Ramkitten's Purple Star Lenses

Are you intrigued by stories about wilderness rescues and searches for missing hikers or mountain climbers? If so, perhaps becoming a Search and Rescue -- often...

Writer Claudette Mitchell started a discussion in the SquidU forums titled, What are you thankful for?  She wrote: Although I knew how important it was to...

As a long-distance backpacker with an Appalachian Trail thru-hike under my feet and many other treks on my ever-growing bucket list, I love reading about the...

Once upon a time, Steve and I lived on a farm. And on that farm we had a garden full of organic vegetables. Intending to grow only what we needed for ourselves...

Until a friend invited me on a hiking trip in northern Arizona and southern Utah, I'd not heard of The Wave. But I realized when we arrived that I'd seen...

There is SO much one could write about hiking in the Grand Canyon, but I want to focus on hiking rim to rim using the popular "corridor" trails. I...

I can't say there's just one thing you should never go without when heading into the backcountry -- in fact, I have a whole list of what I consider

Being a New England native without a south-of-the-border bone in my body, I'd not heard of this dish until my mustached man, Steve, an Arizona native, prepared...

As a Search and Rescue volunteer, I've participated in many missions that wouldn't have happened in the first place had those we went looking for carried just...

Each year on the first full weekend of August, National Park Service staff and hundreds of volunteers re-create a fun and very authentic Voyageur Rendezvous...

At 6:05 on the morning of Friday, March 28th, 1969, I made my very first appearance on the world stage. I was pink and wrinkly and probably not looking my best,...

While paddling close to shore in the Boundary Waters one evening, looking for wildlife as the setting sun created artwork on the surface of the still lake, my...

Standing thirty feet away or thirty inches, he spoke in the same loud voice. That's why we called him Screamer. "We" were hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

"Trace ... Adkins ... is ... sitting ... behind you," my husband whispered, accentuating each word. We were at our gate in the Nashville Airport, waiting...

Guess what!" Steve said, grinning like a naughty kid. He'd just walked through the door and hadn't even said hello or "how was your day?"...

Late one night, I received the following message via my LinkedIn account: "Dear Deb, I think it is time to find a person who wants to write our story of missing...

I'd be happy to help. As long as your lens isn't against Squidoo Terms of Service (TOS), spam, or in a language other than English, I'll give it...

Are you interested in the Appalachian Trail? Have you hiked all or some of that famous long-distance footpath? If you're looking for an Appalachian Trail guidebook,...

Some people laugh at my nickname, but, me, I'm proud of it. And it makes me smile. Why? Because "Ramkitten" reminds me of special times and fun adventures.

I like to think I'm not materialistic. In fact, I can't stand clutter and am always looking for things neither my husband nor I have used in a long time...

The picture to the left is me, the hiker known as Ramkitten (on a really cold April morning in the Georgia mountains), here to share the wisdom gained from six...

In September, 2007, I began the month-long Basic Academy for the Coconino County, Arizona, Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team. In October, I completed the...

On September 25th, 2000, I completed a six-month journey from one end of the Appalachian Trail to the other, a 2,169-mile walk from Georgia to Maine otherwise...

Well before I began my own A.T. thru-hike with 40 pounds on my back, including food for several days and a few liters of water, I was hearing stories of hikers...

Image Credit: Lensmaster TagsForKids / Purple Star Art / CC 3.0