It’s wet outside. Very wet. The ground around our house was saturated from the storm just a few days ago. The current downpour is dumping even more water. I’m half-worried that some overzealous bureaucrat might designate our backyard as a wetland. There’s a Norwegian saying, “Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!” which translates …
A Grand Failure (?)
The goal was simple: hike the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim in a day. I've been training for this for months: hiking and trail running. Five thousand feet of gain; no problem. 15K trail runs; no sweat. (Okay, a lot of sweat, but you get the idea.) I felt ready. …
The Ray
In the book ’50 Trail Runs in Southern California’, the authors state, “If you can only run two trails in Southern California, one should be the Ray Miller Trail and the other should be the Ray Miller Trail in the opposite direction.” Sadly, part of the loop, the La Jolla Canyon Trail, was damaged in …
Adventures in Baroque Music – Not All Adventures Occur Outdoors
Here I am, participating in a Zoom forum with other industry professionals, feeling out of place, unqualified, and in way over my head. There are many reasons for this, the main one being I’ve only been at this job for less than a week. -------------------- Longtime readers of this site know of my love for …
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Adventure Bits and Bytes: Some notes on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Social Media
Several of my friends have dumped their Facebook accounts (including one of my favorite writers), some are snoozing on social media, at least until after the election, others are moving over to Instagram. (You couldn’t pay me enough to use Twitter or TikTok, but that’s another story.)You may be wondering, “What does social media have …
Mishe Mokwa Morning
(A Poem From Yesterday's Outing in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.) Grey and hazy My view obscured Yet, climb I must Higher, still higher Until only a Few cubits remain Finally Sol’s rays Warmth instead of Mist on my cheeks An igneous summit Called Sandstone Peak Along Boney Ridge …
Running Wild Again
Overcast skies limit the view. A month ago, Catalina Island beckoned me from this same vantage point, but not today. “June Gloom” has set in along the coast of Southern California. A few days prior, the resulting drizzle made seeing through my glasses difficult; there are no such problems on this, the last full day …
Being Prepared for a ‘Bad Day’ – Wilderness First Aid
When we dream about venturing outdoors, most of us envision bucolic strolls through wildflower-filled fields, sunny mornings ascending steep rock faces, being first to put skis to powder on virgin slopes, or watching the sunset from our lakeside camp. Days like these live on in our memory, drawing us again and again to new and …
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One Last Adventure to Adventure 16
It’s Small Business Saturday. The weather is cold by Southern California standards. There are many other ways to spend the last day of November, yet here I am, braving the holiday weekend drivers, many of them staring at their phones instead of paying attention to the road, all to go to a store. But it’s …
No Hike is Too Short – Back on the Trail Again
The sun felt warm on my face. The air was cool and there was just enough of a breeze that I opted for a wind shirt. I walked away from the car and soon put feet to dirt. It was a comfortable feeling heading out on this path, a place I had visited over a …
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Adventure-to-Adventure 