Why subscribe?
As a long-time guidebook author, and trail-design duffer (“expert” sounds too uppity), I’ve been known to hike my socks off on occasion. And I’ll admit that, ahem, I did catch my boots on fire once.
But the key thing is that I’m out there enjoying, exploring, and recording, in words and images, as much of this awesome world as I can, both on and off the trail, usually on foot, sometimes on a boat or a bike. And not just here in the Pacific Northwest.
My travels and writing have extended as far south as Chile and Argentina and east to my New England roots, to Washington, D.C. (where I published one of my guidebooks, Ultimate DC), and even to Europe.
My posts at Somewhere in the Weeds reflect not just a passion for travel and adventure, but for the stories and local history that help to enrich any experience. Add to that the wild critters, the perfect vista, the storms, misadventures, the sweaty trail work, and a twisted fascination with the anatomical makeup of a good-quality trail (yes, it’s a thing), and you might get a sense of the subjects I enjoy writing about.
So it’s not all about trails. You’ll also find chapters of a memoir called Finding Destiner, my account of a search for my dad’s hand-built, forty-foot schooner (more on that below). And I am well into a futuristic novel on Mars where no one gets murdered, ho hum.
For full access to these book-length works, I gently ask my readers to consider at least a minimum paid subscription. Annual subscribers get a free signed book as well! (See below.)
What to watch for
I do expect to be roamin’ and ruminatin’ quite a lot, but promise not to spam readers with every little thing. Anticipate an average of two or three posts per week that you can check out at your leisure. Notes too.
When you do visit the site, I hope you find my travel snippets entertaining—I certainly enjoying writing them. You’ll also find a range of how-to/where-to stuff, plus some inside scoop on writing and publishing my guidebooks. Follow my tracks as the journeys unfold, the random encounters, wandering thoughts, special places, and curious stories of people I might run into in the middle of nowhere.
Pacific Northwest
Useful trail news, updates, and other stories relating to places closer to home in Bellingham, Washington, and in surrounding states will appear in the “Pacific Northwest” section of the newsletter, and including a few odd stories and interesting places to visit throughout the region.
Elsewhere
Anything not Pacific Northwesty.
The Schooner Destiner
Apart from the above, I’ve created a separate newsletter section for a memoir that describes the search for my dad’s gaff-rigged schooner, launched at Morro Bay in 1964. The book is being posted a chapter at a time, though I do seem to get sidetracked with the hiking stuff.
If you subscribe at the annual rate, I’ll even send you a free signed copy of any of my books (U.S. only): Boots on Fire: Mountain Adventures of a Restless Duffer; Ultimate DC: Travel-Walk-Explore; Hiking Whatcom County, 7th Ed.; Hiking Snohomish County, 3rd Ed.; or Hiking Island County, 1st Ed. You can also find my books here.
If something you see triggers a thought or a question, please use the comment feature to join the conversation. I’d love to hear from you and will be reading and replying to comments as often as I can.
So, welcome to a community of people who share a love of the planet, travel, trails and adventure!
