Ninety minutes outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mt. Taylor (11,301 feet) rears its lofty head. The Navajo call this peak Tsoodził, translated as Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain. Tsoodził is considered a sacred mountain, marking the southern extent of the Dinétah or ancestral homeland of the Navajo people. As I neared the summit, I wondered if I might encounter Turquoise Boy, Blue Corn Girl, or Cougar, who are Holy People said to live there. Continue reading “You Never Know Who You Might Meet on the Summit of Tsoodził”
Author: Barefoot Ken
Reservoir Year by Nina Shengold — A Review
Everyone wants to be in charge, but there are so many distractions
The Ashokan Reservoir is an important component of the New York City water supply. Lying at the base of the Catskill Mountains, the reservoir is 12 miles long, covers 8,300 acres, and has a maximum capacity of 123 billion gallons of water. Reservoir Year: A Walk of Days is Nina Shengold’s account of a unique project during which she visited the Ashokan Reservoir for a daily walk along the shore, with a special commitment to complete a full year’s worth of walks without skipping a single day. In her daily notes, which range from a single sentence to a few pages, she brings the reservoir to life. She recounts the drama of sky and water. Shares the antics of crows, deer, squirrels, bears, herons, and bald eagles. Relates the interactions with strangers she encountered and with friends and family members who sometimes walked with her during this improbable quest. Improbable, for a 60-year-old single mother with bills to pay and aging parents who need her help and many other obligations.
Nina is a talented writer and in particular a master of metaphor, which makes the book a stimulating read. On a spring-time visit, the cloud-striped sky evokes a blue-and-white lava lamp. The atmosphere beneath a brewing thunderhead feels “dead-air, locker room humid.” A sunset morphs from pastel “to flamingo, persimmon, tandoori salmon, hot lava.” It’s clear in writing up this account she had fun.
But beneath the engaging prose, a serious question lurks. Why? Why, if you didn’t have to walk a dog, would you visit the same place on every single day for a full year?
Continue reading “Reservoir Year by Nina Shengold — A Review”
Fork in the Road
We have reached an interesting fork in the road on our collective journey. One way is a short cut to the promised land. The other way takes us home. Speaking as both a runner and an analyst, I’ve made my choice – how about you?
Bunny Fitzgerald’s Barefoot Manifesto: A Review
Bunny is a writer and jazz singer who’s built a following on Instagram (@bunny_fitzgerald) and Patreon (patreon.com/bunnyfitzgerald) by chronicling her barefoot lifestyle. Her new book, “The Barefoot Manifesto: How I stopped Wearing Shoes and Started Living,” is a deeply personal, lyrical, and forceful account of why she walks this interesting path. But the book is not a practical guide to foot health. Nor is it about style. Rather, Bunny positions the manifesto as a “book about freedom” with the key themes being personal sovereignty and the primacy of sensation.
Continue reading “Bunny Fitzgerald’s Barefoot Manifesto: A Review”
So You Want to Fly an F-16 (It’s Not That Hard — I’ll Show You How)
Twist the throttle to the left, then push it forward. This engages the afterburner. Jet fuel is injected into a combustor located behind the turbine, significantly increasing thrust, the effect of which is visible as a 30-foot cone of blue fire and sometimes sparkles of flame called “shock diamonds.” Soon you’re topping out at Mach 1.8 (1,000 mph at sea level).
That’s how easy it is to go fast.
And this matters, because it’s not just Tom Cruise who feels the need for speed.
Continue reading “So You Want to Fly an F-16 (It’s Not That Hard — I’ll Show You How)”
Hybrid Navigation Approach for the Catskills Off-trail Regime
Old-schoolers insist on carrying maps. Paper maps.
I used to carry paper maps. Back in my Army Ranger days, some 40 years ago – always. Of course, that was before GPS. Since then — not so much. In August 2021, I was thru-hiking the John Muir Trail, and I distinctly remember reaching into my pocket for the map, but it wasn’t there. I’d stopped at Woods Creek to filter water and placed the map on a rock to keep it from getting wet. This was two miles back. I was so upset when I realized I’d have to go back to retrieve it.
Today, I rarely carry paper maps, and never in the Catskill Mountains, which lie in New York’s Hudson Valley, an area I know intimately. Instead, I use technology. That’s not to say I’m ignorant of the risks. The more you stare at a compass needle or screen, the less you look around and think. David Barrie, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, describes GPS as one of the great achievements of modern times. But then he comments on what the technology is doing to us, now that we’ve become dependent: “Though we may not realize it, we are fast becoming navigational idiots.” Continue reading “Hybrid Navigation Approach for the Catskills Off-trail Regime”
Place of Mystery/Center of the Universe
Bump — wheels down, LAX, right on schedule. Baggage secured, I’m on the bus to the rental car center and then barreling along the freeway to my cousin’s home to hang with his family for ten days. And climb some mountains, too – why, I have a long list of them.
From the highway, I see big peaks floating to the north. Faint silhouettes cloaked by haze and ocean mist. Baking in the late afternoon glare…
Panic!
The Memorial Day weekend was off to a good start, for the most part. Following a 4-hour drive to Vermont, I woke up the next morning and coughed up some phlegm, the tail effect of a chest cold the week before. Got dressed, walked toward the starting line, felt a back spasm, probably the result of sitting in the Jeep for so long the day before. A couple of Ibuprofen left me a little looser, and feeling excited if unsure, I headed out on the Infinitus 9-mile trail race with some gusto. Although a tight hamstring, the result of an injury the month before, limited my speed on the uphills. While a sea of mud limited my speed on the downhills. The last mile was relatively clear, and here finally I ran hard, and after receiving a large finisher’s medal and a handshake from the organizer, Andy Weinberg, I limped back to the Jeep for an even longer drive: 6 hours to New Jersey, where the next day I was going to take on a 1.6-mile open water swim in the Navesink River… Continue reading “Panic!”
Running and Age
We run to learn. This means that as we age, nothing changes. Until you are ready to surrender.
Nothing changes because the hunger is still there. The craving for intensity. Fear is still there too, because it’s inescapable that physical resilience degrades with time, and injuries heal more slowly, which means the consequences are more severe and the stakes are higher when we head out sleepy-eyed for the morning jog or toe the starting line for an important race or disappear into the wilderness in pursuit of enlightenment. Continue reading “Running and Age”
Go Barefoot Cow
Maybe my fate would’ve been different if I’d grown up like a Comanche child – playing naked in the forest until adulthood. Instead I grew up a modern child. Living in a city, playing in the alleys. Always clothed and shod, except for bed and bathtub.
As a teenager I went to the track and tried to run, but after 15 minutes, my shins would go numb. I couldn’t lift my toes. Landed flat and heavy. “Frustration” might have been my middle name, or maybe it was “persistent” for I clumped along despite the disability, hoping the symptoms would resolve. I wanted so badly to go fast and run far.
The Long Brown Path 