The power of nature to heal our human hurts and reveal strength we didn’t know we had is what keeps me on the trail. Even better is when you’re walking those trails, literally or metaphorically, with like minded people. When Heather reached out to me about gear for a solo trip in Cuyahoga Valley National …
The outdoor industry can be a hard place. My Instagram feed is full of #influencers with perfect hair/abs and cool tattoos and maybe a dog, #vanlife-ing it up all up and down some sort of picturesque coastline. All my mega outdoor books have introductions that read “Ten years ago when I wrote this book about …
Trail Friends – Gretchen Horinger, Certified AwesomeRead More »
Lindsey and I met while attending the kickoff hike/yoga/drinks session of Galvanize, a regular meeting of Midwestern female outdoor entrepreneurs. She pulled me in right away with her enthusiastic discussion about the Women of the Wild Midwest Gathering, a three day, two night outdoor event from September 21-23rd, 2018, near La Crosse, Wisconsin, that will …
Trail Friends – Lindsey Mitchell of Women of the Wild MidwestRead More »
This past weekend, Brad and I took advantage of the kids’ weekend with their grandparents and snuck out for a quick couple of days in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Although we are frequent day hikers in the park, we have lived for 7 years in Northeast Ohio and have never spent the night there. We …
I first met Aubrey when a mutual friend introduced us, saying only “I think you two will have a lot in common.” One phone call later, we’d agreed that we should hang out, and so I met Aubrey in person for the first time in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, accompanied by my daughter. The best …
Backpacker’s Bistro was founded in 2016 by Melissa Lynn Leiser as an alternative to overly salted, underwhelming backpacking food. Melissa’s a lifelong hiker and backpacker, who also happens to be a chef who trained at the French Culinary Institute and was awarded the Top Chef award in 2008. So it’s a safe bet that her …
I was introduced to Aubrey of Redbudsuds a little while ago by a mutual friend who said “I think you two will have a lot in common.” A quick perusal of her website and a phone call later, I felt the same way. Redbudsuds is a fantastic local soap company that makes 4 in 1 …
In case you missed it: In Part One, we set our itinerary. In Part Two, we trained. In Part Three, we talked about packing. And in Part Four, we discussed food. Today, I want to sum up briefly. Yosemite is a well-documented park, in photos, videos, and text – the quotes and images are iconic and almost …
To recap: In Part One, we set our itinerary. In Part Two, we trained. In Part Three, we talked about packing. Today’s topic goes hand in hand with packing – food planning. My biggest question when we started to plan for Yosemite was “what do vegetarians/vegans do for food in the backcountry?” I prefer a plant-based diet …
In Part One, we set our itinerary. In Part Two, we trained. Next was figuring out what to put on our packing list – a fun negotiation. The balance between preparedness and pack weight was hard to strike! Our final packing list was based off of the Ten Essentials: Map and compass: Our map was …
