A Quick Hike to Lake Barstow, WY with My Daughter
Reading Time: 11 minutes This has some of my favorite memories ever. It was my first overnight hike with my little daughter!
Review: 9 Miles or More to Jim Creek Lake, Wind River Range
Reading Time: 20 minutes Jim Creek Lake avoids all the attention that the rest of the Wind River Range receives. Should it? And can you even get to the trailhead given the terrible roads in the area?
Review: Beauty & Ennui Hiking Grizzly Lake
Reading Time: 13 minutes Grizzly Lake offers some nice fall colors, but isn’t worth the hike in any season. A trip to the first pond on the hike might be worth it.
Review: Stupendously Short Overnight Hike to Lost Lake, WY
Reading Time: 11 minutes Lost Lake is a very short hike to a picturesque, colorful lake. It’s good for people who aren’t in shape, or for families with little children.
Scientists Discover Hottest Place On Planet Is Inside Your Tent The Second After Sun Comes Up
Reading Time: 2 minutes Boulder, CO—Scientists at the University of Colorado School of Geophysics have overturned a long-held world record for planetary heat here on Earth. While the record was previously held by Iran’s Lut Desert, it’s been definitively relegated into the realm of sweaty has-beens.
Reviews: Hoback Guard Station, Granite Hot Springs, and Clear Lake Day Hike
Reading Time: 12 minutes Clear Lake is a beautiful lake surrounded by cliffs. It can be done as a day hike but is best accomplished with enough time for one to fully take in the concept of eternal damnation. Everything else in this post is tops!
Review: Overnight Snowshoeing at Lake Agnes, Colorado
Reading Time: 6 minutes This short, Coloradan amble is best done in the late fall or winter when no one’s around, as it’s a high-use area bordering Rocky Mountain National Park. The views are quite beautiful.
Review: Exploring the Cirque of the Towers in the Snow
Reading Time: 11 minutes Visiting the Cirque of the Towers in the fall is a real pleasure, since all the bugs and instagrammers are gone! I had it all to myself.
Review: Hiking Downs Mountain, Bomber Basin, Mile-Long Lake, etc., Plus a Crashed B24
Reading Time: 34 minutes This hike features stunning scenery and incredible history, but I have suggestions on how you can make it far more worthwhile. My favorite part is the crashed B24 bomber.
Review: Brewster, Lunch, & Shoal Lakes via Big Balls of Cowtown Trail
Reading Time: 38 minutes Featuring Lunch Lake, Brewster Lake, and Shoal Lake, this hike in the Gros Ventre received my highest rating. Use the included GPS recording so that you can enjoy the Big Balls of Cowtown Trail, which many people have a hard time finding.
Take an Important Fast from the World
Reading Time: < 1 minute Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking. You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits. —Cindy Ross If you don’t hike, I encourage you to. Perhaps at first five miles seems daunting, but by the end of a season, 40 will be something that your heart longs to have the time to do. When I go hiking, I always take podcasts with me,…
Review: Shirley & Valaite Lake, Twin Lakes, & Lake Gadsby (Ugly + Boring)
Reading Time: 20 minutes 15 miles, 6 lakes, and some nice views. Is the hike to Lake Gadsby worth it? This is one where I was left very conflicted.
2 Stars: Goldbug Hot Springs after Gabriel Iglesias
Reading Time: 10 minutes Goldbug Hot Springs in Idaho is worth 2 stars. 3 stars have been deducted for excess urine and an infestation of trashy sex hippies.
(Podcast) The Land of Steadfast Habits: Confronting the Facts
Reading Time: < 1 minute Lucas gives a talk on how he used nature to dwell on God and himself, and improved his mental and spiritual health…and how that convinced him to change his “stinkin’ thinkin.” How is cognitive behavioral therapy tied to repentance? Note: the audio is damaged starting a couple of minutes in due to the failure of the lavalier mic.
Global Warming Alarmists & Climate Change Deniers: How to Have Impossible Conversations with Terrible People
Reading Time: 6 minutes “There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”…
The Most Pain I’ve Felt While Hiking! (Also: Darby Canyon, String Lakes, and Green River Lakes.)
Reading Time: 14 minutes A review of Darby Wind Caves in the snow, kayaking String Lake, and also yakking and camping at Upper Green River Lakes!
A Lesson from the Trail
Reading Time: 3 minutes Be careful of who you choose to be your “in-group,” and try to keep folks around who will give you those little nudges in the right ethical direction.
Darby Wind Cave, Grand Teton National Park
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hiking to look at fossils and an awesome cave in the Tetons!
Your Miserable Butt (AKA “How to Prevent Chafing While Hiking”)
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Dreaded “C” Word I have a problem that will be a visual delight for your mind to envision, and that problem is chafing! Yes, I said the C-word. If there is one thing that makes me miserable in this life, it’s my wretched sister, but if there is another thing that makes me miserable in this life, it’s chafing while hiking. And I don’t really care where. Are those…
15 Miles: Bomber Mountain and Off-Trail Traipsing for Trout
Reading Time: 13 minutes This short hike features incredible history and excellent fishing for a rare species of trout. It’s best if you have two or more nights available.