Beyond The Evergreens: Finding the Yellow Gate

Beyond The Evergreens began as a collection of short memoirs chronicling my pursuit of one of the world’s most mysterious and punishing endurance challenges; the Barkley Marathons. But, this is not your average “Barkley book”. In pursuit of the yellow gate, I found myself writing about far more than training logs and race reports. These musings explore the friends who lift us up, the family who keeps us grounded, the fears we confront, and the small everyday moments that make hard things worth doing. Written over the course of 2 years but rooted in decades of living, this collection captures the lessons learned on trails, in relentless mountains, and around kitchen tables—each mile revealing something about perseverance, community, and what it really means to chase an impossible goal.