At 1:30pm on November 15th, 2017, I’m giving a lecture/slideshow called “Machu Picchu: Exploring the Salkantay Trail.” We’ll talk about mountains, llamas, and pisco sours.

On May 17th, I’ll be speaking on a panel about women in the outdoors in Ballard, WA.

On Thursday, January 5th, I’ll be leading a one-night adventure/travel writing workshop with the Seattle Mountaineers.

On December 21st, I’m giving a slideshow in Lacey, Washington about my experiences during the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

In honor of Thanksgiving — and all of my adventurous friends who are celebrating the holiday abroad, under the stars in a campground, or at the crag — I wrote a post for Verticulture (the Outdoor Research blog) about how to bake in cast iron.

My friend Julie and I went climbing in the North Cascades, then wrote about it for the MSR blog.

In January 2017, I’ll be visiting Port Angeles, Washington for two extra-special events with the Outdoor Women’s Alliance.

In the summer of 2016, International Mountain Guides sent me to Tanzania to lead three expeditions to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. This November, I’ve been given the opportunity to share photos and stories from my six weeks in Africa at two slideshows. They’re both in the Pacific Northwest, and they’re both free. Join us!

In my years of guiding on Mount Rainier, I’ve worked with lots of climbers — and have had lots of chances to see what works and what doesn’t.

I arrived home from Africa to discover a wonderful surprise waiting in my mailbox: I’ve won a prize from the Society of Professional Journalists. The award is for first place in the “Travel Reporting” category in their Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest for essays and articles published in 2015.

This March, I was invited to speak to a group of graduate students who are studying at the North Cascades Institute (NCI) outside of Bellingham, Washington. After I left, one of the students wrote about the experience in Chattermarks, their community’s blog

This February, I’m teaching a travel writing workshop through Centralia College East. It meets on 2/2, 2/9, and 2/16 in Morton, Washington.

My dear friend Alexander, artist and adventurer, responded to my essay with a beautiful piece of art.

This summer I’ll be taking a break from my busy guiding season for two fun upcoming events at the Mineral School.

At noon on April 25th, 2015, I was walking on a rocky trail in the valley between the tiny Nepalese villages of Chukhung and Dingboche. I had summited Island Peak 24 hours before, and I was humming Taylor Swift songs and thinking about my next hot meal. Then, without warning, the ground started to shake.

Huckleberry was given a gorgeous new coat, which was handmade by Janet. She designed it, sized it perfectly, and even hand-waxed the canvas. Obviously it needed to be taken for a romp in the snow.

My friend Genevieve is a regular contributor to the Outdoor Women’s Alliance (OWA), which is a nonprofit that encourages and educates adventurous, outdoorsy women. I love their mission statement, so when Genevieve asked whether she could interview me, I jumped at the chance.

There’s a new residency in town! The Mineral School invites writers to stay and work in a renovated school building in a tiny community nestled in the foothills of Mount Rainier. They also host a lecture series—and this July, I will be one of the guest lecturers.