The unDefined Blog

Inspiration and stories from the mountains, cultures, peoples, and perspectives of our world.

Morromico Bay, Chocó, Colombia | July, 2018

Featured Posts & Collections

Tracee Metcalfe: No Creation Myth Needed

I remember when I first heard the term. Charley Mace and I were a couple pitches up a mellow, fun route in Clear Creek Canyon, trying unsuccessfully to outclimb thunderstorms, and talking about climbing, ego, and the like. One mutual climbing acquaintance kept coming up, one whose ego had come to define his persona, his […]

Read More...
Juneteenth Greatness

My paternal great-great grandfather, James T. Norton (1844-1883), was a man of few words. Or, at least that’s what his journal from 1865 indicates. It’s been sitting near my desk for years. I’ve scanned the pages, faded scribbles in pencil recording minute datapoints about each day with little fanfare: weather, movement, rations, commands, engagements. Even […]

Read More...
Xenon and Zen

Mesmerized. There’s no other way to put it. The scene unfolding before me was captivating, subtle hues of warming a jagged Himalayan sea, blues morphing, glimmers of amber and crimson flashing on distant ridges, shadows etching an impossible landscape. It was still frigid here, sunlight not yet penetrating the frigid shadows of the West Ridge […]

Read More...

Subscriber Supported. Creator Appreciated.

Your patronage makes everything here possible. 
Thank you.

Subscribe now, cancel anytime. No spam, ever.

No thanks, but I would like the free newsletter!

Sign up for free

More articles and essays…

RNAI: Everest Quietude

Everest has become quite a circus these days. No judgment from me, but seeing the relative chaos makes me think back to quiet days, simple times in the quietude and ephemerality of the mountain, and what's always drawn me there in the first place.

ESSAYS & INSPIRATION MOUNTAINS & ADVENTURE

, ,

Read More
Time and Hope and Dreams (and Everest)

I’ve never been very adept at shooting timelapses. Maybe I just don’t spend enough, well, time, on the preparation. I usually get caught up in the moment, training my camera on other vistas, other details, big and small, near and far, before finally reminding myself to set up the tripod and capture those dang clouds, […]

ESSAYS & INSPIRATION MOUNTAINS & ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY

, ,

Read More
The Duty to Speak

While we all have - for now - the right to remain silent, we sometimes also have the duty to speak. For me, that time is always, is now.

ESSAYS & INSPIRATION

,

Read More
Love, Hope, and Strength

Two days ago, a great light in our world was extinguished when Mike Peters breathed his last. Mike was a musician best known for founding The Alarm, a Welsh band he started in 1981 that went on to fame, playing with the likes of Bob Dylan and U2. While his music was great, it was […]

NEWS

Read More

More from Jake Norton:

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
Send this to a friend