Category Archives: Travels
A trip to Bennett Lake, British Columbia, then, and now
In 1986, when I arrived at Bennett Lake, my body was beat up, but my spirit was soaring. After four days of backpacking on “the meanest 33 miles of history,” I’d conquered the Chilkoot Trail to reach this legendary destination … Continue reading
A slew of seals at LeConte Glacier
The blue icebergs bobbed and floated seductively, dangerous but enticing, clues that somewhere upstream lay a glacier. But in Southeast Alaska, navigating a field of icebergs field is dangerous is any season, all the more so in November, with its … Continue reading
Bears, bears everywhere: AnAn Alaska adventure
From the platform, we could see the drama at the outhouse unfolding, predictably, almost comically, if not for the fact that the climax could be a dangerous human-bear encounter. The older gentleman had scurried across the boardwalk to the outhouse, … Continue reading
When the cold fails, try the warmth
Five things to do instead of skiing during New Mexico’s worst drought ever I am probably the only person in the United States who was disappointed by snowfall totals this winter. Specifically in New Mexico, where we made plans for … Continue reading
Posted in Family and Kids, Hiking, Mountains, Travels
Tagged New Mexico, road trips, skiing, southwest travel
6 Comments
Missing my (Wild)Cat: Skittering on New Mexico’s ski slopes
Here in New England, skiers are familiar with what I call the “skitter” – the combination of a clattering sound and a slipping movement a skier experiences when she is cruising down a slope and suddenly encounters a patch of … Continue reading
Posted in Hiking, Mountains, Travels
Tagged New Mexico, road trips, skiing, southwest travel
2 Comments
Drinking coffee and looking for aliens in Roswell, New Mexico
In Roswell, in need of coffee and a bathroom, we stopped at McDonald’s. I ordered a cup of Newman’s Own and opened out my wallet. “Fifty-three cents please,” the cashier said. Fifty-three cents? Where in the United States does anyone … Continue reading
Posted in Family and Kids, Travels, Uncategorized
Tagged New Mexico, road trips, southwest travel
8 Comments
Art amidst the mills of North Adams
A decaying mill town on a gray November weekend in an isolated corner of Massachusetts might seem an unlikely destination, but North Adams had been on my radar for a while. The Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art (Mass MoCA) offered intriguing, … Continue reading
The wind howls, and we stir the pot
As I write at the kitchen table, a pulled pork lunch for 17 simmers in the crockpot and the wind shrieks above the stove vents. That wind has been howling for the past four days, hitting a peak gust of … Continue reading
Crisis on Mount Washington: The Empty Sugar Barrel
Saturday was a crazy day for the weather observers, as the information technology observer took down the computer servers for some infrastructure maintenance. As with most IT endeavors, the process took much longer than anticipated. Usually the weather instruments are … Continue reading
