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March 07 in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Sept. 06, Kungsleden, northern Sweden – I couldn't get the reindeer to hold still for the pic.

These are so great! They inspired me to change mine!

This is a photo from last week- it's my son Henry's first backpacking trip, at 11 months old. We hiked (mom too) the Ozette trail on the Olympic NP coast. We stayed at Sand Beach and took day trips from there.

Henry saw eagles, a herd of elk, and seals, as well as racoons and countless bird species. The weather was excellent and he got to play in the sand for his first time. It was AWESOME!

I've dreamed for years about sharing the outdoors with my child. It was incredible to see this first experience and to see how fascinated he was (and how well he slept!)

Here's to a lifetime of family backpackign experiences!

Mine is from a canoe trip to Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in Northwestern Ontario.

Caught a couple of Walleye right off the campsite for dinner.

Dan

Mine is a favorite spot just off the Mountain To Sea Trail, North Carolina.

Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest.

One of the few Big Sky Evolution 2P tents you'll ever see, outside the computer screen. Taken at Sky Camp, Point Reyes National Seashore. March, 2007.

Nearly all my favorite hiking or climbing memories are cool things done with my family. This shot is me and my wife Karen on the summit of Cerro Yayamari, at just about 18000 feet in Peru. It was an awesome, though pretty easy, climb. Definitely the highest I've ever climbed. And we felt pretty good up there.

When we got down to camp, some locals cooked us potatoes in a dirt oven that they filled with hot stones and wet grass. Then they slaughtered a sheep and we had a feast. A day to remember.

SEE LATER POST – MY AVATAR CHANGED.

My current avatar pic was taken in the Yatsugatake mountain range of central Japan, about 4 hours NorthWest of Tokyo. It has been a dream of mine for years to work and live in Japan, and I finally made it happen.
But, I hope I can have an avatar like Doug Johnson's 'with kid' pic soon. That must be a great feeling. Congratulations Doug!

Well, my avatar corresponds to my handle.

Traveling is my favorite thing to do, and I can honestly say that I have never been to a country that I didn't like.

It's one world, and we are all in it together…

July 2006. In a thicket of alder along the Kvichak River, Bristol Bay region, Southwest Alaska. Part of a month-long expedtion to explore the watersheds downstream of the proposed site of the Pebble Mine (a controversial plan to put one of the largest open pit mines in the world at the headwaters of some of the worlds largest salmon spawning rivers)

This is my son Roman packrafting down Ship Creek Canyon last summer. It was day 6 of 7 days of rafting 7 different runs from Class I to Class IV.

Red River Gorge… a marathon hike with my friends. We partied hard the night before. I was pretty hung over the next day from the Woodford Reserve… but hey, it was a cold night! I was still the first one to finish the hike… AND I hiked an extra two miles to bag a geocache AND I found an abandoned 6-pack of cold beer 1/2 way through the hike that I packed out and split with the crew at the end. Man did it taste good. Haha, that was a GOOD DAY!

A tarn just west of Nebo Pass in the Weminuche in Southwestern Colorado. The picture was taken the next to the last day of a multiday hike on the CDT.

But, the why is more important than the what.

I picked this photo because it reminds me that with a much lighter pack and better planning, I was able to return and complete a hike that, thirty years ago and when I was in far better physical condition than I am today, I hadn't been able to complete.

This is a picture of me before I've had my coffee in the morning.

My avatar is of myself at the Bean lake overlook on the SHT. It is from a day hike my fiance and I went on last july.

Wow some great pictures and places. Looking at them is making my list of places to go larger. Mine is from a climbing trip in Nepal – a picture of Everest from the summit of Kala Pattar (about 18,000 ft). Hiked a little over 200 miles and climbed Mira and Island Peak.

It's interesting how avatars have developed and mutated into web use and in such various forms.

"An avatar (abbreviations include AV, ava, avv and avvy) is an Internet user's representation of himself or herself, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.
The "avatar" derives from the Sanskrit word Avatāra, meaning "incarnation" and usually implying a deliberate descent into mortal realms for special purposes. The term is used primarily in Hindu texts. For example, Krishna is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, whom many Hindus worship as God…"

I think I'll change my avatar from time to time—currently it's me on the summit ridge of a peak in the N. Cascades (Eldorado–a classic) once upon a time.

I dig Greg's avatar, above, and I know just how he feels.

Yosemite Sam, partner!
Just found him heating a cup of something holding it with bare hands over a campfire funny. No special meaning attached except it sort of reminds me of Blazing Saddles for some reason. He has always been one of my favorite cartoon characters. I'll probably rotate him out with an actual one of me at some point.

Taken last fall on a fire road somewhere near White Oak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park. The foliage color peaked over the week we spent in the park and every color in the rainbow was on display. At times, it looked like a Crayola truck had crashed on the trail!

No great story behind mine. It's the Buddhisht/Hindu "OM" symbol and represents the 3 levels of consciousness.

An explanation of the above:

Traditional weight backpacking is the realm of the unthinking, the un-consciousness. The three levels of consciousness mentioned above involve:

LW.
UL.
SUL.

When all three levels of consciousness are transcended, then Backpacking Nirvana is attained.

Barnett Newman painting.
I feel like this sometimes.

– k

Cool Thread!!

This is me on a beautiful Thanksgiving Day hike at Pinnacles National Monument in California. The pic was taken by my wife.

Mine is the sign at the top of Aspen Highlands ski area right before you go out of bounds. A buddy of mine Patrols there and explained that the managemnet wanted a sign that was clear and concise. I think they hit it with this one and I found it a little funny too (in a morbid sort of way).

I took it the day after new years of this year before we hiked about 4 miles out the ridge to find some fresh powder. A great day.

This is me on the bamboo grass stretch near the summit of Echizen Peak (the profanity meter won't allow me to write the name of the mountain itself!!!) huddled at the south base of Mt. Fuji. It was the first mountain where I began mountain walking in earnest. I must have climbed it over fifty times. I was so happy to be alive and be in the mountains and to reach the wonderful stretch of bamboo grass… the sound of the leaves against your legs and clothes, the wetness of the dew on the leaves, the movement of the wind over the tops of the bamboo grass, and so forth…that I set up the camera and did this handstand.