Hello đź‘‹

Just an average John here who loves to touch grass and see the beauty of nature, particularly in the American West.

This site is a way for me to note those standout days that I want to remember and cherish, and to archive them as an artifact independent of social media. Treating this less of a resource/guide and more of a surface-level photo journal. The core audience is just me referencing old trips :)

Right now I’m probably hastily collecting images from past outings, so a lot of posts may be a little terse or rough around the edges. Continually a work in progress!

about.jpg Taken with an actual camera by my friend Kyle, go check him out!

The Why

I always wonder what pulls people to the outdoors and it’s a question I frequently ask myself and my friends. Some love pushing their endurance on trails, others enjoy the creativity of drawing out a new route in the mountains, a few like the feeling of progression in rock climbing, etc.

For me, I’m primarily views-motivated (I won’t get out if there won’t be a decent vista), and the subjective feeling of “doing the thing”, e.g. climbing a peak, running a route, skiing a line, and so on. The style I like to do most objectives is light & fast (subjective), mostly going single-push/car-to-car when possible. I’ll indulge in an overnighter if the views will be even better, but either way I like to cover lots of ground to see more/do more.

What Gets Me Excited

A not-so-serious grid to visualize where my head is at regarding some of the things I want to do in life. It is by no means comprehensive and falls apart upon slight scrutiny (e.g. is a full length triathalon harder than Denali? Probably not, but it might as well be in my head).

I tried thinking about what items could occupy every part of the grid, from high-value easy stuff to low-value (subjective) spicy objectives. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to team up on anything!

  • Run/Hike
  • Climb
  • Ski
  • Misc
  • Done
Life bucket list Comfort level Difficulty/commitment * → Stoke → TMB R2R2R See Mt Robson Tantalus Traverse Patagonia Alta Via Pico de Orizaba WRHR Sierra High Route WURL Easy mountains JMT 100 mile race Aconcagua Kilimanjaro 8000m peaks Peak "lists" 100+ mile race Thru-hiking Matterhorn Grand Traverse Mt Stuart Forbidden Peak Cirque of Towers Big wall climbing Hard climbing Grand Teton Mont Blanc Rainier Alaska Garibaldi Denali Norway Chimborazo Cordillera Blanca Bugs to Rogers Aoraki WA Volcanos Total Solar Eclipse Japan Interior BC Teton Picnic Paragliding Redwood NP Bike Wingsuit Flying Denali Park Road Great Barrier Reef Triathalon

Where I’ve Been

A map of things I’ve done on this blog. I’ve centered it in the North Cascades in Washington but you can zoom out for other regions. You can go to the specific blog post for a given outing via the track description if you open the map on CalTopo.