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 of Tucson. I couldn’t go. Just … Read More
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, we led some fellow hikers up … Read More
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 a freak accident, but not in … Read More
During our student years at the University of Arizona, five from our hiking club attempted to trek across the Santa Catalina (Catalinas) and Rincon Mountains (Rincons) that frame the northeast corner of Tucson, Arizona. We started in pre-dawn dark aiming … 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 Black Elk Wilderness came from its original occupants, the Lakota people who consider the area their homeland and sacred. We were attending WILD12, an international wilderness meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota. Emphasis was indigenous wilderness … 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
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 Wilderness. I finished the trip but … 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
Cattle ranching dominated landscapes around most mountains we visited in summer 2023 during “Basin and Range Trek” (BART) through four central Nevada mountain ranges rising to 11,000-feet elevation. We saw way more cattle—or signs of cattle—than hikers! Cattle often hampered … Read More
The rugged Santa Catalina Mountains have captured my attention since college. I used to look up from the University of Arizona (UA) campus to the stair-step ridge climbing from 6000-foot Pusch Peak to 9000-foot Mount Lemmon to plan my next … Read More
Trekking plains and rolling hills through stark desert, wearing raingear against bitter winds from snowy mountains soaring to the west. Camping in the shelter of washes or rockpiles, huddling beneath a large juniper tree to cook out of the wind. … Read More
I was trepidatious about a late November hike in Aravaipa Canyon because it requires crossing the creek many times or even hiking in it. Nice in summer or early fall but chilly later in the year. Perhaps others agreed: we … 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
Two of our three visits to Olympic National Park in the 1970s—not yet wilderness—were dominated by wet weather. First was March 1977 during my visit to David, then in graduate school in Corvallis, Oregon, where I would move permanently after … Read More
Sawtooth Wilderness is best known and best used for its high country lake basins just west of Highway 75—but Idaho native David has a special spot for the lesser-used river country on southern end of the wilderness: Middle Fork Boise, … Read More
The “Smokies” were definitely smoky for our first backpacking visit in September sometime in late 1980s. Wildfire in Sawtooth Mountains to northeast provided hazy skies for whole trip. It was also very dry. Other than smoky skies, I recall dry … Read More
Professional Outlets 2020: Have protection designations outpaced management? (poster designed for Wild11 World Wilderness Congress in India cancelled at last minute in March due to COVID19) pdf attached 2020: WILDERNESS: Why we go, what we see, where it’s headed (presentation … Read More
Of the 722 wilderness areas in the United States, many are unknown or underutilized while a few well-known areas are overused. This brief article outlines why… Read More
So, you finished the Appalachian Trail (AT), John Muir Trail (JMT), Arizona Trail (AZT) or another thru-trail and want to do more backpacking. What’s next? Hike somewhere with fewer people? Or embellish your next thru-hike with short ventures into adjacent wilderness areas? We can design a thru-hike OFF THE BEATEN PATH… Read More
We started backpacking in the mid-1970s; since 2012, we have visited, posted, and mapped trips in nearly 70 wilderness areas in the Western and Eastern U.S. Now we want to help you see them too! We can help you customize your visit to a wilderness area that we have posted on this website.… Read More
Google Earth is a workhorse that we use for many things. All our wilderness visit tracks are available for download as Google Earth kmz files. It is also invaluable for route planning and for displaying kmz files available from other … Read More