Tom Ryan, Author

Our toughest hike

Hello from the White Mountains, which does and does not quite feel like home these days. Blame it not on the region but me. Both northern New England and I have changed at an accelerated pace these past two and a half years. We are like lovers w…

Home is less than five hours from here, and we could have pushed through today, but it is tradition to spend the last night of the road in Albany. For the past four days, we’ve been driving away from the quiet of wide-open spaces and into increasingly populated areas. The traffic has grown fiercer, and …

Once we hit Scott’s Bluff National Monument in Nebraska the other day, we continued south and west. The following day we arrived in Montrose, Colorado, for a two-night stay. That had us within twenty minutes of the south rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and the reason we added days and miles to our trip.

The Black Hills treated us well. We discovered new trails and hiked throughout the Black Elk Wilderness, where mountain goats, bears, elk, deer, coyotes, and mountain lions roam freely—and safely. At the same time, we were close to Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park (more on this remarkable place soon).

Six years ago, when negotiating with the Lady in Black on whether to live or die, it would have been easy to slip the last tendrils of life and drift into the unknown. “Death would be easy,” I said to her. “Living is the difficult part.” I often think back to that month on the wafer…

Bison, elk, wolves, and even a grizzly!

It’s been a long two days of driving, with two and a half more to come. I’ve been kept company by sleeping Emily, the stalwart scout Samwise, and the lyrical prose of Niall Williams’ This Is Happiness, read by Dermot Crowley. Listening to this lovely story has me feeling I am in Ireland and not the vast American prairie.