Blog

At day’s end in Ojai, even the mountains seem to meditate. Like Santa Ana Winds, Pink Moments can make you uneasy. Anything can happen. Near day’s end I hike Way of the Hawk Trail through Ojai [...]

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness on the Trail Every year on the Fourth of July we celebrate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I’ve spent much of my life looking for all [...]

Follow the sound of falling water. Few things in nature stop us in our tracks quite like a waterfall. Maybe it’s the thunder of water meeting stone. Maybe it’s the cool mist on your face after a [...]

From the chapter, "Black Tide" in my narrative Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill marked the birth of the [...]

"On Earth Day, April 22, and every day, begin the restoration of nature by restoring yourself,” urges author John McKinney. Excerpt from "Hiking the Holy Mountain: Tales of Monks and Miracles on [...]

“God has two dwellings: one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart,” declared Izaak Walton, the 17th century English writer now regarded as the “patron saint of [...]

The Lost Coast is California’s wildest coast with cliff-edge trails, redwood groves and black sand beaches. We all need one place on the map, one place in hearts that is lost. Enjoy this [...]

“Why Do Otherwise Smart People do Such Stupid Things in the Great Outdoors?” An editorial about hikers I wrote for the Los Angeles Times asked this question and generated quite a [...]

My op-ed, “Nature Has Something to Tell Us and it’s Time We Listened” was published recently in the Washington Post. The Post asked me to write a story about the California wildfires that was [...]

“God has two dwellings: one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart,” declared Izaak Walton, the 17th century English writer now regarded as the patron saint of fishing. Walton’s [...]