The Lower Falls of Yellowstone were framed by jagged rock walls, stained yellow from sulfur, red, purple, pink from iron and aluminum oxides. Lodgepole pine lined the path we hiked from the viewpoint. Snow crunched under my boots and Evan’s sandals. “This is uncomfortable,” said Evan. “We can turn back any time.” “No, it’s my fault […]
The waves of Yellowstone Lake were whipped up by alpine winds, children of the mountain bowl that hems in the park from all sides. Here, sailboats sank often. Sailors underestimated the gales, and phones lacked the service to call for rescue. “Imagine going through all the trouble of getting a boat up here just to sink […]
Yellowstone National Park sits in the caldera of an active supervolcano, which last erupted 640,000 years ago. Minor blasts occur once in a while, but the next most recent kill-everyone-in-Wyoming-sized eruptions were 1.2 and 2.1 million years ago. If you can calculate averages and harbor any fear of dying, you might not want to visit […]
That summer, unprecedented snowmelt in the Sawtooth Range brought the Boise River flooding to the doorsteps of Garden City. The trunks of poplar trees and the backs of benches protruded from the high water, curious afterthoughts in a landscape submerged. “We were sitting on the grass right there a week ago, tripping on acid,” said […]
The road over the Cascades cut between steep slopes of evergreens—here healthy, there snags, trunks scorched with fire. Turkey vultures circled overhead as Snoqualmie Pass (during blizzard season, basically the Pass of Caradhras) went by like a radar blip. Abruptly the land flattened, the mountains gave way to steppe—the desert of Eastern Washington, thorn scrub […]
A monolith towering over the town of Squamish, the Stawamus Chief formed in the subterranean volcanic chaos of the Cretaceous Period. One hundred million years of erosion brought The Chief to the earth’s surface, and the retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (which met the Laurentide Ice Sheet at the Rocky Mountains) left its granite slopes […]
Bow before my superior GIMP skills!
I’m thrilled to announce that Inside Upnorth: The Complete Tour, Sport and Country Living Guide to Traverse City, Traverse City Area and Leelanau County has been published! I contributed content on breweries, beach trails, cideries, wineries, restaurants, and outdoor adventure at the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Over the summer of 2016, I had the […]
