A Snapshot and The Scoop: The Raccoon

I know it is hard to see in this picture, but we saw a raccoon! Callie, Ghost, and I were on a weekend trip in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and had stopped at a creek to let Callie swim and to get Ghost used to the water. We were busy playing fetch when this young raccoon came down to the creek to wash whatever was in its little paws not too far from where the dogs and I were. I'm not even sure the dogs noticed the 'coon, they were so absorbed in playing with the ball, sticks, leaves, rocks, and anything else they could pick up. The little raccoon didn't stay long, but he was cute!

Leave me a comment below and tell me about a furry little visitor on one of your own trip!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Callie and Ghost

Some of you will already know about him, but for those of you who don't: meet my new puppy, Ghost! Ghost has become a regular partner in adventuring with Callie and I, but the road to get here wasn't exactly smooth. You see, Callie was jealouos of the new puppy. It wasn't until I took them both with me on a weekend adventure in the Ouachita Mountains that she really seemed to acccept him, even playing with him, allowing him to share the front seat of the car with her, and cuddling with him (and me) in the tent at night. I was slightly concerned they would never get along, but I had nothing to worry about. They're adventure buddies!

Leave me a comment below and tell me about a time you introduced two pets together. How did it go?


Note: Before anybody says anything, yes, I know Ghost is very skinny in this picture. He was four pounds and a bag of bones covered in skin when he was found about six weeks before this picture was taken and we are working hard to get him up to normal puppy weight. He'll grow up big and strong in his new loving home with us!

Rocky Mountain Adventures: Upper Wind River

Confident. Our morning at Boulder Brook dawned bright and cold. It was by far the coldest overnight we had weathered in Rocky Mountain National Park, and I for one had my mummy sleeping bag cinched all the way down so that only my nose and mouth were exposed. If I was cold, I know Torrey was freezing. Our bags are rated for twenty degrees and I'd guess the temperatures to be somewhere in the thirties so we were toasty as long as we stayed in our bags, but unfortuantley nature calls. We unwillingly slid out of the tent, pulling on gloves and hats to try to fend off the chill. We made ourselves a warm breakfast and found a sun spot, waiting for the tent to dry out and our limbs to warm up before we got moving.

Our hike back down Boulder Brook Trail went much better than our hike up, though the trail was just as steep as we remembered. Steep trails seemed to be the theme of our hikes this year; I don't remember hiking trails without switchbacks like the ones we hiked here in the history of my travels. It was killer on my ankles, unfortunatley, and I would slip or misstep every few feet and send my ankles rolling in every direction. I was lucky to only cause myself some minor pain and swelling; I easily could have ended up with a sprained or broken ankle.

We were picking our way down the last stretch of steep trail before it leveled out, Torrey some way ahead of me, when I saw her stop dead in the center of the trail. I caught up to her and she pointed out something big and brown moving just on the edge of the forest, not far from us. As we stood still and quiet, watching closely, a young male elk, his antlers barely more than velvet-covered spikes, wandered onto our trail a few hundred feet from us. He was taking his sweet time, munching on small aspen trees, though every once in a while he would pick his head up and stare us down. We knew better than to get too close: young male elk are particularly unpredictable with their high levels of testosterone. Unfortunatley, he was right in the middle of our trail, and there was no going around him without losing some of our tree cover protection. We were blocked in for probably ten minutes or more until we eventually had to scared him off by throwing rocks and me yelling at the elk like an idiot. I'm pretty sure if another hiker had heard me they would have wondered what the hell was wrong with me.

It was around the same time that Torrey confessed she had stashed a Dr. Pepper in the car back at the trailhead, and since we really weren't all that far away... So we made a detour back to the car and grabbed a snack while we were at it. We were only there briefly, but it was long enough to watch a couple of storms growing over the mountains near us, and we knew that it was a matter of time until they reached us, whether we were at camp or not. We finished up and got moving, following a trail that stank of horses a few miles back into the lush Wind River valley filled with beaver ponds and stands of pine trees.

It really was a beautiful place, and I was excited to spend our final night in the park at Upper Wind River camping area. We didn't waste time getting our tent set up and gear sorted for the night; the storm we had seen from the car blew up almost as soon as we arrived and pelted us with soft, half-formed hail and freezing rain until we zipped ourselves into our tent to ride it out. It didn't last long, though, and pretty soon we were back out, making ourselves some celebratory backcountry apple crisp before exploring the area. We spent the afternoon content and relaxed, Torrey reading and me writing, and otherwise just being lazy. I almost didn't register the sound of galloping hooves or the cracks of branches breaking, but I glanced up just in time to see the blur of a giant bull moose running through the meadow next to our camp, then I went right back to writing. In hindsight I should have wondered what in the world would cause a huge animal like that to run, but I was absorbed in my own head and it didn't even cross my mind. Not even five minutes later Torrey broke my concentration again with a chilling whisper. "There's something over there..."

I have one more story to tell, and it's my best one yet! Stay tuned for the final installment of my Rocky Mountain Adventures on the next full-length post. In the meantime, you can review the rest of our adventures with The Eclipse, Skeleton Gulch, Box Canyon, Thunder Pass, Glacier Basin, Unfinished Business, and Boulder Brook!

I'm Thankful For... V.2017

Thankful. Sometimes I forget to be thankful. I get so caught up in life, in what is going on around me, in what I still need to do and what has to be done, that I forget how much I already have. And I have a lot. Last year I wrote about how I'm thankful for my fiance (now husband!), my family, my pets, my jobs, and my travels. And while I am still thankful for those people and things, this year I want to get specific. This year, I'm especially thankful for...

My Adventure Partners: Alisha, Jared, and Torrey
These three amazing people put up with me for at least a week each, alone in a car, in the backcountry, on a crazy cross-country trip.

I spent a week in the desert with only my sister for company, backpacking in one of the most inhospitable places in the United States, the Grand Canyon. We took care of each other and helped each other make it through the desert heat, thunderstorms, and scorching climbs, and I am so happy I got to share that experience with her.

I got to go with Jared on two-week a cross-country road trip to see most of his extended family, meaning he had to spend days in a car with me. Our reward for making it through such a trip was getting married! I am so thankful to have Jared in my life, to go on crazy adventures, to come home to any time I go alone. I can't imagine life without him.

Once again this year I met Torrey at Pike's Peak in Colorado and somehow managed to convince her to backpack for a week in Rocky Mountain National Park. Not only did she spend  hours in a car with me, but only had me to hang out with while in the backcountry. We relied on each other to get us through tough mountain climbs, and we got to share the experince of being faced with a bear. I don't know who else I'd rather have to share those things with!

I am so thankful for these adventure with each of you, and can't wait until our next trip together!

My Adventure Buddies, Callie and Ghost

What would I do without my adventure buddies? My solo travels would be a whole lot less fun and fulfilling without my dogs! Callie is always ready for an adventure, so much so that when she hears my alarm go off early in the morning she is up and ready to go by the door just as soon as I let her out of the bedroom! Ghost is learning the whole camping business, but I am so thankful for his boundless energy and his trust in me. I can't wait to take him to some amazing places, with Callie right by my side too.

My New Family

If you missed it, I got married! I am so, so thankful for my new family. To be loved and accepted as an addition to their own family makes my heart swell, and I am thrilled to have been able to spend time with them this summer on our adventures up north. Having everyone there for Jared's and my marriage is something I will always cherish.

Trail Toes

This one is material, but you guys, I am so thankful for Trail Toes. This amazing product has kept my feet happy on every hike since August, and I no longer get blisters! Where a ten mile hike in four hours would normally have left me with massive, painful blisters on my toes and heels I got away with none! I've used this stuff on every hike since Torrey introduced me to it on our August backpacking trip in the mountains and couldn't be happier. If you run or hike a lot, check out Trail Toes at their website here and use the code BCyber12 to get a discount!

The Skills and Experience I've Gained 

A less quantifiable item, the skills and experince I've built up over my years of travelling have allowed me to push my limits and made backpacking possible. It took me two years from when I started travelling to work up the gear and courage to begin backpacking, and I still continue to learn new things with every trip I take. I am thankful for every lesson I've learned, the good and the bad, because they make me a better traveller, hiker, and backpacker.

There are many more things that I am thankful for, but this list hits my highlights for the last year. I am going to strive to remember everything I have to be thankful for, even in the face of challenges and difficulties that may come. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Don't Trust Mapping Apps

I travel a lot (obviously) and have used my fair share of maps, from GPS to internet apps to paper maps. I've discovered that mapping apps don't always take you on the best route between point A and point B. I can't say I know exactly how they calculate the route they provide, but sometimes they take you on some really random roads. Some of the roads are fun, like the one pictured while on my way to the Ouachita Mountains this pas summer, but some roads seem more like someone's driveway than a thru road. The apps are good for giving a general route and ETA, but I think I'll stick with paper maps to figure out exactly where I'm going.

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you've had this problem with mapping apps. Am I doing something wrong?

Rocky Mountain Adventures: Boulder Brook

Wearied. We were ready to backpack again! Torrey and I had finished a ten mile day hike in the front country of Rocky Mountain National Park and just barely missed an afternoon downpour when we found ourselves sitting in our car at the trailhead for our next two nights of backpacking, waiting out the last bit of rain. We were fatigued from our fast-paced morning hike, but I was itching to get into the backcountry again. Our gear was loaded, the rain let up, and we set off, knowing our camp was only three or so miles away from the trailhead.

What we hadn't counted on was the trail condition. With the afternoon thunderstorm everything was wet and slick, and the trail itself was just as steep if not worse than the first trail we hiked up to Skeleton Gulch when we arrived in the park. We moved slowly, methodically placing one foot in front of the other, bowed forward to try to counteract gravity. Each of us was lost in our own exhaustion-hazed world and we hardy acknowledged each other; I didn't even have enough energy to call out to Torrey that I was stopping to take a picture.

That is one thing I try not to lose, no matter how much my feet hurt or how much my lungs sear: I want to notice everything around me, be in the present, hold it in my mind's eye, and if I see something that I want to keep forever, I set up a shot and snap a photo. There's a good chance I will never return to the exact spot I was in at that moment, and I take pictures as much for the emotional memory as the physical one. I can look at one of the pictures I took and tell you what was going on around me, what I was feeling, and why I decided to take that exact photo.

On this particular trail, everything was vibrant, still dripping after the recent rain. The greens stood out vividly, from the mosses on the boulders to the needles on the trees, and every once in a while the pop of a red mushroom or a splash of purple wildflowers swam across my field of vision. The world was overcast, perfect for a quiet hike through a forest that smelled like damp earth and wet plants and cool mountain rain. Boulder Brook itself ran next to the trail for much of the first half of our hike, loudly and cheerfully bouncing from boulder to boulder as it raced down the mountainside in the opposite direction from where we were headed. I love camping near water, especially loud water like this mountain stream, and I was excited to reach our destination and get a good night's sleep on its banks.

It was with relief when we finally reached our campsite for the night, and we set up near the brook's rushing waters but far enough away that we were out of an area where it had clearly flooded before. Trees and rocks were piled up at unnatural levels, creating dams against living trees and bigger boulders. The vegetation in the area had been stripped away except for a growth of grasses and mosses  directly lining the stream. A flood of some force had ripped through the area, and we were not eager to be in the path of another one should it storm too badly that night. As it was, it only sprinkled on us a little before the sky cleared and we were able to watch stars appear overhead as evening enveloped our camp.

Other Rocky Mountain Adventures: The Eclipse, Skeleton Gulch, Box Canyon, Thunder Pass, Glacier Basin, and Unfinished Business.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Parselmouth

Jared always seems to find snakes. At work he all but attracts snakes like rat snakes, king snakes, and copperheads. While we were in Minnesota on our cross-country roadtrip last June we stopped at Itasca State Park to check out the headwaters of the Mississippi River. While there, guess what Jared found! This cute little garter snake is harmless, mostly eating insects and minnows if it can catch them, and Jared scooped it up to show our niece, Charlotte. She really didn't have any interest in the snake and Jared let it go away from the crowd of people, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see the snake following Jared around after. Its a good thing Jared and I both like snakes!

Leave me a comment below and tell me about an animal that you seem to have an affinity for! You all know I have a thing for squirrels, I want to know what likes you!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Babe the Blue (B)Ox

On our trip up north visiting family Jared and I found ourselves in Bemidji, MN with Jared's immediate family, including his mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. We made a special trip in to town to see the statues of Paul Bunyan and his companion, Babe the Blue Ox. Charlotte, our niece, wasn't too sure about Babe at first, that is, until Jared pointed out Babe's butt. From then on "Babe the Blue Box" was a monument of laughter, and when we bought Charlotte a little Babe the first thing she did was turn it around and point out the ox's rear. Jared sure knows how to turn a potentially scary something into a funny something, and that is what I hope Charlotte will remember every time she looks at Babe the Blue Box.

Leave me a comment below and tell me about a time when someone turned something scary into something funny for you! I'd love a good laugh!

Rocky Mountain Adventures: Unfinished Business

Pacified. I don't like leaving things unfinished. It feels wrong, and it bothers me if something is half completed. Maybe that's the perfectionist in me, that Type A personality, or whatever, but this aversion to unfulfilled tasks is what led Torrey and I to plan an ambitious ten mile dayhike in between backpacking treks while at Rocky Mountain National Park in August. We had attempted to hike up to Sky Pond last year after our epic hike to Andrew's Glacier, but were forced to give it up and turn around less than half a mile from our goal due to a storm that blew in off the Continental Divide. This year we were determined to finish it.

We got up and packed our camp at Glacier Basin as the sun rose, driving to the trailhead where we would leave to go backpacking later in the day. We caught the park's shuttle up to Sky Pond's trail and finally began. We hiked quickly, feeling as light as a feather without our heavy backpacks, flying up the mountain trail to our first stop at The Loch. We had stopped at this gorgeous pond on our previous hike in the area and it still ranks as one of the prettiest mountain lakes I've had the pleasure of hiking to. We took a lot of pictures, spending about twenty minutes enjoying the early morning and mountain views before continuing on.

We continued to make great time up until we began the approach to Timberline Falls. Here, I lagged behind. The trail becomes steep and slippery, with wooden and stone steps cutting into the mountain in front of you. If I learned anything on this trip its that climbing is my downfall; whether that is actually climbing up something or otherwise using my feet (and still sometimes hands) to gain elevation. I can handle coming down like nobody's business, but if you ask me to go up something I will come in dead last. Oh well, something for me to work on, right? Once I finally reached the falls the fun really began: we had to climb them. Yes, I mean actually climb up a waterfall. It was scary, trying to climb up the slippery, wet rocks while water rushed down next to you, but I made it up after much huffing and puffing and cursing. I was greeted by Glass Lake at the top, stretching from the falls back almost as far as I could see. Last year the lake was grey and choppy, stirred by the storm; this year a calm lake lay at our feet, surrounded by deep green trees under a bright and sunny sky.

Torrey and I spent a little time at Glass Lake, taking in the view, before finding the trail that winds along next to it on the approach to Sky Pond. Beyond Glass Lake, the trail is amazing. Beautiful wetland meadows full of flowers lay in between small rocky rises and the stream that feeds both Glass Lake and Timberline Falls splashes and plays among small cascades. When we finally reached Sky Pond under blue skies it was to see a clear, deep green alpine lake just above treeline, fed by one of the few glaciers left in the park. We clambered down to the water's edge, picking a spot in the sun and enjoying a few well-earned snacks next to the gorgeous little pond. Time seemed to stand still while we sat there, and we only decided to leave when we ran out of snacks.

The return trip flew by, with Torrey and I fast walking, sometimes jogging, down the trail past other hikers on their way up. We reached the trailhead in record time, marking our fastest round trip hiking time at 10.40 miles in four and a half hours, including stops at The Loch, Glass Lake, Sky Pond, Timberline Falls, and other short rests (where I took pictures of waterfalls) along the way. I'm still not completely sure how we managed to hike up and down the mountain so fast, with the only plausable explanation being that we had grown used to mountain climbing with heavy packs, and once we removed those we could fly.

We're more than halfway through my Rocky Mountain Adventures, but I'm not done yet! Read my other stories about The Eclipse here, Skeleton Gulch here, Box Canyon here, Thunder Pass here, and Glacier Basin here.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Uncle and Niece

You all know by now that Jared and I aren't having kids. And honestly, why would we when we have the world's most perfect niece to dote on? On our trip up north to visit family we got to spend time with Jared's brother and his small family, including their young daughter. Almost as soon as Charlotte saw Jared she wanted him to take her to the playground, and the resort stay was spent with Jared catering to Charlotte's needs. She wanted to go down the slides? He did too. She wanted to swim or play in the sand? So did Jared. She has him wrapped around her little fingers, and if I'm being honest she has me wrapped too. We don't get to spend near enough time with Charlotte or her family as we would like, but we make the most of the time we do have together.

Leave me a comment and tell me about family you would do anything for. Family stories are good stories!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Late Sunsets

Something I've never really thought about was the sun and its movement through the sky relative to a person's location. On our trip up north this past June I got a reminder that not everybody has the same sun as I do back home in Texas. We were so far north in the summer that sunsets there were late, much later than I was used to. It was 9:30pm and the sun was still in the sky, and sunsets lingered past 10:30pm. I'm a sunrise-sunset girl, but 10:30pm is past my bedtime! I stayed up a few times but mostly was asleep at my normal time - before the sun slipped below the horizon.

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you've noticed the sun sets at different times depending on how far north or south you are. Was it just me who was surprised?

Rocky Mountain Adventures: Glacier Basin

Reflective. Our third day in the park dawned quiet and overcast. Torrey and I had spent the night at Box Canyon on the extreme northern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, and our third morning had a different mood to it than the previous few days. Maybe it was the cloud cover, but it also could have been my sadness at leaving the area so we could move to the east side of the park. I never really spent much time on the west side of Rocky, and neither do a vast majority of visitors to the park. At most they'll head up to the alpine visitors center, maybe drop down to the Continental Divide, then head back east. We were on our third day exclusively on the west side of the park, and it was gorgeous and peaceful. I didn't want to leave.

Unfortunatley, we had to. We had reservations to honor, and our permits for staying where we were had expired. We packed up and hiked away from Box Canyon quietly, muted, almost. The loudest sounds were our footsteps on the trail and the occasional clack of my trekking poles against a rock. Even the birds and the streams seemed quieter than usual as we passed through the forest in an early morning lull. We reached the portion of trail that had given us such trouble two days before, where it was so steep that we were in danger of tumbling backwards down the mountain with one wrong step. We marvled that we had even been able to hike up it, and hiking down presented its own challenges in the form of loose rocks and twisted ankles.

We made it back to the Colorado River after carefully picking our way down the mountain, and the world seemed to wake up as the sun burned away the clouds as we approached Lulu City. We explored the ruins of the ghost town again, spying more cabins than we had on our first pass through the area. We were greeted (and by that I mean yelled at) by marmots sunbathing in open, rocky areas next to the path, where raspberry bushes grew plump and ripe. Our hike out of the forest took far less time than our hike in, but I'm not sure if that was because we were headed downhill or because we were better acclimated to hiking with a pack. Either way, we reached the car before I was fully ready.

I have to admit, I was a little relieved to see the parking lot at the trailhead. As much as I wanted to stay in the backcountry away from people, a parking lot meant my vehicle, and my car meant I was that much closer to getting real food and a change of clothes. Torrey and I ditched our packs in the backseat and piled into the front, taking off along Trail Ridge Road - always a favorite - with a stop at the Alpine Visitors Center for a meal and some trinket shopping.

Once on the east side of Rocky Mountain we descended into Estes Park, the town on the edge of the national park, to find ourselves showers and more food before we headed back into the park for the night. We stayed at one of the four established campgrounds in the park, Glacier Basin, where we sorted through our gear and prepped for another few days of backpacking as well as an ambitious day hike we had planned for the next morning. That night we were a lot more brave than we had been the previous few nights, actually staying out of the tent as dusk fell around us, watching the Milky Way blossom above our heads and catching glimpses of a few shooting stars. We were ready for more adventures.

Did you read the first few adventures in Rocky Mountain? You can see them again here, here, here, and here.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: The Geographical Center of North America

On our cross-country drive this past June Jared and I found oureslves at the geographical center of North America. How exactly they (whoever "they" is) calculated the centerpoint of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, I have no idea, but when I saw the road sign for it I knew we had to stop. Its little attractions like this that make me love driving so much. Yes, I have a destination, but getting there is at least half of the fun. Also: bragging rights to being at the center of a continent!

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you've ever been here, or someplace similar. What roadside attractions do you like best?