To report “The Vanishing,” about the disappearance of at least 18 women over the past four decades on a remote stretch of highway in northern British Columbia, Bob Friel, who lives on Washington's Orcas Island, visited many of the places where the missing were last seen. “It's a gorgeous, atmospheric area,” says Friel, whose latest book, The Barefoot Bandit, was excerpted in ϳԹ's March issue. “But you get sucked into the creepiness of the story.” One of the more vivid characters: the road itself. “It's desolate, it's rain-slicked, it winds around dark cliffs, and there's often thick fog flowing in from the Skeena River,” says Friel. “When you've got all this going on, plus these unsolved disappearances, the road takes on a haunting personality all its own.”
Research editor Ryan Krogh performed triple duty on this issue: reporting “Notes From an Alchemist,” our cover profile of decathlete Trey Hardee; interviewing swimmer Ryan Lochte; and serving as our dog-training expert for “The Ultimate Outdoor Companion” To do it all, he was forced to bail on a backcountry ski trip and gear test in April that saw 17 inches of fresh powder. “I felt like I was the only one in the office,” says Krogh, who oversees the magazine's fact-checking department. “It was terrible.” We asked ϳԹ's fact-checkers to confirm that he was the only one stuck at his desk that weekend. Their response: a resounding yes.