"'Does anyone not feel good about this' not 'are we all good with this'" — Sara Boilen NSAW 2020, "Your Brain is a Double Agent"
"All to go, one to no." — Sara Boilen NSAW 2020, "Your Brain is a Double Agent"
"If he underestimated the hazard, he was also vulnerable to overestimating his ability to deal with it. In this context, as Gonzales writes, 'the word "experienced" often refers to someone who’s gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than others.' We think of experience as a classroom, yet it can also be a prison." — Jill Fredston and Laurence Gonzales Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"With his ability came an unasked-for authority. He was looked to as a leader and often relied upon to make decisions about potential danger." — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"The more intensely we want something, the more reasons we will likely find that make it okay." — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"What we see often has more to do with what we have seen in the past or what we hope or expect to see than it does with what is staring us in the face." — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"In the inner workings of his brain, he had tagged it a happy, rewarding place. (Ali: the opposite is also true)" — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"The body doesn’t know miles, it knows stress. If an athlete does the same types of miles as a gold medalist, there’s a good chance the stress could turn their body and spirit into a pile of smoldering rubble." — David Roche via Brendan Leonard Outside Online, "17 Training Myths, Addressed by a Running Coach"
"When my companion finally turns and walks into the meadow toward the road, I linger. I am not ready to render myself back into a human being, not ready to return to a car and an asphalt highway. I want to stay just a moment longer. I peer into the forest, where every bit of darkness and light has a face, a set of eyes looking out at me. Nothing emerges. I feel the tug at my back, my friend walking away, and I turn to catch up and become human again." — Craig Childs The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild
"In the first place you can’t see anything from a car; you’ve got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thornbush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail you’ll begin to see something, maybe." — Edward Abbey Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness
"Taking the same trail in the opposite direction is like walking on the other side of time. Everything looks different on the way back. Same trees, same stobs and snags. Same switchbacks and curves; same vistas, same fallen tree bridge across the creek. But going back the way you came, it’s just as easy to lose your footing, but it’s harder to get lost. The light shines on things you didn’t notice on the way there. The path back, it’s the story you tell yourself, afterward." — Alexis M. Smith Marrow Island
"I think that the wilderness can be a great teacher and that it has much in common with feminist ideas. And by feminism I mean getting in touch with your own values, intelligence, resourcefulness, physical capacities, and general ability to live a rich and satisfying life of your own, not only with, but also apart from, friends and loved ones. There is nothing like severing connections to outside resources—both mechanical and human—to show a person how much she or he can really do. Since women have traditionally been taught that they cannot handle tough situations, the confidence gained on wilderness outings can be particularly valuable for them. I believe that even one weekend backpacking, even in not very difficult surroundings, can have a tremendous and lasting effect on the spirit which will carry over into all aspects of life." — Maggie Nichols via Anne LaBastille Women and Wilderness
"Watching people doubt themselves, in my experience it’s 100% always women. [On one trip] the group naturally split in half. There were some taller folks (all men) in the front, and they were all very fast walkers, very competitive with each other. And in the back it was mostly women, and many of them just happened to be shorter women. One of the women came up to me and said ‘You know, I just don’t know if backpacking is for me. Look how slow I am.’ And I said ‘You’re not slow at all. You’re walking a pace that’s correct for you. You’re doing what your body wants to do. Not thinking about your pace, are you enjoying being out here? Do you like the feeling of your body moving in this space? Don’t compare yourself to the other half of the group up there that’s taller, faster, more competitive. What are you experiencing right now?'" — Charlotte Austin or Shawnté Salabert She Explores, Episode 56, "An (Adventure) Book Club For The 21st Century"
"…I looked straight into bronze-colored bobcat eyes and held my breath, for longer than I knew I could. After two moments (his and mine) that were surely not equal—for a predator must often pass hours without an eyeblink, while a human can grow restless inside ten seconds—we broke eye contact." — Barbara Kingsolver Small Wonder
"You encounter an animal like this, and it is so vivid it detaches from time." — Craig Childs The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild
"The desert changed instantly. It turned from stones to coyotes." — Craig Childs The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild
"The journey you travel on your feet is less important than the distance you cover in your head." — Mishka Shubaly
