Potential Credentials

I'm writing this on a real keyboard and it feels so good. This took longer to get down than I thought it would. I’m going to jump around a little to wrap this chapter up so enjoy. I summited Katahdin on September 6th. The 5000 foot climb up Mt K was windy and cold. Then windy, cold, and rainey. When it was still windy, cold, and wet, it stopped raining to hail. It was so windy it hailed in my mouth and I chewed on a couple of hail bits like ice cubes. I met some day hikers who bailed because the conditions sucked, then hitched my wagon to a couple of fast day hikers because hiking alone felt unsafe. And I needed someone to take my picture at the top or else what was this even all about. After passing the tree line, and scrambling up to The Gateway I got emotional, but the wind stole the tears out of my eyes.  Leading up to the end, the last section was The Hundred Mile Wilderness. It sounds treacherous, it’s flat as a pancake after the first two days. I really took my time because ...

Kathleen's nasty side eye lingered on me. My rain gear cinched tight, I was a balloon of hiker stink. I'm pretty sure she couldn't smell me. "Yeah I'm trying my best to corrupt her" Green Bean said as he shifted into second, winding lazily away from Raingley. If you told me two years ago that I'd be snacking on kettle chips outside a grocery store in Maine, accepting an unsolicited ride from a stranger, I'd think something went seriously wrong. Or right. I've always had this is me. But I've never packed my resupply haul faster into my bag than when I'm offered a free ride back to trail. I ripped open boxes of poptarts and breakfast bars and shot them into my food sack. The right motivation can inspire you to do things fast and dirty. (best tent view on trail) I'd had a lousy day where things didn't come naturally like they used to. When I felt the low feeling of feeling like I should b...

Don't put on dry socks if you know you're going to hike in the rain. If you wake up and put damp socks on expecting dry feet, you're going to be disappointed. Don't look too hard for a moose, or else you'll plunge your foot into the mud. If you don't eat enough protein, your muscles will cry. If you make a mistake, pause to see if there is a better path forward than just undoing the mistake. Your own sweat is the best temporary lubricant for chaffing. The trail teaches.  (peep the beaver dam) _____________ Two Ansel Adams prints of Half Dome are collecting dust in my storage unit. They're two of my favorite pieces. Gifts from my sister Saraphina, before I had any sense of what looks nice on an apartment wall. I'm told it was never frameless maps or Will Ferrell movie posters. Or was it? Adams photographed the shit out of the American West. His ability to capture scale and tone has inspired my adventures and my extremel...