About Meghan M. Hicks

Meghan M. Hicks is a writer and outdoor educator based in Park City, Utah who has traveled by snowshoes all over the American west’s backcountry.

ALL POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR:

A Mountain Life: Trail Running in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains

I breathe in. I breathe out. In. Out. In. These breaths come so quickly and forcefully that I sound as if I’m in the throes of an asthma attack. Or maybe I’m a pig that’s found the perfect wallowing mud. … Continue reading →

Walk on the Wild Side of Utah’s Uinta Mountains

Forge east from the civilizations of Salt Lake City or Park City, Utah and you’ll see the Uinta Mountains long before you arrive to them. The range stretches west-to-east, beginning as conifer-covered ridges that reach leisurely toward a tree-less core … Continue reading →

A Snowshoeing Destination Guide to Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana and its 2,000-ish friendly residents inhabit the place where a glacier-carved valley’s curvy bottom opens into high, sagebrush plains, and where Rock Creek tumbles off the northeast side of the Beartooth Mountains and into eastern Montana. With … Continue reading →

Where Quiet Is King: Snowshoeing in Yellowstone National Park

It’s March, and I’m roughly four snowshoeing miles from Yellowstone National Park’s Old Faithful area. Five feet of snow separate me from firm Earth. I wear my thickest down jacket and a balaclava, even though I’m on the move. A … Continue reading →

The Sierra Nevada Foothills: A Cycling Adventure

A black ribbon curlicues into the distance, cutting a meandering but distinct line through the greenscape. Immediately in front of me, the blacktop wends left, then left again before hightailing it steeply downhill to the right. I lower into the drops of the bike's handlebars, tuck my knees to my chest, lean into the downturn of California's Highway 49, and go.

Jennifer Pharr Davis Goes Far in Setting the Appalachian Trail’s Supported Speed Record

Jennifer Pharr Davis possesses an appropriate name for the task she just completed. Perhaps she's got the right name for her life as well.

The Man on a Mission: Pat Farmer Runs from Pole to Pole for Charity

Imagine waking up and realizing that you had to run 50 miles today. Then, picture awaking to this thought each day, every day for about a year. If you're 49-year-old Australian athlete Pat Farmer – who's traveling by foot from the North Pole to the South Pole, a 13,000-mile journey that involves snowshoeing, running, jungle trekking, and some hands-on-knees crawling – then this is your reality.

Spirited, Stumbling, But Never Sated: Trekking the Middle and South Tetons in One Day

A down slope breeze whispers from the west, off the Teton Range and through the Lupine Meadows Trailhead in Grand Teton National Park. It is 4 a.m. and otherwise silent here at 6,700 feet above sea level as our pack of four begins its uphill journey in sleepy, stuttered steps.

The Canyon Challenge: Running Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon

The Earth yawns in front of me, opening to one of its grandest chasms. I can't see this hole or the rest of the world, for that matter. All of it is gobbled up by the velvety black curtain of very early morning. I turn on my headlamp so it illuminates a circle of light on the path in front of me and begin to run. I'm descending into the Grand Canyon from its South Rim but, because of the darkness, I only know it from the map.

Giddiness and Guardianship: Backcountry Snowshoeing in Utah’s Eastern Uinta Mountains

The credit union sign reads 8:56pm and 11 degrees Fahrenheit in Vernal, Utah. We've just vomited the contents of my Toyota 4Runner into the bank's parking lot to put finishing touches on our backcountry packs and sleds under the streetlights of civilization. In a few moments, we'll point the truck north and chug up the switchbacks of Highway 191, the two-lane road that traverses the Uinta Mountains' eastern half. We buzz, bee-like, as we putter in the frigid night, powered by Taco Bell burritos and a moderate concern about how cold it could be up high.

A Round Valley Romp: Snowshoeing in Park City, Utah

It's 7:22 a.m. and 15 degrees Fahrenheit on this February morning, and the sun is kissing the crest of the Wasatch Mountains, which lay like a buffet of rocky bowls, lolling ridgelines, and secret valleys. This first light is cherry pink on the peaks, but as the sun rises and the color washes down the mountains, it evolves into fireball orange. The snow yields underfoot with a squeak as I press my snowshoe into the firm, packed trail and climb.

A Sierra Nevada Submersion: Hut-to-Hut Snowshoeing in Yosemite National Park

John Muir said that going outside for a day is akin to “going in.” According to the famed conservationist and explorer, backcountry endeavors are about submergence. On a three-day, hut-to-hut snowshoe trip in Yosemite National Park, two friends and I get in deep – real deep – with the wilderness and each other.