Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over again to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found. —Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart

13 REASONS NOT TO CLIMB MOUNTAINS is the story of two dads who navigate divorce, foreclosure, illness, life at sea, an addiction to junk, limited funding, old gear, no time, and a host of other reasons why they should not go to the mountains—taking 50 trips over a decade, to climb and hike the High Sierra.

Writer for the Sierra Club, with the reaction time of a tortoise and an ambling style of hiking that includes stopping to take pictures and resting by the river to identify plants, John needs goals, and likes to be pushed (most of the time). While John is also the grounding force at home, helping his daughter cope with Lupus, he and Michael do the most with the little time they have, and make it home before things go off the rails.

Stone mason trained in jujitsu, accomplished climber, occupational hoarder, and occasional self-proclaimed asshole, Michael has a long list of goals and a body and mind that never stop moving. He has gurus and advice for any situation and an urban-homesteading family that demands his undivided attention.

Set against a worldwide epidemic of male loneliness and when the majority of men feel like their online lives are better than their off-line ones, 13 REASONS highlights the healing powers of the natural world and the possibility of true friendship between two men who might otherwise have succumbed to a screen-mediated life of doomscrolling and online dating.

Each chapter begins with a reason not to go to the mountains, followed by the story of a trip that happens anyway. These are ultimately stories of connection, of recovering from the ashes of urban sprawl, and the person each man is truly lonely for: his soul.