Welcome!
My name’s Matt, and I love to write and hike. I’m the author of 4000s by 40 and am currently working on book two. When I’m not doing that, I come here to share tales from the trail, reflections on the writing process, and explore hidden truths.
Whether you’re a hiker, a writer, or just someone trying to figure out their own next step, I hope this site encourages you to keep getting outside, keep exploring, and keep making new discoveries. I suppose this place serves as a very public reminder to myself that I need to keep doing the same.
Enjoy it out there!
What’s New
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Wide-Brimmed Hat Territory
So I’ve entered an embarrassing chapter in the evolution of the aging hiker: the need for a wide-brimmed hat. As my forties wind down, I’m trying to be good about getting checkups with the dermatologist, and they said it was time for me to upgrade my hat game. After a lifetime of outdoor adventuring, particularly…
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Be Your Authentic Self
But a presence you’ll lack, they said, Escape this new world, you cannot. You cannot deny what’s ahead, Or deign to change the plot. Under pretense, vigor, and show, Reinvent who you were for clout. Accept we know what you don’t know, Until you come about. Trust that this process, all this grind, Helps more…
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Leaving Instagram
Before the book writing and before this site, the first place I really started storytelling was on Instagram. And before Instagram I spurned all forms of social media. I thought Facebook was self-adulating, and Instagram was as well, but at least on Instagram you could post a pretty picture without a caption or a word.…
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Reading “The Snow Leopard”
Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard, even though it’s prose, reads like one long love poem. A love of the world, the search for meaning, and for all the stories in between. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that reminded me of the words of Edward Abbey and John Muir, but The…