Matthew Singer – Biologist, Photographer, Geocacher, Adventurer, and more…

May 2, 2018May 1, 2018 Matt Personal Updates

Taking a break

I was perusing through my Flickr account and notice that all of my photos from the past two years fit on one page. I have some excuses for this. During 2016 and 2017, I have been feverishly finishing my PhD dissertation, and my photography unfortunately had to take a back seat. But in reality, that excuse can only go so…

January 31, 2018 Matt Personal Updates

An update for 2018

It's occurred to me that I haven't been good at writing posts recently. My last update was from May, and that was subsequently my last big hiking trip. Since then, I have been incredibly busy, and that means I haven't had as much time for fun. I did get out a few times this summer with the family. But there's…

May 29, 2017 Matt Hikes

Hells Canyon, Episode 2

Happy Memorial Day everyone. I had originally planned to spend the long weekend down in the Alvord Desert of southeastern Oregon with friends and the family. We would have been camping, hiking, birding, herping, and soaking in hot springs. But circumstances had us backing out of the trip at the last minute to spend a lazy weekend at home. So…

January 22, 2017 Matt Hikes

Moscow Mountain Snowshoe

Saturday, January 14, 2017 It's not often that I get out to hike these days. But we've had a fantastic winter so far, and after a week of insanely cold temperatures and clear weather, I just had to get out and take advantage before the warm weather and rains took over. I've always wanted to hike to the lookout on…

January 13, 2017 Matt Personal Updates

Jerry Johnson

We've gotten a lot of snow this winter. And then it got cold. Like, really cold. Night time lows below zero, and daytime highs hovering around 20. So the only thing to do with this kind of weather is go swimming. [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xz_UKNzjso[/embedyt] Last year, we took Clara to a developed hot spring near McCall and she loved it. This…

December 11, 2016 Matt Personal Updates

December Update

When I started this site, I never expected to make daily posts. Weekly? Maybe. Monthly? Less desireable. I'm kind of ashamed that it's been three months with no updates, but there hasn't been much of excitement to talk about. There haven't been any big adventures this fall. I'm just plugging away at the Ph.D. thing, which has also made me…

September 5, 2016 Matt Personal Updates

Camping at Hazard Lake

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPFgUQ-9cwA[/embedyt] In May we bought a new tent to accommodate our growing family on camping trips. I guess the two-person backpacking tent just won't do it anymore for thee people and two large dogs. So after we bought it, we took it out for its maiden test at a nearby campground. This summer was dubbed the summer of no…

July 20, 2016 Matt Hikes

Adventures with Clara: Hobo Cedar Grove

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fGgqlKSpXw[/embedyt] The Hobo Cedar Grove is a nice easy 1-mile hike through a grove of giant old-growth trees. It is the perfect hike for toddlers to explore nature, which is why we brought Clara up there on Sunday. She enjoyed the large trees, but wasn't into walking the trail much. Eventually Erin had to carry her for most of…

July 11, 2016July 11, 2016 Matt Hikes

Grandmother Mountain

I finally got some time to get up to Freezeout to hike Grandmother Mountain. The flowers are out and it's quite pretty, though it's not the best year for flowers that I've seen. It could be that I got up there a little late. Everything seems to be coming out a little earlier this year than normal. But then, all…

July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 Matt Research Blog, Travel Stories

July 4 Update and Clara in Spokane

It's been over a month since my last update. There haven't been any major adventures due to time and financial constraints. As I aim to write and finish my dissertation, the time for such outings decreases and thus this summer will be nicknamed "the summer of no fun." Fun isn't completely off the table, but the number and scope of…

May 6, 2016 Matt Photo Blog

Steptoe Butte and the Palouse

When I moved to the Palouse, I didn't realize just how photogenic the landscape was. Then I saw ads for the Palouse in Popular Photography. It turns out, people will pay good money to come and photograph the region, and here I am living there not taking advantage of my home turf. I've only been on Steptoe Butte once before,…

May 1, 2016 Matt Hikes

White Pine Loop & Bomber Too

Last week, Clara and I had a day to ourselves, so we had a little adventure on a nearby trail. The white pine loop is a 3-mile hike from the White Pine campground off of Idaho Rt. 6. A one-mile (one-way) out and back spur takes us to the site of a WWII bomber crash site with some pieces of the…

March 21, 2016March 21, 2016 Matt Travel Stories

Canoeing on the Palouse River

March is such a bipolar month in Idaho. One day it can be cold and snowy and the next can be sunny and 60. So while we had cold rain during the weekend of our canoe trip, this past weekend was really nice. I took Clara out for a hike on the Potlatch River Trail near our house and she hiked…

March 16, 2016March 17, 2016 Matt Travel Stories

Canoeing the St. Joe

Hello. I realize it's been quite some time since my last post. That's what happens when you get into dissertation writing mode. Life tends to cease and all you can think about is finishing this damn thesis. As a result, I haven't really been on many adventures since December, nor has there been anything interesting to write about, nor have…

December 27, 2015December 27, 2015 Matt Personal Updates

Merry Holidays!

I had a good Christmas this year. It began with a week of continuous snow fall. We'd have 3-6 inches here and there with warm days compacting the wet and heavy accumulation. But all of that still adds up so that by the time Christmas rolled around, the snow was over a foot deep in parts of our yard. Meanwhile…

November 7, 2015 Matt Personal Updates

5000 feet

It snowed in Moscow for the first time this season on Thursday. And although the accumulation didn't amount to much in town, the mountains were turned white the next day. But two days of sunshine, and evidence of the snow is all but gone. The mountains around Moscow are back to their baren self. But at 5000 feet, winter has…

October 6, 2015 Matt Personal Updates

Elk Creek Falls

I think I've mentioned Elk Creek Falls in passing, but haven't actually written a featured post about it. Elk River is a small outdoor recreation town (read: hunting & fishing mostly) a little over an hour east of Moscow. This small community represents the "end of the road." The paved road ends here and forest service roads pick up to…

October 6, 2015 Matt Personal Updates

Latah County Fair

Clara loves animals. At home, she loves to pet the dogs and the cats. She tries to pet the chickens and gets all excited when we catch one and bring it over to her. She loves saying hi to the goats and touching the horses. So we brought her to the Latah County Fair where she could look at and…

October 6, 2015October 6, 2015 Matt Travel Stories

Seattle

In the 5 years living out here, I haven't been to Seattle other than to catch the ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula. So when four of my college buddies from Drew mentioned they were converging in the city for a race in September, I jumped at the opportunity to pay a visit. So for a weekend in September (11-13), we…

September 21, 2015 Matt Hikes

Wallowas Weekend 2015

After a long summer with not much exploring, the pace has changed and I've had a fairly busy two weeks. The series begins with the return of the Annual Wallowas Weekend. In the six Septembers that I have lived here, I've led a backpacking trip to the Eagle Cap Wilderness four of those years, with this year being the fourth.…