Christopher Pagels

04 May 2012

Halibut, the universal name for a life changing hike

Our captain was a young woman, fair in beauty and seemed groomed into the family business. A Dutch couple Hank and Marianne, and a German woman Olena were being dropped off at Halibut Cove with me, but they were only […]

20 Apr 2012

A rough hike to Palmerton presents fallible excitement on the trail

“Dear Pennsylvania, How I loathe thee. If Virginia is for lovers, Pennsylvania is for haters. If Satan’s feces were rocks, then he must have taken a laxative and taken a big deuce all over your entire state. You will not […]

13 Apr 2012

‘Twilight’ confrontation in Forks, Washington

The last two times I’ve been pulled over were in 2009 and 2010, in Forks, Washington. Neither of the officers were named Charlie. I did not receive a ticket, nor have I gotten one in all of my 25 years. […]

30 Mar 2012

Capturing lasting images at the Pacific Ocean

I passed a green highway sign that pointed west to Shelter Cove as I curled down in my Acura down this heavily forested part of northern California called the Big Sur.

09 Mar 2012

Meeting different people in Nuknek

Do you remember Goofy the Walt Disney dog with the big two-buck teeth? Well, I knew a different Goofy who got his name ironically. At the Red Salmon Cannery in Naknek, Alaska, I would meet all sorts of strange and bizarre creatures that technically are called humans.

02 Mar 2012

Traveling mountain trails initiates nickname

Most know me by my given name. Others, namely hikers, know me only as Bard, or, in its formal manifestations, Bard the Changeling.

24 Feb 2012

Hiking adventure turns from sunny to stormy

Two miles outside of Rangeley on the Appalachian Trail I was to end another successful 18-mile day. The sun was shining through that Maine forest and the elevation gains were at a minimum, less than 1,000 feet.

17 Feb 2012

Appalachian Trail expedition unsatisfactory, disappointing

I had been on vacation so long that I had become disillusioned. It is one thing to be on vacation and wanting to stay on that tropical beach, but it is quite another to forget your responsibilities and who you are. I had been on the Appalachian Trail for three months and my chief wish was to be home and to see my family.

10 Feb 2012

Rumbling and bumbling in the national parks of the west

I was twelve at the time, a point in my life where I didn’t have to be reasonable with my obsessions. Probably around the time when computers were going to “reset” or produce a big bubble that popped.

03 Feb 2012

Observing the Packer game with distinct spectators

There are a bunch of ugly antennas on my friend Nick’s Chevy SUV. He is a ham. No, really, he loves HAM radio. He also loves the Packers. So Nick, his brother Bry-Bry, and I drove down to Green Bay with his ugly antennas waving at 70 mph on Christmas.