On Honey Buns and Olive Oil: Thru Hikers and Our Food
Note: I want to preface this by noting that the Appalachian Trail experience is not the same as other long trails, such as the two other Triple Crown trails. My experiences may differ from yours! Hike your own hike. × Dismiss this alert. The decision to undergo a thru hike is not an easy one. […]
Backpacking as a Solo Woman
If you are a female thru-hiker, backpacker, or outdoor adventurer, I will bet on the fact that you have heard this exact sentiment: “You’re doing this alone? I could never do that. You’re so brave”. While well-intended every time, this phrase gets under my skin. Don’t get me wrong; it is essential to acknowledge and […]
Lessons learned from Ten Days in Bear Country
Before our recent ten day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, it had been almost thirty years since my buddy Dick and I had last slept outside in the woods. While so much has changed over the past three decades, the fundamental pleasures of being outside all came back: coming upon an alpine lake after a long, dusty hike; seeing the Milky Way in the middle of the night; being surrounded by wildlife in their own habitat.
Fastpacking in Bearitory
Sometimes you might want to go on a backpacking trip but at a faster pace while staying light and nimble. This is what fastpacking is for me. I love to run and hike in the mountains all across the state of Colorado. One week I may head into the wilderness with a 65 liter pack, […]
A Lifetime of Backpacking and Wilderness Adventures
Scouting Years My first outdoor adventures began when I joined the Boy Scouts at age 10. We learned valuable outdoor skills for camping and hiking. One of the most important things I learned in scout was to leave a camp better than you found and how to apply the outdoor code. I spent many weekends […]
The Known to The Unknown
While I consider myself a self-proclaimed mountaineer who has done many things even most thru-hikers would not, this is new territory for me. The longest I’ve hiked in one single trip was 155 miles; and that was in 2016 before I became a mom. The Colorado Trail is 567 miles from Denver to Durango climbing […]
A Middle-Aged Flatlander Trains for Bear Country
Okay, if I’m being honest, I’m not technically a flat-lander, as my town sits at 358 feet above sea level. Plus we live on a hill at roughly 600 feet. And if I’m being super honest, I’m not middle-aged anymore, unless my life expectancy is somewhere in the vicinity of 125 years, which is a […]
Thru-Hiking with Food Allergies… Is It Possible?
When you think of food on a thru-hike you probably think of fast, sugary, nutritionless food. When I scroll through my feed on Instagram and TikTok or watch trail documentaries on Youtube, I am bombarded by images of food that I would never be able to eat. Food is a deep and connected part of […]
Thru-Hiking the CDT and Beyond with a Bear Canister
Do you remember the day when you first heard about thru-hiking? An epic multi-month adventure a few hikers are crazy enough to attempt, in which they live completely off the contents of their backpack, their resupplies, and a little trail magic? As soon as Jason Brocar, or “MAV” (on the trail) learned about this wild […]
Fear of Packing
My last backpacking trip was just shy of 30 years ago. (See the photo at the top) A lot has happened since then, both in the evolution of backcountry gear, as well as the gradual erosion of my hairline. And so, when my buddy Dick and I began planning our summer backpacking trip to […]
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