Category: adventure

A weekend in Bears Ears

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You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody in the Western US today who hasn’t heard of Bears Ears. It’s become a rallying cry for conservation and recreation and generally not letting public lands disappear. (If you need a refresher on Bears Ears’ contemporary history, here’s a good primer from a Native perspective.)

I’d driven through parts of the Monument, but never spent any significant time there. So when we started making plans to spend a holiday weekend in the desert with friends, I jumped at Bix’s suggestion to make for Cedar Mesa.

Continue reading “A weekend in Bears Ears” →

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How I climbed a mountain without making it entirely about myself

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A little over a year ago, I headed to Mexico with a group of women who are, in one way or another, associated with Big City Mountaineers. I’ve written a fair amount about BCM before, since I’ve worked as an instructor and as a volunteer, but basically: BCM is a nonprofit that teaches critical life skills to under-resourced kids during the course of weeklong wilderness backpacking and canoe trips. One of their primary fundraising tools is a program called Summit For Someone, in which participants do cool stuff like climb mountains or embark on their own wilderness trips while fundraising for BCM. Continue reading “How I climbed a mountain without making it entirely about myself” →

A toast to the Aloha Life

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This week, I’m getting ready to go on vacation. I have a lot of things to do: work to finish, emails to send, and, of course, packing, which I obviously haven’t started yet. (My philosophy: if I only leave myself an hour to pack, packing will only take me an hour!)

Anyway, in all the excitement (stress), I neglected to post a blog this week. But I’m saved! Turns out some work I already did is now out there in the universe, so in lieu of my usual navel-gazing, allow me to present you with a story about what happened last time I went on vacation and didn’t check my email for ten days. Continue reading “A toast to the Aloha Life” →

Obligatory New Year post

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I’ve never been much for resolutions. I have a hard time making myself commit to anything I’m not sure I’ll still be into in six months. (There’s probably a metaphor in there.)

Generally, if I’m put on the spot, I’ll resolve to drink more water. This is easy and everyone could stand to do it, but I never actually do. Would my life be magically transformed if I’d finish off a few Nalgenes every day? Probably.  Continue reading “Obligatory New Year post” →