I Will Return

Leona Falls. Can you see my brother?

Outside of the destruction zone caused by the eruption, Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument is a very green and beautiful place.The forest is thick with ferns and lichens and mushrooms and moss covered stone and mighty hemlocks, and at every turn a stream is running down the mountainside and crossing the trail.

If the conditions are right, life can grow on rock.

Did I mention the forest is wet? You can see the dew on the leaves and moisture in the ground. The sound of running water is a constant companion, and It seems at every turn you're rock hopping over a stream or fording an ice cold creek.

My brother fording Goat Creek

In the summer of 2010 we were turned back by snow at the top of Tumwater mounatin. This summer, I will return.

Must be the beard

I am going to talk about work again.

So I work with this Mexican fellow named Ehprain who is a really nice guy, and a big Chicago Bears fan (still owes me a case of beer from the Raider game). Anyway, somehow we got on the subject of age and he voluntarily starts guessing mine... "42 or 43" he says. I'm looking at him dead in the eyes and I see no hint of sarcasm what-so-ever. I tell him I'm actually 33 and he says, "Wow, you look a lot older than that." Now people always tell me I look younger when my beard is nice and clean cut, but to be mistaken for ten years older than I actually am made me realize just how old my beard makes me look when it's long.

42 anyone?

Leadership 101

I don't talk shop much. Usually I'm the kind of guy who when someone brings up their work I start day dreaming about trees. Unless of course they actually do something interesting. My mom works in an Emergency Room downtown. Her work stories are good. I work in manufacturing. My work stories are lame. With that being said, I'm going to talk about work now.

Today at work I was told to take over the Hardware department due to the absence of it's lead, who sadly flew to California for a funeral. Now, I had only actually worked in Hardware a handful of times in three years. I knew (and still know) nearly nothing about it. That being said, within an hour I had the department running like a welled oiled machine. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my buddy Ryan, who claims that in order to lead, one must first be an expert in the field of that which one is trying to lead. 

"Mike" he said, "Do you think you could be the President of the United States?"

"Yes, of course. I would make a good president." I replied.

"How's that? Do you know anything about economics? How would you fix the economy?"

"Hmm, I don't know much, I'm not sure how exactly."

"Well then how can you say you would be a good president if you don't know anything about the economy?" He asked, getting excited now as if this were a competition that he'd just won.

"I would appoint the best economists I could find to my economic team and have them write a detailed report, and I would make a decision based off that report." I confidently replied.

Isn't that what real leadership is? Leadership is not about micromanaging or being an expert or the most intelligent. Leadership is about surrounding yourself with the right people, and making the right decisions based off what you learn from those people. If you can do that, you can lead, even if you don't know anything about the field that you are in. It's true.

I proved it when I was made Managing Editor of the newspaper in college after only one quarter as a staff writer and having virtually no experience at editing ever. I proved it again at work today.

Does it get any better?

Mu Uncle Steve fishing on Heart Lake in Montana

Nothing beats fishing a mountain lake, even if you're only catching pan fries. At Heart Lake one morning in Montana's proposed Great Burn Wilderness my Uncle Steve fished for a couple hours only to catch one little 8 inch trout, but the smile on his face told me that he loved every minute of it. When you're in a place as remote and as beautiful as Heart Lake, it's just being there that counts.

Little Guy

Purple Shore Crab

While hiking on the coast in Olympic National Park I saw this Purple Shore Crab. He was a little guy but he sure was pissed about me shoving my camera in his face.

In the Clouds

 I shot this in Glacier Park last year. We were standing in a cloud on a mountainside around 7,000' and there was just enough break in the clouds that I saw some mountaintops peeking out from the other side of this huge valley. It was pretty epic. Actually, it was magical.

Hello Again

Me enjoying a Seven Devils sunset

I feel like I've been in hibernation. Tucked away in a cave somewhere sleeping the season away. In my case it was the whole year I slept away. Hiking be damned. Writing be damned. Life be damned. If I wrote a book about this year I might call it: "The Year I Nearly Drowned In A Sea of My Own Self Pity."

Wow, I can't believe 2011 is almost over. The year I was supposed to hike the Appalachian Trail. The year I suffered three serious injuries back-to-back-to-back that completely derailed my AT dreams. I can't help but feeling like I missed the boat. Like I missed my chance. Instead of taking the trip of a lifetime I took two ambulance rides to the ER...

Didn't I tell you after my back fiasco I got into a freak accident with an exercise band and temporarily blinded myself? It was brutal to say the least. The band stretched to it's limit broke free of the door jam and in a millisecond hit me in the face directly in both of my open eyes. The lights went out and I dropped to my knees in the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced. Seriously, this pain made my back feel like a sore muscle. I literally writhed in agony on the floor sobbing like a baby for 10 minutes straight. When the panic left  and I was still blind I realized I needed help... I searched for my phone by feel in the blackness. Gliding my hands over my bed, the chair, and finally the table where I found it. I voice dialed my Grandmother who called 911. It took nearly two days to get some of my sight back, and my first vision test I scored something like 20/500.

All injuries aside, I feel great coming into 2012. All my traditional aches and pains seem to have subsided and my new ones are healed up. I feel like hiking. I feel like writing.

It's a shame The Northwest Men's Magazine didn't last. I only wrote one story for it, and it turned out to be about the only thing I wrote all year long. I'm leaving that in the rearview mirror now and wondering where I can go next. I think a good start will be my blog.

2011 was a short hiking season for me. I didn't get anywhere near accomplishing the goals I set forth at the end of last year. So 2012 has to be the year I make up for that. No, I can't do the AT, my moment has passed (for now), the stars aren't aligned.



As inactive as I was in 2011 I still had a chance to hike the entire Seven Devils loop trail in the Hell's Canyon wilderness. We spent 5 days and 4 nights and logged about 50 miles total. I had an amazing time. The scenery was the best I'd seen yet, and apart from the worst mosquito swarms I'd ever seen, it was a perfect trip. It's always hard for me to go back. I remember my last day out there and all I could think was that I wish I could just keep going...