About

Who we are:

Hi, I’m Taryn. I’m a writer / reporter and an outdoors amateur. I’m the chief author of this blog, which I’ve kept since 2012 when I married Ben and all the adventure he represents. I’m a solitary thinker, a user of metaphors, a blunt friend, and an aspiring minimalist. I enjoy hiking, camping, rock climbing, running, biking (road & mountain), yoga, and snowboarding, and, while I’m only okay at each of them, I’m diving in with the goal of reaching Ben’s caliber.

Ben is an outdoor professional with a knack for leading novices and making people laugh. He’s experienced in most outdoor pursuits, including each of the ones I listed already and a handful of others, like mountaineering and dog-sledding.

In June 2015, we will become residents of Washington state.

What we write:

In general, this blog follows our outdoor excursions. It’s not a diary, so don’t imagine we spend every day traveling. I hope to update more regularly as we move West, but I’m not one to have a lot to say after a night of running and climbing in the gym.

Our story, as far as you’re concerned, started in June 2012, when we got married on the North Shore of Minnesota and left for a summer roadtrip into the West. We started at Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park and climbed in Boulder Canyon, Colo. and Spearfish Canyon, S.D., before embarking on a 15-day, 220-mile thru hike of the John Muir Trail.

In the years since, we’ve climbed in Wyoming, Utah, California, and Colorado.

After these trips, we knew we wanted to move to a region that offered better access to the kinds of fun we like to have. Our next chapter will have much more to write about, and, thus, the subjects of our posts could change and expand. I’m excited to see what happens.

In the past, when activity has been less frequent, I’ve written about the less tangible parts of an adventurous life, like a 30-day blogging challenge I entered, writing about courage. Those posts reveal the deeper side of what we love to do, which stems from our Christian faith. We are Christians who write, Christians who explore the outdoors.

For us, "the gospel doesn’t just play some small, personal role in life and culture; it infiltrates and restores all of life and culture. It addresses the entire human experience, or ‘the totality of life’ (Atlantic monthly).” We don't blog to communicate our beliefs, but they are so interwoven in our personalities that they come out anyway. On these occasions, I hope our writing is as openly received as it is genuinely presented.

For insight into Taryn’s professional writing, visit her other website.