Melissa Paulsen, a Reno, NV native, is a senior double-majoring in Environmental Sustainability Studies and Geography. This is her second semester writing for Wasatch and she is stoked to be able to squeeze it into her college experience. The outdoors have provided Melissa with endless space for growth in her life, and she loves to share these experiences with others. Melissa believes that embracing how others find joy in nature is a crucial step in fostering more inclusive outdoor spaces. She is happy doing almost anything when the sun is out, but some of her favorite ways to spend time outside include backpacking, exploring red rock wilderness, skiing, slacklining at the park and gardening.
Utah has been home for millennia. With evidence for over 12,000 years of human habitation, Utah is home to a plethora of archaeological sites. Particularly in southern Utah, where artifacts are better...
Lauren Echo is a 22-year-old self-taught illustrator and accidental business owner. Hailing from Reno, Nevada, Echo creates digital art using colors encountered in her adventures outside. Echo’s designs...
A thousand-mile bikepacking trip is an ambitious goal. A thousand-mile, month-long, mostly solo, bikepacking trip through remote regions of Alaska is an even more ambitious goal. In July 2021, University...
When I first moved to Salt Lake City, I didn’t have a car. As a freshman at the U, I was perpetually thinking about how I was going to get into the mountains. I stressed over meeting people with cars...
“The liquid lie of the West” is how Utah writer, naturalist and activist Terry Tempest Williams describes Salt Lake City’s namesake water body. The Great Salt Lake offers undrinkable water in a parched...
“Department of the Interior?”
“No.”
“BLM!”
“Nope.”
On the first day of job with the Idaho Conservation Corps, guesses to the question “Who has jurisdiction...
“It’s 6am and your alarm wakes you from dreams of hot showers and a real bed. You get yourself ready, eat oatmeal for the umpteenth day in a row and hop in the rig or start hiking to your work site....
For college outdoor enthusiasts, outdoor recreation can serve as an outlet from the labors of being a student. Time spent outside is what drives many to study what they do. What a lot of students don’t...
The world is waking up to the rush that is rock climbing. In the metropolis of Santiago, Chile, the situation is no different. Whether it’s pulling plastic or taking trips into the neighboring...
