Wild
Travel in rugged serenity
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Moose Hunting and the Weight of Hope
It’s midnight and I’m driving over Cameron Pass with my dad in the passenger seat. Moose archery season opens in five hours. This is the moment...
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On the Hunt for Big-Nosed Monkeys in Bako National Park
A village on the water teeters on stilts across the way. Soon, the scenery turns to mangrove trees growing right out of the brackish water. We speed along the coast of the peninsula that houses Bako National Park, the water spraying around us.
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Embracing Surrealism: Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef
For as long as I can remember, my parents have spoken of the Great Barrier Reef as a thing of dreams, as a wonderland so breathtaking that it feels imaginary.
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World of Waterfalls in Blue Mountains National Park
The fog was so low and heavy that I felt as though I were in a snow globe that started and ended at the ends of the block. Church spires rose like phantoms, trees were mere shadows. I could hardly get a feel for the town of Katoomba, much less what lay beyond.
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Tongariro Alpine Crossing – A Love Affair with a Volcano
When we went out to the car in the morning, the air was crisp and chilly. A thin layer of ice coated my windshield. I was reminded of Colorado, of pink-nosed mornings watching the sun come up while out hunting. Hardly a cloud threaded the sky.
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Trekking with Kiwis – Off the Beaten Path
This story begins at the end of a dirt road far past the jewel-like Lake Ohau in the middle of the South Island. The dirt road carries a two-vehicle caravan down ruts and pot-holed roads. Sometimes the road splits to mirror the braided river to our right, letting our guide/driver choose his own adventure: a mini canyon carved out of…
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The Magical Milford Track and the Invention of Sandflies
A car. A bus. A boat. Finally, I arrive at the beginning of the Milford Track. One of New Zealand’s 10 Great Walks and often dubbed the Finest Walk in the World. So here I am. At the beginning of the Milford Track. Ahh, breathe it in. Take in the view. Snap a photo…
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Dueling Volcanoes and Fire Power in Tongariro National Park
What I imagined I would see when I reached Tongariro National Park was a battle ground: Open horizons. Scars of black rock, like charred ground. Rubble. Dry, choking air. A barren place. Hard. Void. Dark... Blame Mordor, I guess.
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Rainy Routeburn: My First Great Walk
To be perfectly honest, I was not feeling all that excited the night before I was set to do the Routeburn Track. Because of the popularity of these Great Walks, you generally have to book your huts far in advance, which means you have no idea what the weather is going to do. When I checked in with the DOC…
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Arthur’s Pass: My Favorite Alpine Region of New Zealand
You know a valley is glacially carved because it is U shaped: a wide, flat bottom and steep sides. The narrow Arthur's Pass Valley is a glacially carved valley, though not as wide and flat as many other glacial valleys in NZ. But the second feature--the steep sides--is very much present.
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Solo Hiking and Lessons about Life: The Copland Track
The Copland Track starts with bluster. Less than 50 yards from the carpark is the biggest river crossing: Rough Creek. According to river crossing safety, it's not recommended to take off your shoes to cross a river, but the hostel owner in Fox told me I should take off my shoes so I didn't have to hike the next eleven…
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A Weekend at Mount Cook – New Zealand’s Tallest Mountain
It seems to me that humanity in general has an obsession with tall things. Such things come in multiple flavors: man-made, like the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower. Or wondrous natural occurrences, such as Mount Everest. In New Zealand, it’s Mount Cook (Aoraki in te reo Maori). The obsession seems to extend to getting on top of tall things:…
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I Would Drive 500 Miles…Just to Hike 20 More
I compile my items and hop in the car to drive from Kaikōura to Karamea. From East Coast to West Coast in one day. New Zealand is such a small country. But...also not that small. It's 263 miles, but will take seven hours. Distance-wise it's like driving from Longmont to North Platte, Nebraska. But it will take almost twice as…
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My Pinnacles Experience: Hiking to Great Heights
First, I bought a sleeping bag. And that meant I had to do it. Hike the Pinnacles. Stay overnight in the DOC (Department of Conservation) hut. And (hopefully) love it--because one measly overnight stay wasn't going to justify the sleeping bag purchase. The Pinnacles Hut is the most popular hut in New Zealand.
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Seek and Ye Shall Find (Antlers)
So, I went antler hunting. Yes, that's a thing. Male elk, deer, and moose lose their antlers every spring, and people go looking for them. Like a giant Easter Egg hunt, except a lot more uncertain and a lot heavier load if you find some.
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Awestruck in the Arctic: an Aurora Borealis Gallery
From the first human who tipped their head back to watch the fierce and brilliant otherworldly lights, there have been myths to explain the phenomenon of the aurora borealis. The stories of the aurora are wide and varied, but each suggests something greater than ourselves, greater than humanity. And I felt that, head tipped back, breath misting the air. I…
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The Last Nine People (and One Dog) on Earth
On Wednesday the 5th of April, I woke up at Yellow Dog Lodge in the Northwest Territories as one of the last people on earth. Only a few miles away from the quaint, off-the-grid lodge and cabin complex where we resided, the world as I knew it cut off, dropped away. Frankly, it just ended, like the edge of a…
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Waiting on Wapiti: a Lifetime Hunt for a Bull Elk
When every one else is getting ready for Pumpkin Spice lattes and scarves, my family welcomes fall in a different way. September is archery hunting season. Being part of a hunting family includes some oddities. For example, the first time I ate a steak at a restaurant when I was 10, I leaned over and told my mom the meat…
