Hand Drawn (and Hiked) by McCall

Hiya and apologies for my hiatus! I spontaneously took a month and a half off from this newsletter and forgot to tell anyone. Alas, the flexibility of having less than 20 subscribers and no advertisers.

I’m coming at you fresh off a week of PTO in my beautiful home state of New Jersey, coupled with a long weekend for 4th of July celebrated in Southwest Colorado, and then a weekend in Vegas seeing the greatest show of my life at the Sphere plus some time just effing around in Denver.

Before you get nervous that I might wax poetic about the importance of rest, please know I would never subject you to think-bro-thought-leadership. This is a safe space. What I will yap about is some of the books I read over the last few weeks, adventures I’m planning, and the joys of summer so far.

Backcountry Chronicles

I know I’m officially older because doing nothing feels like a luxury. The last few weeks have been the slow time I’ve been craving for a while. Sleeping in on the weekends with no alarms, quiet mornings, reading in hammocks and on the beach, quality time with family and friends, and waking up to the mountains. I felt my shoulder muscles loosen as I typed that.

I joked a few years ago that being in your mid-20’s feels like being old enough to know what makes you feel good, but still young enough to neglect actually doing any of it, and lately, it feels like I’m finally old enough to take all of that seriously.

The proof? Feeling pulled to write after a weekend spent sleeping in, drawing, walking around my neighborhood art fair, and hiking with a close friend (I forgot to take any photos on the aforementioned hike, so please enjoy the PB&J break selfie and some Strava stats).

That’s all the self-reflective prose I’ll do (I promise!). Here’s a general rundown of summer thus far:

Reminiscing about: if there’s one thing I was reminded of in Cape May, it’s how much I love biking. For those unfamiliar, Cape May is a relatively tiny beach town at the Southernmost part of New Jersey. My family rented a few cruisers for the week and that was our primary mode of transportation. A week later, I headed down to Creede, Colorado and brought my good ‘ole REI City Bike in tow. Enjoy the views from the saddle featured above.

Looking forward to: Longs! Peak! Mark your calendars, folks. I’m officially hiking it on September 14th (weather permitting). Every workout from here forward is preparation for Longs. I’ll give a full rundown of the Peak and why I’m so stoked about it next edition. In the meantime, enjoy this photo of the ‘ole beaut.

Summer goals: Knock off the rest of these pesky front range 14ers. Besides Longs, the ones I have left are Blue Sky, Grays, Torreys, and Pikes. I have dates on the calendar to hike all of those, so please co-sign my prayers to Mother Nature for good weather.

Thinking about: When Breath Becomes Air, even though I read it over two months ago. In the book, the author talks about finding your calling vs. finding a job, and how your calling doesn’t have to be a job. Your calling is simply what makes you feel alive. Noodle on that one for a little while — I promise you’ll be happier for it.

Feeling grateful for: In the least corny way possible? My body. It’s not lost on me as I’m planning to hike five 14ers this summer and organizing early season backcountry hut trips that none of this would be possible without a healthy body. Extremely grateful for healthy bones, muscles, and a functioning brain. On top of that, I love how when you’re doing something so physically demanding, it completely divorces the concepts of fitness and appearance and recalibrates your relationship with food. Sometimes I really wish 2019-New-York-McCall who was obsessed with wearing black and being as tiny as possible could see me now.

Desperately looking for: (look away, Alex!!!) a plug on a pair of pink Fischer Rangers. It seems like everyone and their mother thought these skis were cool too, so it’s nearly impossible to find them bigger than 172cm.

Obsessing over: This 13 year old lab, Layla, doing her final pickup as a baseball bat dog. I love her so much.

Artiste Break

Newsletter subs get the first sneak peak! Here’s a piece for my next gallery series — the small things that make up backcountry days. First up is my Skida strawberry beanie that I’ve worn for 99% of my days in the backcountry.

The impetus for this collection was realizing I’ve spent the last four years of my drawing career making big things small — ie: turning buildings into 8×10 drawings. Most of my favorite artists do the opposite and make small things big.

I decided to make a collection of all the small things I take with me into the backcountry, emphasizing the juxtaposition between the small things that make up big experiences; and those big experiences that make us feel small.

To Go Snacks

⛷️ Remember the Teton Gravity Research film I plugged in here a few months ago with an absolutely gnarly opening of the skier breaking both legs? That skier was Kai Jones and he’s officially back in action — and skied this legitimately insane line.

🐺 Potentially controversial, but definitely cute news: the gray wolves reintroduced to Colorado last year had a pup (!!) according to state wildlife officials.

🎀 This New York Times article about girlhood stumbled through my inbox three weeks ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

Be back in two weeks to tell you all about Longs Peak!

- McCall 🌻

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