Nature has many thrills to offer. When we are out in the wild, we face challenges quite unlike those in our urban lives. Through these challenges, we add color to our lives and often learn how vulnerable we are in the path of nature’s ever-changing state. This is a story about how I learned these
“Hot Pizza/Cold Beer” said the black and white sign. “Last Chance” is what that metal sign said in all 24 of our young minds, as we questioned the next 11 days before us. The potentially gluttonous invitation for hot pizza and cold beer being the last vestige of the civilized world, or so we thought
From 1979 – 83, my friends and I lived a rich, varied, sometimes-studious, and vibrant life in and around Chapman. Once my friend Paul Carey ’83 (MBA ’00) and I went camping near Big Bear. We got lost, then spotted a wildfire starting, watched the fire crews and helicopter water drops fly right over
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir. “Just a few hundred more feet and you’ll be able to rest” I remind myself with the knowledge that Camp Muir is just over the crest of the snowfield I am tirelessly trekking up. Other hikers on their way
On August 11, 2015, in Missoula, Montana a wind super-storm reached gusts of 74 miles per hour, a Class I Hurricane. Lightning sparked fires on dry August hillsides and residential gardens. Power lines fell, leaving thousands without power for days. Trees were uprooted and downed – landing in intersections, blocking sidewalks, and crushing
Getting after Mother Nature means everything. It takes many different forms, for many different reasons, and satisfies infinite tiny essential nutrients for my universe. The greatest thing I’ve gained, beyond anything else the last year and a half of making Momma Earth my number one gal has taught me, is how to enjoy time alone. You
It’s good to embellish on your resume, or so they say. But after my first day on a trail crew in middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, I regretted every word I had written about “sleeping in the backcountry for extended periods of time,” or “comfortable with manual labor,” or “able to hike in all weather conditions.”
In June 2015, I traveled to southern Africa with my family. The first leg of our trip was 10 days on safari in Botswana. It truly was a wild trip. We had 10 days of absolute isolation – traveling through the bush during the day and pitching a tent at night. We did everything we