SUMMERS TRAILS
Random meandering from coast to coast.
TOO MUCH FUN
As a 6-year-old in Fairfax County, Virginia, I began my outdoor adventure career by dragging my army-surplus pup tent to the woods behind my family house. When my family moved to La Jolla, California, I was a teenager and I was able to range the forests, mountains, and beaches, creating some pretty grand and memorable adventures.
Since then, I have been able to live and work in Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington along with some flat places that I can scarcely remember. This has allowed me the great pleasure of spending absurd amounts of time living and breathing the rock, snow, duff, and dirt.
MY MOTIVATION
Thousand Oaks, CA around 1987 to 1990 is where it all began. Sharing my adventures almost feels as good as the trip itself. It started as just showing slides and soon, friends who wanted more than photos, asked me to guide them on my hikes in the Sierra Nevada. That became a habit and I was hooked.
THE NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP SCHOOL - Wind River Range & Absoroka Mountains, Wyoming 1990
NOLS enabled me to learn two things:- how to conduct safe, multi-week expeditions into remote, backcountry using Leave No Trace methods
- how to share outdoor knowledge and experience with other hikers so they can likewise venture into the wilderness and return home safely
NOLS/WILDERNESS MEDICINE INSTITUTE - Wilderness First Aid Training, Sonora, California 2008
As geologists say, "Chert happens!" Things can and do go wrong in the wilderness. So, I think it is a fundamental responsibility to other hikers and to the backcountry itself to prepare as best you can.
GUIDING WITH LLAMAS - Oregon & California 1991-1995
They don't go far, but they sure are cute. Hikers of all abilities love having a beast carry their gear throughout the Sierra Nevada.
EXPLORING AND REPORTING FOR HIKERS - Sacramento 1995-2009
Hiking, mapping, and describing over a hundred trails from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe allows me to help more people who are interested in the outdoors to go out and come home safely.
Check out my books on trails in and around the Sacramento area and the Lake Tahoe Basin:
- 60 Hikes within Sixty Miles & Sacramento
- Five Star Trails around Lake Tahoe
- Easy Hikes Close to Home & Sacramento
Researching and writing outdoor guidebooks allows me to visit the special places where I'm most at home hiking through the hemlocks to cross some windswept saddle and heading for the other side of the mountain to see what I can see.
So, thanks for visiting and I hope you found what you are looking for. Check my journal over the summer to follow my progress along the trail and please make a donation to help find a cure for Retinitis Pigmentosa.