Hiking, web development, best practices, and general awesomeness
A blinding sun shone in the east, washing out my view over to the Mazatzal Mountains with harsh rays. For the first time in a long time it wasn't a hot, unforgiving light, more of a gentle warmth. I had been walking down a dirt road for three hours, mostly in the dark, and now I was almost at Sheep…
Being part of a search and rescue group is something that I've been thinking about over the last few years. There are a lot of reasons why it makes sense, why I think volunteering for a group would be a good fit, though I think it all comes down to how difficult I found Arizona hiking to be. Chris…
Last month I took a two-week course on rock climbing, offered by the Arizona Mountaineering Club, which covered everything from basic knots to self-rescue techniques. It was an experience that, after some initially doubts, was something I ultimately enjoyed and would recommend. And yes, this was my…
Another night of partial sleep crept by in the Mazatzals. This time a couple of skunks and deer were the primary disturbers of my rest, though I'm sure there were some coatis at some point. Waking up and packing up was relatively easy this time, as I was camping on a slab of concrete, which made…
Waking up was hard, and getting all my stuff packed up and ready to go was even harder. Not only was I sore from yesterday's beating on the trail, two nights of broken sleep was beginning to wear on me. That elk towering above me at ten last night didn't help things. I managed to get some hot coffee…
Waking up and leaving Horse Camp Seep proved more difficult than planned. I slept in past my alarm, filtering water up to full capacity took a long time, and then I had to repack my gear twice to get everything sitting comfortably on my back. The sun was an hour up in the sky by the time I left…
Thunder rolled down from the heights of the Mazatzal Mountains, dire warnings issued from dull clouds that swam around the towering peaks. With an anxious eye I tried to decide if I should head up Barnhardt Trail today or not. This trailhead was empty and I could just car camp, wait for an early…
A few mountain hikes lay scattered in the northern reaches of Phoenix, including Piestewa (Squaw Peak) and Camelback, both of which I've hiked when I was first getting used to these desert lands. There are some less lofty ones too, such as North Mountain and Lookout. Calling these mountains are a…
Arizona is a state of transition. The Colorado Plateau intrudes from the north, an enormous plain of pines and grasslands around 7000', and reaches almost down to Globe. Where this plain ends there is a mix of steep rims and canyons that eventually drop into the hot, southern deserts closer to…
In early 2014 I started a new, shiny job working for a company based in New York. Shutterstock was my first fully remote position and my first time working for a 'big' technical company - that is, they had more than a hundred employees. Up until then I had worked for small, local shops in Wisconsin,…