Stories
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Tonight I had a great surprise and learned a valuable lesson as to why it’s somtimes good to stay up late, even on a school night. I got the word of an aurora event tonight around 11:30 local time, and this was from people on the east coast. So I thought to myself: I wonder…
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I went to Florida, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Taking a break from the usual trips into the mountains, I went to Florida last weekend to celebrate the marriage of one of my good buddies. The wedding was in Pensacola Beach, with the actual ceremony on the beach outside of town. I’ve been to Florida…
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A year ago this weekend, I set foot in Oregon for the first time and explored one of its most beautiful and least advertised mountain ranges. Last year, we only got a preview of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains, only able to stay one night. So this year, I arranged the backpacking…
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Last night, we had the storm of storms come across the Palouse. It was a quick, but powerful cell the big lightning strikes every few seconds that produced enough power to disrupt phone service (land line) each time a bolt struck the ground. Luckily, we had no major power surges and all of the electronics…
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While the east coast has contended with an earthquake and a hurricane, we have been enduring our summer heat wave, temperatures in excess of 90 degrees. It rarely gets to 95 out here, but when it does, it’s brutal. Of course, when it’s in the mid-90’s up on the Palouse, it’s over 100 down in…
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This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending three nights in Idaho’s Seven Devils. The devils are a series of craggy peaks between the Salmon and Snake river canyons. They rise over 7000 feet above the rivers and offer spectacular views and recreation opportunities, and for about three months of the year,…
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There’s a new book in my bookstore. I finally got around to completing 2010: A Year of Change, Vol. 2. Volume 1 followed the first half of the year as I finished working in Virginia, got married and prepared to leave the eastern United States. Volume 2 continues the journey, starting with a visit to…
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The past week, my parents were in town visiting and we spent the week exploring and showing them our favorite places in the area. We’d usually leave fairly early in the morning and get back kinda late, always exhausted. As a result, I haven’t been able to post some detailed updates on the awesome places…
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The hike to Stevens Lakes itsn’t particularly hard, but it’s no walk in the park either. It’s about 2.5 miles and 1700 feet of vertical gain to the upper lake on a well-used and well-mantained trail. It starts off relatively steep and continues to climb steadily for the next mile before levelling out…
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The celebration of our nation’s independence is a custom dating back all the way to the day the Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence. The use of fireworks to celebrate the momentous and historic occasion also dates back to that time. As John Adams wrote to his wife: “The second day of…
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Last night, I had some folks over from the photo club for a little get together and fun. We grilled burgers, sat around the fire, and played with our cameras. We were mostly interested in shooting the night sky. I’ve shot the stars before, but last night might be my most successful attempt yet. Shooting…
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View Upper Basin Trail in a larger map The Upper Basin Trail is a 5 mile loop in the upper basin of Elk Creek just north of Elk River The trail is near the giant western red cedar, thought to be the largest tree in the U.S. east of the Sierra-Cascade crest. The loop is…
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Last night was full of bad-assery. Yeah, that’s right, it was so bad-ass that I made up a word to describe it. After a cold spell, temperatures quickly rose into the 80’s yesterday making for a hot and somewhat muggy day. The conditions were ripe for evening thunderstorms. As I arrived home, I heard reports…
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The Palouse, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. The Palouse is made up of rolling hills covered in wheat and barley fields. This area was historically a prairie, so there were few trees to begin with. A few of these hills rise up well above the rest, remnants of a time when the region was more…
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Panoramic View from our vantage point, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This story begins with Luke and I itching to get out into the backcountry. Although it’s the middle of June, the combination of an unusually cold and wet Spring with the very productive winter has left many of the high country destinations (above 5000…
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It’s been an eventful week, and I should have posted more often, but I’ve been busy and tired and uninspired to write. So I’ll give you the update on the past week, and then some. Last Monday was our actual anniversary, and even though we celebrated the week before with a getaway to Oregon, we…
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Day 3: Canyons It’s a week later and I’m only now getting to the end of our romantic weekend away to celebrate our anniversary. Saturday was our third and final full day in Oregon. Thursday we had a nice scenic road trip to Enterprise. Friday, we explored the mountains. And Today (a week ago),…
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Sacajawea, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Day 2 Friday morning, I woke up in time to catch the sun rising over the Seven Devils. I went outside with the camera to catch the morning glow on the snow-capped peaks of the Wallowas as the sun rose in the sky. It was a beautiful morning, and…
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Introduction Almost one year ago, I married the most wonderful girl in the world. Unfortunately, we did not have time to take a nice honeymoon. We spent the night after the wedding at the luxurious Bedford Springs resort, but that was it. Our intentions were to take a trip later in the year, but…
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A few weeks ago, we received our federal tax return, and with the First Time Homebuyer tax credit, we got quite a hefty sum. The bulk of that money is going right back into the property with a few home improvement projects. But we took a small chunk and set it aside to complete the…