This story was originally published in the Winter/Spring 2021 issue of Appalachia Journal. At a secluded crag near my house, there’s a climbing route called Malevolent Eye. It’s 32 feet high, with a 3-foot overhang…
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The Right Time to Bail: Outdoor Safety Tips Every Hiker Should Know
On a freezing night in early May, a search and rescue crew set off into a squall on a high-stakes mission: a 63-year-old man had vanished somewhere near Franconia Ridge. He’d been missing for three...
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This story was originally published in the Winter/Spring 2021 issue of Appalachia Journal. In a small patch of crumbly dirt and mulch, near the weather-worn trellis where the hydrangea had begun to bloom, my 5-year-old…
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It was too risky to organize in communities, our boss said in a briefing she gave from her home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was March 13. We were at the…
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This story was originally published in the Winter/Spring 2017 issue of Appalachia Journal. Like most other climbers, I took risks and could have gotten into trouble I have been fortunate in my climbing career. I…
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When AMC staff have questions about the club’s storied history, they call Becky Fullerton. Fullerton is AMC’s archivist, a role in which she manages the club’s more than 140 years of historical documents, books, and…
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In 1987, I received a phone call from a books editor at the Appalachian Mountain Club. Would I be interested in writing a backcountry skiing guidebook for New England? I was a 27-year-old budding journalist,…
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This story was originally published in the Summer/Fall 2020 issue of Appalachia Journal. The dog and I were climbing up the Manning Trail on the way to Firescrew Mountain. We were somewhere between the trailhead…
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Colder weather and shorter winter days draw mixed reactions from those who love the outdoors. For some, the snow and ice are a welcome change, kickstarting the winter sports season, while for others, it…
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This story was originally published in the Summer/Fall 2020 issue of Appalachia Journal. Last night’s rain clinging to the trailside underbrush soaked our thighs as we pushed up the lower part of the trail up…
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