work can be seen at nickmeers.co.uk, @nickmeers.

Jeremy Collins’ artwork is available as original drawings and prints or reproductions via jercollins.com and themeridianline.com. Follow him @jer.collins.

Adventure Journal contributing writer Craig Childs is the author of multiple books centered around the Southwest, including Finders Keepers, House of Rain, The Secret Knowledge of Water, and Virga & Bone. houseofrain.com

As travel shifted from actual journeys to exploring the backyard, we turned up some indispensable tools for learning more about what’s right in front of you. The Seek smartphone app from iNaturalist is remarkably efficient at identifying whatever species you point it at; it’s free for Android and iPhone. The Audubon Bird Guide app, also free, is our favorite of the many birding apps. Finally, few of us have Jeremy Collins’ drawing skills, so we recommended the book The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, by John Muir Laws. A third of the book is devoted to becoming more observant in the field—a valuable skill even if you never pick up the pencil.

The tenth edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is expected to be on sale sometime in the next few years—hey, there’s a lot of moving parts. Back issues are widely available and first and second editions routinely sell for about twenty bucks on eBay.

Author David Stevenson is the director of the University of Alaska Anchorage MFA program in creative writing. ddstevenson.blogspot.com, @davidstevenson9715

Amateur sleuths who want to follow up on the mystery of Mostly Harmless should turn first to Reddit and True Crime Society, truecrimesociety.com.

By his own admission, author Jason Nark became obsessed with Mostly Harmless’s case. A features reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, Nark did most of his research “on my phone, in bed, after midnight, while my wife was asleep next to me. I was researching Mostly Harmless during my honeymoon in Puerto Rico.” jasonnark.com, @jasonnark

Author Ryan Stuart’s career began as an outdoor guide—leading hiking, paddling, and skiing trips. He’s based in Courtenay, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island and has been a freelance writer and editor since 2003, working for titles such as Explore, Hakai, and Sierra. @ryanpstuart

Photos by Sean Ryan, seanryanphotography.com, @seanryanphotos

Joel Sartore has been documenting species for more than two decades, and never has the issue of biodiversity been more important. The current extinction rate is far higher than average over the last ten million years, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature currently lists 31,030 species as threatened. Sartore recommends simple actions you can take to help: support accredited zoos, plant a pollinator garden, quit using plastic daily, eat less meat and more plants, avoid foods with palm oil, drive less or drive a smaller car, and more. You can find the full list at his website, along with Photo Ark prints and signed hardbound books, the proceeds of which go directly to the project. joelsartore.com, @joelsartore

Writer and interviewer Mary Anne Potts is a frequent contributor to Adventure Journal. Her last piece was a profile of conservation photographer Cristina Mittermeier, in AJ15. @maryannepotts

Mountain biking isn’t a cure-all for mental health issues, but studies continue to suggest being outdoors in natural spaces and exercise are powerful therapies that calm the anxious mind. Joey Dolowy, a former bike racer and licensed therapist in Granada Hills, California, will counsel you saddle to saddle while pedaling up some of Southern California’s finest trails. A nonprofit in Washington, the Send it Society, uses mountain bike group rides as a non-clinical method to help those struggling with mental health problems. They can be reached at senditsociety.org.

Author Justin Housman is a senior editor at Adventure Journal. You can follow him on Instagram, @hzahorseman, but Twitter’s where you’re more likely to get a rise out of him. @justinhousman

Barbara Hillary was tweeting until just a few days before she died, in November 2019. You can get a sense of her spirit and worldview on her Twitter feed, @northsouthpole, and at her website, which remains active. barbarahillary.com

To learn more about Breaks Interstate Park, start with a visit to its website, breakspark.com, then dial up the PBS documentary made about it, adv-jour.nl/breaks.

Brad Rassler is the founder and editor of Sustainable Play, an online journal about the intersection of outdoor narrative and sustainable development, where you can do a deep dive into writing from the likes of Doug Peacock, Dick Dorworth, and, yes, Rassler himself. sustainableplay.com

At last check-in, Los Angeles-based author and contributing AJ writer Shawnté Salabert was training for a run across the Teton Crest Trail by carbo-loading on salted brown butter Rice Krispie treats. It seemed to be going well for her. shawntesalabert.com, @shawntesalabert

After traveling full-time in their self-converted Ford Transit van, newlyweds Megan McDuffie and Michael van Vliet have recently landed in Bend, Oregon. freshoffthegrid.com, @freshoffthegrid

Since finishing his third transcontinental canoe trip in 2017, Mike Ranta has focused on shorter outings, such as the nine hundred and fifty mile run from Fort McMurray, Alberta, to Yellowknife on the Great Slave Lake to raise awareness for Canadian veterans. As always, he traveled with Spitzii, his twelve-year-old Finnish Spitz dog, and wore his Team Canada jersey and birchbark hat. He posts regularly on Facebook, including sharing bush cooking tips (fiddlestick heads in garlic and butter, anyone?). @mikerantaspaddle

After spending seven months in 2017 documenting Ranta’s cross-Canada canoe trip, photographer David Jackson fetched up in northwestern Ontario, where he spends as much time as possible on the land. He shoots Olympic sports for the CBC and regularly covers Indigenous communities for Toronto’s Globe & Mail newspaper. davidjacksonphoto.com, @davidjackson__