Happy First Birthday, Hoodoo!

Celebratory. Look, I'm not gonna lie, this post is mostly (read: entirely) me bragging about my cat again. It's his first birthday, and he deserves to be celebrated! Because for real, I have a cat that not only tolerates travel, but actually enjoys it. I have a cat who jumps into the car, who meows until we can go hiking, who chills on my shoulders when he doesn't want to walk. Hoodoo waits patiently for me to put his harness on and snuggles up in sleeping bags while tucked into a nylon cave. He also parties most nights at 2am unless I wear him out on a few miles of trail, but he's always ready to go the next day.

While I can't say he enjoys getting wet, he doesn't mind it in the way most cats I know do. He's down for some snow play and handles rain like a champ, and even delicately crosses streams that are in his path. He was a boss while climbing mountains at just a few months old, he showed off in the desert, and he handled getting frozen into our tent during a snow shower by purring next to my belly in our tent. He had no fear while exploring rivers and forests, and it seems his only two dislikes on the planet are wind and strange dogs.

This is a cat who crawls onto everybody's lap, who purrs and chatters constantly, who makes himself at home no matter what far-flung place I take him to. He's happy sleeping on my lap for 12 hour car rides, or playing in the dirt at our campsite as we settle in for the night. He's already visited eleven states and seven national park units, spending long hours and thousands of miles in a car. He has his spots in the house and the car and the tent claimed for himself, but plays it cool if you displace him. I've never met a cat like my little orange adventure kitten, and I probably never will again.
My kitten turns one year old, and I can't wait for many more years full of adventures and cuddles.
Happy Birthday Hoodoo!

I'm Thankful For...V2018

Grateful. It's that time of year again, the time where we reflect on what we are happy to have in our lives. The time where I pick the top things I'm thankful for and list them out for you, hopefully to inspire you to do the same. This post also serves as a record of sorts, a way for me to look back through the years and remember what I was glad to have in my life. Read on below to find out what I'm thankful for this year:

Our House

We bought a house! Almost a year ago now we signed the papers on our first house together, our first house we can call our own, and I am so grateful we are at the point in our lives where we can make adult purchases such as a house. It is something we own, something we can do whatever we want with, and it is my home base to all of my travels, the place I find myself looking forward to seeing after a time away. It is the place that holds my best friend and husband, that keeps our fur family warm and dry. It keeps me busy when I'm not travelling with many little projects as we make the house our home, and is a place I can retreat to if I don't feel like going out into the wider world. So yes, I'm more than thankful for our house.

My Husband

I definitely do not tell him enough, but I am so thankful for Jared. He is my comfort and support, always encouraging me to explore and bring him back something nice. Jared keeps our home warm (or cool!) and welcoming every time I travel, and if I didn't have him I'm not sure I'd have a reason to come back. I miss him when I leave and I look forward to seeing him every day, even though we work and live together. I am awed by his care and compassion for our own animals and those under his care, even when he tries to act like he doesn't. I can't imagine not having Jared in my life, and I am so grateful he's mine.

Hoodoo

A new one this year, I am thankful for my adventure kitten! My loving, enabling husband gifted me with kittens this summer, and Hoodoo has grown into an adventure cat worthy of hiking mountains with me. I am so grateful he has such a chill but curious personality, perfect for being a cat who likes car rides and boulder hopping. I'm grateful he isn't afraid of storms or my tent, and that he's up for anything other than getting his paws wet. I love his sleeping bag snuggles, and I even love his 2am partying (but only after the fact, when he's being sweet and cuddly during his afternoon naps.) I can't wait for more trips with my little orange adventure kitten, and I will be grateful every time he goes with me.

Will Power

I know it's not something I should probably be thankful for, nor really boast about, but I'm grateful for my will power (read: stubbornness). I wouldn't do even half of the things I do if I weren't stubborn, from hiking 14,000 foot mountains with a cat to getting myself out being lost in the desert. If I didn't have a strong sense of will, and of pride, it wouldn't be hard to convince me to give up before I finished a task. But here I am, bound and determined to see whatever I began through to the end. And to make that ending be what I desire. I'm thankful for my stubbornness and sometimes pig-headedness that gets me what I want.

Music

Where would I be without music? Every single ride in the car features some sort of music (and occasionally audio books) and my collection of music is ever growing. Seriously, I have a wishlist of like fifteen albums from all different genres. My tastes are wide ranging depending on my mood, from good old heavy metal to soft instrumental movie scores. I would probably hate driving if I didn't have music, where I can get lost in the beat and the road. Music helps me set the tone for a road trip, and the company I keep always lends a hand to what we listen to. I'm grateful for music and all the artists who produce good tunes!

As always, I encourage you to leave me a comment and tell me what you're thankful for. But better than that, go tell your friends and family, or whoever else it is, that you're thankful for them. And don't forget to be thankful for yourself, for your best qualities and sometimes even your worst. You're the only one like you in the world, be thankful for that!

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!

Kayaking with Jared

Enthusiastic. You guys know I hardly ever get to travel with Jared. On the rare occasions that he does travel with me it is usually on a trip to visit family or to meet up with family, though he did go with me to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - where he proposed! This past June he and I embarked on a nearly two week adventure where we went and saw a large part of his family in North Dakota and Minnesota, as well as my parents and siblings in Nebraska, and we also just so happened to get married while we were up there.

Anyway, one of the places we visited was the town of Bemidji, MN and a resort called Finn'n Feather, where we spent several days with his extended family celebrating his grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. The resort is located on a lake, one of the 10,000 or so in Minnesota, so of course we all took advantage of staying right on the water. Most of us fished, some of us swam out to the water toys, and a few of us took boats, kayaks, paddle boats, and stand-up paddle boards to explore the lake.

Well, this was one of the few times I could convince Jared to go exploring with me, so we strapped on life vests, grabbed a couple of paddles and kayaks, and hit the water. We paddled around the resort's shore for a bit, then decided to head across the lake and explore the opposite shore. He and I spent several hours on the water, poking around the reeds and water lilies to see whatever we could. The lake was calm and the wind wasn't bad, making it a perfect day for kayaking. We heard loons calling and saw a bald eagle soaring overhead, while closer to home dragonflies played among the grasses and we got showered in baby spiders as we pushed through the reeds along the shore.

We saw lots of little fish and a few big ones in the green-hued but incredibly clear water, and back towards the resort we saw turtles among the yellow water plants, poking their heads above the water for a breath. We headed in when we got hungry, though not without splashing each other a little bit, and Jared chasing me around threatening to flip my kayak. We found out I'm faster than him in a sprint, but he can outlast me if it came down to it... Oh, the things you learn.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: After the Wedding

There hasn't been much about Jared's and my relationship that has been traditional, and the day following our wedding at the beginning of July was true to form. Where most people would either be packing for their honeymoon, on their way to their honeymoon, or already at their honeymoon location, Jared and I spent the day with our family at the local Lincoln Children's Zoo. Go figure, right, Jared and I go to a zoo? What?? Who are we? But really though, I couldn't wait to show my new husband where I began my career with animals, and I wanted to share that love and passion with our three year old niece, Charlotte. Jared's parents, siblings, and my mom tagged along with us as we wandered around the small zoo, and I'm pretty sure I bored everybody by reminiscing about the years I spent volunteering there. I know I had tons of fun seeing the animals and buildings I remember from my middle and highschool years, and was thrilled with the expansions the zoo has already made, as well as the ones in the works. I can't wait to go back there again after the additions are finished!

Leave me a comment below and tell me what you did the day after your wedding? Was it something that made you happy? That's all that matters!

National Backpackers Day

Commemorative. You know, my hobby sure has a lot of days to celebrate. There's National Trails Day, National Parks Week, The National Park System Birthday, National Public Lands Day, and National Backpacker's Day. Am I missing any? Probably. Why should we celebrate days that are dedicated to the outdoors? If you're reading this blog you already know my answer, but to refresh your memory we should celebrate the outdoors because being outside is healthy; it is good for our mental and physical wellbeing; the outdoors provide so many opportunites for recreation including hiking, biking, boating, paddling, hunting, and fishing; and the outdoors brings everybody together in ways that an office party can't, nevermind the cultural and historical significance preserved in the outdoors and the fact that we need resources from outside to survive. Today we are celebrating something a little more exclusive, something relatively few people compared to the general population have ever wet their toes in. Today, we celebrate backpacking, and the kickass people who do it.

Why would anybody want to strap their entire life to their back and walk a bunch of miles? Every single person has a different reason for backpacking, and I can't speak for them, but I can tell you my reasons for backpacking with the hope that maybe you'll find a reason to backpack at least once and try it out yourself. I backpack because the world isn't contained along the sides of a highway, and to really see I need to get out on a trail and explore. I backpack to find solitude or companionship, depending on if I take someone with me or fly solo. I backpack to test myself, to push past my limits that end up being mostly mental though I have found a few physical limits as well. I backpack to relax and get away from life and stress and my problems that shrink to nothing when I'm on the trail and the only thing I need to do is focus on packing well, putting one foot in front of the other, and make sure I'm at a good campsite before the storm hits. Trail life is simple, but presents challenges in ways that make you grow as a person. You learn to double check your packing list before you leave home, because if you forget your fuel canister you either eat cold food or go hungry. You learn to pitch your tent on a slight incline to keep water from pooling under you when it rains. You learn the value of something when you have to decide if you want to carry it with you, if it is really worth the weight. You learn that the best heat source on a cold night is a dog crammed into your sleeping bag with you, because damn they are warm. So many lessons on the trail that you would never learn if you stay at home.

To celebrate National Backpackers Day I've made a list of my favorite backcountry campsites, all requiring you to strap on what you need to stay in the wilderness for a night or more and hoof it into the middle of nowhere. No cell service, no electricity, no cars, and very few other people, if any. In no particular order, enjoy!

Copper Breaks State Park, Texas

If you're looking for solitude this tiny state park near the Texas/Oklahoma state line delivers like a ton of bricks. They only have a handfull of established campsites and offer just a couple of backpacking permits per night, ensuring you will pretty much have the park to yourself. The trail to the backcountry area isn't long, only about a mile and a half, but you feel like you've walk twenty miles into the middle of nowhere with the lack of noise around you. Fall asleep on a ledge above a small gully listening to the coyotes yip around you as the stars bloom in the deep sky above. Bonus points: you can bring your dog.

Little Medano Campsite, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Presesrve, Colorado

The hike to this backcountry site is not easy, requiring five miles of walking on loose sand, even if you walk on the somewhat packed-down primitive road, but the hike plus how the national park spaces out their backcountry sites all but guarantees you'll have a prime site for watching the sun set over the sand ramp and a good shot at seeing wildlife. There are numerous bears in the preserve portion of the park, so using a hang bag or a bear canister is required. We didn't see one while we were out there, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

South Llano River State Park, Texas

This pretty little backcountry area has five "established" sites to choose from, once you make the two mile hike to get here. One of the few backcountry sites to provide picnic tables, it is a beautiful place to lounge around under the shade of cottonwood trees while the evening settles in around you. Make sure to get there early and you might see hummingbirds flitting around in the afternoon light while armadillos wake up for a night of foraging. Bonus points: Dogs allowed!

Grapevine Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

There is no easy way to get to this backcountry site, which requires at least ten miles of walking before you can call it a night. Usually done as the second night of a four day trek along the Grand Canyon, Grapevine retains its water flow through May and sometimes into mid-June. Water is life in the desert, so don't be surprised if you share your site with another hiker or two (though we had the whole canyon to ourselves when we went), and maybe some mule deer or coyotes. The stream is full of tadpoles during spring, though they grow up fast before their home dries up. A word of caution: never camp at the bottom of a canyon, wash, or gully in the desert unless you are certain it won't rain anywhere within 40 miles of your location. Flash floods come up fast and without warning even if it isn't raining where you are. 

Sea Rim State Park, Texas

Who doesn't love the sound of waves crashing in a rhythmic beat against the shore? If you can brave the mosquitoes (with the help of lots and lots of bug spray) a stay along the beach at this state park is well worth the effort to get here. While you can drive along the beach to a point, and those with four wheel drive capabilities can drive even further, you can also load up your backpack and walk to any site on the five miles of beach that suites your fancy. You aren't allowed to camp on the grass-covered dunes, but you wouldn't want to anyway; alligators and wild hogs call them and the salty wetlands the dunes protect home. Sunrises and sunsets above the gulf are like nothing else on earth.

Dune field, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado

Everybody wants to play in a giant sand box, and when you can camp in it? Even better. The play of light and shadow among the thirty square mile dune field makes staying the night even more dramatic, just be sure to stay up long enough to catch the sunset over the dunes and wake up early enough to watch the sand begin to glow with the morning light. The hike into the dune field is strenuous, and adding a pack doesn't help. Most people don't cross the first ridge of dunes and that is considered the day use area, so you are required to hike well beyond that before you can call it a night. Give yourself plenty of time to reach your site, but if you do hike in the dark a headlamp is a must. Just be sure to get off the dunes fast if there is an approaching thunderstorm, you truly are the tallest thing out there.

Cottonwood Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

As one of the few permanent water sources within the canyon walls Cottonwood Canyon is a popular backpacking destination, and is easy enough to reach for a single overnight. That doesn't mean you should pass over it though. In the desert, with water comes beauty, and Cottonwood is well named for its abundant cottonwood trees, as well as junipers and other desert flora. The hike into the canyon is not easy, however, and there are signs and rangers everywhere reminding people that going down into the canyon is optional but coming back up is mandatory. 

What do you think? Can you handle staying in a place like one of those mentioned above? Backpacking really doesn't take a special kind of person, it just takes someone willing to try something new with the possibliltiy of learning a few lessons along the way. There are bad things about backpacking, sure, like the bugs and the heat (or cold), the distance from help if you get into trouble, or the possibility of running in to angry wildlife, but the benefits of backpacking far outweigh the risks. I taught myself how to backpack, devouring every book, magazine, article, and blog I could get my hands on before I felt ready enough to try it on my own, and even now I am tweaking my technique every time I load up for a new trip. Lucky for you, I've got most of the hard part figured out and am more than happy to bring newcomers along for a night or two under the stars. I've somehow managed to talk a couple of my friends and my sister into accompanying me on backpacking adventures, and they keep coming back for more so I can't be scaring them off too badly. Congratulations ladies, this day if for you as well! Want to join our ranks and give backpacking a shot? Let me know! In the meantime, Happy National Backpackers Day!