Nonfiction Commons^™

Letter

Appalachia

Patient privacy and accidents.

Skyline Sketches: A Journey Through The Boundary Waters, Derick Lugo

Appalachia

A man who has never canoed paddles through Minnesota’s Boundary Waters.

Skyline Sketches: Turning Around, Morgan Kennedy

Appalachia

A backpacker turns around after a late start up the lonely Watson Path.

Skyline Sketches: Survival Of The Timid, Jessica Kulynych

Appalachia

A mother and daughter retreat in bad weather, showing that timidity saves lives.

Waterman Fund Essay Winner: Old Friends In The Alpine: Field Scientists On Vermont's Highest Peak, Catherine Wessel

Appalachia

In this winning essay of the annual contest sponsored by the Waterman Fund, a young scientist meets Bill Howland, who studied the same vegetation in 1991, at their study site high on Vermont’s Mount Mansfield.

Poetry On The Mountain: Hiking Moosilauke In A Mood, Elissa Ely

Appalachia

Near the summit of Mount Moosilauke, someone hands a hiker a copy of a Billy Collins poem with a typo.

Editor’s note: We have redacted the quoted lines of the Collins poem. Appalachia’s agreement to reprint part of “Night Letter to the Reader” covers only the print edition of the journal. Physical copies of this issue can be purchased at outdoors.org.

Last Hike On Mount Monadnock: Friends Confront Time And Mortality, Eric D. Lehman

Appalachia

Two friends push up the southern New Hampshire peak, sensing but not knowing that it will be the last time for one of them.

Debacle On Mount Pierce: A Self-Rescue Story, Heidi J. Downing

Appalachia

Two friends take a wrong turn heading down Mount Pierce in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, navigating several errors of judgement.

When Powder Skis Became A Thing: A Winter's Tale Of Engineers And Unbroken Fields Of White, Rick Spedden

Appalachia

Powder skiing used to be the domain of an adventurous fringe element, but with the manufacturing of specialized skis, it is now a mainstream pursuit.

Return To The Cuyahoga Valley: From Toxic Dump To National Park, Christopher Johnson

Appalachia

Once known as the place where a river caught fire, today’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio attracts boaters and hikers.

Rotors, Not Propellers: A Tribute To A Dedicated Helicopter Pilot, Sally Manikian

Appalachia

A tribute to Carl J. Svenson, a pilot who for three decades flew supplies to huts and shelter sites for the Appalachian Mountain Club before his death in a crash in Croyden, New Hampshire, in October 2023.

Mountain Ninjas: Today's Motorized Beasts Of Burden, Justin Preisendorfer

Appalachia

Motorized equipment like snowcats and helicopters have become critical tools for effective recreation management in the modern era in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire.

Flight Lessons: Drones Find Their Way As Search-And-Rescue Tools, Sandy Stott

Appalachia

Since 2018, New Hampshire Fish & Game has begun using drones to search for lost and injured hikers in the White Mountains, complementing ground searches, trained dogs, and helicopters.

The Long Way Home: Getting Water, Christine Woodside

Appalachia

From the outlet of Ethan Pond in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, waterlogged memories of moose, children, and swimmers resurface.

Appalachia Winter/Spring 2025: Complete Issue

Appalachia

Winter/Spring 2025 - Volume LXXVI, Number 1 - Issue #259. The Humanity of Machines: Stories of drones, helicopters, and snowcats in the mountains.

The Mariana Trench Is Not Blue, Sean Scanlan

Publications and Research

“The Mariana Trench Is Not Blue” is a short (2,300 words) creative nonfiction piece about a slice of time when I crewed on Ocean Guy, a sailboat docked in Guam in 1994. I learned about the island’s dangers during what should have been a relaxing day snorkeling with my captain and first mate at Bangi Point, a famous coral reef. Part of the tension emanates from the boat’s terrible condition and from the trench itself which contains monsters larger than any of us--they seem to follow the three of us to shore.

The Monday Manure, Zachary David Berston

Journalism

For my senior project, I wanted to create a new section of Mustang News that includes satire and cartoons. The section is called the Monday Manure to fit with the horse themed titles of other sections. This idea began as a project in the Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship class. While I initially had the idea to have a section that included games, I realized that it was a bit too ambitious after discussing that with the team at Mustang news. Over the course of this project, I have created several satire articles and cartoons, as well as organizing a team …

Three Walks Along Wascana Creek, Ken Wilson

The Goose

"Three Walks Along Wascana Creek" recalls the author's walking along Wascana Creek in Regina, Saskatchewan, in June 2021.

One Of These Things: A Poetic Exploration Of Waste And Discordant Objects, Brittany Ellsworth

The Goose

In this narrative essay, I present my thoughts and concerns about the physical waste I encounter on my adventures in my hometown of Corner Brook, NL. I also introduce and differentiate between garbage and my proposed concept of discordant objects and how these objects have inspired my poetic and creative writing practice. The essay concludes with a poem and photograph of one such discordant object.

We Are All Strays Now (Now), Grace Moore

The Goose

Drawing on ideas of kinship and straying, this piece of creative non-fiction considers my relationship with a "neighbourhood cat," dying from a coronavirus, just prior to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. It addresses how we make kin with strays, and the ways in which animals insert themselves into human lives.