Every Adventure

So first, welcome to any new readers who may have found me from She-Explores latest podcast. Welcome welcome welcome! I hope you'll enjoy reading through this site. A word of warning. If you're looking for a blog that's updated every day... This is not it. I'm very much a "write when the feeling strikes me" type of girl, and sometimes it doesn't strike me for awhile (See the space between this post and my last).  But, if you're ok with random updates with a side of fun, stick around! Ok, on to the post...       So I have the urge for adventure again. Does anyone else get this? It always comes in cycles for me. I have an adventure, I come back exhausted, dirty, and usually hungry. I spend some time recovering, processing my journey. Then I experience a lull, a time where I'm not really thinking about my past adventure or planning for a new one. Then, one day, usually over a cup of hot coffee, I feel it. The itch. Maybe less an itch, actually, and

Has anyone else hiked Torry Ridge to Mills Creek in the George Washington National Forest? Because I have. Majestic mid-trail pose.  And it's the first hike I did not enjoy almost every minute of.  This is what you looks like when you didn't bring a bug net when you really, really should have. Maybe this is part of growing and learning as a hiker. This was my first backpacking experience where I wasn't in a nicely groomed, well labeled state or national park. This was, hands-down, the rockiest hike I've ever been on. My ankles hate me right now,  I had read reviews, so I knew it would be rocky, but reading that a hike is rocky, and then hiking over rocks for miles and miles, are two very different things. Some of the trail was really nice! Not pictured: Every bug on the planet.  I ended up hot, tired, and cranky due to the difficult terrain and constant assault of bugs. By the time I made it to the campsite all I wanted was a shower

Hello all! So I've completed my SECOND solo backpacking trip, and I have to say, the second one went much, much smoother than the first. If nothing else, I have a much better handle on how to efficiently pack my pack this time around. Also I got better at water crossings, which helped. Also I wasn't shaking-out-of-my-boots terrified at every single noise the forest could produce. Here are the details: Trails: I parked at Bootens Gap, took the AT to Laurel Prong, then to Fork Mountain, then to Staunton River Trail, then on to Jones Mountain Trail. Campsite: I camped right past Bear Church Rock (which produced the best views of the whole trip), in an obviously previously utilized area. Mileage: Strava says I did 11.7 the first day, and 5.8 the second. I did take an optional walk down the the Jones Mountain Cabin on day 1, which added .6 to my total. Pros: Beautiful scenery. The woods were full of sweeping valleys of ferns, the trees were gorgeous, and much of the hike w

So tragedy has struck, guys and gals. I was packing up my Osprey Tempest 40 last week, and noticed something seemed... Off. Take a look. One of these straps is not like the other! It appears that my load strap and my handle were sewn in the wrong spots. Sad day! Luckily Osprey has great customer service, so I'm packing the bag (Ha!) and sending it off to them to see if they can repair it. If not, they'll replace it, although I'm a little sad for two reasons. 1) I had just gotten it nice and dirty so I didn't look like a trail newbie anymore 2) They don't make this color scheme for the Tempest 40 anymore and while I pretend  that colors don't matter on my gear, I really liked it. I'll keep you all updated on how it goes, I'm always interested to see how the customer service is for outdoor gear companies. So far so good with these guys, an actual person responded to me, explained the process thoroughly and had a UPS shipping label send to my email

So I won't say exactly where I live, because I'm eventually hoping this blog will find some readers and as flattering as it would be to have a total creepy stalker show up on my doorstop, I also think it would be terrifying. Anyway. What I will say, is that I live in a city. Not a huge city, not a tiny city, but a well-developed city that is (most unfortunately), lacking in lot of hiking trails that lead to beautiful, soaring vistas. The kind that are really popular with the Instagram crowd, y'know? We do have a few parks, one that goes through a pretty neat cypress swamp, but we're more of a beachy area than anything else. And while I do love the ocean and all the adventures it brings, I'm most at home in some old-growth forests, sweating up a trail and looking out over rolling hills and snowcapped mountain peaks. I'm originally from Seattle, and while I love my new home, I often daydream about being back and exploring everything the Cascades have to offer.

I'm currently sitting on my condo's little balcony, swaying gently in the breeze in my hammock that I've (somewhat sketchily) rigged up to the balcony rails. The light is coming across the deck, peeking between the plants of the little garden paradise I've created here. And I'm contemplating the meaning of the outdoors. I love to be outside. I love to feel the sun, the rain, the wind, the snow on my face. I love to smell the earth, the damp soils and the pine trees. I love to hear the roar of the brook. But as much as I love the outdoors, I also love what it makes me appreciate when I return from it. A hot shower at the end of the trip, my stove and my fridge, my air conditioning. I love the outdoors both for what it shows me while I'm there, and the gratitude I feel for my modern conveniences upon my return. As I sit here, I'm thinking on Instagram. I know that sounds silly, but keep reading. I am an Instagram fanatic. I don't post all that often, b

Hello Again!      As you can read, I did not die on my first solo backpack into the Great Unknown. I came, I saw, I walked out of the forest wiser, older, and much  smellier. And it was glorious. So artsy. Instagram is gonna love this one. #feet      I had a great time and hardly got freaked out by bears at all. Actually, after all the hooplah and the preparation, I'm a little disappointed I DIDN'T see a bear at this point. I did see plenty of signs of bear, including a big ol' pile of steaming bear poo (or scat, if you want to be all grown up about it). Also a bear came around the cabin I was staying at Friday night and gnawed on a bunch of coolers. So maybe that's enough bear for my first trip out anyway.      I ended up heading up to Shenandoah National Park and hiking the Beecher Ridge/Overrun Falls trail. It was wonderful. The total trip mileage was supposed to be 12 miles, but I added in a little extra on the Trace Trail, so it totaled about 14. In all,

"Journey?" You might be asking yourself. What does an 80's band have to do with hiking? Well sit back and let me show you... I have a new adventure picked for this weekend. I'm not going to say where or when, because I'm kind of paranoid about strangers knowing my plans, but I'll be sure to tell you all about it when I get back. In the meantime, all I need to tell you are the following things: 1) This is the first time I'll be backpacking alone. 2) I am a *teensy* bit nervous. 3) There are supposedly a lot of bear sightings where I'm headed. Now, whenever I get worried about something, I have the same MO. Instead of just becoming generally nervous about everything, I hyper-focus on one particular thing to be freaked out about. In this case, it's not strange people, it's not snakes or ticks or Wendigo, it's not any normal fears like pooping in the woods or having to use the stove. Nope. It's bears. I am terrified of seeing a

Hello hello hello everyone! Welcome to the first entry of my new blog, Each New Adventure. I chose this title because I believe that with each new adventure in our lives, no matter how large or small, we learn a little something about ourselves and the world around us, and that's a concept I really dig. I'm not sure what this blog will be yet; I'm not claiming it'll be all about the outdoors, or travel, or really anything at all. But I do know that I will do my best to keep it interesting, and most importantly, honest. So thanks for joining me! -A.