Confusion about water dominated our 2020 return trip to Dark Canyon Wilderness—and led to other problems on what we thought would be a fairly easy canyon hike. Our first visit was in April 1985. The access road that crosses near … Read More
David and I first met at the weekly meeting of University of Arizona (UA) Ramblers, held to review past hikes, and propose new ones. Ramblers is the oldest club on campus (started 1946 and ongoing today). My first year at … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) I was 15 on the first Earth Day in 1970 and don’t remember it too well—but it certainly affected my life and ideology a few years later. The first Earth Day was organized by … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) I wanted to celebrate my 71st birthday backpacking through San Rafael and Dick Smith Wilderness areas near Santa Barbara, CA. The previous year, a 70th birthday hike in same area almost got me drowned(!) … Read More
After fording high water on our 2025 trek across Los Padres National Forest after three days’ rain, I was determined to avoid creeks and rivers on a planned 2026 return. I also wanted to hike through Santa Barbara Ranger District … Read More
Alone in wilderness quiet, we broke camp and hiked cross-country—over a hill, into a wash, and over another ridge into upper Red Raven Wash while skirting overhanging mesquite trees. A hawk dived down—maybe hunting a jackrabbit, the main wildlife we … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) Every year 1.5 million people visit Summerhaven, a village near the top of Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina (Catalinas) mountains. Most drive the winding Catalina Highway Scenic Drive from Tucson, also called the … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) The Wilderness Act of 1964 mentions little about trails in wilderness and many interpret the Act to restrict use of modern technology for trail development and maintenance—even though many existing wilderness trails were built … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) In late August 2025, we visited the Wind River Range (Bridger & Popo Agie wilderness) in western Wyoming to see an area we backpacked in the 1980s, hike part of the Continental Divide Trail, … Read More
We drove from home in Idaho to the foot of the Wind River Range (Winds), chased by rainstorms. After a dry summer and spring, boiling black clouds and precipitation were welcome. But I wasn’t sure about meeting storms in the … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) Wilderness was set aside “for the use and enjoyment of the American people” according to the Wilderness Act of 1964. But in hiking more than 300 miles through two of the country’s largest wilderness … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) For more than 50 years, I’ve hiked and jogged on funky flat fleet. I was born with minimal arches and was prescribed “saddle shoes” as a child. Obsessed with long distance runs and rough … Read More
Idaho native David was drawn to Frank Church Wilderness (Frank) back when it was the Idaho and Salmon River Breaks Primitive Area(s). The Selway-Bitterroot (Selway), designated in original Wilderness Act of 1964, captivated him after fall weekend backpacking trip 2 … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) David did very thorough research for our one-month trek across Frank Church and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness summer 2025 in Idaho and Montana, seeking cleared trails. The two vast wilderness areas once boasted more than 4000 … Read More
Our 2025 return to Mount Wrightson Wilderness found vigorous new pine forests, improved trails, and a greatly restored forest 20 years after Florida Fire of 2005. But start and end on Florida Canyon was slow: 3.5 hours up for me … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) I wanted a minimum 70-miles of backpacking to celebrate my 70th birthday. When David had reached this milestone in 2021, he took a 70-mile solo trek on several trails in the Rincon Mountains east … Read More
For my 70th birthday on February 14, I suggested a backpack trip to celebrate. David marked his with a 70-mile trek in 2021, in Rincon mountains near our Tucson winter residence. But Arizona was in serious drought with no water … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) Getting lost is one of the risks of hiking in rough areas with poorly marked trails. In 49 years of hiking together, we’ve been lost a few times. On a 1975 Grand Canyon trip, … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) My December 2023 blog claimed I was “Bionic but better”—having hiked 1000 miles through 15 wilderness despite three joint replacement surgeries between 2021 and 2022. The same week I posted that blog I had … Read More
The Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains north and east of Tucson have loomed large in our lives since 1970s University of Arizona student days. This narrative begins with most recent December 2024 trek through Saguaro, Rincon, and Pusch Ridge wilderness … Read More
We were warned about illegal migrants using this corridor. But we didn’t see a single migrant—although a trail from Mexico near Border Tank was most well-used path in Pajarita Wilderness. Scraps of sun-faded clothing, food packages, water bottles, and other … Read More
The 11,000-foot Boulder Mountains are in our “backyard,” only 30 miles from our Hailey home and visible throughout the Wood River Valley, so we have cross-country skied and hiked there often—although limited by lack of trails and very rugged country. … Read More
Our inspiration to visit BlacOur inspiration to visit Black Elk Wilderness came from its original occupants, the Lakota people who consider the area their sacred homeland. We were attending WILD12, an international wilderness meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota. Emphasis … Read More
After 214 miles and 20 days hiking Colorado high country, we were wary about rainstorms. With gathering clouds on 13,000-foot Mt. Flora, we decided to camp at Berthoud Pass below—4 miles short of our next planned camp in a little … Read More
The South Fork Cave Creek Trail has been on my Chiricahua Wilderness bucket list for years. The trail—a mellow 7.2-mile ramble up to the Crest favored by birders—was washed out by a major flood event after 2014 Hurricane Odile. I … Read More
The Galiuro Wilderness in southern Arizona once had 100 miles of legacy trails—still shown on Forest Service maps. Our 3 loops in this remote wilderness northwest of Wilcox found increasing trail loss to brush, downed logs, and washouts. From 2014 … Read More
Parched throats. Harsh beating sun. Alkaline flats. Waterless wastelands. Unbearable soaring temperatures. One expects such hardships when backpacking in Death Valley. Not for us. Our 54-mile March backpacking trek in a small portion of the nation’s largest and lowest elevation … Read More
We shared 8 a.m. shuttle bus with a dozen hikers going to Yavapai Point, start for South Kaibab Trail to the Colorado River. A few who drove joined us and sprinted down trail ahead of the two backpackers slowed by … Read More
(Click slider photo to see caption) In a previous blog, I described a 40-year battle with osteoarthritis. Arthritis had won the latest match. A cranky left knee abruptly cratered on Day 3 of long backpacking trip in the High Uinta … Read More
Conservationist Aldo Leopold grew up in Iowa and wrote his famous essays published in A Sand County Almanac in Wisconsin, but left his most important legacy in New Mexico. Leopold, in 1924 a forest supervisor in New Mexico, recommended wilderness … Read More