Posts by Joe Grant

The storage shed is full. Couch, bed, books, pots and pans – all the bulk is left behind with only the necessities crammed into the Jetta. Travelling light eases the burden of yet another move and leaving stuff behind ensures we’ll be back in Colorado pretty soon. We’re off again, to Canada this time, for Deanne to get a Masters in Indigenous Governance, in Victoria, BC. The road to the Island is not direct though as there will be a few stops along the way.   The Salty Sailor chills on the dash while dog nestles in the back amidst the clothes, sleeping bags and Thermarests. The i-pod’s dead so I break up the silence of the 8 hour push to Salt Lake City scrolling through my phone contacts, calling and talking to anyone who...

  “I tend to think in abstraction anyway, so lyrically it's always a struggle to get the words to fit- words tend to constrict the conceptual parameters.” Jesse Hadden   Comanche Wilderness – Rocky Mountain National Park. Signal, Stormy, Hagues Peak with Scott and...

  “When I began working outside, I had to establish instincts and feelings for Nature: some I never had, while others I had not used since childhood. I needed a physical link before a personal approach and relationship could be formed. I splashed in water, covered myself in mud, went barefoot and woke with the dawn.” Andy Goldsworthy Longs Peak – 14,255 feet – Keyhole Route – 5,100 feet of elevation gain from the trailhead – 14 miles round-trip. I wake early feeling surprisingly fresh after only 4 hours of sleep. I brew up a stiff cuppa and rehearse each section of the route in my head from the photos I’d seen on the Internet the previous night. I like everything about the line. Short, steep and to the point with a...

  “It’s this way man…straight up this drainage…” “You sure? I don’t see any flags…” “Why would they flag this? It’s sooo obvious…there’s the pass, we just crank up this scree field straight to the top…I’ve been here man…that’s Oscar’s back there where I took that pic last week…I’m feeling better man, lets just lace it…and look they’re people walking up there…” “Dude, I don’t see anyone up there…” “Trust me man, I know…you might also wanna watch out for that mountain lion about 20 yards ahead of you…I can see it’s ears and tail moving…” “Joe, eat...

"Racing is as much an exercise of consciousness as of speed."  Crane to the...

"I shall also give you the quality of tranquil braveness"  a hummingbird to Fox...