Bulls and lone cows often hang back, deferring risk to the gangly youngsters and their travel-weary mothers.

four thousand miles of roadless, trailless terrain through a landscape

Tedium is a regular part of my job. But today the graphs and calculations fall away as I inhale the scent of dirt and spruce needles. Out here, I am half scientist, half disciple. I’ve left the laboratory far behind and, with it, the need to quantify and contain. In its place, I’ve reconnected with the simple act of observation.

Before walking toward the forest’s edge, I offer a silent goodbye to the gray-green waters of the Pacific.

The idea of worrying about only as much as I need to for today, or tomorrow, has finally taken hold.

E7, the bird whose satellite track revealed an impressive 7,396-mile nonstop flight, didn’t attain fame because she did anything particularly unique for a bar-tailed godwit, but because she showed us how remarkable the usual can be.

When he slows down, he told us, he can see and feel so much more. Plus, he likes the physical challenge.

But we’ve known the power of the wild, the all-consuming demands of rain and snow and wind, the callousness of mountains and rivers. We’ve been cared for by strangers. We’ve felt part of something much

After almost five months, movement brings stillness. Movement brings peace.