Travel Stories

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    Potlatch River

    Potlatch River, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. There is a Forest Service hiking trail about 3 miles due north of our house, though it’s about 7 miles to drive there. Still, it’s close for those after-work getaways. The trail is a ~5mi. loop along the Potlatch River that takes you along the river and then up to the “rim” of the canyon. The first half mile or so is paved, but it then becomes a regular old trail through the woods. There are interpretive markers along the entire length. I have been down on the trail several times, but yesterday…

  • Skiing

    I went skiing for the first time in over five years, and it felt like I never took a break. Erin and I went to Silver Mountain with Tyler, and Travis. Silver is the nearest ski area to Moscow and it’s not that bad. When the entire area is open, it’s got a vertical of 2200 feet, but we haven’t had enough snow to open the lower portion. But even with those few trails closed, the vertical was still a nice 1400 feet with some nice, lengthy runs. Silver is unique to all of the other ski areas I’ve been…

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    Old Rag

    Spring!, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. In April, I briefly lost my camera due to a bent pin in the card slot. I sent it to Canon for repair and got the camera back in a week’s time. Unfortunately, during that time, I had scheduled a hike up Old Rag with Jon, my supervisor at the time. So, after a trip to Fed Ex, I stopped at the camera store and bought a couple rolls of film. I’ve finally had the chance to get the old scanner out of the box and get this set of slides scanned and uploaded….

  • Oregon

    Sunrise, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. I made my very first appearance in the state of Oregon over the weekend. I’m impressed and hooked. Oregon is a very pretty state, and I didn’t even get to see very much of it. My Oregon experience took me to a little known section in the northeastern corner, the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area in the Wallowa Mountains. I went with two other grad students in the department for an overnight trip to Mirror Lake in the heart of the wilderness area. We left Friday night just as the sun was setting and drove…

  • Grandmother Mountain

    Looking West on Grandmother Mountain, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This weekend, Erin and I set out for our first hike together in Idaho and we made our first summit together on Grandmother Mountain. The hike to Grandmother Mountain begins high up in the St. Joe National Forest 12 miles out of Clarkia. The entire hike is above 5500 feet, which was a neat considering all of our hiking in the East (so far) was under 5500 feet.* Grandmother Mountain is an easy two-mile one-way along a high sub-alpine ridge with forest mixed with meadow. The summit stands at 6369…

  • Hiking Deary

    View from Potato Hill, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. I’ve now been in Idaho for almost three weeks and I’m starting to get settled into my new home. Later I will post about the property and the abundant wildlife that make our place so special. But today, I write about a local hiking opportunity just over a mile down the road in the town of Deary. I have a theory that all cities and towns have an overlook, a spot from which you can stand and look down upon the population center. Sometimes these overlooks are only a few feet…

  • The Road Trip

    Well, we are finally off and on our way to a new life in the middle of nowhere, Idaho. Of course, this trip is not without its share of stories. To begin with, we were supposed to leave Maryland as soon as Erin was done with camp. I gave her until 2:00 and we were pretty much packed and ready to go by 3:00. We locked the cats in the bedroom so we wouldn’t have to go looking for them, but they knew something was up and were trying their best to escape. Pumpkin got out several times, but we…

  • Dolly Sods, Revisited

    Dolly Sods Meadow, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. In the fall, I visited West Virginia’s Dolly Sods with my parents. The foliage on the blueberry bushes was amazing, but the trees had not yet turned. I was planning to return a week later to backpack through the wilderness area during its peak foliage, but my car broke down and I was unable to make the journey. So I decided I’d make a spring visit instead. So, a week and a half ago, I did just that. I got together with Charlie (uvagolfer), another hiker and photographer I met on Flickr,…

  • Mother’s Day

    Hazeltop, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This past weekend, my mom came to Luray to visit me. We spent Saturday in town at the annual Festival of Spring. Main Street is shut down to traffic and the stores and other vendors set up shop on the street. We spent a good deal of time at the wine tasting area, where there ten or so local wineries set up with their products to taste. I tried everything. There were your traditional wines, Chardonet, Merlot, Shiraz, etc. And there were some new ones, wines made from fruits other than grapes, one made…

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    Swimming Holes

    The Lower Falls on Overall Run, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. When the weather turns hot and humid, there’s no better way to stay cool than at your local swimming hole. Swimming holes offer something that your pool does not: privacy, seclusion, crisp cold water, and no chemicals. That icy mountain stream gets the old heart moving at first, but feels refreshing when the air temperature passes 90 degrees. At camp, we have two swimming holes. We frequently take kids to one along Jeremy’s Run because we can walk there. Jeremy’s Run is nice. There’s an upper pool with a…