Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

This is an almost-real-time photo post--these pictures are cell-phone photos (easiest to handle away from my home computer) of a hike on Thursday in Saguero National Park East. I fled down here a week ago to get some light and reset my winter brain. Predictably, while Seattle has been awash in rain, the desert SW has been horribly dry (a part of the reason for the LA fires). I noticed the effects of that drought all around on my hike. I started from the Douglas Springs trailhead on the far fringes of Tucson, and hiked a loop incorporating the Douglas Springs trail, the Three Tanks trail, and the Garwood trail for a 6.25-mile hike with a modest 1100' of climbing and descending. Yes, Petey Possum came along! The hike started with easy walking along the valley floor before beginning a stiff climb up and around a hill. This is the Sonoran Desert, and the iconic plant of the Sonoran (at least, the northern part) is the saguaro--outlined against the horizon. I hadn't been walking lon...

This is a photo post of a few of my favorites from among the many photos I shared in 2024. If you're a regular reader you've seen them before, but I hope you can enjoy them anyway. Methow Sunset. Wintrop, Washington The Women's Market, Arusha, Tanzania South Serengeti, Tanzania Tarangire National Park, Tanzania South Serengeti, Tanzania Crested Cranes, Ngorogoro Caldera, Tanzania Mt. Meru, Tanzania Distant lightning storm, Mt. Kenya. Flamingos, Amboseli National Park, Kenya Zambezi River sunset Utah sunrise. Little Wild Horse Canyon Grand Gulch, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah West Coast Trail, Vancouver Island Coastal sunrise After the rain. Mt. Rainier, Goat Rocks Wilderness, WA The author, Goat Rocks Wilderness, WA Timberline Trail, Mt. Hood, Oregon Marl Lake, Alberta, Canada Canoes on Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada The Ten Peaks, Banff National Park Zigadenus Lake, Banff National Park Skoki Lodge, Banff National Park Winter is Coming! Banff National Park R...

I'm ending the year with the final photo post from the Grand Canyon--which was also my last trip of the year (aside from that insane drive to CA and back to check out the house my daughter is buying!). Part 1 here . Part 2 here . We quit last week in the middle of Day 4 of the backpack trip, as we lounged for several hours in the shade at Deer Creek. I'm picking up the story at the point late in the afternoon when we ambled up the creek to the last point with water and ate a very early dinner. Looking up at the canyon walls through the last big trees we'll see, and worrying a little about those clouds. We headed up the trail--and I do mean up--about 3:45, figuring just over 2 hours should be enough for the 2-mile, 1400' climb. The trail was worse than I remembered from my 2021 visit. Looking back at the green strip of Deer Creek. Alex is a tiny figure among the rocks. There was a particularly nasty section of rock slide I swear wasn't there before (though I also can...