The Importance of Inclusivity in the Outdoors

Oct 8, 2021

I grew up sharing a deep connection with nature. I fell in love with the boundless beauty and felt its powerful spiritual and emotional healing benefits. As a black, queer human, I also observed a lack of diversity in many of these spaces that I treasured, which led to feelings of otherness and even moments when I had concern for my personal safety. These feelings inspired me to further explore the reasons why there is a lack of inclusivity in outdoor spaces, lands and activities that are a part of everyone’s culture and a right for all people. Growing up, I fell in love with chasing fireflies, riding my bike, climbing trees and creating artwork inspired by nature. This love expanded to coastal adventures, camping, canoeing and hiking in the…

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Mountain Running in the Sierra Nevada

Sep 2, 2021

One of the best parts of mountain running is when you get to walk. I’m not calling mountain running a gentle stroll, but generally, you’re not full-on, maxed-out sprinting hour after hour up an enormous rock pile. The running part is great, but the main draw is that rock pile and the ones around it. Just being, and moving, in the mountains. Starting from the smell of sage and climbing into solitude with the sounds of rushing water, birdsong, and your own feet finding rhythms on the ground. Often, if you are walking, you are someplace spectacular: a steep forest trail,  a technical ridge, or on the way to a lonely summit where the air is thin. As a mountain runner coming from the Alps, I’ve been adapting to the…

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Leave No Trace: Managing Human Waste in the Outdoors

Jul 27, 2021

This is a story about poop. It’s about the principles of Leave No Trace camping not changing exactly, but evolving in the way we need to apply them. Because we are loving our wild places to death by treating them like giant toilets. The focus here will be on ‘frontcountry’ areas which I will define as relatively remote yet road-accessible areas with little or no services, typically managed by the National Forest Service (NFS) or Bureau of Land Management (BLM). These playgrounds are among the crowning jewels of the mountain west and some of the finest rewards for anyone seeking the freedom of the Great American Road Trip. There’s little more satisfying to a vagabond van-lifer than seeing a brown wooden sign that reads “Entering [insert name] National Forest”, knowing…

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Bolting Climbs: The Ethics of First Ascents

Jul 6, 2021

Evaluating the ethics behind first ascents begged the question of whether or not we’re creating safer climbs by “conquering routes”. Were we providing positive accessibility by bolting walls? Or just flaunting our abilities?

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MSR Dromedary Bags: My Guardian Angels For More Than 50 Expeditions

Jun 1, 2021

MSR Dromedary Bags have become my guardian angels, providing me life—yes, literally providing life—on more than 50 expeditions around the world to complete major athletic goals. From first desert crossings in China to climbing huge first ascents on vertical rock walls in Greenland, on every continent and beyond, they have kept me alive. Let me explain: Water. It is the sweet giver of life. This transparent fluid forms the world’s streams, lakes, oceans and rain, and is the major constituent of the fluids of living things. We are water and water is life. And, of course, life is sweet. My body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water, depending on the day or my activity. To function properly I need to drink between one and seven liters of water per…

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