Things I like: Mountains. Things I don't like: Driving
I’ve spent a lot of my free time in the desert and the mountains, often by myself, and often a long way from anybody. I’ve seen bears and jumped over rattlesnakes at the last minute, and I’ve spent entire nights in the woods guided only by a headlamp and maybe a lucid friend. Occasionally someone asks if I’m afraid of being alone out there, and sometimes the answer is yes. Truthfully, the thought of hidden rattlesnakes and mountain lions in trees does make me shudder a bit. Realistically though, the most dangerous part of every trail run I’ve ever done has been the drive to and from the trailhead. Automobile accidents are among the leading causes of death for somebody my age. Every year in the United States alone, around 40,000 people die in automobile crashes, including around 7,000 pedestrians that are run down (my current home state of New Mexico ranks number one in this category). Imagine if a Boeing 747 carrying 400 passengers went down every four days in the United States with no...