I awoke in predawn dark to two owls calling—lower and higher pitch indicating desert courtship. My mouth was dry, but I took just a sip from my bottle. We were 14 miles past our last water stop in Cabeza Prieta … Read More
Dave first showed up Wednesday night when trips were reported and new ones planned. Richard and I had proposed a three-day trip to the Rincon Mountains east of Tucson; up the backside (southeast) to Happy Valley Saddle, climbing Rincon Peak, … 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 in Corvallis, Oregon (attending graduate school) where I would move permanently after we … Read More
Trails on the Middle Fork Boise, Queens and Little Queens rivers in the Sawtooth Wilderness were David’s favorite stomping grounds in summer 1976. He was working for the Forest Service at Dutch Creek Guard Station a few miles from Atlanta, … Read More
The “Smokies” were definitely smoky for our first backpacking visit in September sometime in the late 1980s. A wildfire in the Sawtooth Mountains to the northeast provided hazy skies for the whole trip. It was also very dry. Besides smoky … 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
MTBS or Monitor Trend in Burn Severity is a website that benefits from the billions of dollars spent on fire control every year by federal agencies. The MTBS site includes a wealth of information on every wildfire in the U.S. … Read More
U.S. Geological Survey has a complicated website on water monitoring information that is scheduled to be changed within a year or so (we hope for the better). So we will not spend too much time trying to explain present system. … Read More
Offering tips on complicated information Apps We use many websites for planning trips. All are listed here with introductory information. If you need more specific step-by-step guidance on how to use aids feel free to contact us at .
Offering Help to Plan your Dream Trip The United States boasts 772 wilderness areas, but many are unknown or underutilized. Because it’s tough to get good information, many backpackers gravitate to popular areas with good trails/ information but often hordes … Read More
As we researched a trip to Cedar Bench Wilderness, we were delighted with Prescott National Forest personnel who were familiar with trails and gave advice on best access. As we hiked up a rocky road climbing steeply from the Verde … Read More
I awoke in predawn dark to two owls calling—lower and higher pitch indicating desert courtship. My mouth was dry, but I took just a sip from my bottle. We were 14 miles past our last water stop in Cabeza Prieta … Read More
Since we have concluded we “need wilderness,” once we settled for our first full winter in Tucson, David was anxious to hit the trail, not having backpacked since September. Cindy—temporarily derailed from backpacking after a knee replacement—suggested a 70-mile solo … Read More
The Boulder Mountains which form a wavy line of soaring granitic ridges along scenic State Highway 75 between Ketchum and the Sawtooth Valley. Not many people visit these mountains because there are few maintained trails into the Boulders; day hikes … Read More
It happened on the third day of a three-week trip in the High Uinta Wilderness in northern Utah. I was coming down Red Knob Pass—the second, steep thousand-foot descent of the day. The first was a skittery scramble on washed-out … Read More
Avoiding crowds in popular areas is always a challenge; and California’s iconic High Sierra mountains have always drawn people. First, they are only hours from the heavily populated California coastal cities. Second, their iconic splendor graces many scenic calendars. And … Read More
We expected to get wet in the Cranberry Wilderness, a series of ridges (with red spruce forest on the highest elevations) punctuated by two rivers and many creeks in southeastern West Virginia. Most of our spring and summer trips in … Read More
On our first visit to the High Uintas in summer 1975, we covered about 78 miles in five days, enjoying mellow trails. Long leisurely approaches up bright green meadows; winding switchbacks over high passes; smelling damp earth and seeing stately … Read More
I have vague memories of a 1975 overnight trip with University of Arizona friends to the Sierra Ancha Wilderness in central Arizona: a long drive on backroads, short hike through a clearing marked by “Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest” sign, a … Read More
Last month we celebrated my birthday with a backpack trip in Saguaro Wilderness east of Tucson—perhaps my 14th visit since 1970s hikes with the University of Arizona Ramblers. The area—astride the Rincon Mountains that roll up from 2,700 feet at … Read More
The roar of the jet boat reverberated against the canyon walls. We stood on a gravel spit, watching our transport disappear up the river. The roar of the jet boat reverberated against the canyon walls. We stood on a gravel … Read More
The wind howled fierce and cold across Baptie Lake, at 10,000 feet our highest and coldest campsite on a nine-day loop in the Pioneer Mountains (Pioneers). All day we’d hiked through early winter in September. Chased out of Moose Lake … Read More