About Kirt
"What I stand for is what I stand on." --Wendell Berry
Kirt is a native to the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, born and raised in Taylor Mill (across the Ohio River
from Cincinnati). While wilderness areas are not a part of the suburban
landscape in which Kirt was raised, he frequented his family’s farm in the Smoky
Mountain foothills of East Tennessee throughout his childhood and young
adult years, a connection which helped to shape his understanding of more
grounded ways to live with and from the Earth.
Kirt spent five years
living in Lexington, Kentucky, during which time he discovered (and introduced
many others to) backpacking and rock climbing in the Red
River Gorge and Big South Fork natural
areas. Before leaving Lexington for the Pacific Northwest, he earned
a BA in Creative
Writing and Environmental
Studies from the University of Kentucky and met his wife, Diane.
Kirt and Diane moved to
Olympia, Washington together in 2003, establishing themselves in Seattle in
2005. Before Kirt gave his full
focus to outdoor education and guide work, he spent time writing for the
now-defunct Sitting Duck newspaper, working as a crew leader for Earthcorps,
and co-founding and operating Perennial Environmental Design, a small business
specializing in environmental restoration and native plant landscaping.
In addition to Kirt’s passion for his work and play in the mountains, he is an active writer, photographer, musician, cyclist, cook, gardener, and yogi. He brings all of these loves to his clients’ and students’ experiences, and is easily encouraged to chat about life.
