Where are you from?
I've lived everywhere, moved 38 times in my life. Maybe my favorite as a kid was two years in the Santa Catalina Mountains, north Tucson, Arizona. Exploring and swimming in spring-fed pools, catching tarantulas, rat snakes and horny toads, or watching coyotes run the arroyo near our house. But Eugene, Oregon is home now, which means I have the Oregon backcountry as my playground.

What's your work?
Author and outdoor adventurer. I write novels for Knopf, Random House and articles for the Huffington Post, but I love the natural world. Ridgemont Country. I got to be the Artist-In-Residence for Joshua Tree National Park in the spring of 2015, and that was incredible. Adventuring and writing every day.

In Oregon, I run an outdoor program, so I get to take high school kids into the backcountry. We white-water raft, backpack, spelunk lava tubes, do night navigation, rock climb, bike, climb coastal redwoods, and build survival shelters. Too many fun things to list. We're pretty lucky.

What's your passion?
Rivers? Surfing the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica? Or exploring obscure desert boulder fields? Or maybe reading poetry aloud? But I guess rivers and oceans and surfing are all poetry, so - no matter what - it's all the same thing.

Favorite place traveled?
Imbabura, Ecuador - mountaineering through weird plant forms and moonscapes at 15,000 feet on the equator? Or The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, Switzerland? Or maybe the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Toroweap, camping under a full moon on a rock slab, a sheer cliff one mile down to the river just a few feet from our tent? Or maybe Alder Springs canyon, Central Oregon...

That's close to my home now, but perhaps the most beautiful of all. In the canyon, the most delicious water on earth bubbles up in little sand pools and pours directly into Wychus Creek, the sandstone cliffs rising above your head as you drink straight from the pools, no filter needed. Plus, there's native trout fishing in the creek...

Next trip?
I just led a group into the Cascade Mountains last weekend, teaching snow survival and backcountry navigation. That was really fun. Sleeping in snow caves. Orienteering to the summit of a mountain in a complete whiteout. Next, I have a big rock climbing trip coming up in two weeks. Trying to climb 40 volcanic basalt routes in one weekend.

Favorite thing about Ridgemont?
Just scrolling through Ridgemont's Twitter feed (@ridgemontOutfit) says everything about the company. Good shoes and great clothing for any adventure, anywhere on earth. From casual hiking in the foothills of Southern California to flyfishing New Zealand, trad-climbing Devil's Tower Wyoming, backpacking a temperate rain forest in the Northwest, exploring a high desert salt flat, relaxing next to a Colorado river, or surfing the Pacific Ocean in winter. Anywhere. Any time. Just go outside and have an adventure.

Where are you from?
I've lived everywhere, moved 38 times in my life. Maybe my favorite as a kid was two years in the Santa Catalina Mountains, north Tucson, Arizona. Exploring and swimming in spring-fed pools, catching tarantulas, rat snakes and horny toads, or watching coyotes run the arroyo near our house. But Eugene, Oregon is home now, which means I have the Oregon backcountry as my playground.

What's your work?
Author and outdoor adventurer. I write novels for Knopf, Random House and articles for the Huffington Post, but I love the natural world. Ridgemont Country. I got to be the Artist-In-Residence for Joshua Tree National Park in the spring of 2015, and that was incredible. Adventuring and writing every day.

In Oregon, I run an outdoor program, so I get to take high school kids into the backcountry. We white-water raft, backpack, spelunk lava tubes, do night navigation, rock climb, bike, climb coastal redwoods, and build survival shelters. Too many fun things to list. We're pretty lucky.

What's your passion?
Rivers? Surfing the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica? Or exploring obscure desert boulder fields? Or maybe reading poetry aloud? But I guess rivers and oceans and surfing are all poetry, so - no matter what - it's all the same thing.

Favorite place traveled?
Imbabura, Ecuador - mountaineering through weird plant forms and moonscapes at 15,000 feet on the equator? Or The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, Switzerland? Or maybe the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Toroweap, camping under a full moon on a rock slab, a sheer cliff one mile down to the river just a few feet from our tent? Or maybe Alder Springs canyon, Central Oregon...

That's close to my home now, but perhaps the most beautiful of all. In the canyon, the most delicious water on earth bubbles up in little sand pools and pours directly into Wychus Creek, the sandstone cliffs rising above your head as you drink straight from the pools, no filter needed. Plus, there's native trout fishing in the creek...

Next trip?
I just led a group into the Cascade Mountains last weekend, teaching snow survival and backcountry navigation. That was really fun. Sleeping in snow caves. Orienteering to the summit of a mountain in a complete whiteout. Next, I have a big rock climbing trip coming up in two weeks. Trying to climb 40 volcanic basalt routes in one weekend.

Favorite thing about Ridgemont?
Just scrolling through Ridgemont's Twitter feed (@ridgemontOutfit) says everything about the company. Good shoes and great clothing for any adventure, anywhere on earth. From casual hiking in the foothills of Southern California to flyfishing New Zealand, trad-climbing Devil's Tower Wyoming, backpacking a temperate rain forest in the Northwest, exploring a high desert salt flat, relaxing next to a Colorado river, or surfing the Pacific Ocean in winter. Anywhere. Any time. Just go outside and have an adventure.