Yeah, Jacob has a blog. Check out his posting activity.
viewing 1 - 15 of 569 blog activities
The night air felt thick, an inky black pool that my lungs struggled to pull in fast enough. Sweat dripping off my face, fog collecting on my glasses, I stumbled forward a few steps and paused, leaning heavily on my trekking poles, and slowly turned… [read more]
Summer of 2021 was a weird time. Work was hectic and I wanted to get out and do long, epic adventures, yet few destinations in Arizona seemed appealing. The challenge of exploring a remote and damaged area, like the Mazatzal and Galiuro Wilderness,… [read more]
We needed to get out to the backcountry. It was early summer in 2021, and the kids and I were raring to go on an adventure. There was a spot, next to the Sierra Ancha Wilderness, that I had been looking forward to exploring, so with a loose plan and… [read more]
It's been a long, long, long, l-o-n-g few years. Mitigating the pandemic, buying a house, handling work stress, and trying to redefine a post-Mountain Rescue existence has been challenging. Certain areas (like this blog) have suffered more than… [read more]
A few weeks ago, during normal working hours, something interested happened in one of our team's Slack channels. One of the engineers (from a different team) came in, asked a question about a project they were working on, and, after waiting less than… [read more]
Noah and Charlotte had been asking about a camping trip for a few weeks, and Thomas, while more hesitant, was lured in by the mention of s'mores, so after work we all piled into the Jeep with a full trunk of gear and headed out to Globe. There are… [read more]
Wind roared off the Kaibab Plateau, tumbling over gullies and canyons and thrashing through pines, plummeting into the fire-scorched forests of Saddle Mountain Wilderness to slam in the side of my Jeep. Huddled behind the tiny vehicle, curled under a… [read more]
South of Mount Lemmon and the Santa Catalinas is another sky island, a shorter one, that has been spared from the devasting wildfires of the last few decades. The Rincon sky island sprawls across several mountains, including Mica Mountain, Rincon… [read more]
Galiuro Wilderness is a relatively short sky island located between the Santa Catalinas and Pinalenos. Compared to those two mountain ranges, with their lofty 9k and 10k peaks, the highest point in the Galiuros is Basset Peak, a mere 7663'. While it… [read more]
On the southern edge of the Mazatzal Wilderness is a little hiking loop made up of access roads, the Arizona Trail, and an old ranching single-track on top of Black Ridge. I've been wanting to take the kids on this loop for a while and, once I felt… [read more]
Reavis Valley is located in the Eastern Superstitions and is regarded as one of the premier backpacking destinations of the wilderness, with tall pines surrounding a cool, grassy valley, and even an apple orchard thriving at an old ranch site. Thanks… [read more]
There is a loop in the Western Superstition Wilderness that has intrigued me for years. Chris and I attempted a version of it, back in 2016, and even though we split the route up over three days we still struggled to finish a shorter version. I've… [read more]
The moment my feet dropped off the rim I was buffeted by gusts roaring up the canyon walls, forcing me to lean forward, against my trekking poles, to avoid being pushed off the narrow trail. A long, dark fall down hundreds, if not thousands, of feet… [read more]
Last night's storms left their mark at my campsite on the bank of the Blue River. A few broken branches were strewn around, ground was soft and damp, and the air felt crisp and cool, a welcome change from yesterday's hot, stagnant atmosphere. More… [read more]
Softly shuffling around my campsite, hesitant to break the cool, still air of morning, I slowly packed up and prepared to start on the trail before sunrise. I was on the Little Blue Trail, which follows the Little Blue River south out of Bear Valley,… [read more]
viewing 1 - 15 of 569 blog activities
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