Finishing my 48

We hunkered down behind some rocks at the summit of Mt. Jefferson. The wind was chilly for August 12 but the sun was still warm. Below us a dozen hikers were hanging out on Monticello’s Lawn, a grassy area at the intersection of Caps Ridge and Castle trails. A guy in shorts and a t-shirt was scrambling over the rocks at the summit nearby, talking to anybody who would listen. “Wow, this is…

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Take the tour.

My life philosophy has changed, dramatically. I no longer believe that meandering through a foreign city, a new museum, or an unfamiliar bike park is worthwhile. Of course I continue to do those things, but it’s the meandering that’s changed. I’m now on the tour bus. It turns out that reading the placards next to the paintings in museums doesn’t provide the same illuminating (and often…

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Winter hiking: Why wasn't I cold?

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Sailing with Starlink

We’re 20 miles offshore of Cape Hatteras, SC, an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. There’s only one other sailboat in view, a blue-hulled speedster that’s pulling away from us in the gusty, 15 mph winds. It’s a gray November day with choppy and disorganized swells, rocking our sailboat one way and bouncing it back. It’s thrilling to be sailing aboard Free Spirit again, southbound…

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Solo sailing and leveling up

Solo sailing and leveling up

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Life After Fitbit

I was leaning over the back of my boat, trying to start the outboard when my watch popped off and dove in. Within seconds it had slipped beneath the coffee-colored water and disappeared. Thus began Life After Fitbit. When the watch was gone I felt badly but not too badly. One of my daughters was right next to me – she’d arranged it as a group gift for someone (me) who doesn’t want anything but…

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Finding My Free Spirit – and a UFO?

Finding My Free Spirit – and a UFO?

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Sailboat ownership: the other story

Sailboat ownership: the other story

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One Rock at a Time

One Rock at a Time

How long has it been, 12 years now, or more like 15? There are days I get to the base of this rock and dismount to walk up it, and there are days I give it my best shot. Last weekend I helped with a girls mountain biking clinic. Most of the kids did okay on our three mile ride, which had some challenging terrain for such a short ride. A couple were beset by lousy bikes (typical sidewalk-type…

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Best Hikes in Alaska -- Must-Have Gear

Best Hikes in Alaska — Must-Have Gear

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Best Hikes in Alaska -- Part III

Best Hikes in Alaska — Part III

I don’t want to start typing this blog post because it means I have to move on from my Alaskan adventure and find new material when in fact I just want to relive most of that trip again and again. Alaska is a spectacularly beautiful place. My nearly 3 week trip barely scratched the surface of things to do, and we managed 50 miles of hiking, catching fresh salmon, tangling with a porcupine, my…

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Best of Alaska: Salmonfest

Best of Alaska: Salmonfest

When planning a trip to Alaska, most people zero in on an accessible area with a lot to do. The Kenai Peninsula is that kind of place. It was also the last part of my three-legged vacation way up north last summer. Do I need to add that it’s a spectacularly scenic area too? This part of my trip was planned almost by accident, serendipitously. When my travel buddy and I were first kicking around…

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Best Hikes in Alaska -- Part II

Best Hikes in Alaska — Part II

Consider a trip to Alaska — that enormous state with so much wide open space — and the planning is either overwhelming or predictable. We did both. Our less-touristy destination within Alaska was Lake Clark National Park, discussed in my first blog post about my epic summer adventure. Upper Twin Lake there is the home of Pete the Pesky Porcupine who aggravated me for two nights, even chewing his…

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Alaska Travels: There's a Porcupine in My Tent!

Alaska Travels: There’s a Porcupine in My Tent!

Yes, this really happened to me in Alaska: I awakened one night to a porcupine just inches from my face, basically inside my tent (actually between the outer shell and the inner screen). No, porcupines don’t throw their quills. I was probably just lucky not to wake up with some in my face given the proximity but I believe you have to grab (or bite!) one of the critters to get quills embedded in…

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Best hikes in Alaska – PART ONE

Best hikes in Alaska – PART ONE

It’s hard to wrap one’s mind around a place as huge as Alaska. Where do you even begin to plan a visit that hits some of the best sights? When I started planning such a trip last year I didn’t realize I was lucky – my traveling partner and I had decided to venture into Lake Clark National Park to see Dick Proenneke’s remote cabin as our reason for the trip. Getting there was the most challenging…

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Chomping on rocks

Rocks are an acquired taste. Ten years ago I ventured into the Vietnam mountain bike trails for the first time and was blown away. Between the mud, mosquitoes, and gnarly terrain I knew I had to improve my skills by a LOT if I were going to ride there. I’m pretty sure I didn’t go back for a long time after that first butt kicking. In 2010 I was going all over Eastern Mass., riding every kind of…

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Cold comfort: winter hike layering lessons

Cold comfort: winter hike layering lessons

Or, Goldilocks and the Winter Hike Too warm, too cold, or just right? Those were the questions running through my head as I prepared for an early March hike in Boston’s Blue Hills with an AMC group. It was going to be around 20 degrees but with a minus-ten windchill. We’d hiked in cold temps before, but this presented a particular challenge. How could I dress in layers so that I wouldn’t be too…

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