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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Seven Devils on the Fourth of July

What do you do when temperatures rise above 100º F? Seek relief at very high elevations. This June was one of the hottest on record for the northwest with several days above 100 degrees in Moscow. So when my friends proposed a backpacking trip for the Fourth of July weekend, i was a bit skeptical, […]

Alaska

I was in Alaska from June 10-17. This trip was mostly about business with a little bit of pleasure while I was out there. I attended the 2015 meeting of the Animal Behavior Society. This wasn’t my first scientific meeting. But it was my first time at ABS and my first meeting where I was […]

East Moscow Mountain

[map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” gpx=”http://www.mineral2.com/wp-content/uploads/Moscow Mountain Hike.GPX”] I had heard about the big trees on Moscow Mountain, but I had yet to experience them for myself. I first drove the road along the ridge back in 2010, the year I moved to Idaho. Back then, I passed some […]

Small hikes near Moscow

The end of the semester is a busy time, and that often means foregoing larger adventures for some smaller ones closer to home. In the last week, I’ve been trying to keep active and take advantage of the local trails. One of these trails is the Headwaters trail on the western end of Moscow Mountain. […]

Blue Mountains: Panjab Loop

We open the 2015 hiking season with a fairly big hike in the Blue Mountains. The Panjab loop takes us up the Panjab Creek trail and back down via the Rattlesnake Trail in the Wenaha Tucannon Wilderness. This hike is full of wildflowers, wildlife, and canyon views.

Annual Wallowas Weekend 2014

[map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” gpx=”http://www.mineral2.com/wp-content/uploads/Selected Data from wallowas 2014.GPX”] The annual Wallowas Weekend tradition kinda took a hiatus for a couple of years. In 2012, Tyler had to pull out of the trip, and several other people followed. That left me with one other person who still […]

Oregon Butte

In a world where there are so many playgrounds at arm’s reach, the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington are so often overlooked. They’re not as tall as the surrounding mountain ranges – the highest point is just shy of 6400 feet. There are no natural lakes, and the valleys are actually canyons carved into an […]