Mountain goats on the McCullough Gulch Trail hike in Colorado
Something always stands between me and the goats. I haul all my stupid, heavy photography gear on my back for miles into thinning air, hoping I'll spot their white fur against the rocky ridges. Then, every time I see them, something terrible happens that keeps me from them. I nearly crap my pants on Grays,...
Peru Creek: Crapping in a Bag & Other Stories
This is a story about defeat, joy, and grief. It is full of adventure and misadventure, with a touch of prescience. Twists and turns. Bathroom humor. Summit season 2022 was unsuccessful, but mountain season was a hit. Buckle up; it's a ride. This year has been a lesson in coping with the unexpected. Every trip...
Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota
It appears that 2022 is the year I visit national parks experiencing extraordinary flooding events. In the spring, massive flooding washed out vast parts of Yellowstone National Park just after I visited during record snow. And recently, I visited Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota just after historic flooding caused by heavy rains and snowmelt in...
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon in southern Utah is the last of the four national parks I visited on this road trip. (Prior parks: Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.) At this stage, I am equal parts exhausted, in awe of what...
Finding Perspective at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
I booked this cottage in Montrose, Colorado because I needed a place to stay close to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. But also because goats. Quaint farm lodging with goats beats lodging without goats 100 percent of the time. There were at least three different varieties of goats that the homeowners keep as...