Trip Reports

Hayden Valley (Yellowstone) was all breath and murmur at 5:52 a.m.—bison steam rising, the river silver and still. I stood behind the pullout line with bear spray on my hip and a thermos cooling fast, waiting for the light. A dog-like feature ghosted the far bank. Sandhill cranes stitched the fog with their calls. When…

Mount Rainier was the next goal for both of us— looking to develop and test our mountaineering skills. With a narrow weather window and a free weekend, we set our sights on the Disappointment Cleaver (DC) route. Planning and Practice A key challenge Rainier poses that never occurs in hikes in the Whites is glacier…

Planning Rick and I met at Red Rock while climbing with my friends Dave and Susan. After spending a day on Happy Lollipop Tower, a classic Dave/Susan adventure-climb special, and a “rest” day simul-climbing 14 pitches of easy climbing – we were keen to make plans to climb again in the future. Rick is a…

The origin story Eddie and I have a habit of sandbagging each other. I’m sure it started early in our nearly decade-long friendship, but the last four years have been a notable progression. In 2015, Eddie moved to Tanzania on a whim, and before leaving, we had a brief conversation. This was basically how it…

Summiting one of the most challenging mountains in the continental US would make for a great first anniversary…or so we thought! Yet when we informed others of our plan, we ran across our fair share of naysayers. There were the usual suspects: friends and family who think the very idea of sleeping on snow or…

“Everyone can climb on a glacier” said Avilash during a winter school lecture. “There’s a few things to learn, and then you’re good”. We debated that point over beers at the Muddy Charles. Florian had climbed in the Alps for a few years, checking off a few moderates. Paul was a 5.12 sport climber who…

During spring of 2019, I learned that I was getting the chance to travel to Berlin in the summer to present my research at a conference. Around the same time, I learned about the Collier Adventure Grant and figured it was serendipitous timing to get the chance to take my hiking abroad. Prior to this…

Part 1 – Dorado Needle We landed in Seattle early in the afternoon, crammed a load of gear into the rental car, and set off north to the Cascades. We originally planned to climb Eldorado Peak and Dorado Needle, then tackle Shuksan, the North Ridge of Baker, or Glacier Peak. We acquired our permits, rented…

Growing up in upstate New York, I developed a deep love for the outdoors thanks abundance of lakes, trails, and mountains to explore within a day’s drive. After spending four years in Vermont and four in Massachusetts, I grew to love the outdoors even more while hiking, skiing, and climbing in the Greens and Whites,…

Montserrat (Days 1 – 4) On Day 1, we landed in Barcelona after an overnight flight from Boston. We immediately drove to Montserrat, a mountain range whose pink conglomerate spires house a world-famous monastery–and a storied history of Spanish sport climbing. We had our sights set on Cavall Bernat, the most prominent of the towers.…

With two weeks off of work at the end of the summer, I and the best adventure partner ever, Lulu Russell, went to check off a bucket-list item and hike the Cordillera Huayhuash, a 10 day alpine trek in Peru.  With our Bostonian sea level lungs we took off excited, but wary about whether or…

I first dreamed of El Cap soon after I learned to climb. I saw an iconic photo of Steph Davis high on the Salathe headwall, her hair blowing as she calmly jams a perfect crack bathed in golden light, the base of the wall in shadow 3000 feet below. What would it feel like to…