Off Trail On Track

Off Trail On Track 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We teach minimalist backpacking, essentialism, and support highly impactful environmental and social causes.

Life's finest moments are often the simplest.
02/11/2025

Life's finest moments are often the simplest.

I often feel that I learn the most about humanity when I'm in the wilderness. This trip was yet another proof. I had the...
10/12/2023

I often feel that I learn the most about humanity when I'm in the wilderness. This trip was yet another proof. I had the privledge to hike with two inspiring and wise women who lead their work and community with so much heart and mind. .lorimer

And now for something completely different...Not a Flying Circus, just some flying carbon fiber
10/11/2023

And now for something completely different...
Not a Flying Circus, just some flying carbon fiber

Ranger P looked me up and down and warned me "I can't tell you not to go in, but I'm about to shut this Park down. You'l...
10/10/2023

Ranger P looked me up and down and warned me "I can't tell you not to go in, but I'm about to shut this Park down. You'll be alone in the storm in there. Ya got skills, gear, and sensibility?"

Lovely moments from the most recent trip with my   shelter to pay homage to the headwaters of the central valley.
10/10/2023

Lovely moments from the most recent trip with my shelter to pay homage to the headwaters of the central valley.

I'm sitting on the granitic ledge of BV Crest, overlooking the Merced basin just 1000ft below and Cathedral Peak not 10 ...
06/19/2022

I'm sitting on the granitic ledge of BV Crest, overlooking the Merced basin just 1000ft below and Cathedral Peak not 10 miles away, listening to the springmelt gushing down the talusy ravine on my right and watching the sun set under the technicolor sky all around me.

A pair of red foxes approach me timidly. They find refuge 50ft away, aware but not alarmed as their ears weren't erect. In my ears I savor Joy Williams' strong and ethereal voice in No Place Like You once more.

The water boils, and I make a simple bone broth. As I sip my soup, I feel its steam and the warmth of the last rays of the day compete for butterfly kisses on my cool cheeks. I am alpine glow.

CONNECTION ON FIRE |When was the last time you were so engaged with someoneyou felt disarmingly lost in your connection?...
05/29/2022

CONNECTION ON FIRE |

When was the last time you were so engaged with someoneyou felt disarmingly lost in your connection?

For me, this happens readily when I'm sitting with people, around a campfire, listening to their life stories while drying our shoes from the day's river crossings. In those moments in the wilderness, I revel in my most potent connection with humanity.

THE SUMMIT WITHIN | Which feelings visit us when we get to a summit that was hard to reach?  Exhilaration? Relief? Fear?...
05/27/2022

THE SUMMIT WITHIN | Which feelings visit us when we get to a summit that was hard to reach? Exhilaration? Relief? Fear? Disappointment? Overwhelm? Now, did the mountains care that we summited? No, only we do. We are the ones who attribute significance to our accomplishments, most of the time based on how big of an emotional response we expect to get.

So herein lies a choice in our own perspective. We can choose to be proud and joyful of summiting our inner peaks. We can also choose to compare our accomplishments with those of others. We can choose to be nonchalant and even apathetic. The mountains out there give us the opportunity to choose how we want to feel when we summit those peaks within us.

How will you choose?

| Wisdom |What makes up a wise decision? At least 2 ingredients: experience and discernment.In the mountains, free from ...
05/04/2022

| Wisdom |

What makes up a wise decision? At least 2 ingredients: experience and discernment.

In the mountains, free from distractions, we get to practice the purest and most foundational form of discernment with every step we take. This is most apparent to me when I watch folks go up scree slopes or talus fields (car-size boulders).

Each foot placement requires our attention, observation, and trust in the dance between our bodies and the land. We discern safety from risk, confidence from hubris, growth from comfort.

Each prior step gives us a sprinkle of experience that we can choose to apply to our next step.

In time and with discernment, we get to make wiser choices.

REKINDLING | As I sniffed the petrichor, squeezed the moss, motorboated the fern, washed in the waterfall, rolled on the...
05/01/2022

REKINDLING |

As I sniffed the petrichor, squeezed the moss, motorboated the fern, washed in the waterfall, rolled on the rain-soaked earth, I rekindled with the wild once more.

Once again, the haunting feelings of inadequacy, success-chasing, and depletion became faraway specs on the rear-view mirror of my being.

Ego fell. Truth rose. And Whole we are.

When was the last time we felt like we deeply belonged? That our shared presence was held high and amplified? When we ri...
04/30/2022

When was the last time we felt like we deeply belonged? That our shared presence was held high and amplified?

When we rid ourselves from the attachment to our belongings that weigh our minds down, we allow our hearts to soar high and our souls to bond and belong.

That, my friend, is reason enough to practice minimalist backpacking.

Ever thought "What should I wear?" can be a life-or-suffer question?In the wilderness, it can be.  Backpacking season is...
03/03/2022

Ever thought "What should I wear?" can be a life-or-suffer question?

In the wilderness, it can be. Backpacking season is afoot and we'll be yappin' about how to dress properly from a weekend-overnighter to a month-long thru-hike.

Ima be channeling wardrobe wisdom from 3 seasoned thru-hikers (Read: crazy, lovely people who enjoys "long walks on the beach", except on steroids, up and down mountains for months).

Geez, I see so many fanatics are already signed up, notebook ready... jOiN uS..............!

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