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Terra Goes

Heart & snark-filled stories from a solo-traveling outdoor adventurist

  • Adventures,  California,  National Parks,  U.S.A.

    That Time I Fell & Smashed My Face in Desolation Canyon

    November 2, 2020 /

    On my second day in Death Valley, I tripped over my own feet, landed on my face and left a puddle of blood in Desolation Canyon. Really, I’m a little surprised it took me so long to hurt myself while alone in the wilderness. I am clumsy. I trip often and without reason. Sometimes my ankles roll out from under me, just for fun, as if they have better things to do than keep me upright. I am forever knocking into things, dinging myself lightly on furniture, cabinetry, sun shades and dog paws. I stab myself in the eye with a mascara wand at least once a week, never mind…

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    Yellowstone, Part II: Pillow Fights, Horde Evasion & Camping Cats

    September 27, 2021
    The Dead Sea || TERRAGOES.COM

    What it is like to float in the Dead Sea

    December 7, 2017
    Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts || TERRAGOES.COM

    Backstage at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

    December 26, 2017
  • Adventures,  California,  National Parks,  U.S.A.

    Death Valley’s Ubehebe Peak & the Tremendous Power of Solitude

    October 28, 2020 /

    I found the trail two years ago, back in 2018 when I first visited Death Valley National Park. It wasn’t a planned hike. I didn’t even know there was a trail there, didn’t even know what it was called. As soon as I saw it though, I knew I was meant to take it. I’d followed a long, winding, bumpy, gravel and pit-ridden road for 26 miles to get there, to get to the Racetrack. It’s this far-flung and magical place in Death Valley. It’s a place where stones float themselves across the floor of the desert, gouging a path as they go. It’s a place where you can be…

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    Yellowstone, Part II: Pillow Fights, Horde Evasion & Camping Cats

    September 27, 2021

    The Iditarod: A Different Sort of March Madness

    March 9, 2022
    Fort Monroe National Monument || terragoes.com

    Freedom’s Fortress: Visiting Fort Monroe National Monument

    August 15, 2017
  • California,  National Parks,  U.S.A.

    The Feral Power of Mojave National Preserve

    December 12, 2019 /

    I wasn’t 10 minutes into the park when I felt the overwhelming need to remove my bra. It wasn’t the right kind of bra for such an adventure. It was a polite society bra, the kind you wear to the grocery store, to dinner, to work, to anywhere but the wild. It wasn’t a bra I could sweat in, and, given my arrival into the desert, it was time to sweat. I could have stopped, sure. I could have pulled over on the side of the road, hopped into the back of my car and completed a quick, modest bra change. I could have waited until getting to the visitor…

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    Mojave National Preserve, Teutonia Peak, Cima Dome & the Joshua trees

    November 27, 2018

    10 Scamper-Worthy Sights to See at Death Valley National Park

    November 13, 2018
    Making Seal Friends in La Jolla || terragoes.com

    Making Seal Friends in La Jolla

    June 28, 2017
  • Adventures,  National Parks,  Pennsylvania,  U.S.A.

    On 9/11, the Flight 93 National Memorial & Remembering

    September 11, 2019 /

    I spent the drive there pushing away the weight of it, singing with the windows down. It was day one of a five-day getaway and I was reveling in it, that good vibe sensation of free, open days spread out in front of me. I let it creep in as I got closer. I stopped pushing, opened the door to it and let the thought of it, the heft of it, sit with me as I drove. I didn’t try to shape it or guide it, I didn’t fight it, I just let it in and let it be. And then I was there, at the Flight 93 National Memorial…

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    Big Bend National Park in 4 Snarky Parts

    January 28, 2022
    Tide Pooling at Cabrillo National Monument || terragoes.com

    Poking anemones at Cabrillo National Monument

    July 31, 2017
    The Time I Deployed to Kuwait || terragoes.com

    That Time I Deployed to Kuwait

    July 27, 2017
  • Adventures,  Maryland,  National Parks,  U.S.A.

    Antietam National Battlefield & the Bloodiest Day in American History

    September 4, 2019 /

    On the way there, I thought about blood. Blood and how I really should have refreshed my Civil War memory bank before embarking on a long weekend of Civil War battlefield immersion. Blood though, was the thing I remembered about Antietam. It’s what stuck out in my mind, the tiny piece of information I picked up some time in high school and managed to hold onto until now. I couldn’t remember the exact date, couldn’t remember which generals led the Union or Confederate troops, wasn’t even 100 percent sure which year the battle took place, but Antietam, my memory told me, was bloody. The Battle of Antietam was so bloody,…

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    Bonus Adventuring to Murano & Burano || TERRAGOES.COM

    Bonus Adventuring to Murano & Burano

    October 3, 2017
    National Parks || terragoes.com

    A Complete List of the National Parks I Scampered Through in 2018

    January 7, 2019
    Teddy Roosevelt's Birthplace || A National Historic Site || terragoes.com

    Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthplace, a National Historic Site

    July 14, 2017
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