Pomade frisur 2021

Dogs & Dilemmas Rowdy hikes in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Living with a rambunctious pack of dogs helps one develop a sense of humor and an ability to appreciate the lighter side of life. If you take yourself too seriously you might see an occasional poo-poo in the kitchen or a butt-sniffing incident in front of company you’re trying to impress as disasters instead of the disarming stagings of canine Commedia dell’Arte that they are.   Dogs throw a wrench in our most cherished routines and possessions. Layla takes a break on a Scottsdale trail The peed-on pillow, the dug-up garden and the change in plans brought on by a trailside skunk encounter are disruptions made to bolster our resilience. Dogs make good pilots during times of crisis. Ironically, through their inconsistency, dogs send a consistent message: the only thing we can control is our own behavior.   That’s a good concept to embrace during a global pandemic. Sophia Maria hikes Dixileta Trail in Scottsdale Bec...

There’s a feeling you get during the last mile of a long hike. Sweaty, tired and hankering for something to eat other than trail mix, the final leg of a hike—the light at the end of the tunnel-- holds the promise of relief, celebration and maybe a cold beer. Hike progressions can be sort of like the ubiquitous bell curves and graphs that have become lifestyle tracking devises—the GPS—of the novel coronavirus reality we’ve been experiencing during these past weeks. Solitude on the Sycamore Point Trail, Kaibab NF Like those charts and graphs, hikes roll out on a curve. First, there’s the warm up followed by acceleration and pace-finding. Well-designed trails usually crescendo at a summit, high point, crux junction or vista point before winding down for the home stretch. Sedona's Carroll Canyon area trails are less crowded options But, unlike following a mapped trail with a pre-determined outcome, tracking a novel virus is a whole other matter. Being the insufferable nerd that I am, I...

Urban Wilderness Dreaming of Doe Mountain in Sedona, but staying home. Fay Canyon in Flagstaff is on my post-crisis to-do list Four blocks from my house, there’s a yard with the most gorgeous hollyhocks.   I must have walked my dogs past the little bungalow dozens of times on our 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. walks, but the hollyhocks never caught my attention.   A few homes down the street, chickens scratched the ground behind a non-descript brick home. African daisies bobbed among aloe vera plants in a weedy space between an alley and a median.   For the more than 20 years I’ve lived and walked in my Central Phoenix historic neighborhood, these details were lost among doggie poop pick up stops, rogue chihuahua encounters and occasional chats with neighbors who happened to be out and about at my fringy walking hours.   Most of the homes in my corner of Downtown are old, some coming up on 100 years in age, and encompass architectural styles that include, among others, Tudor, Hac...

View from Crater Lake trail, Flagstaff In all my decades of hiking, I've never been off the trails for more than a few days. Now, I'm going on my second week without stepping foot on a hiking trail. My choice to avoid trails for the time being is not only because of the ongoing pandemic and the unprecedented (and reckless) surge in trail visitation but because I do not want to strain our already overburdened first responders and healthcare workers. What if I fell, got a snake bite or suffered a medical crisis while hiking? That would pull resources (assuming they would even be available) from where they should be focused.   Also consider that when you travel to off-the-beaten trails, you will likely make rest stops, use public facilities, get fuel or pick up some supplies thus risking unnecessary exposure in small communities where resources and medical services  may be in short supply. Little Elden Trail, Flagstaff It’s true that many popular hiking destinations have not yet ...

This week there's been a lot of media coverage about how hiking is the one last "safe" thing we can do in the new reality of social distancing. Predictably, popular trails are now experiencing heavy visitation. Unless you're out in the middle of nowhere, hiking is not a guaranteed safe space.  With this in mind, I will not be responding to requests asking for recommendation about less crowded trail destinations. My best advise is to stay home and spend time researching trails you will do once this crisis ends. And it will end. Please don't take unnecessary risks. Staying off crowded trails for awhile isn't the end of the world. Need some inspiration? I've been writing about under-the-radar hikes for years. Here's a compilation of a few of my favorites: https://cities-west-publishing.square.site