Turning 60 is a big deal, right. It is one of those life stages where looking backward becomes easier than looking forward. My father was 60 when he first started telling me about his boyhood days growing up on a farm near Redding, Iowa. I heard a lot about the farm over the next thirty …more
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Author: Curtis Mekemson
When Turning 60 Includes Backpacking 360 Miles
May 12, 2014 | Category: Health, Hobbies/Sports, Life | Add Comment
Author: Curtis Mekemson posts: 1 Author's bio
XCurtis Mekemson
Background:
Curt was raised in the small foothill town of Diamond Springs, California. So he escaped the confines of his small universe in the mid-60s and headed off to UC Berkeley where he learned that integration was good, war was bad, and that young people who held such views should be bashed on the head and thrown in jail.
He was waiting for his turn with the Oakland police while sitting on the floor of the UC administration building and singing protest songs with Joan Baez when he had an epiphany: he should join the Peace Corps. Berkeley and the Peace Corps ruined Curt from living the American Dream. He decided that obtaining an 8-5 job, moving to the suburbs, and buying a big house were not for him. “If you would only make babies and take up photography,” his father had grumbled. Instead, Curt became an environmentalist and a health advocate, happily making war on polluters and the tobacco industry.
Wanting to get back to nature, he created the American Lung Association’s long distance backpack and bike trek program. The Lung Association needed a new fundraiser; Curt wanted an excuse to play in the woods. He added wilderness guide to his ever-growing resume and spent two decades leading wilderness adventures.
Every three to five years Curt quits whatever he is doing and goes on an extended break. Traveling through the South Pacific and Asia, backpacking throughout the western United States, and going on a six-month, 10,000-mile, solo bicycle trip around North America are among the highlights. This lifestyle came to a temporary halt when he climbed off his bike in Sacramento, met the lovely Peggy, and decided to get married– in about one minute. It took a while longer to persuade Peggy and her two teenage kids.
Today Curt and Peggy live on five wooded acres in Southern Oregon where he pursues yet another career, this time in writing. He is presently completing a book on his African Peace Corps experience. Visit him at his blog Wandering Through Time and Place. He’d love to hear from you. Or you can send him an email
Posts by the author (1)
Author: Curtis Mekemson posts: 1 Author's bio
XCurtis Mekemson
Background:Curt was raised in the small foothill town of Diamond Springs, California. So he escaped the confines of his small universe in the mid-60s and headed off to UC Berkeley where he learned that integration was good, war was bad, and that young people who held such views should be bashed on the head and thrown in jail.
He was waiting for his turn with the Oakland police while sitting on the floor of the UC administration building and singing protest songs with Joan Baez when he had an epiphany: he should join the Peace Corps. Berkeley and the Peace Corps ruined Curt from living the American Dream. He decided that obtaining an 8-5 job, moving to the suburbs, and buying a big house were not for him. “If you would only make babies and take up photography,” his father had grumbled. Instead, Curt became an environmentalist and a health advocate, happily making war on polluters and the tobacco industry.
Wanting to get back to nature, he created the American Lung Association’s long distance backpack and bike trek program. The Lung Association needed a new fundraiser; Curt wanted an excuse to play in the woods. He added wilderness guide to his ever-growing resume and spent two decades leading wilderness adventures.
Every three to five years Curt quits whatever he is doing and goes on an extended break. Traveling through the South Pacific and Asia, backpacking throughout the western United States, and going on a six-month, 10,000-mile, solo bicycle trip around North America are among the highlights. This lifestyle came to a temporary halt when he climbed off his bike in Sacramento, met the lovely Peggy, and decided to get married– in about one minute. It took a while longer to persuade Peggy and her two teenage kids.
Today Curt and Peggy live on five wooded acres in Southern Oregon where he pursues yet another career, this time in writing. He is presently completing a book on his African Peace Corps experience. Visit him at his blog Wandering Through Time and Place. He’d love to hear from you. Or you can send him an email
Posts by the author (1)
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