You’re probably reading this because you also enjoy the outdoors, where bureaucracy and concrete give way to common sense and the physical processes that tell a story of deep time to those that care to see it. I love exploring and occasionally finding true gems that make me feel as if I was the first person to see them in a very long time. When I tell people that I ran somewhere over the weekend, the reply is usually a vague recognition of the area with an internal comparison to a trail run in something like Mission Trails. Many of these reports are of remote and downright hostile terrain. Anyone wishing to venture to such locales should be prepared for things to go very wrong, as is the case more often than you may think. These are not how-to guides for specific places or routes. In fact, one of the perks of off trail travel in remote wilderness is that you can never go the exact same way twice. This blog is an attempt to take you along with me on some of my more memorable ventures.

My passion for nature was not always so. My first camping experience involved a long and miserable night on Fiesta Island in a smelly canvas tent waiting for the sun to rise so that I could go out and finally pee. My mom would later take me on a multi-day backpack to the Golden Trout Wilderness in the Sierras, one of the most beautiful places on earth. I only experienced the pain inflicted on me by stiff, ill fitting boots and the unnecessarily long forced Sisyphean march beneath an improperly packed and overloaded external frame torture device. I am eternally grateful to my mom for her persistence and I eventually learned to tip the balance between effort and enjoyment. My real epiphany came when I realized that I didn’t need a kitchen sink in order to enjoy nature. My running/hiking style can be described as ultra-light with a carefully calculated safety margin. I’m almost always self-supported and typically carry way too much water (a trait that my ultra-running friends often find amusing). With a reverence for the natural processes that create and continually shape landscapes, I tend to go up the road less traveled and always try to practice a leave no trace ethic.

I hope you enjoy the trip reports as much as I have enjoyed the trips!