Category: Education

Day Trip Preparedness

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September has arrived, and with it summer begins its transition into fall. This season has been filled with enourmous amounts of heat (and horrific forest fires), making day hiking a bit more difficult. School is starting for some, and ‘regular’ life and routine have returned. The weather has started to cool, and thus begins one of my favorite times of year; day trip season! I continually re-evaluate my day trip needs, reviewing packlists and current contents of my pack. I would like to share with you a bit of day trip prepardness for those non-camping jaunts into nature.

Day Trip Pack List
Depending on your destination, and the journey to get there, your list may vary. These are some things that I ALWAYS take with me despite where I may end up.

Clothing Items
* Extra socks
* Knit hat (beanie)
* Gloves (the little “magic” gloves will do)
* Jacket/hoodie
* Towel

Food
* Granola bars (I prefer Larabars, very few ingredients and yummy!)
* Nuts. dried fruit. trail mix type items.
* Shot Blocs (for extra electrolytes if needed)
[The above items can be stored in your day pack and changed out as needed since they have a longer shelf life and no need for refrigeration}
* Fresh fruit; mandarin oranges, apples, grapes etc
* String cheese (can go awhile without refrigeration)
* PBJ
* Lots of water

Miscellaneous
* Big black trash bag for setting my stuff on or myself, also works as a rain jacket in a pinch
* Small plastic grocery bags for picking up others trash
* Head lamp/flashlight
* Knife
* Lip balm
* Lotion
* Bug spray
* Sun screen
* Camera
* Notepad and pen

A few of these items may seem frivolous or unnecessary, but in my fairly extensive experience these are must haves for me. I dream fondly of the next adventure to come. I’m sure it will be here sooner than later.

Are there any items that are must haves for you to include? Please remember to pack it in, pack it out, to leave the wilderness better than you found it and to tell someone where you’ll be. Safety is important!

Happy Adventuring!

Categories: Education, outdoor woman, tips, Women OutdoorsLeave a comment

Taking Out The Trash

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Pack it in. Pack it out.

Walking through the forest, tree branches reach above my head creating a canopy of greens and golden hues, sunlight trickles through splattering soft pine needles beneath me. Peace overwhelms my soul, and I inhale deeply. I bend down to capture the fragrance of wild rose. At my feet I see a glitter of something. Curiosity beckons me to reach down…..

The beautiful glimmer was TRASH!   trash

Someone had carelessly tossed their garbage onto the trail. Who do they think is going to pick that up, Mother Nature? She’s not that type of mother.

Garbage mongers are NOT my friends. It is all really quite simple, pack it in, pack it out. Here are some easy tips to help in this task:

* For backpacking and hiking; carry a gallon size, freezer-duty ziploc baggie with you. This confines all your trash into one spot and contains the gooeyness. The baggie also makes for easy disposal when reaching civilization again.

* Have a dedicated stuff sack for your “trash baggie”. This helps even further in separating the garbage from everything else in your pack.

* While on the trail I use the mesh pocket in my hip belt to stuff any wrappers I may need to discard of later.

* For car camping, the gallon baggie trick works great as well. Or, we usually have a dedicated sack for trash, sometimes a few depending on how long we’re gone.

Try to remember when backpacking, or camping, to remove as much packaging as possible before heading out. This makes everything easier.

Thank you to those eco-warriors that pick up other’s trash. This is a beautiful world. It can be even better if we all work together.

~In Peace

Categories: backpacking, Education, environment, outdoor, tipsLeave a comment

National Park Adventures to be had

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There are 58 national parks in the United States, covering over 55 million acres.

You’ll find every type of terrain from forest to desert to high mountain grandcanyonfamilypeaks. Any adventure you’re craving can be found within these pristine areas.

National parks are fantastic places to start exploring the great outdoors, or expand your experience. They are a great place to take the family to educate and entertain every generation.

Whether you’re looking for a simple day hike or a multi-day pack trip, national parks are a great place to begin.

Find a national park by you

Happy Exploring!

Categories: adventure, Education, Women Outdoors4 Comments