I have a set of pictures that rotate across the desktop of my computer screen. At the moment, they’re mostly from our trip to Utah and California last year, with a few favorites from as far back as 2008. I…

Photos of the Wilderness

A Misty Morning Stroll on Arcadia Beach
Arcadia Beach, along US-101 south of Cannon Beach, isn’t worth a long stop. There just isn’t that much there. But it does have some interesting features, so if you happen to be passing by, consider 10 or 15 minutes to…

Lakes & Peaks: Duck Pass
If you can do one trail near Mammoth Lakes, CA, Duck Pass certainly should rank high on your list of possibilities. The trail passes by several lakes between mountains before ascending to an 10,800ft. pass overlooking the valley you just…

The Time We Raised a Cell Phone from the Dead
Early morning in Wyoming. Who even knew Wyoming had scenery like this? It’s a tempting thing to think that you come to a state boarder and all that classic Colorado scenery stops, and, oh, now we’ve got Wyoming scenery –…

Epic Day Hiking Road Trip to Yellowstone & Grand Tetons!
Yellowstone and Grand Tetons are a concentration of epic views and fascinating phenomena. In Yellowstone, water boils out of the ground to create colorful pools, waterfalls race with thousands of gallons per minute, steaming water spouts into the air, and…

Keeping Our Eyes on the End
“A lot of people flunk out in the wilderness, because they don’t keep their eyes on the end… The test of the wilderness is the purification of your motives and your heart.” – DS The Bible talks quite a…

Walking the Zion Narrows
I first did the Zion Narrows in 1997. Or, should I say, I first set foot in the Virgin River in 1997, and we went around the first bend and turned around. The kids were too young; one of the…

Awe in the Wilderness Heals
In the article I mentioned last week concerning research done by the Sierra Club, REI, and the University of Berkeley, the researchers found an interesting correlation between emotional healing and the experience of those who came out into the wilderness.…

Evening at Badwater Basin
We were crazy to go to Badwater Basin in the middle of June the week after record-breaking high temperatures in California. We knew we were crazy. But we also wanted to hike Telescope Peak, and since we had to travel…

The Wilderness Heals
I read an article a couple weeks ago about some tests conducted by the Sierra Club, REI, and University of Berkeley. The participants were those who had experienced significant trauma and were exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. The testing field was…