Justin and his RMI team have been facing some not-so-ideal weather up on Denali (65 MPH winds, -35 degree temps). So they are on day ELEVEN being stuck (but safe) at Camp 3 (14,200 feet). I know those conditions sound extremely harsh, but I did get to speak to Justin and he is in great…
I’m happy to report that Justin and his RMI team are plugging along up the mountain!! Weather has been really decent (in Denali terms) and they have made it up to Camp 3 (14,000 feet). Read below to get a sense of the hard, back-breaking work they endure day after day on the mountain. I’m tired…
After going through gear and National Park Service protocols, Justin, Bobby and his team flew from Talkeetna to Kahiltna Glacier with K2 Aviation on Thursday, May 12. It was a beautiful day for flying! J is the 3rd from the left and Bobby is the 5th from the right. (Don’t worry, they didn’t try to…
Fellow gear junkies, get excited. This post is all about gear!!! But first, a few other details. Justin and Bobby (Bolt) flew to Alaska today for the long-awaited attempt to climb Denali. The boys are climbing with RMI Expeditions. This is the same guiding service we used to climb Rainier and that Justin used to climb Shuksan. There are…
Here’s a blast from the past from J’s first visit to Alaska in 2003. Many people have asked how J’s training for Denali is going. And now that he is leaving tomorrow, I am finally ready to answer. (I was really waiting to see the training start … JK). I must preface by saying J…
We have wrapped up our spring season at Fenton Ranch! Though we’ve only been here 6 weeks, it feels like much longer. Some of the days were unending–like the day we had a group of overnight 3rd graders leave at 11:30am, but the next group of 1st graders arrived early at 11am. Go, go, go.…
The spring weather in New Mexico has been more like fall into winter, derailing a lot of our weekend backpacking agendas. Every weekend, we’ve had grandiose plans to head into the mountains at higher elevations for J’s Denali training. But, when it is snowing and accumulating at 8,000 feet where we live, we know better…
Currently living/working in: We are finishing up our environmental educator job in New Mexico May 5! This job was pretty awesome … and we may even come back for another season! Photos by: Leanne Kimbrough Current mood: The days are long and these kids are darn tiring … but we have lots of fun and the end…
Bandalier National Monument is not the only National Park Service property near us. In October 2015, the NPS purchased the bordering Valles Caldera, establishing it as a national preserve. This piece of real estate has a crazy history. Imagine the scene. Mountains. Valleys. HUGE crater. This very distinct bowl among the other land forms is…
One of the first things we did after we accepting this job in New Mexico was map out our weekend adventures. We had grand plans of several backpacking trips. However, we didn’t account for the unpredictable spring synonymous with living in the mountains (case in point, I packed shorts and sandals. I will probably never…
J & I are on a quest to hit all the national parks, but often times, we overlook the monuments. So we were elated when we realized Bandelier National Monument was just about an hour from our doorstep and last weekend, we made the trip to explore. Bandelier is most known for its prehistoric ruins…
One of the great things about this job is that we have a solid 2 days off each weekend. This means every Saturday and Sunday, we become weekend warriors and explore the surrounding area! I’m behind on my updates, so here is a report from our first weekend here, when we got ourselves in hot…
Have you heard the rumor is that New Mexico is a desert? Living in the heart of the Jemez Mountains, that rumor couldn’t be further from the truth. Up at nearly 8,000 feet, the matrix of lush meadows and meandering streams guarded on all sides by aspen groves, conifer forests and jagged canyon walls tells…
This week has been very status quo because we’ve been playing the role of adults in charge of a home–taking care of doctor’s and dentist’s appointments (I type as my mouth is numb), car registration/oil change, prepping taxes, freelance writing project deadlines, cat-sitting … This is what I call the opposite of fun and it…
J & I went for round 2 of winter camping 101 by hitting up Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado this week. I should clarify that J is very much into this winter camping thing, while I am still easing in and convincing myself that I like it. To be safe, we car camped at Moraine…
Last weekend, J & I went on our fourth Colorado backcountry hut trip–the second for this season–with J’s sister and wife. This time, we hit Point Breeze Cabin, which is actually privately owned, but still booked through the 10th Mountain Division Hut System. Jamie & Rachel booked the entire hut, which sleeps 8, for us…
Sadly, I am bidding farewell to New Zealand today. I am extremely pleased with my book-writing accomplishments and plan to write a full post about the retreat, etc, but for the time being, I have a report on one more NZ excursion: Milford Sound! Even though J & I had been to Milford Sound last…
Greetings from New Zealand! I am doing well … busy writing, practicing yoga, writing, writing, biking, hiking, writing, practicing yoga, writing … you get the picture. And if you don’t, this is what it looks like. In between the retreat, my fellow writers and I are enjoying grand adventures around Wanaka. I thought I’d give…
Hello from New Zealand! I didn’t want to make any promises about posting, but I thought I’d chronicle my time so far. My retreat starts Monday in Wanaka, but I planned my first 2 days to stay in Queenstown. Queenstown is a little crazy and I don’t get involved with the real hoopla, but I…
Our contest giveaway has ended and we have 2 winners!! The winner of the grand prize pack is … Sonya Bryer Sanderson!!! The winner of our second place prize pack is … Robert Debevoi!!! Sonya and Robert, we’ve sent you both e-mails, so please e-mail us back with your mailing address to receive your prize…