Hiking & Backpacking
The Wilderness Act
Yesterdays NY Times article, ‘Ah, Wilderness’ has created a buzz on Facebook this morning among outdoor enthusiasts. The author questions the management decisions of U.S. Forest Service administrators to continue to refuse to add signage in certain wilderness areas, even after hikers and skiers have died from getting lost. It’s a dilemma that all of ...read more
Santa Barbara California Hiking
Santa Barbara Hiking Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about ways to improve training methods for outdoor athletic performance. First, thank you, friends, for picking my brain; and second, I’m getting some great feedback to share. My passion is training the body in a way that fosters the connection to the body and ...read more
Fat Man’s Misery
“Why do they call it Fat Man’s?” you ask. This shot of Frank and Carolyn downclimbing their way through one of the many slots in Fat Man’s repertoire should clue you in. Visitors to Zion National Park ready to venture off the beaten path and explore the backcountry have world-class canyoneering options to choose from. ...read more
Zion Canyoneering
Summer’s over, and went out in such EPIC style that I can honestly say with the enthusiasm of a school girl “it was the best summer I ever had!” I spent my last month of summer in Zion National Park, having so many adventures that I utterly refused to blog. Who wants to sit at ...read more
Zion Canyoneering Guides
Slot Canyon Stupidity “That thing which makes you great also makes you an asshole,” Greg, one of my favorite Zion canyoneering guides told me, “and all of us guides fall into that category.” He was 100% accurate in his assessment of me. I had nothing to blame but my own arrogance for getting caught in ...read more
Zion Canyoneering Guides
I’m settling into my groove. I am a Zion canyoneering guide seeking a Mojave meditation on my own time. Fighting the wind on early morning bike rides up the canyon, afternoon siestas out of the blistering heat, and evening hikes under freezing rain drops call attention to the daily extremes and fluctuations of the Mojave ...read more
Zion National Park Backpacking Trip
I’m sure you’ve told yourself to “go to your happy place” before. It’s a mental exercise, a visualization intended to lessen the pain or fear of the current situation. I have routinely done this every time I’ve visited the dentist since I was 10 years old. I have literally “gone to my happy place,” on ...read more
Machu Picchu Backpacking
I’ve been having so much fun road-tripping around the world that I haven’t sat still long enough to blog about it! It looks like I’m back in the real world though. Time to try my hand in the blogosphere again. I just returned from my Machu Picchu backpacking trip in the Peruvian Andes. I have ...read more
Inca Trail Guided Tours
Day 1 of Sol Fitness Adventures Inca Trail Trek: Machu Picchu, Peru was a humbling experience, and not for the reasons you’d expect. Sure, starting a hike at 9,300 ft is a little challenging – the air is thin up here. But I had prepared diligently for the hike, so today’s four hours of hiking ...read more
Inca Trail Guided Tours
Click to view Anthony Bourdain’s visit to Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Peru. One of my favorite things about Sol’s Inca Trail guided tours is visiting the city of Cuzco. At 11,000 feet in elevation, the old city of Cuzco is a delightfully vibrant hub of activity and culture. Cuzco, ancient Royal City of the Inca, ...read more
