The Summer of Crazy
Hilltromper Santa Cruz • August 13, 2014
Relationships are so complex. She’s hot when I thought she’d be cold. She offers up a dazzling parade of schooling anchovies, breaching humpbacks and bombardiering sea birds, then tosses out rotting fish, shiny Velella velellas and sea lettuce. WTF, Monterey Bay? It’s like we don’t even know you anymore. Read more..
Reach for the Stars
City Weekly • August 13, 2014
Isn’t it time you explored another Utah-provided national treasure: world-class dark skies? A new-moon night sky in the deep desert is like a mini big bang of beauty; it will crush your heart and expand your soul. Patterns of glowing mist swirl through so many stars that it actually hurts to behold. Short and sweet, these “hikes” will get you away from your car but, as it will be nigh impossible to tear your eyes from the dazzling display in the sky, won’t require you to watch your feet. Read more..
Bringing Science Class to Life
Hilltromper Santa Cruz • Feb 24, 2014
Monterey Bay Aquarium co-founder Nancy Burnett turns her groundbreaking PBS series into a classroom tool. Read more…
10 Runs to Try
City Weekly • Nov 8, 2013
Don’t just ride the mountain—explore it. It’s time to toss out your tick list, ditch the standard run routine and search out some freshies—and we don’t just mean snow. You’re about to spend a day in rugged yet surreally beautiful mountains layered in powder so dry you might have to swim till you snap on your skis. Keep your eyes open and your curiosity piqued Read more…
A Forester for The Trees
Hilltromper Santa Cruz • Oct 11, 2013
I envisioned a hike with forester Nadia Hamey, despite knowing quite a bit about her progressive practices, to be something like a walk in the woods with Kirk Douglas’s character from the 1952 film The Big Trees, a professional who sees not a forest but acres and acres of board feet. Nope. Hamey sees the trees, the forest and the broader California coastal ecosystem in which they are intertwined. Read more…
Ladies we Love: The Beauty of Surfing and Yoga
Women’s Movement • July 10, 2013
An exceptional assemblage of female surfers and yogis just wrapped up a surfing and yoga themed humanitarian and environmental adventure in Southern India. Lucky for us, they filmed it all. The resulting documentary, Beyond the Surface, tells the story of Ishita Malaviya, who is forging progress towards gender equality in India as the country’s first female surfer. Read more…
Brown Pelican
Hilltromper Santa Cruz • June 2013
If someday, while lounging on a seaside jetty, you’re surprised by a feathered torpedo slamming into the water nearby, don’t panic. It’s probably just a brown pelican “plunge-diving” for lunch. These expert fishers, which suffered a dire population crisis brought about by DDT in the 1970s, have an unforgettable way of feeding. Read more…
Eco Ideas: Profitable Preserves, Foraging Maps, and More
Women’s Movement • May 8, 2013
Preservation for Profit. New research shows that marine conservation areas provide more than wildlife habitat, beauty, and excellent snorkeling opportunities, reports National Geographic. The scientific paper, called “A General Business Model for Marine Reserves,” found that the preserves also serve up economic benefits in the form of healthier fisheries, increased tourism, and well-maintained ecosystem services (think free water filtering services). Read more…
Everyday Adventures
The J-Tree Life • January 2013
I’ve spent countless hours seated in some rumbling, oversized locomotive or another – shuttling to, from, or between adventures – swathed to smothering in layers of guilt. “What am I doing?” I ask myself. And myself responds, “emitting greenhouse gases that are palpably contributing to the destruction of our arctic ice sheets, coral reefs, and normal weather patterns to commune with the natural world that you are strangling.” Granted, guilt gets you nowhere. It suffocates the experience and doesn’t do a bit of pollution mitigating good. Read more on page 20…
KEEN Bryce WP Waterproof Light Hiking Shoe
Women’s Movement • NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Planning isn’t a natural penchant of mine. I tend to let each day take me where it will. This allows for impromptu adventures but drives structured friends crazy and is very hard on my wardrobe. Hence, I love gear that pulls double duty, looking and feeling good on the street and the trail. Such attire is rare, so I was intrigued byKEEN’s Bryce WP light hikers, which the shoe maker pegs as “a streamlined trail shoe for global exploration.” That claim covers a lot of territory, so I was curious if they’d stack up. Read more…
Dolores River Restoration Action Plan
Dolores River Restoration Partnership • March 2010 • By Tamarisk Coalition – Primary Author Clark Tate
Though a myriad of factors affect the health of the Dolores River, the invasion of tamarisk is a particular focus… Read more…
Colorado Water • January/February 2009 Volume 26, Issue 1 • BY Tim Carlson*
*Ghost written for Tim Carlson, Executive Director of the Tamarisk Coalition at the time of publication
Western water authorities are considering the water-saving potential of controlling the invasive species tamarisk, a plant known for its alleged thirst. Read more…
