Earning my Masters and becoming a professional park planner!

ABOUT ME

My name is Dylan. I really enjoy being outdoors, camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, climbing ... whatever. I love to eat good food, drink good beer, and enjoy good company.

Interests

Mountains, deserts, forests, geysers, hot springs, extremophiles, cities, the outdoors, hiking, skiing, camping, history, Kiswahili, Africa, East Africa, politics, international relations, art, music, sculptures, the stars, rocks, maps, Julius Nyerere, Thailand, waterfalls, flowers, South Africa (never been, fascinating history though), religion, trees, The Simpsons, movies, canyons, museums, the newspaper, websites, technology

• arts
• dining
• breakfast
• beer
• drinking
• flowers
• politics
• technology
• movies
• music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• skiing
• rock climbing
• cartography
• history
• international relations
• religion
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite authors: Ken Kesey, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Chimamanda Adichie

Favorite book: Sometimes a Great Notion, Ken Kesey

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In January of 2008 Oregon was socked in by an amazing winter storm. When the storm finally lifted and ice that coated the valleys melted me and two friends decided to celebrate with a ski trip to Crater Lake. We drove five hours to reach Rim Village on the edge of the crater and set out for a place called Lightning Springs to camp for the night. When we registered with the ranger at the park headquarters he informed us that we were among seven people in the whole park. We spent two nights at Lightning Springs, about one hundred feet below the rim. We had intended to spend our time skiing the thirty miles around the lake, but as we had breakfast on our first day we realized that we wanted to do nothing else than to sit in the snow and gaze at the lake. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. The sky was perfectly clear and all day we heard the accumulated snow and ice on the trees crashing down around us as the sun warmed it up. The day was perfectly calm, and the cone of Wizard Island was reflected in the still waters of the lake below us. It was a more perfect day than I could have ever asked for. We passed some time with friendly conversation, but mostly we just sat in awe at nature’s spectacle all around us, the blue majesty of the water and the sky, the white cone of Wizard Island, and the cascade of mountain peaks north and south of us.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Japan, Malawi, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Tanzania, United States