Stories, photographs, and a few thoughts about life, work, and the places the trail takes me.
· JUNEAU, ALASKA
At 8 a.m., the sun was just about to top the mountains. It was 24 degrees, and I was getting ready to hike Mount Jumbo.
There was snow up high, so I brought plenty of layers, water, food, bear spray, and my satellite messenger. A Scout is prepared.
The summit was worth the climb. So were the quieter moments along the way: frost on the trail, light on the mountains, and a chance to stop and take it all in.
· MASSACHUSETTS
There was a time when I needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Hiking the Midstate Trail became part of how I worked through a difficult stretch and found some room to think. The trail gave me a reason to get outside, keep moving, and take things a day at a time.
It was never just about the miles. It was about finding steadiness along the way and remembering that progress can come one step at a time.
· SUMMIT BECHTEL RESERVE, WEST VIRGINIA
After three weeks at the 2026 National Scout Jamboree, I kept thinking about what our team had created. It was more than a place to recharge. It gave Scouts and adults room to pause, reconnect, and learn practical ways to care for their well-being before heading back into the adventure.
The idea grew from conversations after earlier Jamborees. Young people and adult volunteers shaped it into something better than we first imagined. Serving alongside 22 volunteers, many of them older youth and young adults, reminded me that leadership starts with listening and trusting others to lead.
Sometimes what people need most is a place to breathe and remember they don’t have to carry everything alone.
· JUNEAU, ALASKA
At a health fair in Juneau, I heard families talk about the care their loved ones had received. Their stories brought me back to something I keep seeing in this work: families need to know hospice will support them, answer their questions, and stay alongside them when things are difficult.
In rural communities, access can be limited, and conversations about hospice sometimes happen later than they should. Trust grows when we keep showing up, explain what care can offer, and treat people with honesty and respect.
· OAKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
Public service has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I think some of that came from the example of my grandmother, from leaders I admired, and from my years in Scouting.
When I wrote the original post in 2023, I had served on Oakham’s Board of Health for eight years and had previously been the town’s tree warden. I was considering running for the open Select Board term. Looking back, those roles were part of a longer connection to a small town and the people who make it a community.
A few moments from the trail, the coast, and the mountains around Juneau.
The Mount Jumbo summit was certainly worth the climb. But so was everything along the way.
PHOTOGRAPHY © AARON LANGLOIS