I didn’t realize that ski resorts offer a variety of outdoor recreation during the summer months. As the temperatures soared well over 100 degrees in the Salt Lake Valley, I had already started seeking out higher and higher trails to escape the heat. My hike to White Pine Lake is a good example. When a new friend invited me to …
Photo escape: Cooking school at Mesón Sacristía
Attending a cooking class at Mesón Sacristía de la Compañia in Puebla, Mexico, was one of the highlights of my 2012 travel year. Chef Alonzo Hernández taught us how to prepare mole poblano, a classic Pueblan sauce rich with the flavors of chili, roasted tomatoes, and bitter chocolate. It’s not a simple process, and the ingredient list was long. One …
White Pine Lake: An alpine escape in the Wasatch Mountains
The spring snow-melt means more hikers on the trails and I find myself journeying higher and higher to find barely thawed trails with more quiet. Pondering my topo map, I spotted White Pine Lake sitting at nearly 10,000 feet of elevation, one of the highest in the Wasatch Mountains. Feeling confident that at least a small part would be covered …
Quality meets ethics: Icebreaker’s Tech T Lite Merino Shirt
I cherish gear that performs and I have no patience for gear that doesn’t. In most cases, I look for items that can multi-task for economy of money, space and weight. Luckily, my work has the perk of allowing me to test a lot of new products. For the last month, I’ve been testing Icebreaker’s Tech T Lite line of …
Fly camping tips and tricks: The podcast
Several weeks ago, I had such a good response to the photo of my parents fly camp that I posted, that it gave me the idea to record a Fly Camping episode over on my podcast at AME High. Fly camping is simply camping with your plane, and is also called airplane camping. I guess you were on to something, …
Two lakes, one hike: Dog and Desolation Lakes
I have come to see the nonsense of trying to describe fine scenery. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne Some hikes just aren’t long enough. That was the case when I hiked to Dog Lake in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City. The hike had nice elevation gain and a little bit of snow to trudge through, but at 4.8 miles round …
Photo escape: Observation Point, Zion National Park
Zion National Park completely impressed me when I visited over Thanksgiving weekend. While there, I hiked up to Observation Point to take in one of the classic views of the canyon. By the time I arrived, the sun was directly in my face, so most of my photos could be better. However, in this image, the sun makes the canyon …
A wrenching goodbye aids African elephant conservation
The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues – self-restraint. ~ Edwin Way Teale Our family said a bittersweet goodbye recently. No, it wasn’t a funeral. My parents had to sell their Cessna 182, a four-seat, single engine plane with lots of memories. It wouldn’t have been …
Clean or dirty, the Omni-Freeze ZERO is my go-to outdoor shirt
Have you ever had a shirt that you can’t get washed fast enough to wear again? Or you just dig it out of the hamper and wear dirty because it feels so good? I never really did until now. Columbia Sportswear sent me a box full of goodies to test when they invited my to join the Spring #OmniTen Team, …
Five steps to making fitness a habit
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. -Jim Ryan Fitness isn’t about finding the right shoes, diet, or gym. While all of those things may be tools in your journey, the battle is won by creating a habit. New routines take time to become habits and feel right in your day-to-day life. Six weeks into …