One Year Down

A look back, a big unlock for the holidays, and a preview of Season Six of 'Lost L.A.'

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It was around this time last year that I was wrapping up my contracted months writing THE WILD newsletter for the Los Angeles Times and thought to myself, “you know, it’s kind of nice having a weekly deadline … I should be a little more intentional with my own newsletter.”

And so, without really knowing what I was doing or who would be reading it, I dusted off and revived the old Modern Hiker Newsletter—and over the course of a full year I mostly managed to keep to my self-imposed weekly deadline (and sometimes even did 2-3 newsletters a week!). I’m gonna go ahead and give myself a check in the “resolution accomplished” column here.

kicking off January 2023 with a great group hike in Joshua Tree National Park. Snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains in the background.

I kicked things off talking about the record-setting atmospheric rivers and strange winter weather hitting the west coast. I talked about permits and mountain safety, lost opera houses in the middle of the desert, superbloom survival tips, soft hiking, and hiking communities. I did my first big (REALLY big) trail run, learned how to appreciate hiking in rain and mud, and asked what good public lands were if we couldn’t actually use them.

I talked about my need to see mountain ranges and not just peaks, how to make your own rituals on the trail, which hiking rule I break all the time, and even mobile outdoor art galleries.

at Griffith Park’s Greek Theater for P-22’s memorial Celebration of Life

It’s been a really fun and interesting challenge, and I want to thank everyone for coming along on this very labor intensive experiment.

Trying out cross-country skiing for the first time in British Columbia. I wrote about this, too.

I’m honored that 8500 of you have subscribed and actively read what I write. As of right now, I’m planning to continue this project into 2024, but I could still definitely use some more paid subscribers to keep this worth the amount of time I spend on it. Right now, less than 1% of subscribers support this project with a paid subscription.

In order to boost that percentage up a bit, I’m doing two things through the end of the year. First, I’ve lowered the monthly subscription price to $5 a month, which is the lowest Substack will let me go. If you wanted to help out but can’t spring for an annual subscription, if you sign up with this rate you will be locked in for as long as you keep supporting.

heavily sunscreened atop Haleakala on Maui

And second, if you’re new to the Newsletter or just wanted to get a taste of what’s in store, I’ve completely opened the paywall on the Archives, so you can check out any of the posts I’ve highlighted above along with ALL the other newsletters. Poke around! Leave comments! Share away! And if you refer new readers and get them to subscribe (even a free subscription), you can earn your own time credits as a paid subscriber, too.

The archives and lower subscription rates will be available now through January 2, 2024.

Also, as we wrap up the year, I would honestly love to hear from you. What did you like about the newsletter? Is there anything you’d like to see more of? Would you rather get the newsletter on a different day, like Friday morning? I’d really just love to know what you think, and you can either leave a comment or just hit reply to the email if you’d prefer to keep it private.

Either way, again, thank you so much for reading. If you’re one of the paid subscribers, thank you EVEN MORE for supporting outdoor writing on the internet and staving off a future of AI-generated pablum and inaccurate trail descriptions scraped without consent from the people like me. I mean, at least for now!

On my plant selfie tour of the Santa Monica Mountains

I hope you have an incredible holiday and happy new year. Set some intentions, book some bucket list trips, or just take a nice walk outside when you get the chance.

I’ll be taking the rest of the year off and will see you all again the first week of January.

Until then,

Happy Trails.

Meeting Mount Rainier for the first time.

P.S.

On January 2nd, KCET’s show Lost L.A. returns for a sixth season! A sizzle reel / teaser was just released, and yours truly shows up with a nice little soaked sound bite to encapsulate the entire season.

I will return as a guest to talk about the history of hiking and outdoor recreation in the Los Angeles area and the connection with writer and activist Will Thrall.

You can also see me in the show’s Griffith Park episode from season 4, included in its entirety below … just in case you were looking to dodge a political conversation with relatives visiting for the holiday.

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