ConquerMountains.com

By John Rezell

     Typically flipping the calendar year calls for review and reflection, but since we are collectively mired in the middle of this pandemic, that hardly seems appropriate.

     Still, the obsessive optimist inside my noggin always looks and forges ahead while appreciating what has passed.

Missy Giove

Alison Sydor

EDITOR'S NOTE:Looking through some memories of past Decembers and this fun tale popped up from 1995.

By John Rezell

Outside Austin, Texas

...

     EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an excerpt from my ebook A Bucket List of Thank Yous, a series of Thank You essays to people who have helped make me who I am today.

     By John Rezell

     If you’re really luck...

By John Rezell

     Most days I glide on my bike through the Basket Slough headed to farther points of interest in search of a good, hard workout, but yesterday I felt overcome with the urge for a more pedestrian pace through this National Wildlife Refuge.

     I took my time, relaxing to soak...

By John Rezell

     Nostalgia appears to be rampant during these days of Covid, those of us born of a once dynamic and inspirational generation somehow losing that fire in our eyes that thankfully has been rekindled recently in the eyes of America's Millenials who are hellbent on guaranteeing tha...

By John Rezell

      I find it fascinating that the visitors to my website and my friends on Facebook have always responded to me in direct, private messages rather than filling the Internet with public comments. I love that intimate relationshi...

By John Rezell

     When I made that final decision to click on PUBLISH and share some of my deepest heartfelt thoughts with the world in my ebook A Bucket List of Thank Yous, a sense of relief and fulfillment washed over me.

 ...

By John Rezell

     I'm fascinated with the question: How did I become who I am?

     A Bucket List of Thank Yous represents part of my personal insight into some of those answers.

   ...

By John Rezell

       I'm thrilled to say it's official: My latest ebook A Bucket List of Thank Yous has been published and is available on many ebook platforms includ...

By John Rezell

     The true magic of Mother Nature springs to life while I spend countless hours outdoors, hiking and biking. Vast breathtaking vistas, deep breaths of fresh air and overwhelming silence transport my mind to a magical place.

   &...

By John Rezell

     Just maybe, that extra hour of 2020 made all the difference in the world.

     Just maybe the end of Daylight Savings Time became our saving grace.

     At least thatR...

By John Rezell

     Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed having warm, sunny days well into October this year. Whether that is Global Warming or just a sweet gift from Mother Nature in an otherwise wild year, time will tell.

      It did, how...

By John Rezell

    Strange how life spins in circles of chaos, yet I bathe in an aura of peace and serenity.

     Jimmy Thesaurus and I were wasting away some time in our hotel room on the fifth floor of a h...

By John Rezell

     After climbing a gravel mountain road for more than 90 minutes enduring countless cow encounters on the open range, the trailhead sign finally appeared at the end of the road.

     You call this a trail?

By John Rezell

     My true belief is that people think too much. We spend too much time with the past or future flooding our brains that we sometimes miss the value of the present. This is especially true when messages come our way.

 ...

Wild Oregon Huckleberries

Fire damage on Highway 242 from a 2017 fire. Copyright photo by John Rezell

By John Rezell

     Three years had passed since I last drove up the Aufderheide Byway. On my way to score a Labor Day campsite, it was my first look at the...

Waterfall on the Breitenbush Trail that most likely doesn't look anything like this anymore. Copyright photo by John Rezell

By John Rezell

      In this most distressing year of our time, Mother Nature’s O...