I stared up at the ceiling of my tent and watched as a single water drop fell onto my sleeping bag. I immediately brushed it off but knew more drops were inevitable. It was the sixth day of my eight day trek through the wilderness of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Alaska's notorious weather finally caught up to us.
Read MoreFinally we were there: Lago di Braies. It was the starting point of our 120km trek through the Dolomites in northern Italy. 6 months of anticipation, 4 months of Italian lessons on Duo Lingo, 2 lengthy plane rides, and 3 bus rides lead up to this point and everything suddenly felt surreal.
Read MoreIn January I planned nearly all of my trips for 2017. I knew that permits for some of the places I wanted to visit would be tough to come by so I made sure to secure them the moment they became available. For the long July 4th weekend I had (barely) snagged a couple of permits for a 4 day/3 night backpacking trip through the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
Read MoreThe past two years Alex and I have taken the long Thanksgiving weekend to #optoutside and spend some quality time in the national parks. Finding places to go in November that aren't too cold or too snowy can be a challenge but we've found that Utah is a pretty good bet. Last year we hiked in Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks, but this year I wanted something a little more remote.
Read MoreAfter our hike to Mount Storm King Alex and I drove to the Third Beach Trailhead to begin our 6.4 mile hike to Toleak Point. High tide was scheduled for 2pm so we set out from the trailhead at 4pm. This would ensure the tide would be low by the time we reached a few stretches of beach and the headlands that require a low tide for crossing.
Read MoreOn my trip through Gates of the Arctic I had the opportunity to try packrafting for the first time. In fact, one of the reasons I went with this Gates of the Arctic guided trip over others was because of the two day packrafting extension.
Read MoreThe third day of our trip we ventured up into the valley directly below The Maidens. East and West Maiden are massive granite slabs that shoot up from the valley floor and tower over the creek below. They are so massive that from base camp they looked as if they were a short leisurely hike away but it took us half an hour just to reach their base.
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