We had barely covered the first 10 miles of trail, hiking north from the California-Mexico border, when my hiking partner, Flash, and I found the first Pacific Crest Trail casualty. A man in his 20s, face flushed red from heat, watched us approach with clear embarrassment. He sat in a small patch of shade next […]
Mary Emerick
Posted inArticles
Memories from the gear shed
I could put it off no longer. The gear shed had long been an object of contention in my marriage. “You don’t use half this stuff,” my husband observed, more than once. “You need to go through it and make more room.” Defiantly, he rolled his fat-tired bike into the living room and left it […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
A once nomadic firefighter decides to stay put
There’s a wildfire burning three miles from my house. Sparked by lightning, the column of smoke went nuclear yesterday, pushing flame through deadfall on the rugged shoulder of Chief Joseph Mountain in northwestern Oregon. This is a mountain we climb and ski and hike, the place where, with a glance, we can see the elevation […]
Posted inWotr
Deadly avalanches and the lure of the mountains
Mountains are our barometer and our playground, and, on occasion, our tomb.
Posted inWotr
Immersed in the wild, trekking part of the Pacific Crest Trail
Living on wilderness time for 300 miles.
Posted inWotr
I will fight fire no more
A wildland firefighter reflects on joys and sorrows of her fighting career, and on why she’s leaving the field.
Posted inWotr
Finding solace in the river
This is what I have learned: If you have a broken heart, go to the river. But even if you do, eventually you have to come back. As soon as I ease my borrowed kayak into the snowmelt-fed Grande Ronde River, there is no time to think about anything except making it through the next […]
Posted inWotr
When a dog is part wolf
I sit on the porch, waiting. It could go either way, because Aluco is part dog, part wolf, and one side will win out depending on the day. Today is a good day. Aluco steps toward me and lightly touches me with his black nose. Slowly, I extend my hand and pet him. I know […]
Posted inWotr
Marry me, marry my town
I am not just marrying a man; I am marrying a town. In my first, brief marriage, my husband and I were both newcomers to the Alaskan town where we spent our married life. The locals weren’t particularly invested in us. Instead, they waited with the patience of the seasoned to see if we could […]
Posted inWotr
Fighting fire and memories
It’s been almost 16 years since a firestorm ignited on Storm King Mountain in western Colorado, killing 14 firefighters, including my friend, Roger Roth. A lot can happen in 16 years. I’ve married and divorced. I’ve moved three times. My knees have turned cranky, my hair gone grayer. Now I swing a pulaski beside men […]
Posted inFebruary 15, 2010: Prodigal Dogs
Learning to live landlocked
When I lived in southern Alaska, everything revolved around the ocean. Our island was reachable only by plane or boat, and you couldn’t get anywhere dry or metropolitan without hopping an Alaska Airlines jet. The sea was the only constant in a place that seemed beset by continual change — people moving in and out […]