At midnight on Friday, June 9th I awoke from a fitful bout of rest to the distinct sound of my alarm ringing. Instinctively, I reached to snooze it, but when my blurry gaze fell upon the dial that read 12:00am my reality hit me. Snoozing my alarm didn't mean that I wouldn't have time to shower before work it meant that I would delay my attempt to summit the highest peak in the contiguous US: Mount Whitney. Suddenly sleep was the furthest thing from my mind.
Read MoreThe highlight of Alex's and my trip to Kenai Fjords National Park in early May was the 3 day/2 night kayaking trip we went on with Miller's Landing. While there are a few trails to hike in the park the best way to see and experience Kenai Fjords is by boat and we didn't want to take just a short day cruise, we wanted to really immerse ourselves in the park.
Read MoreThe summer backpacking season is just around the corner and I'm in the process of finalizing almost all of my trips. Since you may be as well I thought it would be a great time to finally put together a review for my guided backpacking trip to the Arrigetch Peaks in Gates of the Arctic National Park last summer, in case you want to add it to your itinerary!
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 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.
Read MoreThe Narrows is an incredibly unique hike that takes you through knee to waist deep water of the Virgin River flowing through a towering slot canyon. It is also one of the most famous hikes in the park, Angel's Landing being its competition, so even in the winter months you can expect the Narrows to be extremely busy.
Read MoreI went to Great Sand Dunes National Park on a whim. I was thisclose to not going but am so glad I did.
Read MoreLake Tahoe arguably has the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I have ever seen. The sky is illuminated in brilliant shades of orange, pink, and yellow and left me picking my jaw up off the ground.
Read More
