Category: Adventure
John Nicholas Trail
moderate hike in Sanborn County Park (off Skyline CA-35) near Saratoga
A Year of Running
I’ve gotten into and back into running many times over the years. I ran cross country and track in high school, and sporadically ever since. Starting in May 2019, I began running again and it’s now been a whole year of consistent running for the first time in my life. It wasn’t always fun. I had to force myself out of the house on numerous occasions. Nowadays in the COVID-19 pandemic it is even harder…
Catalan Volunteers
“It is no exaggeration to claim that the Catalan Volunteers deserve credit for the success of the first forays into California”. (1) The Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, Compañía Franca de Voluntarios de Cataluña (Spanish) or simply Catalan Volunteers were military volunteers serving the Spanish crown in the “New World” colonies in New Spain (which later became Mexico and parts of the Southwest United States) from 1767-1815. King Carlos III recruited volunteers to deal…
Arlene Blum
Arlene Blum is a truly inspiring mountain climber, scientist and environmental health advocate. She has climbed the hardest peaks all over the globe, including in a tour she called the “Endless Winter” (1). Breaking expectations as a pioneer for women in science (she has a PhD in chemistry from UC Berkeley and also attended MIT) and climbing, she dealt with unfair sexist treatment by colleagues, the media and others in the climbing community. Persevering, Arlene…
“Breaking Trail – A Climbing Life”
As I detail in another post, Arlene Blum has climbed to great heights as a mountain climber, pioneered the way for women in male-dominated environments (climbing and academia) and brought change and awareness regarding harmful chemicals in our everyday life. Her book Breaking Trail – A Climbing Life is a deeply personal narrative of her adventures around the globe, her time at colleges and universities studying chemistry (she received a PhD), and of her life…