United States
Paddling With Ghosts in Tennessee
My arms burned each time I plunged a paddle blade beneath the surface of the river, pulling myself toward whatever I might find ahead. This five-hour kayak journey down Tennessee’s Wolf River traverses a cypress swamp crossed by channels and tributaries that lure paddlers down their path, only to disappear into the landscape, earning this […]
A Winter in the Pit: Washing Dishes in the Alaskan Arctic
On a weekend holiday to Fairbanks, I stepped into Big Ray’s shop, where walls and racks were festooned with down jackets, wool hats, gloves, boots and face masks of every style and function imaginable. I have read that one measure of the dominance of winter is the number of words available to describe snow in […]
Scottsdale Travel Guide
Scottsdale, Arizona, is one of my favorite places to visit any time of year. Why do I love coming here so much? The real question is: Where to start? Located adjacent to Phoenix and in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, Scottsdale’s weather is warm and sunny all year long, so you can take advantage […]
Into The Great, Wide Open: The Ultimate Alaskan Fishing Trip
Through the windshield, I watched the de Havilland’s front propellor spin furiously as our small 8-person prop plane hurtled forward through the Alaskan sky. It was a bright, clear morning, and below us I could make out the outlines of a few of the small islands that make up the Alexander Archipelago. Looming in front […]
Wine, Sun And Seals: A Highway 1 Road Trip
Is there any more iconic way to explore California than to travel by car along the coastline, taking in views of the Pacific as you cruise at your leisure, stopping where you want and exploring all that the state has to offer? This was our goal when we set off on the Highway 1 Discovery […]
In Search Of Life In Morro Bay
It’s hard to compete for the attention of travelers to California when your neighbor to the north is San Francisco, arguably one of the country’s most beautiful cities, and Los Angeles to the south, which, let’s face it, doesn’t have to work hard to get noticed. It’s lucky for the Central Coast, that coastal stretch […]
Conquering Devil’s Tower
I was taught how to trad climb by a guy who said it was like learning how to drive stick: once you start, you’ll never go back to automatic. He taught me in Red River Gorge, a climber-famous area in Kentucky, on a 5.7 grade climb called Octopus Tag. All of it — the friction […]
Spreading Joy At Mardi Gras
When my friend Kendra asked me to ride krewe with her on a Mardi Gras float I was unsure. We sat at the dining room table of my Seattle apartment one chilly fall night, cradling our wine glasses, polishing off a second bottle of red. “What about the crowds?” I asked. I hated crowds and […]
Catching My Breath On Mount Si
I could feel the sweat beading at my temples, threatening to drip into my eye and deliver the dreaded “sunblock burn.” But before I had a chance to wipe the sweat away, it slid down into the groove beneath my jaw line, then traversed my collarbone before disappearing into the depths of my sports bra. […]
Wild Kauai: Surfing With A Hawaiian Legend
I looked through the sliding glass doors of our beachside rental, past the palm trees and rain-soaked grass, and out to the water. The early light showed Hanalei Bay to be a windswept jumble with not one surfer out on dawn patrol. At 6:30 a.m. my friend Sarah bounded in. “The guys just texted. Kilauea […]