Bringing It Home: 5 Days Solo On the Arizona Trail Part 4

Somehow I survived the howling gale that buffeted my tent and no trees fell on me in the night. Phew. I was well rested and ready for my final day of hiking. Since I cut the trip short, I would no longer need the last full day of hiking, and at that point I was pretty fine with that. My feet. My poor suffering feet were so completely done.

I was reluctant to leave the lovely McFarland Canyon. It was so incredibly idyllic. I took my time with breakfast and spent a little time checking out a short exploratory mine shaft and photographing rusting metal mining tools.

As I was packing up, a middle aged couple hiked in with what looked to be very heavy packs. They told me they had recently retired and were working on doing the whole AZT section by section. They were having a great time learning to backpack together and exploring the state. They marveled that someone my age with a toddler was able to get away for 5 days to hike this far alone. That just wasn’t something they would have thought was possible when their kids were little.

Leaving McFarland Canyon, the surface water became less abundant but the evidence of a record setting winter was everywhere. The desert was exploding in shades of green and the profusion of flowers was a sight to behold. At one point I rounded a corner overlooking a grassy field to hear so many crickets you’d have thought I was in Louisiana or something. It was amazing.

This is the desert? Wow! So green! 

With the trip almost over I had some time to contemplate this journey. To think about my experience and reflect. I chuckled a bit inside remembering how nervous I had been about launching this thing. Especially the navigation part. Navigating 100% on my own really gave my head a spin. But why? I guess we all have our things that we are less confident about, for me navigation is it. Maybe its because I can never remember if you add or subtract to adjust declination when going from map to physical world, or physical world to map. Or maybe its because I spent the previous 9 years partnered with a man who seems to have a GPS chip implanted in his brain. Seriously, his ability to know exactly where we are in space and precisely where to go without so much as a consult of the map or check of the compass is something to behold. As much as his skills are impressive, it can leave a girl feeling pretty inadequate in that department. But now, coming to the end of it, I find my confidence has risen. I trust in myself, as I should have all along. No, I may not be a human GPS, but I do know what I’m doing. Apparently I just needed to prove it to myself.

The last 4 miles were the longest 4 miles of the trip. Not only was the scenery a bit less remarkable, but after hiking 12-13 miles per day, 4 miles SOUNDS like basically nothing. I mean, I was practically done right? Yeah. That’s a head game that does nobody any favors. As soon as you decide you are basically done, you just want to be done. So the last miles stretch on fooooorrrrrr evvvverrrrrr.

When I finally arrived at the end of the passage, which ends under a highway bridge, I found another hiker basking in the late afternoon sun. We struck up a conversation and found that we had met once before in our hometown and had some friends in common. We spent a pleasant evening chatting and comparing destroyed foot stories from our respective hiking adventures. Once his ride arrived, I set up my tent to go to sleep. Yep. Right there. By the highway bridge. For some odd reason the trailhead is really not near where the passage actually ends and there is no signage to indicate which direction on the highway the trailhead is. I was tired and all done with thinking. I figured a night by the bridge like a hobo would refresh my senses so I could think straight the next morning. Plus, finally having phone service, it WAS kinda fun to text a few friends to tell them you were spending the night under a highway bridge.

Turns out, oddly enough, that a highway bridge isn’t exactly the most restful place to spend the night. Even though my tent couldn’t be seen from the road, and this particular spot was quite far from city centers (hence, interactions with other humans was unlikely) it was unnerving to sleep alone with the sounds of humanity so close by. As a solo female hiker, I’m not worried about bears or mountain lions. It’s other humans, particularly in the places where frontcountry and backcountry intersect that makes me nervous. It didn’t help that every time I was about to drift off to sleep a long haul trucker would clatter over the bridge and startle me awake. Oh well, live and learn.

The next morning, after coffee, a quick check of the map made clear which direction to walk along the road to get to the trailhead for my pick up. It was funny how much I struggled to see it the night before when it was quite clear now.  

As I rested in the shade waiting for my ride it occurred to me; I am not particularly special. I’m not a sponsored athlete. I’m not especially fit or fast or noteworthy in any way. I won’t be setting any particular records for anything. I’m just a regular person. I’m a mom with a job and a mortgage to pay and chronic health issues that hold me back in a big way. But yet I’m here, doing what I can. Making it happen. But maybe that is precisely why I actually am, kinda awesome.     

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Don't Let the Perfect (bike ride) Be the Enemy of the Good

There was an era of my life when the vast majority of my time and attention was focused on adventure. Mostly mountain biking, but any sort of adventure and travel would do. I worked, yeah, but I was single and childless and could really devote at least two hours every day (more on days off) to outdoor pursuits. Even during the busiest of days I bike commuted all over town and could at least squeeze in a 45 minute trail run plus the time it takes to get to the trailhead and back again.  

Enter motherhood. Screaming non-sleeping newborn, a lengthy battle with postpartum depression, nursing, poopy diapers...oh man. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and the slack had definitely snapped right out of my schedule.

As my kiddo got older, and I finally got my PPD treated, I started to make an effort to carve out time for adventure again. Finding weekends to get away, or days when I could steal half of an afternoon for a bike ride. A little while later I started this blog to have an outlet for my passion for writing and to hopefully show other new mamas what is possible even in motherhood.

But mostly I’ve still done these things in a bit of a “Go Big, or Go Home” mindset. The bike ride must be of a certain length, the hike must hit a particular destination, the blog post must be detailed, in depth and require multiple days to write, edit and publish. I’m a bit of a perfectionist….What can I say?

But I’m realizing lately that while I plan these bigger adventures, my day to day reality can often get so caught up in the running of life that there is little time left for playing outside, and even if there is a bit of time I quickly get stuck in a “that wouldn’t be big enough to count” headspace. Really??? Big enough to count? So the 20 mile bike ride I don’t take is better than the 3 mile one I do? That’s silly. And while those regular bigger adventures feed the soul, when I look back at my life it will not be the punctuation marks of quarterly trips that make up the composition of my life. It will be the letters and words of the minutes and hours I spend every day that fill the page.

This is why i signed up for the 365 Challenge recently. The idea is simple. 365 human powered miles in one year. (Yes, I know the year is more than half over, I’m still gonna try anyway.) But you get to set whatever rules and parameters around your miles you want. For me, I’m counting miles I cover on workdays, or non-work days when I’m on kiddo duty.These are the times I struggle to get the mini adventures in.

Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let’s take the .5 mile hike with the toddler instead of shrugging our shoulders and deciding it isn’t worth the trouble. And…(yes, this one is for me) let’s write the damn blog post that’s at the top of my head instead of getting hung up about the 12 bigger posts that I still “need” to finish first but don’t have time for right now.

Who’s with me?!         

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Smooth Trail and Wash Bottoms: 5 Days Solo on the Arizona Trail Part 3

I launched from Bear Spring camp late and heavy. According to the map, the spring would be my last water source for 9 miles and seeing as I would be traversing high and dry ridges I didn’t want to toy with dehydration.

The camp had been lovely and I was somewhat reluctant to leave. Looking at the map I thought I might only need to cover 9-10 miles before reaching what appeared to be a flat spot near water where I could camp for the night. Thinking I would have fewer miles today didn’t help the motivation.

But finally I got my gear packed up and headed to Bear Spring to fill water. After two days of washes, creeks and slick rock pockets filled with crystalline sparking water Bear Spring was a bit of a let down. The spring was contained within a man made rock enclosure. It was still, stagnant, and cloudy. I immediately began thinking of it as “Bear Pee” spring. I was immediately thankful for my Sawyer Filter and glad I had not just brought chemical treatment tablets.

Oh joy. Stagnant cloudy water. mmmm...

Most of the day’s walk was along ridge tops and high on the sides of looming transition zone mountains. Transition zones are biologically fascinating places. Not quite the high alpine of the more northern latitudes or high country altitudes, not really low deserts either. A mix of both where you might find yucca and prickly pear on a south facing aspect, a pine a few steps away on a shadier north facing aspect, and all the manzanita in between. The biodiversity of these places is breathtaking.   

After only a couple of miles I had to stop to work on my feet again. Oh the feet. My aching, throbbing, angry feet. While I reapply blister care and tape it in place with athletic tape I really truly get it. The shoes. It’s these damn shoes. For most of my backpacking life I have worn trail runners for hiking. It’s what works best for me. Specifically I have worn last year’s trail runners. Fresh shoes were reserved for actual running. The shoes that were just a touch too old for running got downgraded to hiking duty. But I had to give up running a couple of years ago. My knees and adrenal system don’t care for running, so I had to quit. Rather than buy expensive trail runners for hiking alone, I had bought hiking shoes. It finally occurred to me that these damn shoes are the real problem. I have gotten blisters from them in the exact same places every time I’ve backpacked in them. No more. When I get home they are going in the trash. Ugh.

The state of the feet. Not great. 

Along my hike I stood atop the highest point on my pilgrimage. I hit just over 7,000 feet on the knob of a somewhat unremarkable ridge looking out over some lovely views of corduroy mountains in the distance.

Highest point on the Mazatzal Divide Trail. 

Continuing my hike I stopped to consider my location and have a snack. Two things quickly occurred. The first...I realized that my pace today was nearly double what it had been the previous two days. No, I don’t think I somehow walked myself into shape in two days. If anything I’m more worn down today and should be moving slower. The one thing that had changed was the trail itself. After two days of navigating the loosest, rocky rubble field of a trail I’ve maybe ever seen, today the trail was smooth and pleasant. My confidence was bolstered. It really wasn’t me. I hadn’t actually overestimated my abilities and potential trail pace, I had grossly underestimated this rugged, remote trail. Simultaneously I feel a little sheepish. Why had I allowed self doubt to so completely rule my first day? Maybe that’s another contemplation for another day. Another blog post.  The second thing I quickly realized was the swarm of Juniper Gnats buzzing around the instant I sat down. Yuck. This would be no place for a snack. Keep moving lady. Keep moving.

View from my high point. 

More rapidly than I expected I rounded the Mt. Peely section of this passage into the cool pines. A quick stop to acknowledge the joy of passing out of the Mazatzal Wilderness and away I went, descending precipitously toward the Saddle Mountain passage.

Arriving at today’s 10 mile mark, I did find water. A tumbling, rushing stream in fact. But my hopes for a short day and an early camp were not to be. While I found the area that seemed to have a relative flat spot, it was choked with brambly bushes and dense vegetation. It was no place for a camp. According to the map, Mcfarland Canyon 3 miles away most definitely had tent platforms and it seemed that this might be my best bet. Oh well. What’s three more miles? Looking off into the distance I spotted a grove of tall fir trees at the mouth of a canyon. I was guessing that must be McFarland. It seemed dishearteningly far away, but also beckoned me on.

Much of the first half of the Saddle Mountain passage is rock hopping through a steam bed. Minus the water, this might be another tedious slog through a boulder field. But with the water brought from a wet, cool winter and spring, the path danced with glassy sunlight creating a magical fairyland oasis in the midst of the approaching desert lowlands.   

Saddle Mountain passage was so beautiful. I could have spent days just taking pictures of inviting water pools and trickling creeks. 

Arriving at McFarland canyon made the extra miles worth it. It was spectacular. Lovely tent platform and a babbling brook nearby to enjoy and refill water reserves. For tonight...I was home.

Just after dark I climbed into my tent ready for a solid night’s sleep. No sooner had I finished zipping the tent shut than the wind gusted in so hard I thought my tent might blow over. I hastily jumped out to check and re secure the guy lines on the sides of my ultralight tent. Once satisfied that they were secure I got back inside just as the sky opened up and began to pour. The tall pines above me creaked menacingly. In winds this high, it would not be out of the question for one of these trees to come crashing down on me in the night. Yikes. There went my hopes for a solid night’s sleep.           

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Crossing Mazatzal Peak: 5 Days Solo on the Arizona Trail Part 2

I awoke to the sounds of a million birds serenading me from above. Their songs echoing through the treetops a sweet balm to my spirit after the rough day before.  

All the previous day I had been mentally cursing the giant “sleeping bag coat” that I’d been carrying. Not because it really represented a significant amount of weight, but it was bulky and represented both the uselessness of my actual sleeping bag and a giant pile of ridiculous. I even worried a bit that it would not be as cold at night as I had feared and I would be carrying it for naught. But waking that morning my inclusion of the puffy pile of plumage was vindicated. It had been every bit as cold as it had been at the trailhead and I needed the warmth. As odd as it sounds, being right about that decision bolstered my morale considerably.

In every way I felt better after a solid 11 hours of sleep. I was calm, much more confident and ready to make a plan. I emerged from my tent to begin the process of coffee/food/pack-up and nearly fell to the ground. My feet. Oh man my feet. The bottoms felt simultaneously bruised and stiff. Every step felt like the bottoms of my feet were made of a stiff and crinkly paper that wrinkled and crackled with every step.

Oh my feet! 

I somehow managed to limp to my food bag and get started fueling myself. I sat watching the pastel pinks, purples and blues of the morning sky through the trees and listening to the birds. It was clear that a change in itinerary would need to take place. Not only were my feet a serious problem, but I had struggled to make even 12 miles the day before, nowhere near the 18 per day I would have needed to do my original plan. Consulting maps and doing some mental calculations it seemed that slicing the trip in half would be the best plan. This would put me at an accessible trail head for my pick up and I should have time to spare. This was the right decision. The sensible decision. Even still I couldn’t help feeling supremely bummed. I was already a failure at executing my plan, and I was only on day 2. The trail had been rough. Really rough. But could I really blame my excruciatingly slow pace on that? In this moment, I blamed myself.

After filtering some water I headed out for the day. Not long after launching I saw a middle aged couple hiking up a side trail to join the AZT. There are very few of these at the moment as fire, flooding and subsequent overgrowth have obliterated most of the connecting trails from the Mazatzal Divide. I inquired about where they had been and they confirmed that it was the trail down to Horse Camp Seep, the place I had hoped to find to camp the night before. I decided to go check it out anyway. Wow. Just wow. Magical water filled oasis in the desert. Little waterfalls, miniature puddles in the divots of granite, huge pools big enough to swim in. All cozied up next to a comfy tent platform under the protective canopy of tall pines.

On oasis in a desert mountain range. 

While reveling in the beauty of this spot, wishing I could stay here to play in these pools for days, it was tempting to be angry with myself yet again. This really wasn’t much farther than the ridiculous rock strewn bench I had hacked out to sleep on the night before. I could have made it here. But oddly, I really wasn’t. The fact is, the night before I was getting downright delirious when I stopped. I was starting to make questionable decisions and was “bending the map” (a term for when you begin imagining yourself in completely incorrect places on the map despite pretty clear topographical evidence to contrary). Had I continued to this place would I have even noticed the turnoff to the camp? If so, would I have figured out that this side trail was, in fact where I needed to go? Dubious. In reality, stopping where I did, when I did had been the right call. If you are too exhausted to make good decisions, food and sleep are the best choices.

Waterfalls in the desert. 

A few hours later, when stopping for a sizable snack I contemplated the joy of getting a few more ounces of food off my back and into my belly. I stared at my bulging food sack and wondered, for the four thousandth time if i had once again packed too much. My food bag was heavy. Really, incredibly heavy. I half wanted to chuck it over the mountainside and try to become a breatharian for the rest of the trip. But that would not actually work of course. I changed out the blister dressings on my feet before launching again. The band-aid brand of blister cushions are usually my favorite, but the sweat and wool sock combo keeps pulling them off. Nevertheless, I reapply and hope for the best.

When I finally make it to the base of Mazatzal Peak I feel pretty excited and accomplished. There is it! The rocky outcropping the signifies I am more than halfway through today’s walk, and the pinnacle that this passage was named for. As I come to the end of the traverse across the bottom of the peak and round the corner I see...oh crap...THAT is Mazatzal Peak. What I had just spent an hour traversing was...some unnamed rock. Oh. Boy. At least I’m laughing about these things by now.

Mazatzal Peak

Walking the ACTUAL base of Mazatzal Peak this time I encounter a grizzled older hiker. He is wearing hiking clothes that demonstrate a number of miles on the trail and has one of those silver hiking sun umbrella’s rigged to his backpack so he doesn’t have to carry it. In the intense sun of this particular afternoon, this looks like an incredible system. He introduces himself as “Slow-Bro” his trail name. A little while after passing Slow-Bro, I encounter a young couple. The guy is blasting music from somewhere. The urban sounds seem so incredibly odd out here.  The woman hiking behind him looks to not be having a very good time. They decline to stop and chat. I’m interested in the style difference between the two encounters. Slow-bro taking his time, quietly meandering the trail and smiling joyfully at everything, taking the time to visit with fellow hikers. Then the two with their loud mobile dance party sulking down the trail, too busy to stop and chat. I imagine both groups will get to where they are going. I make my guesses as to who is having more fun.

I cruise into Bear Spring Camp in time to set my tent and catch the fading sun bouncing red off the cliffs across the way. This camp more than makes up for the silliness of the night before. Lovely tent platform nestled under trees with a gorgeous view. I can’t ask for much more.

Gorgeous sunset from a fine camp. 

Settling in I begin to get that mama twinge of missing my Little Bear. I try not to think about it too much, but I can’t help wanting to take him camping very, very soon.       

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What Mama Bear Really Wants for Mother's Day

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Oh my son. My sweet (and often sassy) little boy. My heart and soul. The apple of my eye. The reason for my everything. He made me a mama.

He also, pretty regularly, makes a gigantic mess all over my house. Toys all over creation, sticky messes anywhere even close to the kitchen table (and occasionally in very odd places), evidence of his paper cutting practice practically everywhere. Yes...motherhood brings its share of challenges, with household disasters being a daily one.

And of course, our kiddos are totally worth it. The smiles. Watching them learn to ride a bike. Seeing their own interests develop and how excited they are to share those interests with you.

Nothing better than seeing his joy at riding a bike!

One of my little bear’s top 3 interests is books. If I had the time to read to him more or less constantly he would be just fine with that. He wants a story in the morning before school, in the evening before bed, in the car, in the bathroom, anywhere he can rope someone into reading to him really. And I love it.

Ironically, one of his favorite books right now is “The Berenstain Bears and the Mama’s Day Surprise”. It is a story many moms can relate to.

Mother’s day is coming, and mama bear thinks back on her previous Mother’s day experiences with a sigh. Papa and the cubs always do their best to take good care of her, and usually end up creating more work for her in the process. This year, she’s pretty sure they are planning a breakfast in bed for her and a new bathrobe.

In the days leading up to the big surprise, she makes sure the house is stocked with the ingredients for honey french toast with blueberries (the dish she thinks they are making) including tracking down frozen blueberries from Gran since it is too early in the season for blueberries in bear country. Mama bears have a lot of work to do to make sure her cubs can pull off their “surprise” after all.

But the thing Mama is dreading the most of course, is the tremendous mess she will have to clean up after this is all over. She envisions egg on the floor, dishes on the counter and sticky hand prints all over the walls. Oh well. At least Mother’s Day comes only once a year.

What mama bears envision when they imagine their family doing the cooking. (Image Source Deposit Photos)

When the big day arrives, there is a comedy of errors as Papa and the cubs crashing down the stairs, the smell of burnt toast wafting into the bedroom, and finally a loud breaking sound that drives mama out of bed to investigate. Sure enough, it is the scene she imagined. Sheer chaos and destruction all over the kitchen. She sighs and scurries back up stairs so her family won't know she is onto them.

The bear family delivers Mama a surprisingly edible breakfast and insists that she stay in bed a while to read and enjoy her new robe. But soon she figures she had better go downstairs and get started on the mess of she will be at it all day.

That’s when she gets a real surprise. The kitchen is spotless. Every surface gleams. Not a dish out of place. She’s speechless and grateful.

Ahhh...the relaxing sight of a sparkling clean kitchen. (Image Source Deposit Photos)

What’s the moral of the story? The dinner out, or breakfast in bed are all well and good. But if you really want to surprise and delight Mama Bear this year, do something that makes her life easier. Take something off her to do list. Give her the day off from her load of responsibilities. Maybe send her out for a few hours to ride her bike or climb a mountain with a friend while everyone else does some laundry and cleans the kitchen.

Yes. Really. Do it. I guarantee her online mom group will hear all about it and she will be the envy of everyone there. And when you are the focus of her gratitude and joy...feel free to thank me later.    

Image Source: Deposit Photos

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Self Doubt and Blisters: 5 Days Solo on the Arizona Trail Part 1

The plan was 79 miles in 5 days. Solo backpacking on some of the most remote passages of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. Mazatzal Divide, Saddle Mountain, Pine Mountain, and Four Peaks Wilderness. I was banking on averaging 16 miles per day to make this distance happen in the time allotted. I figured that was ambitious for my current fitness level, but not totally off the wall. Still very doable.  

In my planning stages I was excited. Stoked to get a chance to knock out four passages of my goal to complete the AZT section by section. I read the passage descriptions, downloaded and printed the topo maps, and started collecting my gear. Transport from my endpoint back to my car was arranged, a new headlamp was purchased.

The night before I was set to leave home and post up at my starting point I suddenly was overwhelmed with panic. Was this a big mistake? Could I even do this? It hadn’t occurred to me until this exact moment that this was the longest, farthest and most remote solo trip I’ve ever attempted. I had to sit with that a minute. 1. How had it not occurred to me before that this was such an extensive project? 2. How have I been adventuring this long and not done anything this long alone until now? The answers to both were intertwined. The thing is, my husband and I have been together nearly a decade. One of the reasons I married him was that he was my favorite adventure partner. For whatever parts of the last 10 years I haven’t been pregnant or recovering from becoming a mom, longer adventures had been with him. Because, of course they have been. We enjoyed that time together and there was no compelling reason to do it any other way. Prior to that, my adventuring had been more focused on mountain biking than anything else. Backpacking only really happening when a friend suggested a project.

It was somewhat comforting to realize that my lack of longer distance solo adventure had been simply incidental. It’s not that I have been incapable or too inexperienced until now, I just haven’t had a compelling reason to. Now that we are parents, longer adventures almost have to be solo. This was why it hadn’t occurred to me that this was the first time I was attempting such a big endeavor alone. Because it wasn’t like I was setting out to do some new, more advanced thing on purpose. I was just setting out to do something I would have done before with my partner. It's just, he couldn’t come this time.  

Even reasoning this through however, I was still suddenly sweaty palmed about it. The first passage I was to tackle is one notorious for difficult navigation. I had good maps and compass (and know how to use them), but I would have no GPS back up. (My phone has decided to give up all GPS related functioning for some unknown reason and Verizon has yet to sort it out for me.) It was silly really. I plan and lead expeditions with teenagers for a living. I literally never get this nervous while leading other people’s children through the wilderness. Why does alone feel scarier? I’m not sure. But it felt very committing. No one else to consult with. No one to check my ego with. All decisions 100% on me, for right or wrong. I was equal parts worried and franky pretty embarrassed for feeling this way. I became so nervous I even began to tell myself the story that I would miss my Little Bear too much. Maybe he’s still too little for me to go away for this long. (Nevermind that I do trips longer than this for work several time a year.) Thankfully my husband was having none of that. I would go, dammit, and I would like it.

After setting my water caches at various trailheads, I settled in at the City Creek Trailhead outside of Payson, Arizona to spend the night before starting out the next morning. It was in locating this trailhead that my adventure hit its first glitch. In planning my mileage I had not noticed that the trailhead I was beginning at did not actually intersect with the Arizona Trail. In fact, I would have a six mile, straight up hill slog to begin my hike that I had not planned on. In all fairness, the trailhead description was the only place this info was listed and why would I have read the trailhead descriptions until I needed to go to the trailheads anyway? Still, missing this detail made me second guess my entire planning. What else had I missed? Had I been too cavalier in my planning? Assumed too much? What other surprises might be in store for me? The self doubt redoubled its efforts. Oh well...I guess this means a longer daily average would be needed. Now aiming for 17.5-18 miles a day average. The 15.5-16 I originally planned already felt big for my current fitness level, this increase might just put the whole thing out of reach. But, I was still eager, still game.

That night brought another snafu. I. Was. Freezing. Like shivering in my bag all night freezing. My ten year old down sleeping bag, it turns out, has lost enough fluff to be only good for full summer-only duty. The only reason I got any sleep at all was that my huge thigh length down jacket (which I affectionately call my “sleeping bag coat”)  was in the car. I put that on my upper body, wrapped my legs in my fleece, then put the whole works inside my dying bag and was able to stop shivering long enough to catch some zzzz.

(sigh) My poor bag has been shedding feathers like this a lot lately. I guess it finally caught up with me. 

As morning crept in, with my tent surprisingly wet inside from my breath, I sipped my instant coffee contemplating the best thing to do next. I’m in a bit of a canyon, so sunlight to dry this tent won’t be here for a while. My bag is insufficient. I knew I would spend at least two of my next four nights at higher elevation than this. Driving into Payson to buy a sleeping bag was not a realistic option. Even if it had a gear shop (which it doesn’t) that detour alone would cost me too much time. And the only place to really buy a sleeping bag in Payson is Wal-mart, which would yield me something bigger and heavier, but not any warmer than what I already had. Risking hypothermia on a remote mountain range was also not an option. I would have to carry the sleeping bag coat along too. Great. More bulk. More weight. So I packed up everything but the tent and then hiked my tent up to the side of a the canyon to find a patch of sunlight and dry it out while I ate some dry breakfast.  

Already so many issues and I hadn’t even started hiking yet!? Yeesh!

Geez this pack is heavy...Up and over! 

But away I went finally, walking away from my car with 46 pounds on my back. I launched with WAY too much water. Way. I had 7 liters I hauled up to the ridge. This, in retrospect sounds extreme. But this is not an area of the world know for its abundant surface water. Quite the contrary. Stories of helicopters plucking lost, dehydrated hikers out of this exact section of wilderness are not difficult to find. I was sure as hell not going to be a news story. I could see the headlines now “Professional Outdoor Educator Needs Rescue After Getting Dehydrated In The Desert.” No siree! Not Me! My 7 liters was, it turns out, not necessary. I was hiking into one of the wettest springs in recent memory. Oh well. Hindsite 20/20.

Wet spring means many, many flowers! 

Compared to the 60lb packs I learned to carry in the 1990’s when I first learned to backpack, 46lbs wa practically featherweight. But compared to my fitness level after battling chronic illness for the last few years it was a lot. Nevertheless, I made it, after 3.5 hours, to the actually Arizona Trail! Horray!! It was one part victory and two parts frustration that it was now basically lunchtime and I was only just now arriving at the place I had anticipating starting. Good Grief Charlie Brown. What next?

Finally made it to the divide! 

Feet. That was what was next. My feet were already a mess. Blisters, Blisters, everywhere and they ached so bad the pain shot up into my hips, searing, taking my breath away.

I ate. Bandaged my feet. Texted my husband and my BFF. Carried on. My roughly 1.5 MPH pace for the hike up to the trail had me even more bummed and even more doubtful.

On I went. Self deprecating thoughts swirling in my head the whole time. I’ve done enough of this kind of thing to know that the absolute worst thing you can do is have a bad attitude. The. Worst. Yet, my badittude was persistent. Ugh...get off me grumpy lady!

After a while I finally got the constant barrage of negative self talk to slow down. Not quit but at least I could just focus on walking for a while. The day was cool and overcast. Then, in a moment, the snow began. It was beautiful. Refreshing. A brief moment of peace that cooled my agitated heart. I hiked on.

About 2:00 I had my first of many encounters with other hikers. Hiking from north to south meant I was more likely to see lots of other through and section hikers since south to north is the most popular direction. Around the corner came a grey haired woman hiking alone. We paused to chat. She told me her plans and asked about mine. When I answered that yes, I was hiking solo, she became excited to the point of nearly squealing. She exclaimed, “Oh! I just LOVE seeing other women out solo! Isn’t it a wonderful way to travel!?” Indeed! She acted like I was the only other solo female she had seen like...ever. She had been the first other hiker I had seen today and she was female and alone. Could it really be that rare? (I would later learn just how rare the solo female backpacker actually is. She was the only one I encountered the whole trip. But this is a topic for another post, another day.) In any case, that interaction gave me the boost I needed to get my head out of my backside for a bit and feel more cheerful for a while.

As the day went on my pace did not improve. In fact, it slowed. A lot. There were times I was moving at about .5 mile per hour. I was feeling really down on myself. Angry to be attempting this on so little fitness, and even angrier that what I thought was challenging but doable was turning out to be just not doable in the time I had given myself. The trail was rubbly. Soooo rubbly. A never ending ribbon of sharp rocks poking my sore feet and trying to roll out from under me. Sprained ankles and injured knees taunting me with every step. But despite the challenging terrain, I still blamed myself. I couldn’t believe I was moving so slowly! What the heck was wrong with me!? Ugh!!

This...was....what most of this day looked like. I don't much remember the scenery from this day. I do remember the tread. It was rough.

By 6 PM I was utterly spent. I could feel myself getting frantic because my exhaustion was leading to a lot of serious second guessing of my navigation. I thought I was maybe only a mile from a campsite listed on the map. But I was so unsure of my pacing, I wasn’t totally certain about that. And even if I was that close, how long would that take me? 2 hours!? I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I found a place with water nearby and a slight bench in the trees just barely flatish enough to hack out a spot to plop my tent (huge immovable rock in my back not withstanding). Food was consumed. I contemplated the reality that a change of plans was imminent, without being completely sure what that would look like. But having made it about 12 miles on day one and feeling like a mess, there was no way this trip was going to finish as planned

I passed out before the sun fully faded from the sky. Rock at my back be damned.

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Taking Flight: An Interview with Darcy Conover of Corbeaux Clothing

She has the sort of quiet confidence that tells you she will set the world on fire. Not through force or the sheer power of will, but through grace.

Darcy Conover, co-founder of Corbeaux Clothing, knows what is important to her and ensures that her company embodies her values from source materials, through production and distribution. She is very clear that this is certainly not the most profitable way to run a company. Especially for a start-up. Sourcing sustainable materials and manufacturing in the US has a high financial cost, but one she is willing to shoulder. Corbeaux values being a socially-responsible company committed to making rugged & stylish performance clothing made in the USA from environmentally-conscious fabrics. (And stylish they are! Seriously! Check this out! How many companies are making underwear that’s fun to wear?)

Darcy and her husband are both sponsored professional skiers and mountaineers. They have traveled the world ascending peaks and descending slopes. Being dedicated adventurers, of course they didn’t spend their honeymoon lounging on a beach. Instead they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was on the mountain that the idea for their company was born. As they ascended they realized how the one piece of gear they were always complaining about was their base layers. The waist was too short or the sleeves too long, the knees bag and sag, while other places had too little give. And the worst, baselayers that just shift around all the time. The more they talked about it, the more they realized that this was a real blind spot in the outdoor industry. Other than one wool fabric only company, no one was focused 100% on making quality base layers (and what about people who find wool too itchy or smelly?). Thus the idea for Corbeaux was born.

Image Courtesey of Darcy Conniver and Corbeaux Clothing

As a sponsored athlete Darcy has taken on adventures that most of us can only imagine. From ascending peaks all over the world, to dropping into off piste ski runs that would make most of us tremble. Yet she is as relaxed and humble as any other mama you might meet at the park. She talked with excitement about an upcoming ski trip she was planning to tour old abandoned ski resorts in her home state of Colorado. (Side note, did you know there are ghost town ski resorts in Colorado? Resorts that have long been defunct and just sit there? Me neither! New bucket list item!) We bonded over how horrible most kids mittens are, and the impossible task of keeping mittens on a toddler determined to freeze their own fingers off.

More than her commitment to sustainability and the instant bond found among adventure loving mamas everywhere, the thing that most impresses me about Corbeaux is their “Join the Flight” initiative. As world travelers, Darcy and her husband have summited many mountains supported by guides and porters from local communities. While the climbing and mountaineering industry is a boon for local economies, locals in these remote areas are frequently climbing to altitudes and temperatures that require gear they simply don’t have. In temperatures where frostbite is likely, these hardworking people are risking their safety and lives wearing insufficient clothing against the elements. All this, serving a mostly western population of climbers who have countless piles of barely worn technical layers, fleeces, and waterproof jackets sitting in the backs of their closets. Corbeaux’s “Join the Flight” campaign collects gently used outdoor cold weather gear and puts it into the hands of people who need it to support their work and their families. Every piece of usable clothing sent to Join the Flight is hand delivered to the places they are needed, so you know that every piece of gear is getting where it needs to go. I can’t think of a better place to send that fleece that’s the wrong color or that down vest that never quite fit just right. If you want to learn more or see where to send your items check it out HERE.

When I asked Darcy what she wanted other women thinking of starting a business to know he advice was simple. “Everything will take longer than you think. Much, Much, longer. So get started and be patient. Don’t give up.”

The older I get the more I want my life to be simple. I don’t want my life and closet filled with a thousand poorly made items that I dislike wearing. I’d much rather have a small and simple collection of quality items, made from quality materials, by quality people. Corbeaux just fits.  

Learn more about this incredible company:

corbeauxclothing.com

Join the Flight:  http://corbeauxclothing.com/join-the-flight/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CorbeauxClothing/

Instagram: @corbeaux_clothing

This post is the third in the "Women, Work, Wits" series. Read about the why of this series and find each interview linked HERE. 

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Teaching Your Toddler To Ski

As a mom who loves to ski, the chance to teach my son to love the slopes is something I’ve been waiting for since the day I found out I was pregnant. (In that, “OMG, I didn’t realize until now but I’ve been looking forward to taking him skiing since he was in my belly!” kind of way.) But to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t really sure HOW to teach a three year old to ski. I mean...I didn’t even know where to begin.  

So I did what anyone would do and got a job teaching ski school! (Ok, ok, most people would search for blogs like this one and fall down the You Tube rabbit hole lookng for tips. But I’m an overachiever with a slow winter work schedule and a mother-in-law who has been teaching ski school for 8 years who practically filled out the application for me so...here we are.) But all kidding aside, learning techniques to teach tiny people to ski was one of my primary reasons for taking the gig. I still have a lot to learn (and endless certifications to pursue) but this season has taught me so much about the do’s and don’ts of toddler skiing.

DO: Look up You Tube videos of children skiing to watch with your kiddo. This will give them a connection to other kids their age skiing and gets them stoked about what they will be doing. This dad/daughter duo is one of my favorites on the internet. Dad has a contagious stoke and joy for being with his daughter on the slopes that can’t be matched and the little girl is having a blast.

DON’T: Buy snow clothes for your child at Target. While I know the price of winter gear is daunting, especially for people who will keep growing, discount store snow clothes will not be truly waterproof or particularly warm. A kid who becomes soaked and cold will not have fun, and if they don’t have fun they won’t want to do it again. A few tips to keep the price down: Try SIerra Trading Post for reasonably priced kids gear. We found the Little Bear’s snow pants on there this year for $24, roughly the same as Target gear but it is actually waterproof. If possible, you can buy your child one size too large coat and pants and get two seasons out of it. Don’t buy it so big and floppy that they trip over it or can’t move, but a little big is fine. You can also check out the Obermeyer iGrow system. There is stitching at the legs and arms that you remove to lengthen them in season two. If you combine this technique with the “buy a little big” technique you may get 3 seasons out of your child’s snow gear.

DO: Practice footwork before you hit the slopes! It can take tiny people a lot of practice to move their feet into the “pizza” shape that they will need to be able to control their speed. They won’t really want to practice this over and over on the slopes because...they just wanna SKI! (Really, can you blame em?) Help them learn to lean into the balls of their feet and slide their heels to the pizza shape. Feel free to physically move their feet for them a few times until they get the idea. Little children have difficulty moving their arms and legs separately so capitalize this and encourage them to make their arms into pizza too! It will help. And be the cutest thing ever!

This shape takes a lot of practice to make! 

DON’T: Use those leashes or ski behind them to hold them up. These things make me crazy. Children already have a great deal of difficulty getting their weight forward when skiing and pulling on their backs or being behind them encourages them to lean back into it. Additionally, instead of learning from day one to control their speed they learn to hurtle down the mountain with the expectation that someone will magically stop them. I’ve seen many many children come to ski school who were basically “foot sledding” down the hill at 2 and 3 years old who then, at 4, come to ski school to learn to ski for real. Problem is they have a TON of resistance to learning technique because they spent the previous two seasons flying downhill. That’s what they think skiing is all about and changing that pattern is extremely difficult.

In this moment I needed to be behind him to help him learn to load the lift. See how he is practically sitting on my hands? You don't want to cement this sitting back habit all the way down the hill. 

DO: Ski backwards in front of them! This way you can ensure their safety as they learn speed control and they will naturally want to lean forward, which is the body position you want to teach them. You can have them press the palms of their hands into your hands as they ski. It will give them confidence, move their weight forward, and encourage them to look up at you instead of at their skis. From this position you can also reach down and physically move their feet into the pizza shape if they are having difficulty.

DO: Use “tip clips”. They go on the ends of their skis to prevent ski drift. Tiny people don’t always have the muscle control to slide their heels out into the pizza shape without their legs completely drifting into the splits. This gives them a bit of support and helps lock in the muscle memory of what correct positioning should feel like.

DON’T: Wake your kids at 4 AM and feed them donuts and red gatorade while driving swiftly to high elevation. Seriously people. What is up with this phenomenon? I can’t tell you how many bright red piles of donut puke have ended up in the snow from this mixture. Driving to high altitude can cause altitude sickness by itself, add in a giant pile of fried dough, sugar and red dye and you have a seriously queasy combination! Instead, encourage healthy protein rich breakfast and drinking water to combat the change in altitude and help your kiddo feel their best. If at all possible, spend the night near the ski hill beforehand so they can be well rested and have a bit of time to adjust to the altitude.

DO: Keep it fun and light! Expect that they will struggle at least a little. Expect not to see a future olympian their first day out. Laugh with them when they fall, cheer for them and be stoked no matter what. Take lots of breaks to make snow angels and throw snowballs. Visit the lodge for hot cocoa and snacks. Getting wound up about their performance or getting everything “right” will stress them out and make them not want to do it again next time. The MOST important thing on your first few visits to the mountain are cementing positive happy memories with their parents that make them want to come back again and again.

Having fun and bonding on the slopes is the most important thing at this age! 

DON’T: Try to “get your money’s worth”. I completely understand the desire to make the most out of that $30 gear rental fee, or the expensive lift ticket. I really do. But teaching a toddler to ski and love it is a long game. My 3yo son is good for about an hour before he is doing the “limp noodle” flop onto the snow and descending into that particular delirious laughter that indicates an attitude crash is coming. Expect to spend about an hour on the slopes with your little one at first. Prepare yourself mentally to count the cost of that hour as money well spent investing in your child’s love for the sport rather than insisting on going all day and causing exhaustion and resistance next time.

Officially "limp noodle" status. Don't push it. When they start to fall all over, pack it in. 

DO: Look into creative options for acquiring ski equipment. It is wise to just do a day rental the first time or two out (make sure they actually LIKE skiing first), but that will get very expensive very quickly. If you live near enough to skiing, check the local ski shops for season rentals. For around $150 you can rent skis for the whole season for your kiddo. Not only does this cut the cost of ski rental for trips to the mountain, but if there are small sledding hills near you that regularly get snow, you can hit those up quickly and easily if you have gear for your kids. If you have 3 or more children, it might make sense to purchase equipment each year for the oldest child and pass it down. As you become integrated into the “skiing with kids” community, it is very likely that parents of older children will offer to sell you their children’s old equipment for a reasonable price.

If teaching your kiddo to ski still seems overwhelming, ski school really can be a great option. Here are a few dos and don’ts for trying ski school.

DON’T: Lie about your child’s age so they can take a group lesson. It happens all the time and it really serves no one. At the ski school where I work, group lessons start at 4, but you can get a private lesson at any age you want. Parents, desperate for somewhere to send their children so they can ski for a few hours, and unwilling to pay for private lesson rates regularly send their 3 year olds to group lessons claiming they are 4. I get it. I really do and I don’t judge you one bit. Mama’s gotta ski amirite!? But here’s the thing. There really is a pretty huge developmental and social difference between a 3 year old and a 4 year old. (And let’s not forget that your child’s group lesson could have children who are 5 or even 6 years old.) The 3 year old will be unlikely to keep up with a group of older students causing the 3 year old to feel frustrated and the rest of the class to have to do a lot of waiting. If your goal is getting professional instruction for your tot but you are queasy at the price of a private lesson, call ahead to the ski school and ask if they have any one hour lesson deals. At the mountain where I work we have “early bird” 1 hour privates. It’s roughly the cost of a two hour group lesson, but gets your child out 1x1 for an hour before the rush of the group lessons hits the bunny hill. As mentioned previously, 1 hour is enough for tiny people anyway and they will make more progress in a 1 hour private than a 2 hour group lesson. If you goal is a babysitter, hire one of those. It will be cheaper.

DON’T: Make your child go to ski school if they don’t want to. This is not preschool. The advice at preschool is, drop your child off and they will eventually stop crying and join the class. That is very sound advice. The dynamics of ski school are very very different. At preschool the child can be in the room with everyone else, be comforted when needed by an adult, and the rest of the class can go about their business until your child is ready to join in. At ski school we are putting on coats and mittens and moving the class out to the ski slopes. “Sad Pandas” (our ski school’s name for crying or sick children) often simply refuse to move or do anything but wail and scream. The rest of the class cannot go about their business. What ends up happening 90% of the time is the sad panda has to have their parents called to pick them up early and the parents are now out the cost of ski school having gained nothing.

DO: Tip your child’s instructor. Ski instructors are making roughly minimum wage and are only being paid for the 2 or 4 hours a day they are physically teaching (even though they may be “at work” 6-8 hours). They depend on tips to be able to afford to be ski school instructors. No one teaches ski school to get rich, they do it because they have mad love for the game and a passion for teaching the sport to the next generation. But they need to eat too. No instructor expects to be tipped or is mad if you don’t, but they deeply appreciate it when you do.

Woohoo! Alright everyone! Are you ready!? Let’s get those kids out there to ski! Do you have any other great tips for teaching toddlers to ski? Still have questions? Leave me a comment and let me know!        

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Empowering Females Worldwide: An Interview with Gina Bégin of Outdoor Women's Alliance

Being female and breaking into the world of outdoor recreation isn’t easy. For many of us, we grew up with messages, some subtle and some not so subtle, that physical prowess, survival skills, and navigation in the backcountry were simply not for us. This was the domain of men. The boys were taken out to split wood with dad. Girls learned to cook with mom. Boy Scout troops learned to backpack and canyoneer while Girl Scout Troops sold cookies and did crafts.

As adults, not only are women having to push through this deeply embedded psychology, but we are also working against an outdoor culture that still treats outdoor women with suspicion and disbelief. (As a woman in a leadership role in an outdoor organization myself, I could fill an entire article with stories about being treated like I’m incapable while men 20 years my junior are regarded with respect.) On top of all this, when women want to learn new skills in the outdoors they often don’t have other women to learn from (see back to the things we were taught as children). Men teach and learn very differently than women. The way men approach teaching each other, is not a comfortable way for many women to learn.

Gina Bégin, founder of Outdoor Women’s Alliance saw these obstacles and is turning them into an opportunity to change the experience for women looking to break into adventure.

Asked what exactly OWA does Gina responded, “Outdoor Women’s Alliance (OWA) is a volunteer-run nonprofit media and adventure collective that engages, educates, and empowers females worldwide. Through the lens of human-powered adventure, we work to inspire confidence and leadership in women of all ages, believing that confident women have the power to build healthy communities and — quite literally — change the world.”

No big deal...Let’s just change the world. And the way OWA is growing, I have no doubt that they will.

Empowering women outdoors is important to Gina for the same reason it is important to many of us, because she herself has been transformed and shaped by experiences in it. She shared with me one particularly memorable experience.

“Sleeping under the northern lights in Yukon Territory in 2012. I was on my way to Cordova, Alaska and decided to drive rather than fly. I lived from my car for three years and at this point, it was much more natural to sleep in my car or a tent than it was to get a room with a bed. (Besides, lodging in the winter in the Yukon is hard to find when you’re not in the towns.) Being that it was -14ºF out, I knew I’d be sleeping in my car, rather than a tent, that night.

There was no moon. Mountains ripped into the sky as black silhouettes, lit only by stars. The road was desolate, single-laned, and its borders were uninhabited.

It was then that I saw it.

Shapeless, white, and faint. It was like a city illuminating a cloud cover, but I knew there was no city other than Whitehorse, and no cloud cover in this moonless night. Anyway, I had passed Whitehorse ages ago. There was nothing here — except that light.

And suddenly, realization. I pushed down on the brakes and moved onto the shoulder before cranking on the e-brake and turning my lights off. The window rolled down, frozen air rushing in to replace the heat. My numb fingers fumbled with a camera lens, trying to focus on something that wasn’t quite there yet. But it was growing, it was shimmering, it was beginning to dance.

The northern lights.

I hung out of that car window until my stomach, pressed against the sill, ached and my fingers were nearly drained of color from the cold. I cranked the heat and chased the lights, looking for a place to sleep for the night. Once I found my car campground, I watched until I fell asleep underneath the lights’ movement.

Though I’ve never shunned off-season outings, this experience forever cemented my preference for them. I loved that no one else was around and the wild thrill from this private showing. The only regret was that there was no human-power involved in “earning” this experience, but the impact shaped my perspective deeply.”

The idea and impetus for OWA came from first hand observation of how positive and powerful outdoor adventure can be for women, especially for young women.

Gina tells us, “The concept of using adventure sports to empower women came to me after I returned west from my home state of Florida and discovered a connection between self-confidence and participation in adventure sports.

Born and raised in Florida, I spent a few years of grade school living in the West. I learned to love skiing, hiking, camping, climbing, and exploring but, with my return to Florida for middle and high school, I found access to these healthy activities out of reach.

As I grew away the outdoor lifestyle and aged into high school, I saw many of my female peers—in their quest for acceptance—become pregnant, end up in juvenile court, or drop out of school.

It wasn’t until I moved back west for college that I rediscovered adventure sports and with it, a boost in confidence. I credit my growing confidence to adventure sports’ focus on individual skill progression.

Thinking back to my high school experience and the female friends who fell prey to social pressures, I realized adventure sports would have been a positive avenue for these young women to gain confidence, choose healthier paths, and pursue life with clearer purpose.

It was then that I began planning a way to connect young women with this tool for self-empowerment, with the intent of rerouting young people from risky paths to positive avenues of self-value.

As I continued with the idea of helping young women, I was approached locally by adult peers who wanted to participate in adventure sports but felt uncomfortable in co-ed situations. Achieving confidence in one aspect of life can spill over to all areas of life, and here, I saw the interplay between outdoor adventure and leadership qualities and confidence for all women, regardless of age or environmental upbringing.

Out of these realizations—and over the next several years—Outdoor Women’s Alliance grew into what it is today: a volunteer-run nonprofit organization that serves women worldwide through the lens of adventure.”

Outdoors Women’s Alliance isn’t just about inspiration. It’s about action. Through their Grassroots team OWA works to connect women with opportunities and community to grow their skills and confidence outdoors.

They provide meaningful mentorships and internships for women looking to learn the behind the scene skills they need to grow careers in the outdoor industry. Their media mission is to provide channels to support and uplift women for their skills and accomplishments in the outdoors, rather than for their sexuality. And let’s face it, we can use more recognition of women that is unrelated to their appearance.

On a personal level Gina is working to recover from a serious knee injury that has left her sidelined, with all the emotional roller coaster and self doubt that goes along with it.

When I asked her what was next for OWA she said, “We’re building an online platform that women everywhere can use to connect, grow skills, and build in-person communities right where they are. This new platform will bring the offerings OWA has at the team level to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access, allowing smaller groups of women to meet together in their locations to get outdoors, put on events through OWA, and continue our mission of instilling confidence and leadership skills in each participating member.  

Starting February 6th and through March 3rd, we’re running a crowdfunder to get this new platform and program on its feet. With OWA, we’re very organic in growth, relying on the feedback of needs from our community and the efforts of volunteers. We have no debt, no investors — just a community and hard-working women determined to meet the needs of #outdoorwomen.

We hope women will join with us to help provide for each other’s needs through this crowdfunder.”

We are all called to do big work in this world in some way. Gina and Outdoor Women’s Alliance are stepping up to their work and answering the call. If you too want to support getting more women outdoors and the incredible mission of OWA, please consider a donation to their crowdfunding campaign.

Want to keep up with all OWA is doing? Follow them online!

www.outdoorwomensalliance.com/about-owa

Facebook: http://facebook.com/outdoorwomensalliance (@Outdoor Women’s Alliance)

Twitter: http://twitter.com/womenoutdoors (@womenoutdoors)

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/outdoorwomen (@outdoorwomen)

Instagram: http://instagram.com/outdoorwomen (@outdoorwomen)

This post is the second in the "Women, Work, Wits" series. Read about the why of this series and find each interview linked HERE. 

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If you find this blog and my writing valuable in any way, please consider starting your next Amazon purchase below. You'll get the same service, selection, prices and shipping you expect from Amazon and they will send me a small percentage of the purchase price for the referral. Many Thanks!

Are You Badass Enough To Hang With Me?

Her matter-of-fact, straightforward words smacked me in the face like hitting the ground cheek first crashing my bike.

“I’ve missed out on too many opportunities to ride and have fun with friends because I was afraid I couldn’t keep up. I was worried I would hold everyone else back...you know?”

I could. Not. Believe. My. Ears. It’s not that I’ve never felt this way or that the concept was unfamiliar. Quite the contrary. This has been me nearly every group mountain bike ride I’ve EVER been on. Every time I’m invited to ride with someone I know is faster and/or more technically skilled than me. For sure everytime I’ve been invited to ride with a new person who’s rhythm I don’t know. In any given group, in any given activity, my inner critic shouts at me that I’m not good enough. I’ll never keep up. Everyone will think I’m lame. I will hold everyone back. The anxiety takes hold like you cannot believe.

No, it wasn’t the concept that floored me. It was the source of the comment. My friend who said this just happens to be the former professional mountain bike racer friend. You know, like US national champion pro racer, turned professional cycling coach. Fastest little lady on the mountain? Yeah. Her. SHE was the source of this comment. It rocked my world and shifted my entire perspective.

Wait? Do we ALL have those anxieties? Do we ALL worry that we will not be good enough, strong enough, fast enough, badass enough? Does it actually have NOTHING to do with our skill and fitness level and everything to do with some kind of inner itty-bitty-shitty committee? Really...it seems so.

Where does this come from? This notion that we must do a mental measuring of ourselves against everyone else, place ourselves into some badassery pecking order, and then apologize profusely to everyone we perceive as “above us”? Why do we think we can only hang with the friends who skill and fitness levels are exactly the same as ours? Why do we feel ashamed of our efforts?

Is this a female thing? Do men have this issue too? Maybe they do internally, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a man giving a constantly rambling apology for how he is showing up to ride, climb, or paddle on any given day. Maybe a quick, “Dude. I’m so hung over. I’m gonna be riding like a little fat kid today” by way of letting his companions know where he is at.  But not the nervous, apologetic, repeated self flagellation to make sure everyone is clear that he isn’t worthy to be here. But women? I hear it ALL. THE. TIME. I see it in her eyes, I hear the tremble in her voice as she dodges my invitation to join me for a ride. As she explains that she doesn’t think she can. That this might be way over her head. That she just isn’t as “badass” as me so she doesn’t want to hold me back. Do we feel this way because we are stepping into a formerly male dominated activity? Because we have internalized the messages that women are weaker, slower, or less capable than men? Have we had experiences of being put down by someone about our abilities and now feel like we must provide context for our existence every time? I’m not entirely sure where all parts of this attitude comes from. But dang it needs to stop.  

This day. This ride. It was a shit show in so many ways. Bike issues. Shoe issues. But that doesn't matter. It was an awesome day because it was a day on the trail with my bestie. How far, how fast, how epic...unimportant. Image Credit to Kelsey Colby

Mama, let’s clear some things up. If I have invited you to come play with me, that invitation is without condition. I didn’t invite you with a “but only if you can keep up with me at every moment” clause. You don’t need to feel badly about yourself or excuse your existence, your value, your worth. If I have invited you to play with me it is because I want your company in the beautiful outdoors. Because I want to share an experience with you. If you fall behind, I will wait for you at the next intersection and cheer for you when you come into sight. I will help you learn the skill you are lacking, or more likely, we can both laugh at our shared difficulty with that particular skill.

Listen, I am no olympic athlete. Heaven knows the chronic illness of the last 3 years has left me unequivocally in the worst physical shape of my life. If I thought I couldn’t keep up before, I really can’t now. But you know what? It’s ok. I still get to hit the trails, the slopes, the crag and I get to do it without hand wringing and self deprecation. And so do you. Yes, inform your adventure buddies of where you are at today. It’s important to know if one party was planning an 8 mile trail run and the other was thinking 2. But once we are all clear on what we are doing today, can we just go have fun together?

Yes mama. You ARE badass enough to hang with me. If you are getting out there and doing it...it counts. There is no pace or special trick required to be in this club. The outdoors welcomes everyone. Whether you can hike 2 miles or run 20 is irrelevant here. You are out there. You are showing up. You are lapping everyone who is on the couch. And you are a stone cold badass.

And if you have friends who do try to make you feel bad about where you are in this journey? We need to get you some new friends. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.           

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More Than a Hashtag: Putting An End To "Shrink It and Pink It"

The night I first heard Jen Gurecki, founder and CEO of Coalition Snow, speak at an event in Boulder, Colorado I knew I needed to know more about her. I needed to hear more about her mission, her passion, her perspective.

Among an inspiring round up of speakers who represented women in the outdoor industry, Jen’s passion, laser focus, and no bullshit attitude made her standout. She rallied the hearts of both women and men in the crowd as she pointed out the inequity in the outdoor sports world. While advertisers use images of women, hashtags about women and gear targeted at women to drive sales (after all, women ARE sort of trending now) are we actually being invited to the table? Is the gear being made really excellent and aimed at our needs? Are women athletes finally being offered sponsorships at the level that men are? Or are we just a convenient marketing tool? Just a hashtag?

Jen sees women in this industry as more than just a hashtag. This was the driving force and greater global mission behind founding Coalition Snow. She wanted first and foremost to finally make women’s skis and snowboards that don’t suck. Boards and planks aimed at performance with women in mind, rather than the standard “shrink it and pink it” routine that neither supports women, nor creates a quality product.

And Jen knows her skis and snowboards. She was first hooked on snowsport in highschool when she joined the ski team at 16 years old. She quickly threw herself into training and skiing full force. She took that love with her when she specifically selected Northern Arizona University (small world...that’s my alma mater too!) for college since it was a school in the shadow of a ski resort. Rather than seeking the typical college jobs waiting tables, babysitting, or working retail, Jen went after work in the Arizona Snowbowl rental shop. There she learned how to tune skis and snowboards from the pros. After college she moved to Tahoe where she continued her love for snowsport as she worked in wilderness therapy and for the California Conservation Corps.

But her mission for Coalition Snow is so much bigger than the quality of women’s gear. It’s about recognizing women as legitimate athletes who deserve sponsorship opportunities. It’s about seeing, cheering, and advancing their accomplishments in the SPORT, rather than focusing on their appearance. (See Lynsey Dyer’s Open Letter to Freeskier HERE) As someone deeply invested in snowsport herself, and a self proclaimed fierce feminist, the frustrations of female athletes were hard to miss.

Image courtesy of Coalition Snow 

Jen believes deeply in the power of business as a tool for social change, and that is just what she is hoping to do through Coalition Snow. To offer a real voice, and quality sponsorship opportunities to women athletes, and women in the boardroom. To shift the status quo in the outdoor industry from predominantly white and male, to something more diverse. When booths at Outdoor Retailer, the faces on industry panel discussions, and the distribution of pay in the industry look radically different, she will feel she has accomplished her mission.   

Jen is quick to point out that being pro women, doesn’t mean being anti-man. The white males who dominate the industry are mostly pretty nice guys. They have worked hard and become accomplished at their sports to be recognized at the level they are. She just wants to see women and people of color being given the same recognition for their accomplishments too. To be offered better than ⅓ the pay of their male counterparts. She drives home her message by reminding men that feminism isn’t just for women. They can choose to participate in, or help dismantle the patriarchy. She believes that even the baseline idea that women are a “weaker sex” or that we are just not capable of performing at the same level as men needs to be challenged at every level. “The fact is”, she emphatically states, “We have no idea what women can actually do, because we’ve never expected as much out of them. I want to change the expectation and find out what we can really do.”

When it comes to being a woman CEO in the outdoor industry, Jen has found both benefits and roadblocks. On the one hand, women are trending. In many ways, people are paying attention to Coalition Snow because they are by women, for women. If they were men, they would be just another ski and snowboard company. On the other hand, she has found it surprisingly difficult to get investors to take her as seriously as her male counterparts. She repeatedly has potential investors refer to her company as a “project” or treat her like she is a know nothing little girl instead of a 39 year old women with a laundry list of accomplishments under her belt.

Image courtesy of Coalition Snow 

But despite the hurdles, Coalition Snow is well on its way to Jen’s ultimate goal of total global domination. They are heavily in recruitment for their ambassador program, are touring ski resorts around the country this year to demo their products, and will be carried in three REI stores this year. They have also launched the Sisterhood of Shred, and online community for women skiers and snowboarders to come together and share events, tips, tricks and skills. She knows not every women snowsport lover will use her gear, and that’s ok. Sisterhood of Shred provides the opportunity to support all women regardless of what they ride.

When asked what advice she would give other women looking to start an outdoor focused business she responded, “Get crystal clear on what you are willing to suffer for. If you aren’t willing to suffer for it, you won’t want to get up everyday and do it.” Going into the launch of her business she had no idea the sheer volume of work it would be or how many moving pieces there are. She advises anyone wanting to start a business to hire experienced business advisors on day 1 and start fundraising immediately.

Once things begin to settle down for Jen, she looks forward to reconnecting with her snowboard. Preferably exploring the mountains of Japan and mainland Asia.

Sign up for Coalition Snow's weekly e-blast Lady Parts: https://gleam.io/fb/qrPgH  

Follow Coalition Snow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/coalitionsnow/

Check out Coalition Snow’s full line of skis and snowboards: http://coalitionsnow.com

This post is the first in the "Women, Work, Wits" series. Read about the why of this series and find each interview linked HERE. 

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This is Not A New Year's Resolutions Post

There is something about the idea of resolutions that bugs me. Maybe it’s just semantics, but the concept of the New Year's Resolution brings to mind visions of self deprecation and self loathing. The idea that you are somehow broken and when the clock strikes midnight on January 1st you will, powered by some expensive protein powder/fitness gadget of course, finally force yourself into a more socially acceptable mold. You will finally get smaller, be “nicer”, be more of a doormat for someone else's expectations.

Here’s the thing. You are not broken. You are amazing exactly as you are. You don’t need to change a thing.

However, I still find myself wistful in the week between Christmas and New Years. Thinking back on the year that is closing, and envisioning the year ahead of me that I hope to have. I have gone through an evolution in this process for myself. I’ve moved away from resolving and towards the idea of intentions. Focus words. Touchstones to return to when things get hectic. Words to remind myself of my priorities in the coming year. It’s less about changing who I am, and more about digging deeper into who I am to be more fully and completely myself.

At the start of 2016, as I was just beginning to get a handle on my mental and physical health after two years of undiagnosed postpartum depression and anxiety, I had two intention words. Health, for obvious reasons, and adventure. A combination of the pressures and constraints of new motherhood with the mental and physical annihilation of the health struggles I had been through had left me completely disconnected from the person I had known for 36 years.

So, along with keeping up my doctors appointments and following the protocols I had been prescribed, I started looking for ways I could begin to feel more like myself every day. Little ways I could reclaim me. Adventure was the way to do that. My husband and I both needed time to reclaim ourselves, since the previous years had been pretty rough on us both. We settled on one night a week for each of us to have the night off of parenting duties. A night to go do whatever would make us happy. Ride bikes, ride motorcycles, hike alone, whatever we wanted. We also committed to finding a weekend each month for each of us to go on a mini adventure of our own choosing. I’ve knocked off a few sections of the Arizona Trail, and visited Denver a number of times. My hubby has taken several long distance motorcycle trips. I tried rock climbing again for the first time since high school, started teaching ski school so that I’d have the opportunity to ski more myself and to take my son more easily. I started this blog both to keep myself accountable and to rekindle a life long passion for writing (this was rather unexpected). I’ve connected with other moms on a similar journey.

For the most part...It’s been working. I still have some health issues to resolve, but things are much better there. Most importantly, I feel a lot more like myself. I have been prioritizing self care through solo adventure and feel fantastic about it.

As 2017 is upon us, I hope to keep all of those wonderful personal adventure opportunities I carved out for myself. I don’t want that to slip away. I’m happy to report that simply taking time for ourselves this year has helped my hubs and I heal a lot of the hurt and frustrations of the previous years. We are BOTH happier and healthier because of it. Who knew? That whole “put the oxygen mask on yourself first” thing really DOES work!

This year the two words I’m adding to my intentions are community and connection. Now that we are on solid footing, my spouse and I want to be more intentional about returning to adventure together. More evenings after work to scramble up a pile of boulders and drink a bottle of wine at sunset. More weekends away together to remember why we are each other’s favorite adventure partner.

I realize that my spouse isn’t the only one I need to reconnect with. Under the best of circumstances, it becomes harder to maintain friendships in the transition to parenthood. You are so busy keeping your head above water that socializing and connecting with other people is honestly too exhausting and complicated. Add in crippling postpartum complications and well...I find myself realizing that I’m more isolated and disconnected than I wish I was.

I look forward to connecting more often with the local women from The Adventure Mamas Initiative group, as well as forging closer bonds with the founders and other board members of this organization. I intend to plan trips to visit dear friends that live in some far flung corners of the world to catch up after too much time apart.

In the spirit of building a larger and closer community of amazing women around myself I’m excited to announce a writing project I will be publishing throughout 2017. But maybe I should back up and tell you the story.

A few months ago, I made a trip to Denver partly to see my BFF and partly to attend a SheVentures event in Boulder. It was billed as a “Ted Talk” style line up of inspirational speakers focused on women in the outdoors. Just my kind of thing. Inspiring it was. I found myself nodding my head at shouting “eff yeah!” in my mind (and I think it may have slipped out of my mouth once or twice too).

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to be able to talk with some of these incredible women, all of whom had founded some pretty badass businesses or non-profits to meet a need they saw in the outdoor community. When I asked Jen Gurecki, founder of Coalition Snow what I could do to help promote her business she responded “Content is king. Let’s do an interview. The more content out there about our story the better.” I was thrilled to be invited to feature her! I also felt a little sheepish. My blog isn’t that big. I really won’t be able to get her story out to that many people. But that’s when it hit me. She isn’t the only woman who has a story to tell. There are many women founded companies with stories that go far beyond just making skis or coats. What if I set out to tell as many stories of these female founded companies as I could? What if I could pool the collective community of all of us to share everyone’s ideas and missions? If everyone I interviewed and wrote about was willing to share the project, we could collectively make a much bigger impact. Hence the “Women. Work, Wits” project idea was born.

I have had the incredible pleasure of interviewing 3 amazing ladies so far and have lots more on the list I hope to complete. With this project I hope, not just to introduce you to fabulous products made by companies with heart and solid ethics, but to tell compelling stories. To help you fall in love with the guts, grit, heart and hustle that makes these women, and their companies so incredible.

I want to be clear that none of these companies are paying me for these interviews. This is not glorified advertising. I’m not an affiliate of any of these companies nor do I expect to receive compensation in any way. I’m doing this because community is everything. Because stories are powerful. Because empowered women, empower women. Because I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats.

The plan is to publish two interviews a month, mixed in with my usual posts on adventuring how to’s and philosophical ramblings. If you want to make sure you catch all of the awesome that is coming your way on the blog this year, make sure you subscribe via RSS or email below. I wouldn’t want you to miss any of the good stuff!

And hey...thank YOU for being part of my community too. If there is anything I can do to support you better you can always leave a comment on any blog post, or shoot me an email sabrina@mamawildandfree.com.

If you want to be sure to catch all the interviews in this series, subscribe below. Or, bookmark this post. I will link each interview as I publish it here.

More Than A Hashtag: Putting An End To Shrink It And Pink It. An Interview With Jen Gurecki of Coalition Snow.  

Empowering Females Worldwide: An Interview with Gina Bégin of Outdoor Women's Alliance

Taking Flight: An Interview with Darcy Conover of Corbeaux Clothing

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Best Tips For More Adventure as A Mama

You’ve heard from me on how I find more time and money to adventure and kick the mom guilt to the curb. (If you missed it, those pieces are Here, Here, Here, and Here.) Now enjoy these “best tips” from some of my other favorite adventure loving mama bloggers. Take it away ladies!

“I'm a mom of 4 and getting "me" time is something I always make room for on a monthly basis. Whether it be a solo hike or dinner with a friend, having time to reset and catch up is a must when balancing out the #momlife. In order to make time for it, I use a shared calendar with my husband to keep each other informed of dates. This makes life easy because: auto-reminders!

My only advice around "mom guilt" is don't have it. I gave up overcompensating when things don't go as planned, years ago. As moms we have SO much to juggle and guilt should not be one of them. Instead, I try expressing how grateful I am to even be able to see them considering our packed schedules.

Meeting up for hikes or outdoor time is a great way to emphasize quality time without spending a ton of money. We like bringing snacks to share and 9 times out of 10 my kids will chomp on someone else's snacks in lieu of their own and vice versa.”

Stephanie Harper of Raising Kids Wild

“It's been hard to set aside time to adventure.

To take time I set adventure goals and prioritize those goals so that I get time for myself whether it is getting family to watch the kids or a babysitter.

Money is also a challenge. I have had to adjust what I like to do and have started trail running, hiking and cross country skiing more because they are less expensive.  I try to save money, even if it's only $10, each week so that I can go on bigger adventures like snowboarding or overnight trips.

Mom guilt is always a struggle but I am getting better. I struggle more with missing the littles but whenever I get the time away I feel so much better. A lot of positive self talk helps that it is good for all of us when I take time for myself away from the family. This helps me to prioritize self adventure time and I always feel better after.”

Annika Mang of Born To Be Adventurous

“My two cents on getting outside and adventuring as a mom:

- choose it over laundry and the floors (that stuff can always wait)

- make it a priority by telling other people you are doing it and that way it's harder to bail on your plans due to any of the issues you mentioned (time, money, kids, guilt)

- create purpose behind it (ex a blog you are writing, a pic you want to capture, a story you want to tell). This helps drive the motivation and push through the things that may trick you to stay home.....I feel mixed on this one though because really you should be able to go just 'to go' but desperate times... ”

Chantelle Quesnelle of Tablespoon Of Wild

"Time - One way I make time for getting outdoors is living near the outdoors. I live in the mountains near Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah and can “get outdoors” just by walking out the door. Although that’s not an option for many, working the outdoors into everyday life can be that easy. Eat dinner outside. Go for a walk around your office. Notice the birds outside your window. Not every outdoor adventure needs to be an epic three day getaway. Although those are awesome, they’re also a lot of work. Sometimes just a little sunshine is enough.

Money - I loved MamaWildandFree’s tips on overcoming the money obstacle. In many cases getting outdoors is a free and easy activity. National Parks, Forests, State Land, Local Parks, so many areas have been set aside for public use. My family purchases an $80 annual federal lands pass (https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm) each year and make a goal to get our money’s worth. In 2016 we visited 23 National Parks and Monuments on our National Park to Park Highway tour so we definitely got our money’s worth.

Mom Guilt - That’s easy. I deal with my mom guilt by just bringing the kids along with me. Yes it sets a snail’s pace for my adventures and involves a lot of snacks and potty breaks along the way, but it allows me to share what I love with the ones I love the most."

Susan Strayer from MountainMomandTots.com   

Woo! Aren’t these mamas just the best! Be sure to check out their blogs for more amazing inspiration!

I hope this series has inspired you to get creative in removing the obstacles to outdoor adventure and get outside more. Will you do me a favor? Will you leave me a comment below and tell me ONE tip you will try this year?

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Mom Guilt Is A Feminist Issue

In the heat of this contentious 2016 election cycle, there was one sound bite that stuck with me more than some of the others. (Though to be fair, there was plenty in all that madness to remember.) It was the media crucifixion of Chelsea Clinton for not being present for her child’s first day of preschool drop off.

Apparently, according to some, a mother needing to work out of town and leaving her children in the capable hands of their father while she does so amounts to abandonment, neglect and a cold hearted lack of maternal instinct. It pegs her as a bad mother, or really, hardly a mother at all. What kind of mother puts work (or anything else) ahead of her precious children even for a single day!? How could she miss even a single life milestone like that!? That poor child! Can you imagine the emotional scarring? The therapy she will need one day to work through the damage that will be caused from having such an absentee mother?!

Yeah...reading nonsense like that gave me the same disgusted, exhausted and annoyed feeling it does for working moms everywhere. For every feminist, mother or not, who doesn’t have to think for more than a second to see that no one would EVER make statements like that about a man, these assertions are ludicrous and disgusting. For generations men have worked away from the home, often to the point of spending so little time with their children that they hardly know one another. Cat’s in the Cradle anyone? Yet in this modern era of a more equitable division of income earning, mothers are criticised for allowing their spouses to take a pull at the child care from time to time. We’ll just never mind the sentiments about daycare. (But seriously though, if one more sanctimommy mutters anything about preschool “raising” my kid for me, fur is gonna fly.)

But as I worked through my outrage and disgust at the double standard that Ms. Clinton is being held to, it hit me. I wonder how SHE feels about missing that drop off? Does it give her pangs of regret and sadness? Because I would, despite my firm convictions that the child is fine and Dad is a capable parent too, feel a little bummed about missing a first preschool drop off. And I had to ask myself, “why?” Why would I feel guilty to leave my child with his DAD for the first day of preschool while I was doing a job that I love, have worked hard for, puts food on our table, and sets a positive example to my son about the role of women in the home and workplace?

Is it really innate? Is the guilt and sadness because I went through the lengthy hormonal roller coaster and physical output of making him? Maybe. Probably at least a little. But really, I think it is deeply entrenched programming about what is expected of me as a mother. That mothers should be there to see and experience every last moment of their children’s lives. That we should nurture our children constantly. That good mothers miss nothing. In many ways it doesn’t matter how much I logically think it’s horse shit. The programming is in there and it is crazy hard to shake.

And if we have a hard time shaking the mom guilt in order to work, in order to help provide life necessities and a solid future for the very children we feel guilty for leaving, how much harder is it to leave for a purely self serving purpose. To plan and actually go on an adventure to recharge our batteries. It’s incredibly hard. When I’ve been working all day it can be tempting to skip that bike ride after work because dang it I miss my kid. I worry that I’m being selfish to take another chunk of time away from him just because I want to. Going for three or four days? Whew! He might just graduate college when I’m not looking!

But I go. I go on that ride after work. I take that weekend away. I take that time to be with myself, with my friends. To remember who I am, what makes me tick. To resonate with the universe. Because when I do that, I come back ready to reconnect with my son on a deeper level. To be fully present with him and focused on him. I don’t believe that children need some vast expanse of time in which they receive our half attention. I’m not sure it is building up HIS reserves to wander on my periphery as I distractedly try to get him to go do something else so I can think straight. When I have been buried in piles of life stuff and childcare too long, that’s exactly what happens. When I have properly cared for myself, I am refreshed and ready to give him my full attention. If kids benefit from their parents being present, I want to have the stamina to actually BE present. Mind, body, spirit.   

Let’s also not forget that when I’m out there taking care of myself, it isn’t like my son is stranded with the wolves. Me getting out of the way gives my husband the space to connect with our son too. To be fully at the wheel of parenting his child. To do their father son things without my interference. To decide to eat broccoli for dinner, or skip straight to the ice cream. By walking away placing full confidence in my child’s dad to care for him, I empower them both. It sends my husband the message that I trust him completely to Dad. That I know he is capable as a parent and doesn’t need my list of dos and don’ts while I’m gone. Dad is not a babysitter. He’s a parent. It sends my son the message that people other than me are capable of meeting his needs and that the entire world is a safe place, not just mom. When I return, I come home to two happy healthy men, who have grown closer and more understanding of one another. Then it’s my turn. I take on the parent cape to ensure my spouse gets time for himself too while our son and I focus on each other.

If you are a single parent with no family near, you too can step away sometimes. That’s what community is for. When I think about the villages of a traditional people, everyone pitched in to share the load of child rearing, and everyone got a break sometimes. We don’t have a village anymore, so we need to make one. FInd your tribe. Find mamas you love and trust who you can trade babysitting time with. Find an amazing sitter who your kids love and you trust like a sister. Then go without guilt. It will be good for you and your children.

No one criticizes a man for working, for taking a weeks long hunting trip, for doing whatever he needs to do to feel whole and happy. We don’t need to accept that criticism either. Especially from ourselves.

The next time you feel that twang of guilt for taking care of yourself, let’s examine where that comes from. Ask yourself if a man would feel guilty for the same thing. As we work to dismantle the patriarchy that holds women to a different standard than men, we must identify the programming in ourselves first. Because mom guilt is a feminist issue.     

(This post is part 4, or a 5 part series on removing the obstacles moms face to getting out for more adventure. See part 1, 2, 3, and 5)      

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Fun Vs. The 401K

“Pay yourself first!” “Max out your 401k, Roth IRA, and every other saving platform available before you even think about doing anything else!” “When you get a raise, don’t spend it! Save it!” “If you don’t save every possible penny you will never be able to retire and will have to work forever!”

These refrains sound familiar to anyone who has read the prevailing wisdom around finances in the modern world. And it’s not really wrong. Saving is great. Financial responsibility is important. Planning for the future is going to make a lot of things much easier down the road.

But what about your life right now? Today. What about the span of time between ages 18-67. Is that really meant to be 50 years of nose to the grindstone, scrimping, saving, sacrificing, and hiding in your home all for the promise of some far off glorious day when you retire and finally get to start living? I sure as hell hope not.

I’ve seen it again and again. People who denied themselves any adventure, travel, or outside the norm life experiences because they believed that they had to put everything on hold until they had a certain sized nest egg. Until the government deemed them qualified to retire from working, so they could really start living. And you know what happens shortly after they finally reach the promised land of medicare and drawing from their retirement income right? Heart attack. Cancer diagnosis. Or such general ill health that they are too weak, tired and broken to enjoy this long awaited “permission” to finally enjoy this thing called life. It’s the most heartbreaking cautionary tale I have ever seen. And it happens all the time.

I have experienced it even in my own little microcosm. My last 3 years or so I’ve had some health struggles. Illnesses and injuries that have meant I can’t do some of the things I used to do, and other activities have to be done slower and more cautiously than before. It really puts a bright, shining perspective on the health and vibrancy that I once took for granted. It helps me feel immensely grateful for the experiences I have already had and makes me wish I had done a few other things that had been on the back burner. But more than anything it makes me devoted to checking things off the bucket list now. No waiting. No putting it off to some far off “someday” that may never come.

I want to live now. And tomorrow. And next week. I have no way to know when this life will end or what limitations will come tomorrow. I know I have today.

I was asked recently what I would do if I wasn’t afraid. I pondered this and initially thought that fear doesn’t really play a big part in my decision making anymore. I really don’t think fear holds me back from anything. But then I realized that fear does play a part. My fear is arriving at the end of my life thinking I had missed something important. I perish the thought of missing out on something wonderful because I was being too cautious. Too reserved. I want to live out loud in full vibrant color holding nothing back until I finally collapse into a heap exhilarated and satisfied. If that means not maxing out my IRA this year so I can pay for the experiences that are important to me, I'm ok with that. 

I’m not suggesting you do something blatantly irresponsible. Yes, make sure you are paying your bills and planning for the future. But don’t be so focused on tomorrow that you forget about today. Maybe this year, put that raise into your travel fund. Make a plan for some things you can do today, and in the coming year, that will start you living the life you really want to live. I truly believe that money is a renewable resource. There is plenty to go around, and plenty more where that came from. You can always make more money. You cannot make more time. 

When asked what puzzled him most about humanity the Dalai Lama said, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”    

Or put another way, I leave you with these wise words from Alan Watts:

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How to Adventure More When Money Is Tight (And You Don't Want To Live In A Van Down By The River)

There are three big obstacles mamas seem to face when adding more more adventure and travel back into their lives after having children. Time (I talk about how I’m tackling the time issue HERE), money, and mom guilt.

I’ve seen loads of articles floating around Pinterest offering advice on how to free up more money for things like travel and adventure. But when I click to read the article it ends up either being a 22 year old single, childless person who suggests moving into your parents’ basement and working three jobs for 2 years so you can take a gap year to travel the world; OR it’s a family who gives and overly simplified pep talk on starting an online business, selling their house, buying a van and living full time on the road.

There isn’t anything wrong with any of these suggestions if that is your life and it is what you want to do. In fact, there are any number of #vanlife families I follow on Instagram who are having a great time!  

But what about the rest of us? Those of us with homes that we love and aren’t looking to sell so we can live in a camper van? Who have location dependent jobs that maybe we really love and have no intention of leaving? What about those of us who think living in a van with our spouses and children full time sounds like a recipe for family disharmony and divorce? How do the rest of us free up the extra capital for gear, gas money, and plane tickets?  

For the most part, the answer is not very sexy. It comes down to one of three strategies: Focus on cheaper activities/reducing the cost of adventure, earn more, and/or spend less on other things so you can spend more on adventure. Let’s break it down piece by piece.

Reducing The Cost of Adventure:

If you already have equipment for some activities from your pre-kid days, obviously those are the activities to focus on. I’ve been mountain biking for 20 years. A ride costs me $0. So I ride a lot.  

Enjoying the newly reopened Little Bear Trail. Considering how many rides I've taken on this bike, my cost per ride is in the pennies. 

If you are coming to this adventure thing later and want to get started, hiking and trail running will have the lowest cost of entry. All you need is the right footwear for the sport, a way to carry some basics like water, snacks and a simple emergency kit, and an excellent sports bra. For hiking, you can literally get away with any ol’ backpack or shoulder bag you have laying around to carry a water bottle and some granola bars. You won’t want to use an uncomfortable bag for very long, but it will work for a little while. Cost of entry for hiking or trail running could be as low as $0 of you already have decent shoes and a backpack. If you want the nicer equipment like a good pack and the best running shoes on the market you can spend about $250. The best part is that other than regular shoe replacement, these activities will remain essentially free for the rest of forever once you are geared up.

Once you are sorted out for these basic activities, expanding into snowshoeing, mountain biking, backpacking, and indoor climbing might be the next sports to pursue. For all of these sports, you can often find equipment on sale for a reasonable price to get started.

Search for deals! This one may seem obvious, but I know that in my new iteration as a super busy mom, I really DON’T pay attention to sales and deals like I used to. All local gear shops have seasonal clearance sales, REI has their twice a year garage sale, and loads of discount websites have specials running all the time. And it isn’t just gear that goes on sale! Climbing gyms have sales (especially before the holidays!), ski resorts have cheaper prices on off peak days, and websites like Groupon and Livingsocial post deals for activities you may not have thought of yourself like horseback riding and hot air balloon flying.

Learn to be your own mechanic! If you want to minimize the cost of the adventure life, a little DIY goes a long way! Every cyclist should know how to change a tire, patch a tube, lube their chain, and make basic fit adjustments on their bike. Get plugged into your local bike shop’s social calendar and see if they have bike maintenance clinics. You can learn a great deal about adjusting your own brakes and tuning your shifters. Not to mention that knowing how to wrench your own bike will make you feel like a legit badass.

If a toddler can do it, you can too! 

Get creative! You know that nordic skiing is going to be cheaper than alpine skiing most of the time right? You can take your nordic skis right out the back door if you want. But alpine skis generally require either an expensive lift ticket or some more advanced backcountry snow and avalanche skills. Did you know that many ski resorts will issue free hike passes for certain parts of the season? Yep. As long as you are willing to hike up under your own power, you can ski back down for little to no cost while also not being concerned about backcountry snow skills. Cool right!?

Last but not least; live where adventure is nearby and accessible. To some of you this may sound as practical as living in a van down by the river, but hear me out. If every outdoor adventure requires an hour long drive or more to access, gas money is going to add up quickly. Living where the mountains or ocean, or wherever you like to play, are nearby will make more regular adventure more affordable and time efficient. Financially, a move to a mountain or seaside town may end up being a wash. After all, places like my hometown tend to have a high cost of living and low wages. But at least for us, the trade offs to live where we do are 100% worth it.

BONUS tip! While winning gear giveaways is not a guarantee, it doesn’t hurt to enter. Loads of bloggers and gear companies run giveaways all the time. So enter! Practice your Lucky Bitch/Law of Attraction/The Secret voodoo mama vibes to draw those prizes to you! Get started now by entering this incredible giveaway featuring some seriously amazing Colorado based companies. https://holiday.wishpond.com/sicksweepstakes/

Earning More:

My favorite way to earn more? Get a raise at your current job! Yep. If it has been a while since you have had an increase, ask for one! Women still tend to get paid $.75 on the dollar for what men earn at the same job. This is largely due to sexist bullshit to be sure, but women are also a lot less likely to ASK for more money. So...ask! z

Your other option of course is to get a side hustle.

Freelancing is an attractive option as you can leverage professional skills you already have at a good rate and take on more or less work depending on your schedule and the season. I’ve known teachers who tutor, designers who do freelance logo work or design beautiful greeting cards, artists with Etsy shops, moms who babysit, ladies with bike mechanicing skills who will wrench on your bike for you, and anyone with a car and clean driving record driving for Uber. The options are endless, just make sure you talk to your accountant and set aside some of that bonus cash to pay the additional taxes you will incur. The last thing you want is to have an expensive surprise in April. Like any small business, your freelancing work might be slow at first and will take some work to get off the ground, so don’t expect loads of clients right off the bat.

Getting a second job may or may not be worth it, but it certainly something to consider. Working a second job will usually not be as flexible as freelancing, so you are committed to your schedule. This will present an extra time constraint on your adventure schedule. The upside is that unlike freelancing you will know exactly how much extra work you are facing and how much extra money you will have to put towards your fun budget. Pro tip: If you are going to take a side job get one that also reduces the cost of your adventure time. Work at the climbing gym. Teach ski school. Patch tubes at a bike shop. Your rate per hour will not be very high, but most of these kinds of jobs will offer you some perks like discounts on bike parts, free lift tickets and gym passes. Plus, being immersed in that world will help you learn skills and technical information faster than you would on your own.        

My first day teaching ski school this year! I you are going to take a second job, one with an office like this is pretty nice. 

Declutter and sell! The infant bouncer your 6 year old will certainly never use again? Sell it! Half the items in your over stuffed kitchen? Have a yard sale! You get the idea. Less stuff = less to clean and organize and hopefully more money in yo pocket!

Use a credit card with rewards points. I probably add between $500-$1000/ year to my adventure budget this way. I have a system that ensures I never carry a balance or pay interest, but run every expense possible through my card to maximize my points. Look for a future post on the how-tos.   

Spending Less On Everything Else:

This is NOT the place where I lecture you about your latte habit or point out that a restaurant meals costs more than home cooked ones. I mean...you are an adult with a pulse so I assume you know that right? At the end of the day neither I nor any other blogger has any idea what your income or expenses look like. I have no clue what areas you spend a lot of money on and which ones you are frugal with. In fact, most people don’t know themselves how much they spend on any given budget item!

Enter the reality check, AKA: using a budgeting system. The only way to really figure out where to spend less is to consistently know how much you actually spend. The only way to consistently know how much you actually spend is to make, maintain, and regularly update a budget.  

I tried and failed for many years to budget. I just couldn’t seem to figure out and keep up with whatever system of spreadsheets or piggy banks I came up with. I was always drawn to the idea of the old fashioned envelope system. The idea being that you cash your paycheck and put that cash into physical envelopes for your expenses. Once that money is gone it is gone. It’s a nice theory, but we don’t really use cash anymore and managing part of my budgeting in the digital realm and part in cash was cumbersome. Enter Mvelopes.

When the hubs and I first got married we started looking for a way to manage our now joint finances in a way that got us on the same team, helped us plan successfully, and most importantly kept us from arguing about money. With a clear and straightforward budget plan neither of us would ever have to say to the other “No, you can’t buy that right now”. If we want to buy something outside of normal budget items we look at the budget plan and the budget tells us what extras we have money for. It’s like a third party who makes money discussion neutral and totally not personal.

Mvelopes was the solution for us. It functions just like the old fashioned envelope system but 100% digitally. You set up your spending plan, then assign your income to each category as the money comes in. You build up a balance in each “mvelope” and then when you spend money or pay bills you assign that expense to the appropriate mvelope where it is deducted from your total.

It will take some trial and error over a few months to really get your spending plan dialed in, and it will forever be changing based on changing life situations and expenses. But over time it becomes your habit to manage your money this way. You start to see places where you were spending way more than you thought you were and can make informed decisions about where to cut back and where to expand.

I’m not going to walk you through exactly how to set your budget up, or what categories to include, there are plenty of financial bloggers who talk about nothing else. But I will suggest two things. 1.  Be as specific as possible. For example, don’t lump everything you buy at the grocery store into “groceries”. Trash bags and toilet bowl cleaner are not groceries. When you are too general you will not have an accurate picture of what you are really spending on things and thus it will be harder to make the required changes. 2. Whether you are single or married, make sure you include a discretionary or fun money category. You must have at least something set aside each month to blow on whatever the hell you want without guilt or having to consult anyone else.

When it comes to spending less on life so you have more money for play, it really comes down to one question. Which would you rather have? Would you rather have a $40 sushi meal tonight, or 4 meals on your trip to Mexico? Could you trade riding your bike to work for two weeks to save the gas money for that drive to Joshua Tree with your girlfriends next month? There are no right or wrong answers here. There is only what is most important to you.

Alright mamas! What 1 strategy will you try today to free up some bonus cash for your adventure life? Leave me a comment and tell me!

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What, and How I Packed For My Last Bikepacking Excursion

If backpacking, mountain biking and bike touring had a three way lovechild, it would be bikepacking. This unruly, persnickety offspring of the bike touring world knows no bounds of roads, hotels or restaurants. But rather takes the trail less traveled; winding snaking singletrack through the forests and deserts, over mountains and through valleys, stopping for sleep wherever their is a tent platform and the view is lovely.

As I work my way through the Arizona National Scenic Trail section by section (read about this and all of my other quests HERE) I intend to bikepack quite a bit of this multi use trail. Bikes, for me, are my foundational adventure. Riding is like coming home. Comfy, familiar, and yet it has never lost the exhilaration for me.

Bringing the gear needed to spend a night or 5 while mountain biking is a bit of a packing adventure on its own. Unlike standard road touring, you can’t just load a bike and trailer with everything plus the kitchen sink and expect to pedal away. On the road, even on steep sections you can get away with excess baggage or a sloppy packing job to an extent. As long as you can keep pushing the pedals around you will be ok. Not so when touring on trail. The outrageously steep terrain and added challenge of maneuvering over rocks, roots, and switchbacks makes touring on dirt much much less forgiving. Too much total weight and you will have one helluva time moving your bike anywhere. But even more importantly, too much weight in the wrong places is bikepacking death.

You need to be able to control your steel pony over obstacles and not get pitched over the side of a cliff. Weight needs to be minimized and shifted to the middle of the bike as much as possible. Too much weight over your wheels drastically shifts the handling of your ride. Weight over the rear wheel makes handling on trail nearly impossible.

The last section of the AZT that I bikepacked I tried to get away with most of my gear in rear panniers. Bad move. The bike must have weighed 100lbs, all over the rear wheel. I knew better. I did it anyway. It was a bad time.

This time around I did everything I could to shave weight (including a new ultralight Big Agnes tent that was a gift from my beloved. Thanks Darlin!) and moved as much of it as I could to the center of my bike and onto my back. I had a much, much, much better time. I’m sure my kit will get dialed and fine tuned more over time, but I think I have the broad strokes down pretty well. Here is how I did it   

My ride! The only thing I put on the rear rack was my sleeping bag with my Luci Light strapped to the top. I did struggle to keep Luci with her solar panel facing up. I'll need to work on that some more. There is a small bag under the seat where I store my bike tools. Then the AMAZING Rogue Panda frame bags. All of the Rogue Panda from bags are custom made right here in Flagstaff, Arizona. They fit and function perfectly. I would not waste my money on anyone else's bags. (I have no sponsorship from Rogue Panda, nor any affiliate relationship. I just love their bags and think they are the best on the market.) 

An up close of the rear set up. Sleeping Bag strapped directly to the rear rack with Luci on top. My ancient Jand tool bag under the seat. This poor tool bag has sort of lost the bounce in its bungy. I will likely replace this combo with a Rogue Panda Picket Post seat bag in the near future. This would eliminate the need for the rear rack altogether, save a bit of weight and eliminate the potential for a strap to come loose and get caught in the rear wheel.  

In my front top tube accessory bag I put my knife and lights. Basic Petzel Tikka headlamp for around camp and my super fabulous NightRider bike light and helmet mount in case I had to ride in the dark at any point. I cannot believe how small, effective and cheap NightRiders are these days! I remember when a basic bike light was $350, weighed 10 pounds and needed a suitcase to carry them around. These are just amazing and affordable technology. 

In the rear top tube bag I kept quick to hand personal care items. Potty kits (Minus my shovel. It broke. Will have to get a new one.) hand sani, lip balm and sunscreen. 

In the smaller slit pocket on the main frame bag I kept my printed AZT maps of the relevant passages (don't rely only on GPS for navigation folks. Just don't.) and the printed turn book. Maps and turn book can be downloaded in the members only area of the AZT website. If you plan on doing all or part of the AZT, or just want to support the care and maintenance of the trail, a membership is well worth the $35/year. I also had an emergency poncho. No rain of any kind was in the forecast, but its always good to have a "just in case" weather proofing item. My phone charging cord was stored in this pocket along with my phone (not pictured because it was taking the picture.) and my solar battery charger (also not pictured because on the last day I clipped it to my pack to try to charge it with the sun and it fell off. Boo!)   

In the larger pocket on the frame bag I kept a dishwashing kit, my bike pump and spare tubes, my Big Agnes Inflatable Camping Pad, my Sawyer water filter and toothbrush. I cached water in advance of my ride, so I didn't end up using the filter. But I don't mess around when it comes to ensuring adequate water. So, my filter was a back up. I would have kept my toothbrush and toothpaste in my top tube bag with the other personal items but the bag was too short for my toothbrush. I will invest in a tiny travel toothbrush for the next ride. 

In the top compartment of my Osprey Atmos 50 backpack I put personal medications, a first aid kit and my compass. No idea why I put the compass here and not with the maps. I will likely change that next time. I use the Osprey Atmos pack which is technically a "mens" packs. I have broad shoulders and relatively narrow hips for a woman, so this fits me better. For a women's specific fit, you will want to look at the Aura pack. 

I kept my food bag in the front pouch of my pack. This made snack access easy, and kept all food items together for easy isolation at night. You don't want critters in your tent, so making sure there are no food bits in weird places is key. 

In one of the front zipper pockets I stashed my bomber insulated camping cup, and my Jet Boil stove. Having used any number of stoves for backcountry travel, the Jet Boil is hands down my favorite. Compact, lightweight, super light on the fuel consumption. This pouch is also where I put the empty 4 L Platypus water pouch. I cached this ahead of time to ensure a water supply near where I planned to camp.  

The other front zipper pocket held my stove fuel wrapped in an old sock (normally I carry the smaller fuel canister that fits inside the Jet Boil. But we were out. Normally this would not be taking up extra space.), my journal and favorite pen, and my Sanuk loafers. Having non-bike shoes to wear around camp is a pretty marvelous luxury, and these loafers are about the lightest weight shoes out there. They weigh about the same as my foam flip flops that I carry in the summer. Not pictured is the book I was reading. It didn't make the picture because it had already migrated inside. Clearly, I could save weight by not carrying a journal and small reading book. But, the quiet time to read and write in the evening is a big draw for me to adventure solo. 

Because I have the frame bags on my bike, I can't also have bottle cages in the same place. When I had my bike built I specifically requested lots of places for bottle cages since I planned to do some touring on it. This cage is attached to the bottom of the down tube so that I could carry an extra bottle for extra fluids, mixing up electrolyte drinks, and having a container of water bedside. I was feeling paranoid about the bottle jumping out, hence the velcro strap. 

Pro tip: Carry an extra ziplock baggie or two for keeping your messy, drippy, stinky and otherwise disorganized garbage together. Practicing Leave No Trace ethics is easier when you don't have salmon juice and olive oil leaking all over your food kit. This part isn't sexy, but its important. 

Finally, in the main compartment of my pack I carried my Big Agnes Fly Creek Ultralight tent, my primary water reservoir, and my extra clothes. Clothing is one of the easiest places to save space and weight in the backcountry. For this trip, I carried warm pants and long johns for sleeping and around camp, a hat and gloves, wool socks for around camp, a jacket and vest, one spare shirt, and undergarments. I wore the same pants to ride each day, and carried the spare shirt so that I wouldn't have to sleep in a shirt that was wet from sweat. The other warm layers were to pile on if and when I got cold. There was nothing that I didn't wear at some point and most things were worn repeatedly. No one is judging the freshness of your threads out there. No need to bring a whole wardrobe. (It should be noted that I chose to wear normal running tights and not a chamois for various reasons. Ladies, I would not recommend wearing a dirty chamois for obvious sanitary reasons.)  

Last but not least, an up close of my solar power soaking up the sun. On the right is the previously mentioned Luci Light. On the left is the phone charger I was carrying that fell off. (Dang it!) It can be charged from a plug at home to carry extra power for your phone and is then supposed to recharge from the sun. I can attest to the fact that is will indeed charge from the wall, and hold a charge to refuel your phone. Because it fell off and got lost, I can't attest to how well the solar part works. If you want to try one yourself, it was very inexpensive. I had one similar to THIS. I'm hoping for a new one for Christmas and once I test out the solar functioning, I'll let you know. For the price though, even if the solar part isn't perfect, it is worth it for the bonus battery pack aspect. 

That's it! That's how I packed for my relatively lightweight backpacking trip. Do you like to move fast through the countryside? What are your best tips and tricks for stowing your gear? Have other questions? Leave a comment below and let me know! 

(This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you use the links on this post to purchase the item described, or any other item these vendors sell, a tiny percentage of your purchase will be sent to me at no extra cost to you. This helps keep the lights on here in my little corner of the internet and earns you my undying gratitude.)           

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How to Raise Kids Who Love Outdoor Adventure

As an adventure loving mama, the early years with your tiny training partner are going to be a combination of slow, interrupted ambles in the woods (punctuated by stops for nursing, diaper changes/potty breaks, snacks, and the need to examine the fascinating structure of every stick and rock) with the occasional passing off of your darling progeny to your partner, grandma, or a sitter so that you can get out alone long enough to run fast, scream real loud and come back feeling human. In other words, it is largely about getting yourself back out there so that you don’t lose everything that was important to you pre-kid.

And maybe, like me, you also hope that you will ignite the spark of outdoor exploration in your child too. That they will find joy and fulfillment in a life outside. That as they grow bigger and stronger they will not only enjoy keeping up with you , but that they will one day hike farther, ride faster, and climb higher than you can.

Little Bear and a friend inspect I tiny catfish they caught. Kids love to see nature up close. Let them. 

We all know, however, that children hit phases of life where they become rebellious. Where anything and everything that their parents ever held dear gets jettisoned faster than hippies ditching weed when the cops show up. How then, do we instill the love of adventure that we have, without triggering the pushback?

While my child is only just 3, and I can’t claim to have “raised” an adventure loving kid yet, I do have about 15 years of experience (between classroom teaching and working as an outdoor educator) of observing other families’ tactics and outcomes and think I have spotted a few things that work, and some that don’t.

My best tips for raising adventure loving kids.

• Get them out early and often: The sooner and more frequently children are exposed to the outdoors the more comfortable they will be there, and the more they will view it as being normal. This doesn’t have to mean epic big wall climbs or weeks spent camping in extreme weather. Evening walks before dinner, afternoons in the backyard, Sunday family hikes at the nearest nature trail work well. The right amount of time will be something you feel out for your own family. We envisioned ourselves as the family who would camp with the tiniest newborn baby. In reality we camped once in our colicky, non-sleeping child’s first year. It was hell. He already basically never slept, in an unfamiliar place it was a non-stop scream fest. At first light I declared the trip over and we were going home. Other families report that their young babies sleep considerably better in a tent than at home. Everyone is different, so play it by ear. (Don’t worry, our 3 year old is now a champion camper. He calls our tent the “camping house” and becomes quite displeased when it is time to take it down and go home.)

• Let them see you enjoy outdoor activities: I spend a lot of time beating the drum about the importance of getting mama (and papa) out to experience their favorite activities for their own health and sanity. But taking care of yourself in this way has a hugely positive impact on your kids too. Not only because when you are happy and fulfilled you have more energy and patience for your children’s needs, but also, when they see these activities having a positive impact on you they will learn by watching that playing outside is fun and rewarding.

• Respect their interests: If all we do is push our own agenda onto our kids, we will create the push back and rebellion that we are trying to avoid. Watch your children and listen to what they tell you is important to them. This starts in the earliest toddler years with letting that hike turn into hours of splashing in the creek instead, not always having to push through for the exact itinerary you envisioned. Once they are old enough to show what they enjoy, it means supporting those things. My son has been talking about skiing nonstop the last month or so. Every day he asks when the snow is going to come so we can “go skiing at the skiing place”. Folks...he went skiing exactly once last year with his Grama. Once. They were out for like...20 min. It was way too cold that day. He is still obsessing. So, I guess we will do a lot of focusing on skiing this winter. I’m also noticing a natural inclination to climb EVERYTHING. So, I recently dug out my 20 year old climbing gear and am working on building those skills so that I can teach him how to do it too.

• Acquire top quality equipment for them: Look, I don’t want to be out in the cold and wet in crappy cotton sweatpants and a hoodie, neither does my kid. If they are cold, wet, miserable and fighting against heavy, barely functional walmart grade equipment, they are going to have a bad time. And a bad time means not wanting to do it again. I get it. Kids grow fast, and their interests change. The last thing parents want to do is dump gobs of money into stuff that will only be useful for a little while. But if we really want to raise kids who think outdoor adventure is fun, we need to get comfortable with the idea that we WILL be spending serious cash on their gear. Also, get creative! If you know the quality brands of mountain bikes for kids, you can keep an eye out for second hand versions. Heck, you can probably resell it later for nearly what you paid AND pass that awesome bike onto another stoked little kid. Find other outdoor loving parents who will swap gear. Maybe they will loan you their oldest kid’s climbing harness for this season and you can loan their youngest your kid’s outgrown snow suit. Win-Win. Many ski shops offer season rentals on kids equipment. You pay one reasonable flat fee to use the skis for one winter and return them at the end of the season. No need to buy brand new ones every year. But whatever you do, outfit the kids with the best equipment you can manage and everyone will have more fun.

• Push them, but not too much: Just like adults, children need to build their physical and mental capacity for physical exertion little by little. As they are asked to hike a little further this week than last week, they build muscles and their own knowledge that they are capable. As parents, we will sometimes need to move the bar a bit for them. If you know they can hike a mile, try a mile and a quarter next time. But always move incrementally and have a bailout option in mind. The last thing you want is for your kid to decide that hiking with mom is akin to a death march and will be a miserable experience.      

• Make outdoor time fun: Let them have the super sugary cereal when camping. Save special toys for outdoor hang out time. Teach them fun games to play on the trail. Hiking isn’t fun to kids the same way it is for adults. The more you can inject fun out there, the more they will want to do it.  

• Beware hedonic adaptation: Humans are ease and comfort seeking creatures by nature. It is an understandable part of our DNA. Life for our ancestors, the ones who gave us our genetic makeup, was hard. Really hard. A daily battle for enough food, and water to keep on living while trying to stay warm, dry, and protected. Being able to identify ways to make life easier and more comfortable is a survival advantage. Once we become accustomed to a certain comfort level, we begin to expect that level and want things even more comfortable. Seeking ease and pleasure is normal. But in our modern world where we have more ease and pleasure available to us at every moment of every day than our ancestors could have ever imagined, we may have to be intentional about limiting our constant comfort and entertainment. I don’t want my child to be miserable of course, but letting him get slightly hot or slightly chilly and teaching him how to handle those situations will help him learn that slight discomfort won’t kill him, and teach him how to prepare and take care of himself. I want to let him get a little bored sometimes. Being outdoors can be thrilling for sure, but it is usually brief moments of thrilling accentuating hours of monotony. Learning to deal with the boredom is good for us all.

• But don’t ban the screens: Lest you think my previous point was going to lead to a sanctimonious rant about the evils of screen time, it isn’t. Like anything we forbid, screens will simply become more attractive if we fight too hard against them. Like many parents who value unplugged time, I too have a natural tendency to want to just live out in the trees in some Walden-esque manner eschewing technology and protecting my little snowflake from the evils of the flashing pixels. But let’s get real. We are modern humans who live in the real world. Forbidding all screen time or technology use is not only unreasonable, but it will be counter productive. It can even create an obsession with the forbidden fruit. And really, your child will, without a doubt, use technology someday as part of their job. Fingers in the ears and singing “la la la” isn’t serving anyone.

• Surround yourselves with like minded families: If your family and your kid are the only ones in town who spend their weekends mountain biking and climbing, it will seem “weird”. Having a community of other adventure loving families around will help them see that being an outdoor family is normal.    

Playing outside is more fun with a friend!

Of course, there is no perfect formula for raising kids that love nature and adventure as much as they love indoor activities and screentime, but I do think adopting these practices will help point them in the outdoor direction.

How do you encourage a love for the outdoors in your kids? Leave me a comment and let me know!            

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The Quest List: Finding Joy, Purpose and a Sense of Accomplishment

In his book “The Happiness of Pursuit”,  Chris Guillebeau explores the idea that adventure, big hairy audacious adventure, is for everyone. The premise is that it may not be chasing happiness that brings us fulfillment, but rather the pursuit of a modern day “quest” that ultimately leads to that elusive “happiness” that we are all seeking. A quest is not some straight forward or boring “goal”. Pedestrian resolutions like “get in shape” or “meditate more” may we worthy enough ideals, but do not qualify as a quest nor do they bring about the same sense of purpose, focus, adventure and joy as something big, specific, and incremental.

While he doesn’t specify parameters for what types of activities qualify for a quest, he does offer a framework for the qualities that a good quest needs to have: 1. A quest has a specific end point. 2. A quest presents a clear challenge. 3. A quest requires sacrifice of some kind. 4. A quest is often driven by a calling or a sense of mission. 5. A quest requires a series of small steps and incremental progress towards a goal.

The author draws on not only his own personal quest to visit each and every country on earth, but the various quests of dozens of others he interviews about their own experiences. Quests cited in the book range from a date in all 50 states, to cooking a meal from every country on earth, road tripping solo across the US for a year, taking and publishing 1 million photos, bicycling the globe, and attempting long distance travel with zero money changing hands. A quest might also involve solving a problem like lack of clean water in the third world, or it might be a seemingly random collection of “bucket list” items which altogether create the quest.

After reading this book I realized that I have been carrying around a number of disconnected adventure ideas in my head and wanted to see them all on paper. I hastily started scratching the ideas in my journal and after seeing a pattern of the things I want to see and do, thought I would put it together here, so I can share my progress as I complete my quests. I’m sure this list will change and morph in time (it already has since I first made the journal entry). My list is a combination “bucket list” and individual quests. It’s a quest list of quest lists if you will. As I complete each piece of my quests I will mark them off and will link to any articles I write about each adventure.

Complete the Arizona National Scenic Trail Section By Section:

Since I work for the Arizona Trail Association as a Youth Outreach and Education Coordinator, one of the most common questions I get asked when talking to students is “Have you done the whole trail?” I would love to be able to say, “YES!” For most people, hiking the trail all the way through might take about 6-8 weeks. As a mom and someone with a job, taking that much time off in one chunk is a bit daunting right now. So, section by section it is! This isn’t really a negative though. There are many advantages to doing a long distance trail this way. The AZT is a multi-use trail, which means bikes, feet, or pack animals can be used to cover ground. I will mountain bike the sections that are best on a bike, hike the sections that are wilderness or national park, I intend to figure out a way to horseback ride a section, and if my knee holds up, I’d like to run a section. I want to have my little son involved wherever he can be. Whether just being there with his dad to pick me up at the end of sections, or joining me for some pieces. I’d like to get him involved.

Passages of the Arizona Trail:

Passage 1 Huachuca Mountains

Passage 2 Canelo Hills East

Passage 3 Canelo Hills West

Passage 4 Temporal Gulch

Passage 5 Santa Rita Mountains

Passage 6 Las Colinas

Passage 7 Las Cienegas

Passage 8 Rincon Valley

Passage 9 Rincon Mountains

Passage 10 Redington Pass

Passage 11 Santa Catalina Mountains

Passage 12 Oracle Ridge

Passage 13 Oracle

Passage 14 Black Hills

Passage 15 Tortilla Mountains

Passage 16 Gila River Canyons

Passage 17 Alamo Canyon

Passage 18 Reavis Canyon

Passage 19 Superstition Wilderness

Passage 20 Four Peaks

Passage 21 Pine Mountain

Passage 22 Saddle Mountain

Passage 23 Mazatzal Divide

Passage 24 Red Hills

Passage 25 Whiterock Mesa

Passage 26 Hardscrabble Mesa

Passage 27 Highline

Passage 28 Blue Ridge

Passage 29 Happy Jack

Passage 30 Mormon Lake (Solo Ride November 2016)

Passage 31 Walnut CanyonDONE (Solo Ride May 2016)

Passage 32 Elden Mountain DONE (These are the trails in my backyard. Have ridden and hiked countless times.)  

Passage 33 Flagstaff DONE (Also ridden repeatedly from home. Plus Peaks to Parks ride 2015)

Passage 34 San Francisco Peaks DONE (Peaks to Park 2015 and 2016)

Passage 35 Babbitt Ranch DONE (Peaks to Park ride 2016)

Passage 36 Coconino Rim DONE (Peaks to Park Ride 2016)

Passage 37 Grand Canyon South Rim DONE (Peaks to Park Ride 2016)

Passage 38 Grand Canyon Inner Gorge

Passage 39 Grand Canyon North Rim

Passage 40 Kaibab Plateau South

Passage 41 Kaibab Plateau Central

Passage 42 Kaibab Plateau North

Passage 43 Buckskin Mountain

Backpack in every US National Park:

This one is going to require a little bit more research as I don’t know for sure if every National Park is backpackable. I know many National Monuments are not. Any National Park that does not have an option for backcountry travel  will be subbed out for some equally interesting activity. At this time, my list is just US National Parks, not National Parks elsewhere in the world and not National Monuments. I may add some of those to the list as time goes on incidentally, but right now it isn’t part of the primary plan.

US National Parks according to Wikipedia as of 11/1/16:

Acadia National Park, Maine

American Samoa National Park, American Samoa

Arches National Park, Utah

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Big Bend National Park, Texas

Biscayne National Park, Florida

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Channel Islands National Park, California

Congaree National Park, South Carolina

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Death Valley National Park, California

Denali National Park, Alaska

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

Everglades National Park, Florida

Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska

Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (Have done, but will do again as part of AZT)

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Isla Royal National Park, Michigan

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Katmai National Park, Alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Kings Canyon National Park, California

Kobuck Valley National Park, Alaska

Lane Clark National Park, Alaska

Lassen Volcano National Park, California

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Mount Ranier National Park, Washington

Olympic National Park, Washington

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Pinnacles National Park, California

Redwoods National Park, California

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Saguaro National Park, Arizona

Sequoia National Park, California

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Virgin Islands National Park, US Virgin Islands

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Wrangell- St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Montana/Idaho

Yosemite National Park, California

Zion National Park, Utah

Visit Every Spanish Speaking Country and Improve My Spanish in the Process:

I love international travel. Seeing new places and meeting new people. It also bothers me to be essentially monolingual. There was a time that my Spanish was getting pretty good. Almost conversational. But I haven’t practiced in much, much too long. One way to get my fix from both of these goals is to visit every Spanish speaking country in the world. I was surprised to learn that there are four countries in South America that do not list Spanish as the official or dominant language. I knew Brazilians spoke Portuguese, I did not realize that Guyana, French Guyana, and Suriname are not Spanish dominant either. I will likely end up adding these non spanish speaking South American Countries to my travels too, but for the purposes of this specific quest list I’ll stick the the official Spanish speaking ones.

Spanish speaking countries:

Mexico DONE (Yucatan 2007, Chiapas 2008)

Columbia

Spain

Argentina

Peru

Venezuela

Chile

Ecuador

Guatemala

Cuba

Bolivia

Dominican Republic

Honduras

Paraguay

El Salvador

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Puerto Rico

Panama

Uraguay

Equatorial Guinea

Get My Family Traveling Internationally:

I believe that international travel, like outdoor adventure, is good for children. It is a blessing for them to see how other people live, work, eat, and play. It makes them more grateful for their blessings and shows them all that is possible in the world. My spouse is my favorite adventure partner, however, he just isn’t sold on the international travel idea just yet. He has, however, agreed to try a couple of places in the world that feel doable to try out this long distance travel thing and see how he likes it. The two locations I’m listing here are the two he has expressed interest in visiting. I’ll add to the list if I get a thumbs up to do so.

Bahamas (for diving and snorkeling)

Norway (visiting family and beautiful mountains)

Learn To Set Climbing Ropes and Climb Outdoors:

This is less specific, I know. But I see my son taking to climbing readily and climbing seems like a very approachable weekend and after work activity for families. I also have some half baked ideas around mountaineering, which may need to get developed a bit more before I make a quest list out of anything.

I have several other thoughts and ideas brewing, but they are all much too unformulated and nebulous to really put them into the list just yet, and to be honest, this list as it is written hold plenty to work on! I will edit, add to and subtract from the list as things shift and will link to any articles I write on these expeditions as I go.

Are you feeling inspired to write out a quest list of your own yet? I highly recommend the book “The Happiness of Pursuit” if you want more inspiration to develop your own personalized quest list. There are so many ideas there for adventure in every shape and size, some of which doesn’t even require leaving the house!

What are some of your big audacious adventure goals? Leave a comment and let me know what stokes your wandering soul!

(This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you use the links on this post to purchase the item described, or any other item these vendors sell, a tiny percentage of your purchase will be sent to me at no extra cost to you. This helps keep the lights on here in my little corner of the internet and earns you my undying gratitude.)              

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2016 Gift Guide for Adventure Loving Mamas!

I must confess, holiday gift giving always gives me that stress knot in my stomach. I’m somehow supposed to figure out something useful and/or meaningful for this long list of friends and relatives that won’t be clutter to them, and won’t be death to my budget either. Ugh...the smell of all that pumpkin spice in the air already makes me nauseous.  

That’s why I was excited to participate in this year’s Gift Guide for New Moms: Blog Hop and giveaway hosted by Chelsea Johnson of www.thejohnsonsplusdog.com . All the best holiday gift guides for new mamas, so you won’t be left scratching your head over what to get for the moms in your life. Sweet right!? (Pro tip: If you ARE a new mom, feel free to pass your favorite of this year’s guides on to your family so they won’t be lost as to what to give you. You’re welcome.) BONUS! See the end of the post to enter to win a prize package worth $80! That should jump start your holiday gift shopping nicely! Contest ends November 8th 2016!  

Without further ado, 2016 gift guide for adventure loving mamas!

1. A solar powered Luci Light. These are one of the most ingenious things EVER. A powerful lantern (the clear ones provide plenty of light to read by) that provides 12 hours of illumination from 100% solar energy. Even better, the Luci collapses into a thin disc when not in use for easy backpackability. These are not only amazing for the outdoors, but can also be kept bedside for those middle of the night feedings that all new parents go through. Just set Luci on the lowest setting for mellow and effective lighting through those long nights. Bonus! Luci Also makes a color changing party light that is mesmerizing to babies and kids alike, and provides a softer glow for a camping night light for nervous littles. ( Psst! Want to WIN a Luci light? Enter the raffle at the bottom of this post!)  

2. Cotton socks just do not cut it in the backcountry. Period. They get wet and cold, rub and create blisters, and simply don’t hold up to the abuse that adventurous moms throw at them. Smartwool is the absolute BEST in the industry for soft, cuddly, long lasting socks. Yes, they are pricier than discount store socks, but not only do they function better, they last much much longer. I have some Smartwool socks that are 10 years old and still going strong. I can say that about exactly zero pairs of discount store socks.

3. Hammock. A good hammock is a godsend to a new mama. They make a cozy place to hang out and nurse while at camp, and when the kiddo gets older, they will enjoy playing in it. On our most recent family camping vacation in Colorado, our hammock was the only reason we could get dinner made. Little mister mischief man was willing to sit in there swinging and reading to himself for a good 30 minutes at a time. (If you want to read about that trip, check out the three part series HERE, HERE, and HERE.) You can go for a backpacking grade hammock that also doubles as shelter with a Warbonnet Black Bird or an Eno Doublenest. Our absolute favorite for around camp though is this Amazonas Paradisio Double. This old school German made cotton beauty is comfort and relaxation deluxe. It is, however, too heavy for backpacking duty.

4.  Merino Wool or Synthetic Fleece nursing sweater. One of the biggest obstacles to getting out in the woods to tromp around when my son was still nursing was the cold. Not just bundling him or me up really. That is easily done. But how to bundle up mama while still having access for the frequent nursing that little ones need. If mom bundles up in many of her pre kiddo layers, shirts and jackets will be pulled up, down, and to the side, leaving belly and chest areas with fewer layers between them and the cold air. A nursing sweater helps to solve this problem. Choose merino wool or synthetic fleece as these are the warmest and will still protect from the cold if they get a little wet from the snow. BONUS! Figure 8 Maternity also has a Merino Wool nursing tank!! This makes a PERFECT base layer under a cosy nursing sweater. I would have literally worn this every day if had one while nursing!  

5. Audible or Kindle Unlimited subscription. The first year or two your new mama friend is going to have a harder time getting away for as much adventure as she used to. She’ll find her groove again, but the first months of motherhood are made for snuggling. Having a mental adventure through reading is a great way for her to dream of far flung places while she recovers. Holding a paper book and a baby can be challenging. Kindle unlimited allows her to borrow a huge library of e-books from Amazon to read on any device with the kindle app including her phone. Much easier to deal with when your hands are full. Even better, Audible allows her to download an audiobook to listen to all her favorite adventure tales. Audiobooks were literally the only way I was able to “read” at all for the first year. So in love with that format!

6. Scratch Maps. For the mama who likes a visual of the places she has been, these are a fantastic and fun novelty. This one has the countries of the world to keep track of her globe trotting fun. This one has all the US states and the National Parks for the park loving, peak bagging moms. I think I may need one of each this year!

7. Tracking Beacon. Pre-kid, I worried a lot less about what I would do if something unfortunate happening in the backcountry. I plan well, am highly trained in wilderness medicine and survival skills. I figured that if something happened while I was out in the wild alone I would figure it out. Now that I have a kiddo, I don’t want to take any chances. I DO, however, still like to adventure solo (and so does my spouse). That’s why we decided to research the best options in personal rescue beacons. Our very favorite is the Resqlink. These are a replica of the device that is standard issue for Coast Guard personnel. When activated it sends a direct signal to search and rescue satellites. One of the best things about this device is that it is bare bones. There is no monthly service fee or subscription to pay, and it works exactly as it is supposed to if needed. However, if you want something that can communicate in remote areas in a non emergency situation, I recommend the DeLorme InReach. I carry one of these for work. It too will send a rescue signal when activated, but can also be used as a basic satellite texting device. With the InReach you can send and receive text messages with any number you program in. So a simple “made it to camp tonight safe and sound” message can be sent home. The InReach does, however, require a monthly subscription to work.

8. Lenses for her cell phone camera. These days hardly anyone carries a separate camera. Our cell phones are so darn good there is little need. But even a good smartphone camera can be made even better with some upgraded lenses. Help her get the best possible photos on her phone with these lenses for iPhone or Samsung 7.  

9. Dry Bags. I’m not sure you can ever have too many dry bags. For water sports (canoeing, river trips, boating), for keeping clothing and sleeping gear dry when backpacking, or for making sure that stash of diapers doesn’t get water leaked all over them in the daypack, there are no end to the uses for dry bags. We have sizes for our cellphones, medkit, food bags, everything. Bonus...The right size dry bag makes a perfect place to store wet, filthy, blowout soiled, or otherwise gross clothes until you can get it to the car, home, or the nearest trash can.  

10. Saving the VERY best for last. In the end, that #1 thing any adventure loving mama wants is...ADVENTURE! So help make that happen for her. For some crazy reason, despite the fact that research continues to show that experiences enrich our lives more than stuff, we seem to struggle with implementing that idea. I don’t know if it is because we are attached to the wrapped box with a “thing” inside, or we think gifting an experience will be less fulfilling, or something else. Don’t be shy. Gift an experience. You can get that mama a gift card for Southwest Airlines (my favorite domestic carrier), United or American (both have international destinations), Air BnB or Bed and Breakfast for those trips when camping isn’t the best choice, or figure out some fun she might like to have in her local area like passes to a ski resort nearby, or a class to improve her climbing/mountain biking/kayaking/mountaineering skills. Don’t forget to include childcare for her getaway! If you are a trusted friend or family member who likes kids, offer to watch them yourself. She will appreciate getting to leave her kiddo with a loved one. If you live far away, or watching her child yourself is impractical, try finding her a sitter on Care.com. Just be sure you check that they serve her area.  

Do you have a great suggestion for a gift to show that adventure loving mama in your life how much you care? Leave a comment and tell us your ideas!

Be sure to hop around and check out my mama friends below for their version of a gift guide for new moms. The Johnsons Plus Dog Stressed Mommy Mama Wild and Free (you are here!!) One More Busy Mom   a Rafflecopter giveaway

There is no purchase necessary. Open only to legal residents of the United States and Canada, who are 18 years of age or older as of date of entry. Void in Puerto Rico and all other U.S. territories and wherever prohibited by law. Subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Decisions of Sponsor are final on all matters pertaining to Sweepstakes. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or in association with, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter. 

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or in association with The Honest Company or Amazon.

The information entrants provide to Sponsor will only be used to select a winner for this promotion and to receive future promotional emails from Sponsor. Entrants may opt out from receiving those emails from Sponsor at any time.

Chances of winning vary based on the final number of entrants. 

Chelsea @ The Johnsons Plus Dog will notify the winner on November 9th, 2016 via email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. 

(This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you use the links on this post to purchase the item described, or any other item these vendors sell, a tiny percentage of your purchase will be sent to me at no extra cost to you. This helps keep the lights on here in my little corner of the internet and earns you my undying gratitude.)           

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