About

Shawnte-Rock Monster

I am a perpetually curious professional word wrangler.

I enjoy writing about natural spaces and the people who are inspired by, connected to, use, impact, and protect them – but sometimes I also like writing about art, culture, travel, food, gear, sustainability, politics, urbanity, rurality, and cats.

(Okay, I haven’t yet written about cats, but I REALLY WANT TO.)

Whatever the topic, I love watching a story evolve, grow, and eventually coalesce with a little bit of passion, elbow grease, and divine intervention from the editorial goddesses. The goal for everything I report and create is to lift voices and connect with others – to inform and inspire in equal measures. And sometimes make people laugh.

Deserts and mountains – those big locations where one can feel very small – are my favorite places to spend time, and I enjoy exploring human-powered travel, cultural and spiritual connections, and environmental issues in these places and beyond.

I was fortunate to spend nearly two years tangled up in an intimate relationship with the Pacific Crest Trail while snapping photographs, recording impressions, and hoofing many miles for my book Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California, which was released via Mountaineers Books in November 2017. I’m currently working on a brand-new book in which I get to talk to all kinds of people and dig deep into their connections – and my own – with a very specific place.

My bylines include Adventure Journal, Afar, Alpinist, BackpackerThe California Sunday Magazine, Condé Nast TravelerKCETLos Angeles Magazine, Modern Hiker, OutsideREI Co-op Journal, SIERRASNEWS, and The Voice.

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