1883 to Present

 "Freedom. To Most, It Is An Idea, An Abstract Thought That Pertains To Control. That's Not Freedom. That's Independence. Freedom Is Riding Wild Over Untamed Land With No Notion Any Moment Exists Beyond The One You're Living."

~Elsa Dutton, 1883

The first expeditions I ever undertook were all on the Oregon Trail. I hunted animals I had never seen in person, learned about fording rivers, and died of diseases that were non-existent in my suburban, 90's middle class community. Every "Free Friday" in computers, I would sit in front of that AppleIIe and wait for the adventure to load.

Today, I get to live the adventure. Sure, my hunting is of grocery store aisles in new towns, I take bridges over rivers, and am grateful for modern medicine and the ubiquity of urgent cares. It's still a journey, though, and I am living it. As one of my favorite lines from Hook goes: "To live will be an awfully big adventure." (Original credit to J.M. Barrie)

Until I get to the actual Oregon Trail, here is some wilderness photostream imagery to pass the time:

Above the clouds on Generals Highway, headed toward Sequoia National Park.

River crossing nostalgia on the longest single-span covered bridge in the country; South Yuba River State Park.

Moonset over Death Valley from the Texas Springs Campground

Mesquite waves over abundant plant life near natural springs in the Mojave Desert at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

Green tendrils of future wildflowers carpet the desert floor in Greenwater Valley (Furnace Creek Wash Road).

Joshua trees give way to juniper shrubs as you rise up through the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.

Rock formations change color as the sun slips away at Lake Roosevelt in Tonto National Forest.

For more sagebrush, dirt roads, and stunning vistas, keep coming back!