Blue Highways

99/365: Sixteen years ago today, after quitting my job and buying a tent and a pickup, I

began a six-month journey around the country. Many said it was self-indulgent, dangerous, lazy, etc.; thankfully, I didn't listen. "Hiked 2 days through forest, alpine meadow, along a steep ridge to a rare unobstructed view of Mt. Rainier. Behind it, mountains stretched for miles into the distance, finally fading into the north Cascades," I wrote in my journal, August 6, 1993.