Andrew Terrill's Blog

FALL COMES EARLY to Colorado’s high country, often in August, occasionally even at August’s start. While lower-altitude locations down in the foothills might still be experiencing mid-summer heat, remaining green and lush and vibrant with life, the alpine tundra can already see chlorophyll fading and russet hues spreading…

This year I noticed the first hint of Fall on August 3rd – an impressively early start to the new season. Undoubtedly, a dry July contributed to it, with alpine vegetation str...

IF YOU’VE EVER wondered: what would happen if a moose were to pass through camp in the middle of a dark moonless night? Would it trip over a tent? Would it panic and do a number on the poor unsuspecting human lying within the tent? Would there be a trampling, a stomping, a pulverizing?

Well, if you have ever wondered, I now have a first hand answer for you…

To be honest, the idea of a moose tripping over my tent wasn’t a possibility I ever seriously worried about. But it was a question I’d cons...

AFTER MY FIRST big walk back in my early twenties one of the adult ‘guides’ in my life expressed a strong opinion that it was now time for me to ‘grow up’, that the six-month walk I’d just been on should have gotten the urge to walk and camp ‘out of my system’.

But oh how little they knew! That first big walk took me to a place that I couldn’t return from, even if I’d wanted to. It taught me truths I couldn’t unlearn. Rather than sating the urge or ending it, it only increased it.

Other adults ...

IT’S TIME FOR an update…

As I may have mentioned a few months ago, I’m working on another book. It’s one of the reasons why my posts on here have been few and far between in recent months. I’ve been focused. I’ve been trying to stay on task.

It probably won’t be a surprise when I reveal that the new book will be another hiking memoir about another long mountain journey. But there’ll be a difference. This time, instead of writing about a traditional through-hike, a journey of forever moving on, ...

I’VE BEEN THINKING.

I’ve been thinking that I can do a lot better.

For me, the formation of our beliefs and values, and through them our behaviour and choices (and through these the lives we live, and especially how we treat other people), has long been a fascinating topic.

Or, to put it simply: why do we hold the opinions we hold?

I began thinking about this for the first time during my longest walk. While wandering in freedom through the woods and across the mountains of Europe for day after ...

NOT THAT MANY years ago, I was a runner. What I mean is: running was a significant part of my daily life. ‘Runner’ was a significant part of how I saw myself.

Back in my late thirties and right through my forties I ran pretty much every day, and I ran with real purpose, not only to get outdoors and connect with nature but also to improve my endurance, speed, running technique, willpower and above all self-knowledge. I ran to feel alive, and I ran to grow – both physically and as a person. I ran ...

IT HAS BEEN an ‘interesting’ year so far – on the global front clearly not interesting in a good way. A lot of what I see and hear on the news, on social media and out in the ‘real world’ has me scratching my head in utter disbelief, wondering if I have somehow fallen into some dystopian parallel universe that has been founded upon opposite values to mine. The lack of compassion I see now! The absence of empathy! Some say the world has always been this way. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY, I ...

I MIGHT OCCASSIONALLY blog about more than nature this year. I’m starting to feel that it’s the right thing to do… even though doing it, being more open about other subjects – especially politics – could well be a poor ‘career’ move, could lose me readers and book sales, and could even damage a few personal connections. But, right now, sharing ‘my truth’ feels too important. Plus, I am not only a writer of travel narratives, outdoor journeys and nature experiences. My two books, first and foremo...

THERE WAS A time early in my adult life when I felt cut off from who I knew myself to be. Fate… circumstance… cultural expectations… supposed financial realities…  the strident conformist opinions of key ‘guides’ in my life… all of these factors (and more) contrived to keep me living a life that felt to me like a soul-crushing lie.

The impact of this inauthentic existence sent me spiraling downwards into anxiety and depression, and it was made even worse by the stutter I then had, and by the sev...

2024 FINISHED WITH two camps, one in the foothills, one up in the high country. They weren’t many miles apart in distance, but in character they belonged to different worlds entirely.

I’ll be honest, both camps almost didn’t happen. Before deciding to go on each, before packing, I found myself struggling with motivation, which is crazy, given how much I know I love winter camping, and also how profoundly beneficial I know nature-immersion is. But, as I grow older, I’m...