Eric, with hat.
Chin-up on the avalanche warning sign at Cerro Tronador, Argentina.

STORIES: I'm definitely not the just-back-from-eight-months-abroad,
lived-the-whole-time-off-my-penknife-
and-a-scavenged-banana-peel adventurer type -- more the one who follows along behind those people, wishing I were at home with a cup of tea, wondering aloud about isn't it getting awfully dark and do you think there are many poisonous snakes here and holy crap, did you hear that primal scream from the wilderness? Nonetheless, I do like to write about these things when I get home, if for no other reason than to shame my traveling companions to their spouses. A few of the adventures here are accounts of wilderness trips undertaken by me and my friend Mark as we attempt to make up for youthful miscalculations while also attempting not to get eaten by bears. (These trips were mostly Mark's ideas.) A few others are adapted from a daily blog I kept while backpacking around South America for six months in 2004.