My Grand Adventure

"The Spartan Race is a dangerous and demanding extreme sporting/racing event. THERE IS A REAL POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MAY DIE OR BE CATASTROPHICALLY INJURED."

Those words were written on the outside of the packet each of our six team members were handed as we checked into...

Two dozen clean and eager hikers stood in a circle at the Seneca Creek trail head in West Virginia, watching as guide Alan Dixon did a demo on packing a backpack most efficiently for rainy weather. The forecast for our 3 day trip was going to be raining, gray, and chil...

As the year 2018 drew it's final breath, I found myself looking back to all the remarkable experiences that I had the pleasure (and misfortune) of living through. I suspect it's what we all do as another New Year approaches - we look back at the year that's passed us b...

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

by Robert Frost 

As the last of the morning stars began to fade and the sun...

I lay ensconced in the warmth of my sleeping bag, listening for the soft rustling sounds that would signal the others getting up. The night before our guide Brian had offered to show us the winter constellation, only visible early in the morning, and I had eagerly agre...

The full moon setting over Moose Lake

Waking up at Moose Lake was like waking into a dream. The sun hadn't risen yet and the moon was still up, giving the area around us a serene glow. I laid in my sleeping bag a while, admiring the last of the stars in the clear sky ab...

I kept my face tucked into my sleeping bag, out of the cold night air. Per Brian's advice, I'd worn my Buff around my eyes when I went to bed, which felt odd at first, until I woke up during the night and peaked out from my bag to find the full moon shining bright on o...

I stood in the parking lot, a pile of gear and food at my feet, thinking about the last 9 months of planning, worrying, and training. I signed up for a guided 5-day backpacking trip in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks back in January, with the intention of getti...

"It's what you do," Daniel mused, "you sign up for something and then you spend 6 months worrying about your ability to do it." 

 He's right, it's what I do. I sign up for challenges and adventures that look exciting and fun in the moment, while I sit in my temperature...

I stood behind a sea of colorful athletic wear, fighting the anxiety building in my stomach and in my thoughts “Everyone is thinner and more fit than me” I thought. “They’re all wearing running vests and I don’t have one” I worried. “I don’t belong here, I’m not ready...