Backpack to Bishop Pass, California
Backpacking is HARD. And it doesn’t get easier as you get older, even if you have acquired an ultralight sleeping bag. Plus, in many areas of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, […]
Not dead yet, nor do I expect to be
I’ve been away from this blog for almost three years, for no good reason except for too much time spent online at my “real job,” and other life events. But […]
A visit to Wood Island with Windows to the Wild
During August of 2021, I kayaked out to Kittery’s Wood Island Lifesaving Station with with Windows to the Wild host Willem Lange and producers Steve Giordani and Phil Vaughn, where we spent a lovely […]
Hiking the Belknap Range in NH’s Lakes Region
Could we complete this12+ mile trek and still get back to Portsmouth in time for the concert?
A hike to Mount Parker yields clues to a smallpox outbreak
On a recent spring hike, I learned about the joys of hiking Bartlett’s Mount Parker, which offers great views of Mount Washington with far fewer people than many other White […]
The challenge of the Brothers at Baxter State Park
Back in April, as we weathered the COVID pandemic at home, I scored a Labor Day weekend campsite at Baxter State Park in northern Maine. I had visited Baxter several […]
A visit to Arches National Park as it all fell down
On Friday, March 6, Logan Airport was packed with travelers heading out on winter escapes. People crowded together, waiting to board with ski bags and backpacks. But in the bathroom, […]
The dark-eyed little girl in the picture: Old photos tell the story of an immigrant family from Greece
Browsing through the archives of Digital Maine, this photo of young Mary Gekas invites questions. Born in 1915, she would have been 5 or 6 when this photo was taken […]
Mountain spring: hike to North Doublehead
Mountains in spring, breath clean oxygen. Listen: in the spruce, loving birds. I’ve been working with my students on form poems, including haiku. Thus, I attempt to describe a recent […]
When a silent enemy traveled undetected: the Seacoast “throat distemper” epidemic of the 1730s
“It was this readiness to adopt a theological explanation for the epidemic which was chiefly responsible for the hasty abandonment of a scientific one.” –Ernest Caulfield By July 26, 1736, […]