The Season’s Cycle: Endings and Returnings
As I settle in for our much-needed rainy season, I reflect on a busy, rewarding, (and hot) summer/early fall.
The Wonderland Trail: One Ounce and One Step at a Time
Valerie always feared that Big Blue would be the death of me. She worried that the gargantuan pack would make her a widow, afraid that she’d come around a bend in the trail to find me squashed like an ant, arms and legs splayed outward under the massive beast. It never happened, but I learned a few things along the way.
People Ask the Best Questions!
It’s been a year since the publication of Tahoma and Its People, and my first book talk via Zoom. Since then, I’ve given over 30 talks for about 2,000 people. I LOVE the Q and A sessions that follow. They keep me on my toes, give me a chance to admit I don’t know something, or make something up (just kidding). To honor a great first year for Tahoma, here’s a rundown of some of my favorite questions.
Spring-Like Days=Wonderland Trail Dreams
For the uninitiated, the Wonderland Trail encircling Mount Rainier consistently makes the “Ten Greatest, Most Awesome, Scenic, Challenging, Incredible Hikes in North America” lists in outdoor magazines and on websites.
The Backstory on Those Notebooks
When the company’s marketing director caught sight of my collection of field notebooks, he said, “Oh my—we’ve never seen anything like this before.”
A Mountain of Stories
When asked whether I could interview him, the old-timer quipped, “Well sure, but you’d better hurry. I’m 95 years old, you know.”
Unexpected Opportunities
The release of Tahoma and Its People has triggered a happy lahar of unintended (and mostly terrific) consequences. Giving book talks via Zoom—21 presentations to over 1,100 people—has been a good challenge and a great joy. (Check https://jeffantonelis-lapp.com/appearances/#video for links to upcoming talks to join one.) So has leading trips on the […]
2020: What a Wild Year!
When we look back on 2020, most will probably remember it as the year that lasted a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic. Record-breaking unemployment. A reckoning for racial justice. Devastating fires and storms resulting from climate change. Murder hornets! A contested presidential election. A second surge in the virus, worse than the first. You might ask, […]
A Second Edition of Tahoma and Its People? Already?
Also bound for Tahoma’s second edition is the proposed upgrade to Mount Rainier’s lahar detection system. The U.S. Geological Survey plans to install 17 lahar monitoring stations that will improve the agency’s volcano monitoring and lahar detection capacity. With 1.2 million people and over $40 billion of property values in the river valleys leading away from Mount Rainier, there’s much at stake.
Guess Who We Ran into on the Wonderland Trail!
At this time of year, I often get an itch that needs scratching: to hike the Wonderland Trail. Unable to hike the entire 93-mile loop this year, Dimitri and I day hiked the eastern portion from Fryingpan Creek to Box Canyon. Imagine our excitement to see three rare travelers on the trail!