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The Joy Trip Project

National Monuments, National Parks, Podcast, ReThinkOutside / 25.01.2019

For 34 days The United States Federal Government has been in a partial shutdown.  Pretty much since the beginning, the natural environment has been feeling the effects. Big Cities and small towns from coast to coast that serve as gateway communities near our national parks are on the frontlines of a political conflict that has put at risk the conscientious management of public land.  About 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed from their jobs or are required to work without pay. Among them are more than 27,000 National Park...

Interview, Podcast / 14.01.2019

Being an environmentalist doesn’t necessarily limit your outdoor recreation pastimes to hiking, mountain biking, skiing or rock climbing. Those of us who indulge these so-called action sports should remember that we share the natural world with folks whose connection to the outdoors also includes activities like hunting and fishing. Personally I took up fly fishing a few years ago and pardon the pun I’m hooked. And on a trip to Wyoming in 2017 I met a young woman who has a passion for hunting. Jessi Johnson is an...

Banff, Film Festival, Film preview, Interview, Podcast / 07.01.2019

From the opening frames, a recent movie by Canadian adventure film maker Heather Mosher lets viewers know exactly what they’re in for. World class rock climber Kevin Jorgeson mugs at the camera and chuckles while his partner Jacob Cook holds up a bloody finger. This particular pitch on the Tom Egan Memorial Route in the Bugaboos of British Columbia was first climbed by Will Stanhope and Matt Segal back in 2015. Blood On The Crack is a pencil-thin fissure on a sheer vertical slab of granite. It’s the...

Interview, National Parks, Podcast / 01.01.2019

Hey everybody! It’s January first, 2019. Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me you’re excited to make this year better than the last and if you’re listener to this podcast that means getting into the outdoors. But at the moment of this posting, the United States of America is in the second week of a partial government shutdown that’s expected to last for at least a few weeks longer. In addition to the federal employees who will go throughout this period without a paycheck every national park...

Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Photography, Uncategorized / 24.12.2018

It’s Christmas Eve and I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though back home in Wisconsin I’m lamenting the fact that there’s not a flake of snow on the ground and it’s unseasonably warm for a late December day in North America, there is still so much joy in the world. After many long months of travel I’ve seen a lot of our great nation. Following the path of the United States Capitol Christmas Tree I connected with some truly wonderful folks from one end of...

Books, Commentary, Diversity, Essays, Madison, Outdoors For All, River Restoration, Special Events, Wisconsin / 08.11.2018

  At the end of October I had the great honor and privilege to host a distinguished guest to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Author and explorer Eddy L. Harris made a rare appearance on campus to share his experiences paddling the Mississippi River from its source in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to its terminus in the Gulf of Mexico at the City of New Orleans. Depicted in his film “River to the Heart” Eddy paints an intimate portrait of what awaits those willing to venture out into the unknown...