My family was an outdoorsy crew whose main instigator for excursions was my pops, with my mom as a willing accomplice. For him getting into nature was about respect for our natural environment. A large part of that for him meant exploring close to home, in the areas he was intimately familiar with. Although, when you live below Mount Rainier there rarely seems much reason to stray far from home anyways. His idea of adventure revolved around hiking to hunt and fish. I’ve moved on from those particular pursuits, though I wax and wane about a return to angling, my love of the outdoors has not wavered.
In my twenties I mountain biked passionately. When I realized I was not going to be a professional cyclist, I laced up the hiking boots again. This quickly led to a desire to backpack. With zero experience at that point, I dug through a cache of my dad’s old gear and my car camping stuff, and cobbled together a motley mess of equipment. My first three backpacking trips are as memorable for their mishaps, (the list is not short) as they are for the wonder of spending the night in the majestic beauty of the Cascade Mountains. I was hooked.
The first thing about mistakes, miscalculations, malaprops, missteps, etc, is that no matter how experienced you are, they are inevitable. The second thing is to always learn from them. Oh and how I’ve learned, which is why I created this blog. At this juncture in my life, I’m the guy people text, email, call, and message about what to buy, where to go, and what to cook. I’m excited to pass on my knowledge here to help you get on the trail with better food, lighter and more functional gear, and an expertly planned trip.
Lastly I’d like to thank my partner in adventure and in life, Amanda, for the encouragement to begin this journey.
Happy trails,
Derek
My dad Jerry, my bro Kevin, and me at Lincoln Falls
Top Photo
View of Bearhead Mountain and Mount Rainier from above Summit Lake, my pop’s favorite hike.