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 Meadows Preserve as clouds and setting sun set the stage for what may be a resplendent light that may turn the skies a […]

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 three on trails and sharing what I’ve learned along the way. There it is in the second sentence of the […]

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 long climb. Or maybe it’s something less measurable—the way falling water seems to reset the mind, quiet the […]

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 enivronmental movement and led to the first Earth Day in 1970.

“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 the Trails of Mt. Athos, Greece.”

“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 walks by the river Dove and along the banks of many other brooks and ponds, inspired him to write “The Compleat Angler,” […]