Andrew Terrill's Blog, page 4

The Importance of Responsible Nature Writing

Since The Earth Beneath My Feet was published I’ve received a variety of messages and emails from people I don’t know. To be honest, I hadn’t expected any. I had no idea if anyone would read my words, let alone react to them and reach out. But strangers have, and it has frequently been humbling and thought-provoking.

Yesterday, the short but pointed email I received was both of these things. It pushed me to re-evaluate (once again) the value of what I am trying to do with my writing, and to exam...

A Spectral Treat

COLORADO IS FAR more frequently a sunny place than a foggy one, offering three-hundred sunny days a year – a bright gift from the climate gods that I would have appreciated while growing up in Britain! But it’s funny; one can have too much of a good thing. Too much sun often means too little moisture. Too much sun means a landscape parched by mid-summer with brittle-yellow vegetation for three-quarters of the year. And too much sun also means too few clouds… and too few chances to climb above th...

Acting My Age

I ENJOYED A memorable encounter this weekend. It occurred while I was walking home from camp, and it involved a young couple, the only two people I met all morning out in the snowy woods. We didn’t speak for long – less than five minutes – but the exchange was unforgettable. It was heart-warming at first, then comical, then thought-provoking. So much was said in so few words. In fact, an entire chapter could be written about it if I wanted to go deep…

But I’ll try to keep it as short as I can!

I...

A Green Promise

IT’S FASCINATING TO ME how ‘green’ summer can look when viewed from the far distance of winter. Apparently, the grass is greener on the other side of the year!

I took the photos in this blog early on a July morning on the eastern edge of the ‘Blue Sky Wilderness’ – or The Quiet Side, as I call it. This part of the wilderness is closer to metro Denver than other more popular spots but far harder to reach. On the Sunday morning pictured I saw no one. At Guanella Pass, Chicago Lakes and on Blue Sky...

High Summer

I’M HONOURED AND THRILLED to announce that backpacker and author Chris Townsend has agreed to relaunch two of his books through my publishing imprint, the Enchanted Rock Press. The first of these books will be High Summer, to be released early this summer, 2024.

 

 

I first came across Chris in 1988 when I was a novice backpacker heading for a weekend in the Pennines. I picked up a backpacking magazine to read on the train, and within its pages discovered a report by Chris from the journey he w...

A Moose Encounter

 

I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE to have experienced a number of wildlife encounters this year. Arguably the most memorable occurred in late July right at the end of a short weekend’s backpacking.

I’d camped in a rugged away-from-it spot and was heading back to one of Colorado’s busiest mountain trails: the Mount Bierstadt Trail. The only way to regain the trail from camp was cross country through an extensive area of willows and marshes. This area is practically a maze and the route through it is barely ...

Night & Day

THE SUN DISAPPEARED behind the mountain at three twenty-seven in the afternoon.

Prior to that, the day had been gloriously benign. There’d been warmth to bask in. Sunlight had dazzled off fresh snow. The ice that had built up inside my tent during the previous night had completely thawed away. Thermals had been removed, sleeves had been rolled elbow high. But after it, with the sun’s life-giving kiss gone, the temperature fell off a bottomless cliff. Within seconds, winter gnawed at my fingers. ...

A Blue Sky Autumn

AUTUMN IN COLORADO’S high country is often the sunniest time of year. This autumn was no exception.

It began at dawn on September 16th, the first day that the closest fourteener to Denver bore its new ‘Blue Sky’ name. After five days of clouds, rain, sleet and snow the sun finally climbed into a sky that was utterly clear – a sky that was soon dazzlingly blue and would remain that colour for forty-one of the next forty-seven days. Of course, this had nothing whatsoever to do with the renaming. I...

A Walk Into Solitude

A FEW PHOTOS from a walk on Friday: a saunter away from Guanella Pass into solitude.

The walk’s aim was to start from Guanella Pass (often an exceptionally busy place), wander south to the far-less visited Geneva Mountain, then head back north up the center of the broad valley of Scott Gomer Creek. The delights started early on: solitude after a few steps, bright sunlight that took the edge of the frosty morning air, and flaming colours of autumn in the tundra vegetation.

For the first mile I ...

A ‘First Ascent’ of Mount blue Sky

OVER THE PAST twenty years I’ve enjoyed some truly special moments on and around the mountain now known as Mount Blue Sky. But few of the many previous visits were more special or more meaningful than Saturday’s. This wasn’t only another walk to a treasured place… it was also a celebration.

First light on Saturday. A magical and emotional moment, for so many reasons!

As readers of this blog will already know, I’ve been visiting this mountain and the wilderness that surrounds it frequently this y...