Facebook. Sometimes I think it exists only for people to post how fast they run, how many friends they have, and how many misspelled, ungrammatical sappy posters they can put up. But, as with any free service, you don’t have to be on it. I have stayed on it because there are people whose pictures [...]
Read MoreSince I’ve entered the strange hiker bubble I like to call Long Distance Trail Slogging, I’ve become aware of a pretty great phenomenon: cottage industries devoted to manufacturing lightweight packs, sleeping bags, and tents. Intense discussions rage on and on at hiking forums dedicated to thru-trails (the Appalachian, the Continental Divide, the Pacific Crest and [...]
Read More hiking, industry, ultralightI belong to an online forum for long-trail hiking. People routinely post questions about what resupply, where there is low water, and the like. Recently a newbie asked, “I’m planning on hiking from (xxx) to (xxx). Is it safe for a woman hiking solo?” To which a man replied, “What’s being a woman have to [...]
Read More men, womenHave you seen the disappearing trails? Two years ago, my co-workers and I descended a grassy slope far above the Snake River. Though a thin ribbon of trail showed on the map and on our GPS, the actual tread had vanished completely. Only by dead reckoning were we able to find the short stretches of [...]
Read More issues, outdoors, trails*******Disclaimer: This is only MY experience. Results not typical. When using this product, you may not experience similar results. ***** To me, marriage was never the end-all of existence, a goal to be attained. There was just too much to do in life–backpack through New Zealand, jump out of a few planes, fight fires around [...]
Read More relationships, womenI haven’t had a television since the Great Breakup of 2008, but the other day I caught an episode of “The Bachelor”. (Yes, Jill, I can hear your derisive comment from here! There were mitigating circumstances) I watched with the terrified fascination of observing a train wreck. In case you haven’t seen this show, it [...]
Read MoreIn my checkered past, I was a wilderness ranger in Alaska and Idaho. This, mostly, is the absolute best job there is. You get paid (not very much) to camp and hike in the wilderness. What could be better? (I’ve conveniently forgotten the chopping of downed trees with a pulaski, though I was in the [...]
Read MoreI was fixing to write something all lighthearted and fluffy today, but I just can’t. I turned on my computer and read about the fate of this poor woman, kidnapped and killed from a coffee stand. Sometimes I just can’t stand it. I can’t stand that predators like this are out there in the world, [...]
Read More crime, risk, womenMaybe it’s because I’ve lived a pretty independent life, a semi-permanent gypsy of sorts, but I’ve always been wary of what I term codependency. To me this describes the couples who do everything together, enough so that you call them one unit: “JoeandSue” or they even have a celebrity name “JerryEllen”. On thinking about it, [...]
Read More relationships, women