Come Mayhem, How Will We Fare?

I’m a reasonable person. Like a lot of people, I’m politically centric and middle class. I have no outstanding warrants and next to no savings. I roll through stop signs and I volunteer. I’m imperfect and reasonably happy. Like lots of folks, too, I get […]

Avoiding Deer-Car Collisions

It’s the time of year when it seems like drivers kill more deer than hunters. In fact, that’s not so. But still. According to AAA, 7,000 Colorado deer were killed in 2016. November is the worst month of all, says AAA. Blame development, habitat encroachment, or […]

Ode to Mancos

I was born and raised in Harpswell, Maine. If you swapped out fishermen and lobstermen for farmers and ranchers, you’d have Mancos, Colorado. Like this tiny town, Harpswell has an interesting, sometimes tense, dynamic between natives and transplants. And, if you elevated the Colorado water table by, say, […]

OR Highlights

Recently, we traveled to Denver to visit with folks at the Outdoor Retailer. Held at the Colorado Convention Center, the event attracts some 6,000 vendors and over 30,000 attendees. Yikes! Think Mall-on-Christmas-Eve frenzy. The OR, as it is widely known, gives us a chance to […]

A Baby Bird, A Rancher, and Me

Are you a birder? Then you probably know that many flycatchers belong to the confusing group of birds in the Empidonax Complex. These birds are all small, muted in color, and quiet. The many species look alike and are distinguished only by subtle differences in […]

Apple to Bird to Tree to Cider: Fenceline Story

Sam Perry, co-owner of Fenceline Cider, in Mancos, was a studio art major in college. So, it makes sense that he’d reference a color palette when describing the narrowness of cider flavors ‘round here. Despite the wealth of apple varieties, “we’ve been painting with brown,” […]

Sturdy Slippers from Salomon

Past protocol for introducing a new running shoe to my feet: Wear them at the store before purchasing. Wear them around the house for an hour (last chance to return them) Wear them for a miles-long walk Finally, wear them for a run Protocol for […]

Everything You’d Want in a Boot, nothing more, thankfully

There are lots of advantages to living in the mountains. One is this: you can get aerobic and strong by simply heading up one ridge or another. Road running is arguably more impactful on the body. And if you have a history of knee injuries […]

Species Parade, Episode 22

As a lifelong birder and wildlife watcher, it’s still a thrill to spot a something I’ve never seen before. Since the last Species Parade, I got lucky twice: I spotted a pair of American Dippers, small waders who were feeding, splashing, and swimming in the […]

Patagonia’s Double Knee Hemp Pants Perfect in PNW

Editor’s Note: For this review of Patagonia WorkWear’s new hemp pants, we turned to outdoors woman, Natalie Lord. Lord is a Maine gal and St. Lawrence University graduate who spends nearly every weekend outside or in the backcountry. Now living in the Pacific Northwest, she’s […]