Logbook — Long Form
Blog
Expedition reports and dispatches from a decade of records, DNFs, and building businesses out of a van.
White Pocket, Arizona: What Nobody Tells You About Getting There (and Why That's the Point)
Most of what I’m talking about on this blog is big adventures that have some (but minor) overlap with the businesses that Paul and I run. Today, I want to sw…
How to finish (but not win) your first ITI 350
Written from the perspective of a slow poke with a spotless finishing record. PSA: if you love figuring stuff out on your own: don't read this - you'll walk …
5 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Planning An Expedition To Baffin Island
Baffin Island. If you’re not a climber, arctic adventurer, or Northerner, you might be scratching your head: where on earth is that? If you are a climber, yo…
A Chair at the Table of my Better Self
I gingerly place my feet on the ground and shift my weight onto my right leg. A polite ache flares across the outside arch—an amiable three out of ten this m…
What’s the meaning of it all?
Very Long Distances, Fastest Known Times, Difficult Pursuits, Speed Records and Firsts and Fastests. That’s what I’ve dabbled in for the better part of the l…
I pulled the plug: my Arizona Trail speed record attempt is over
I came off the trail in Flagstaff, at Mile 208.5 - almost a hundred miles earlier than last year. What went wrong? Nothing. This is the difficult truth: I ha…
Practical Advice: the R2R2R-Alt
The Grand Canyon’s Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R or R^3) has turned into a trail runner’s rite of passage: dozens if not hundreds of R^3 hopefuls descend upon the…
Complete Arizona Trail Fastest Known Time Attempt Gallery
AZT Northern Terminus Selfie at the start Stoked on fresh legs halfway through Day 1 Pacer extraordinaire; Dasher ended up doing 46 miles across five differe…
300 Miles in Seven Days: Bailing from the Arizona Trail
It is November 28 and I am sitting on the couch, foot elevated, nursing a suspected stress fracture in my shin. According to Strava I logged 49 running miles…
The Iditarod Trail Invitational, Round 2: Make Good Choices
Racing on the Iditarod Trail as part of the Iditarod Trail Invitational (ITI) is a magical, transformative adventure. It’s also hard to capture in images; pa…
The Monsters in My Mind (II)
(this is the continuation of 2021 ITI race report The Monsters in My Mind ) Mile 303 I am done. I know I only have an hour or two to dawn but it might as wel…
Tuckin' Up the Tuckup: Welcome to the Magic Trail
Pursuing a Fastest Known Time on the Tuckup Trail Some adventures are more involved than others. The Tuckup happens to fall on the ‘more involved’ end of the…
The Monsters In My Mind
Mile 255 The Northern lights are dancing overhead, an ephemeral green on the northeastern horizon. My breath is strong, regular, and I am moving. I feel no r…
ITI350: Welcome to the Iditarod Trail
Show time! The Iditarod Trail Invitational starts today, and it is hard for me to describe what anticipation and nerves I have been feeling over the last 72 …
Into the Cold
A week from today, I’ll be in Alaska. A week from tomorrow, I’ll have moved through most of my first day out on the Iditarod trail - on skis, in the cold, co…
Five Years Of Freedom: The Rearview Mirror
I have been meaning to write this for years. In one way or another, I have always known that I needed to share a reflection on life since I left behind my co…
Starting a new life in the time of COVID
If you’ve been following along on social media, you know why I haven’t posted on the blog in a while: it’s been a wild ride. Between closing on the acquisiti…
We're expecting...
… big adventure in our future. I’m excited to say that Paul and I have some news to share today! I’ve been quiet here on the blog over the last two months, a…
Hold on Tight: the Grand Canyon R^3-Alt
I’ve had a love affair with the Grand Canyon ever since I first saw it at the tender age of 12. It all started with a short sunset visit to the South Rim. A …
An Attempt on a New Route on Kusum Kanguru
By PAUL GAGNER My headlamp beam shows the rocky trail heading down, down, down. I’m tired. The kind of tired where if I wasn’t disciplined I could just sit d…
Running Wild in China
**This article originally appeared on the Nite Ize blog** Tears of gratitude are welling in my eyes. I slow down my steps, switch off my Radiant 300 Headlamp…
Failing Epically: A Nolan's 14 (Unofficial) Finisher's Tale
GUEST POST BY TARA MIRANDA View fullsize Our line on Nolan’s 14 (PC Ilana Jesse) To go on… or not to go on? I had been turning the question over in my mind f…
Nolan’s 14: Lessons Learned
Last year, shortly after I set an unsupported speed record on the Pfiffner Traverse , I wrote a piece for TrailRunner Magazine in which I called Nolan’s 14 -…
Nolan’s 14 - we’re going for it!
Depending on your familiarity with mountain running, the term “Nolan’s 14” likely either evokes blank stares or a mix of awe and dread. Nolan’s isn’t particu…
A bond that transcends: the TransQilian Fastest Known Time
View fullsize Running on the TransQilian course. Photo Credit TransQilian media. “ How are your feet? ” Siri’s electronic voice jars me out of my trance. I s…
Record Spontaneity II: CHINA!
A year and a half ago I wrote an article about record spontaneity , or rather a spontaneous record: my 2017 Annapurna Circuit FKT which Outside Magazine ende…
The Risks We Take
“I’m not going to go.” My stomach flip flopped as Paul finished his sentence. “The last couple days helped me decide. I’m going to stay here.” Paul had just …
Chamonix: A Photo Journal
Mont Blanc and the surrounding valleys, particularly Chamonix, are often considered the birthplace of alpinism; climbing in the Mont Blanc massif is a rite o…
Breaking Barriers: The $5,000 AWE x Nite Ize Summit Scholarship
SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT! Come climb a Himalayan 6.000m peak with AWExpeditions…for free. Read on below for details. When I talk about breaking barriers, it’…
Five Things You Should Know About The Wave
The Wave, located on the border of Utah and Arizona, not far from the town of Kanab, is a geological marvel and has in recent years become a bucket list dest…
Desert Tracks: A Photo Journal
View fullsize Road tripping with my parents as a kid in the 90s If you and I have adventured together before, there’s a chance that you have heard me tell th…
Aconcagua 360: Runs and Records
“I am curled up in the fetal position on bare rock behind a two foot boulder that I spotted minutes ago just steps off the trail; barely protected from the b…
Catching up
Hi everyone, it’s been a couple months since I wrote the last ChasingSunshine post - and there’s good reason for it; lots and lots has happened. Here’s the c…
The Mile High Outdoor Show
I recently had the opportunity to record an hour long talkshow segment with Miles Dunklin of Mile High Sports. It was a fun conversation going deep into a nu…
Making Vanlife Work (#3/3) ... as a Content Creator in the Outdoor Industry
To get paid directly for going on outdoor adventures of your own design really just means that you are an outdoor industry content creator. Maybe you're an a…
Making Vanlife Work (#2/3): Savings vs. Income On The Road
A couple days ago I shared the first post in this mini-series, talking about what’s a realistic #vanlife budget. I also talked about how much lead time you m…
Making Vanlife Work (#1/3): The Budget
I shared a post the other day talking about how @clmbrlifr and I are going to return to full-time #vanlife in short order. It'll be my second stint in a van …
Ouray 100: A Race For The Ages
“I’m signed up to run the Ouray 100 in July. Why don’t you join me? It’d be great training for Nolan’s 14, and allow us to log some proper mileage together.”…
Where man himself does not remain
View fullsize A conjugal scramble in the Flatirons above Boulder The sound of an ambulance washes up from the plains far below. From up here at 6600ft, in ve…
The gift of #vanlife, or: Will you be Eddie's new owner?
If we’ve been friends for a while you’ll recall that I quit my fancy shmancy strategy consulting job at the end of 2015 to become a full-time nomad and live …
Why do Hard Things? (And: how to train for a 100-mile run...)
It's an honest question: Why do hard things? I may not be the most natural person to pose this question, given that I seem to have somewhat of an unnatural p…
Off to the Desert
View fullsize A quick note to keep you all in the loop of what's happening. So much has been going on in the last few weeks, and there are lots of exciting c…
Waaah!
Sometimes, life is beautiful. Actually - scratch that. Most of the time life is beautiful! But sometimes it's just particularly perfect. For me, and for my b…
Annapurna Circuit FKT Video ++
It's been a couple months since I ran around Annapurna, but there's been a frenzy of activity regarding the run lately! First of, a two minute video on what …
To ALL Women I Say This: An Epistle to Women, by Sarah Richards
If y'all have been reading my blog or social media posts for a while you know that I care massively about women empowerment - and that I believe the outdoors…
Running Annapurna: Record Spontaneity
Do you know that feeling of having a really wild and somewhat crazy dumb idea… and then going through with it? That seems to be how I run my life - literally…
Why I Run (via the San Miguel Rich List)
Earlier this year, on a crisp Colorado spring day, I was sitting at a Starbucks in Boulder trying to get a bit of photo work done before hitting the trails i…
Defining Badass
Here's a question: How do you define 'badass'? Alex Honnold's freesolo of Freerider was badass. Definitely. BASE jumping is badass. But do you need to jump o…
Going Down
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" My boyfriend looks at me quizzically. "Just saying... Mike and Rich really know their Grand Canyon stuff, and they both t…
Because who wouldn't want to be a Force of Nature!
Hey boys, it matters. Oh boy does it matter. What, you ask? Encouraging increasing women participation in the outdoors. I’m a woman. I’m an outdoorswoman. I …
Kili #adventuremom (Gallery)
Ever thought about going on a crazy adventure with your mom/dad/son/daughter? There are plenty of horror stories about what can go wrong when you take non-ou…
Coming home: Nepal
Nepal has a special place in my heart. It's almost impossible for me to explain why, but every time I return to Kathmandu I am taken over by a level of excit…
Longterm love-hate-love, or: Why I climb
Climbing and I have a special relationship. I am writing these words as I am sitting in Tonsai, the Thai sport climbing paradise, with sore fingers after a d…
An Ode to Life on the Road (1SE)
Yesterday I wrote about what's hard about living on the road. If that didn't deter you, here's what eight months on the road actually look like - because, ye…
Vanlife, the easy way
What's your reaction when somebody tells you they are living in a van? I don't fully remember what my first encounter with vanlife was, but I'm willing to be…
High adventure in the Bugaboos: an epic classic
View fullsize "I’m telling you, it’s incredible. Warm sunny granite, splitter after splitter, up at 10000ft; no crowds. It’s absolutely incredible." Chris’ w…
Running Aspen
View fullsize I don’t know if you’re a trail runner; I am. Chances are if you’re reading this blog you’ve got some adventurous gene and either already are a …
Signing Off - Bugaboos Here We Come!
I've been in Canada for a little over half a week now, and am about to head off into the mountains for the next 2ish weeks. Super excited to get to know a ne…
Escaping the Heat: Return to Mt. Shasta
This past weekend, I had the privilege of joining forces with this lady crusher on Mt Shasta as her first 14er as well as mission prep for our girls’ expedit…
When things don't go as planned...
Inspired by a weekend of hard aid with Paul Gagner and Jeremy Aslaksen, I went to work on my first big rope solo project: Space Shot 5.7 C2 IV. Day #2 was su…
Dwarf Tosses and Caked Mud Fireworks
I love being on the road. What I love most about it is that #vanlife means I am not keeping a schedule; I have the capacity for spontaneity, and it’s this sp…
Eddie the Van
View fullsize Eddie parked under the stars in Big Bend National Park during our first week on the road. Eddie is a little 2002 AWD Chevy Astro Van that was a…
Tales from the Road: Red Rock Rendezvous 2016
It’s 3:30pm on a Friday afternoon, and I’m in Valley of Fire State Park taking a shower. That shower was direly needed (ha! the joys of dirtbaggery), but it …
Sunny's Story
Hi! I’m Sunny. I am 30 years old; I am a climber, mountaineer and ultra runner, and I live on the road full-time in search of sunshine and adventure. View fu…
