Japan with my sister April 2024
I’ve traveled to Japan many times for work. It was a joy to return as a tourist, and also to see some of the cities I’d previously seen for business through my sister’s eyes on her first trip. It was also a joy to discover that my sister and I have compatible travel styles, since this was the most time we’d spent together since we were children! We were there in the first week of April during cherry blossom season. After a long winter, the sakura are just as beautiful as reputed.
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Fall 2023: Packrafting and Dark Canyon
Photo credit to Steve “Doom” Fassbinder of Four Corners Guides
Packrafting is just like it sounds— backpacking except you bring along an inflatable boat, and at some point, take to the water. In the fall of 2023 I got my first taste of packrafting on a guided trip with Four Corners Guides. Five spectacular canyon landscapes out of five. Would definitely packraft again with these lovely humans!
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July 2023: the benefits of business travel
I’m glad my phone remembered the long weekend I appended to a business trip to make the most of the brief but spectacular summer in the Pacific Northwest, because it feels like forever ago, and I’d almost forgotten.
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December 2024: Paris is always a good idea
Even in the winter, when it drizzles. I needed a change of pace and an adventure, so I took myself off to Paris.
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Hope springs eternal
And so do flower bulbs
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Ah, wilderness!
Oxbows and beaver dams and leeches and so many mosquitos, but when you’re canoe camping, your’e camping in style!
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An old friend in a new place
Lately, whether I’ve been traveling for work or for pleasure, I’ve set out with a specific objective to achieve. It was a lovely change a few weeks ago to set out with the only purpose of spending time with an old friend.
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Grand Canyon Part 3: Plateau Point
It’s day two of my backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. I’ve set up camp at Havasupai Garden, and the rain, hail, and wind that drove me into my tent for an early afternoon nap has passed overhead. I’m heading out for a hike along the Tonto Platform to overlook the inner canyon from Plateau Point, 1.5 miles from the campground.
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Grand Canyon Part 2: Up is Harder
Picking up my backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon: I hiked down the South Kaibab trail in one day and camped by the river at Bright Angel Campground. Now I have to hike back up the 4340 feet and 9.5 miles to the rim on Bright Angel trail.
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Grand Canyon Part 1: down is (relatively) easy
This was my third attempt to see the Grand Canyon, and I’m delighted to report that I was successful, and it absolutely lived up to its name!
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