Welcome

Exploring the Grand Canyon

Welcome to Peak Fever, a web site dedicated to providing detailed trip reports of all my hikes in this beautiful world of ours. In the Trip Reports section you will find a list of all the hikes I've written about, most of them taking place in the mountains of North America.

About Me

Growing up on the outskirts of a mining town in northern Ontario, I spent much of my youth exploring the forests, rivers, lakes and hills that filled my surroundings. Maybe it was from these early adventures in the wilderness that my love for the natural world came... or it may simply be the tranquility, security and joy I feel when I'm there that keeps me coming back. However, you may have noticed that this site's main focus is on the exploration of mountains, which for me, holds a special place in my overall love of nature.

I'm not quite sure when or why the mountains began calling to me. Was it my first trip to the Canadian Rockies at age 15 that started it all? Or was it the powerful sense of awe I would experience from the mountain dreamscapes that would appear in my sleep so often?

Since I didn't grow up around mountains I don't know where this longing for their presence in my life originates from. It's all quite mysterious to me and is probably one of the reasons I feel mountains have a magical quality and nature to them. In there silent and still immensity, their influence is pronounced on to the world around them. They change the weather and create unique daylight rythms in their long shadows. They have an age and history of transformation connected to earth forces so powerful, there is nothing in mans capabilities to compare. Their shapes, sizes and locations make them all individually unique, imbuing them with a kind of personality. To walk, hike, scramble or climb on them gives us the chance to sense their personalities and appreciate their long histories.

Despite the fact that I inhabit a region that no one would define as "mountainous", I am still lucky enough to live next to the Gatineau Hills, which were once part of the mighty, continent-wide Grenville Mountains. Right outside my door are the remnants of an incredible 1.2 billion year history of erosion through massive floods, ice ages, cosmic impacts, tectonic movements and simple wind and rain. Who would ever imagine that these unassuming rolling hills would have such an awe inspiring past? I suppose it is the reason why I can still find much solice exploring these ancient rocks, even as my heart longs for the next big mountain hike.

It is in my yearly travels that I hope to achieve my goal of hiking at least one unique and beautiful mountain a year and report it on this web site. I also hope that this web site will one day begin to include the input from readers of their own trip reports and slowly become a resource to help hikers find new trails in their own regions.

If you wish to contact me for any reason, please do not hesitate to email at: info@peakfever.com