Author Archives: Matt

Interestingness

Since I started using Flickr to show of my photography to the world, I’ve neglected my own self-hosted galleries here at Mineral2.com. I’m considering doing away with the Gallery software altogether and maybe swapping it out for a simpler interface … Continue reading

Posted in Photo Blog | Leave a comment

Grandfather Mountain: A pre-winter hike

  I’ve been very busy with graduate school, and that has put hiking and exploring on hold, but that also has me itching to get out, especially as my days of decent hiking weather grow shorter and shorter. I’ve been … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | Leave a comment

Aurora

Tonight I had a great surprise and learned a valuable lesson as to why it’s somtimes good to stay up late, even on a school night. I got the word of an aurora event tonight around 11:30 local time, and … Continue reading

Posted in Photo Blog | Leave a comment

I went to Florida

I went to Florida, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Taking a break from the usual trips into the mountains, I went to Florida last weekend to celebrate the marriage of one of my good buddies. The wedding was in Pensacola … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates | Leave a comment

Eagle Cap Wilderness, Labor Day Weekend

A year ago this weekend, I set foot in Oregon for the first time and explored one of its most beautiful and least advertised mountain ranges. Last year, we only got a preview of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | Leave a comment

Storms

Last night, we had the storm of storms come across the Palouse. It was a quick, but powerful cell the big lightning strikes every few seconds that produced enough power to disrupt phone service (land line) each time a bolt … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates, Photo Blog | Leave a comment

Escaping the Heat

While the east coast has contended with an earthquake and a hurricane, we have been enduring our summer heat wave, temperatures in excess of 90 degrees. It rarely gets to 95 out here, but when it does, it’s brutal. Of … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates | Leave a comment

The Seven Devils

    This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending three nights in Idaho’s Seven Devils. The devils are a series of craggy peaks between the Salmon and Snake river canyons. They rise over 7000 feet above the rivers … Continue reading

Posted in Travel Stories | Leave a comment

2010, Volume 2

There’s a new book in my bookstore. I finally got around to completing 2010: A Year of Change, Vol. 2. Volume 1 followed the first half of the year as I finished working in Virginia, got married and prepared to … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates, Photo Blog | Leave a comment

Exploring

The past week, my parents were in town visiting and we spent the week exploring and showing them our favorite places in the area. We’d usually leave fairly early in the morning and get back kinda late, always exhausted. As … Continue reading

Posted in All Things Moscow, Hikes, Personal Updates | Leave a comment

Stevens Lakes

    The hike to Stevens Lakes itsn’t particularly hard, but it’s no walk in the park either. It’s about 2.5 miles and 1700 feet of vertical gain to the upper lake on a well-used and well-mantained trail. It starts … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | Leave a comment

4th of July

The celebration of our nation’s independence is a custom dating back all the way to the day the Continental Congress approved and signed the Declaration of Independence. The use of fireworks to celebrate the momentous and historic occasion also dates … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | 1 Comment

Shoot for the Stars

Last night, I had some folks over from the photo club for a little get together and fun. We grilled burgers, sat around the fire, and played with our cameras. We were mostly interested in shooting the night sky. I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Photo Blog | Leave a comment

Upper Basin Trail

View Upper Basin Trail in a larger map The Upper Basin Trail is a 5 mile loop in the upper basin of Elk Creek just north of Elk River The trail is near the giant western red cedar, thought to … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | Leave a comment

Bad Ass Sunset

Last night was full of bad-assery. Yeah, that’s right, it was so bad-ass that I made up a word to describe it. After a cold spell, temperatures quickly rose into the 80’s yesterday making for a hot and somewhat muggy … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates | 2 Comments

Kamiak Butte

The Palouse, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. The Palouse is made up of rolling hills covered in wheat and barley fields. This area was historically a prairie, so there were few trees to begin with. A few of these hills … Continue reading

Posted in All Things Moscow, Photo Blog | 1 Comment

Hells Canyon

Panoramic View from our vantage point, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. This story begins with Luke and I itching to get out into the backcountry. Although it’s the middle of June, the combination of an unusually cold and wet Spring … Continue reading

Posted in Hikes | 1 Comment

Personal Updates

It’s been an eventful week, and I should have posted more often, but I’ve been busy and tired and uninspired to write. So I’ll give you the update on the past week, and then some. Last Monday was our actual … Continue reading

Posted in Personal Updates | Leave a comment

Weekend Getaway, Part III

  Day 3: Canyons It’s a week later and I’m only now getting to the end of our romantic weekend away to celebrate our anniversary. Saturday was our third and final full day in Oregon. Thursday we had a nice … Continue reading

Posted in Travel Stories | Leave a comment

Our Weekend Away, part II

Sacajawea, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Day 2 Friday morning, I woke up in time to catch the sun rising over the Seven Devils. I went outside with the camera to catch the morning glow on the snow-capped peaks of … Continue reading

Posted in Travel Stories | Leave a comment