In the woods, on the trail, in the wild. My soul breathes. My soul is free.
Nov 11, 2024
I have a crazy idea…
(this used to be interactive, but Carto has paywalled this feature)
It has been a difficult year. And the next six months or so will continue to see enormous change. In the face of it I’ve felt a sense of lack of agency, having to wait for things to happen without really feeling like I could control them.
I was out to dinner with friends a few weeks ago and someone mentioned the Grand Canyon. Running rim-to-rim-to-rim has been a bucket list adventure for a while now, and having no real race plans for 2025 (apart from a long-shot lottery entry to Western States) this mention of it over dinner planted the seed of an idea. I’m planning a National Parks Tour. I’ll drive from park to park, sleeping in my car, running in some of the most gorgeous places in the country. Already there have been many iterations of the itinerary, differing structures of when and where I’d run. But the idea of it, being out on my own, free to move about as I please, run where I please, sleep and eat as I please, spending each moment I can out in the wild, is incredibly alluring. I don’t know exactly when I’ll do this- end of April maybe? Scheduling something like this is always difficult when you can’t even plan out your own life, but there are times you just need to pull the trigger and make it happen.
At the very least this gives me something to sink my teeth into for a while! Lots to plan…
Nov 5, 2025
I completed this epic trip back in April. I’m already thinking about another! But getting the time to do it is difficult, primarily because starting from MN requires a lot of driving on the front and backend. I was curious, so I mapped it out. I used the Google API to get driving directions (to get the drive time). It’s as easy as-
params = {
"access_token": mapbox_token,
"overview": "full",
"geometries": "polyline",
"alternatives": "false",
}
loc = "{},{};{},{}".format(pickup_lon, pickup_lat, dropoff_lon, dropoff_lat)
url = f"https://api.mapbox.com/directions/v5/mapbox/driving/{loc}"
r = requests.get(url, params=params).json()
duration = res['routes'][0]['duration'] # trip duration in seconds
Here’s a map from my place to all 64 of the National Parks. (Click Here for fullscreen)
And a table showing the drive times (in hours) between each location.
Excerpts from my tour journal
Black Elk Wilderness and Black Hills NF
April 12, 2025: off a forest road just south of Sylvan Lake near Custer State Park
It’s gorgeous in my little spot here. And so quiet. I’m just sleeping in the Santa Fe, no reservations, no schedules, all the gear I need right at hand, it’s 16 days of unstructured freedom.
April 13
I trotted off the peak and took the trail over to Little Devil. Along the way the Cathedral Spires shot out of the ground, appearing unexpectedly at a turn in the trail, like enormous stone javelins jammed into the earth.
It was altogether a beautiful day. The rock formations are astounding, and the mica, agate, and quartz, trampled by years of travelers before me, left a trail of reflective and shimmering jewels, so that for the entire day I felt as if I were running along a glittering carpet.
Grand Teton NP
April 14th
As the sun set behind the mountains, the stillness that often accompanies the dying light crept across the valley. It’s one thing to be surrounded by such an impressive landscape, but to sit with its immensity while feeling its silence is something else. Suddenly even the sound of your breathing feels out of place, almost rude for breaking the pact of silence that has suddenly been made. Rude though it may have been, I loaded up the car- with many loud door-closings, foot-stompings, and yes, breathing, and headed out.
April 15th
I tested the snowshoes I had rented yesterday but took them off quickly. They worked well enough, but the snow was firm from a night in the low 20s and I moved along quickly, even joggin, carrying the snowshoes at my side.
The path, despite being covered in snow, was easy enough to follow. And even if I lost it, teh snow was firm and I could go wherever I pleased. But using my watch to hlep me follow it as best I could I soon found myself climbing up the northern snowpack away from the river. I don’t mind climbing, and this canyon would have plenty of it, but the flat section of trail that had been perched between the angled slide of snow on either side quickly dissipated and I found myself wedging the sides of my shoes into the snow to keep from sliding.
After that first initiation, the canyon let me progress quite freely for a while. The snowpacks were still close on each side, but the trees and boulders by the river cleared, the canyon grade lessened, and I made smooth progress through a beautiful snow-filled valley.
I was quite thrilled to regain the flat and more certain snow at the bottom of the canyon. I finally donned my snowshoes and enjoyed a beautiful and sunny climb back up around Phelps Lake, past the trailhead, then back down to my car.
Bryce Canyon NP
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Zion NP
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Grand Canyon NP
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Arches NP
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Canyonlands NP
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Rocky Mountains NP
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