Monica
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Appreciating the simple things- Auyuittuq Trek
The best lunch I’ve enjoyed in recent memory was delivered to my tent by guide Rhys Hill on a rainbound day at Summit Lake. Hot bannock grilled with cheese and ham delivered in a plastic bowl to the vestibule, along… Continue reading
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Baffin Island and the Canadian Arctic- Go There Now
Such an imperious commandment sounds more appropriate coming from Canadian artist Cory Trepanier or the North of Sixty project, both of which seek to raise awareness of the Arctic through art, personal stories, and multiple types of media. After all, this was my first Arctic… Continue reading
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The upside of day hikes- Lake Valhalla and Skyline Divide trails
The day hike is a modern convention, dependent on the automobile and decent roads that allow us to leave our homes and return the same day, with a walk in between. If the trail is close, the roads are good,… Continue reading
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Under the spell of goats at Lake Ingalls
When I die, I plan on returning as a trail sprite. When I hear hikers and backpackers having conversations about becoming a licensed engineer, the trials of office politics, or bad relationships, I will sprinkle people with amnesia dust, or cast a… Continue reading
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The Horse Trailer Sings Again
In a year where I’m grabbing for the steering wheel and brake pedal as the driverless car careens down a ravine, the patterns of nature go on as usual. For the second year, a Bewicks wren has built a nest in a compartment under the… Continue reading
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Little things along the way – Ingalls Creek
I guess I don’t qualify as a “lister” or a collector. I like birds, but the closest I came to listing those I saw was in Costa Rica, when I followed my travel buddy’s example and marked them in my… Continue reading
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Beware the Legend of Owl
Owl legends run the gamut across peoples and history, and say perhaps more about people than owls. The most simplistic and superstitious medieval myths associate the owl’s adaptation to night with terrible things. The owl’s superior ability to hunt at night- along with the… Continue reading
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A Christmas gift of swans
I walked out to see if the swans were still there. Well over 100 trumpeter swans arrived in the district the night before Christmas, even landing in the fields behind my house. Their chattering woke me up at 3 a.m.,… Continue reading
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They are not our pets
The hummingbird was not going to wait for me to hang the feeder. On a cold morning in Western Washington, with uncommon snow on the ground, the male Anna’s wanted his sugar water, and now. As I walked toward the… Continue reading
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Park Butte-Railroad Grade on a full moon
Besides working like a dog and finalizing my Certified Interpretive Trainer and Envision certifications, I am trying to get back to wilderness fitness so I can go to Baffin Island next year and backpack the Arctic Circle for 3 weeks,… Continue reading
A Place of River and Sky 