There are a lot of things that make me happy in life, and similar to many other people, food is one of them. Hiking and backpacking also make me very happy... so combining the two just puts a giant smile on my face.  When I gear up for a backpacking trip, I can't help but be excited about the journey, the views and... the food.  It's important to plan your snacks and meals out ahead of time and to make sure you bring things you'll actually enjoy, because if you don't enjoy it, you may not eat it... and then you're just packing around extra weight. Eating in the backc ..read more

  I wanted to go backpacking alone for at least a year or two before I was actually able to muster up enough courage to do so. I'd been day hiking by myself for several years, but there were a couple things keeping me from heading out on a solo overnight adventure. The first thing was not having all the gear. I didn't own a tent or a stove system, along with some other necessary items. The second reason was all mental. What would I do out there... would I get scared, be bored or lonely? How would I protect myself against wild animals? What if I got hurt or lost? S ..read more

  Much later than expected, but it's high time for part two of this series. I think it's safe to say I'm mostly recovered from my broken ankle, after all... I've already backpacked to Havasupai. I'm not sure if I'll ever be 100%, but I'm probably in the 90-95% range, which is pretty awesome. So I told you the story of how I broke my ankle, but then what?       SURGERY On January 3rd, 2017 I went in for ORIF (Open Reduction Internal Fixation) surgery. Both my tibia and fibula needed to be stabilized in order to heal correctly. Aside from having my wisdom teeth out, thi ..read more

     Well, it finally happened. I injured myself while out hiking. Not that injury while hiking is an eventuality, injury can happen anywhere... but I think the chances are a little higher when you are consistently placing yourself out in the elements, bouncing from uneven surface to uneven surface. My life has undoubtedly changed over the course of the last month, and like most accidents... it all happened in an instant.  I set out for a late afternoon/sunset hike on Dec 21, 2016. Rattlesnake Ridge is an easy (for me) off-season hike that I like to do a few times a y ..read more

     Two women hike up to the top of a peak, separately. The first woman has a ponytail and a hat on, takes a few landscape photos and a big grinned selfie with her iPhone, has a snack, hydrates and then heads back down the trail. The second woman has her hair in a bun, but takes it down once shes reaches the summit. She puts on a lightweight jacket, has some water and a snack and then spends 15 minutes setting up her camera and tripod to get a scenic shot with her in it. Both women post to social media and both women tag a brand or sponsor. Question: Who's adventure/life/Insta ..read more

  People backpack by themselves all the time, but when you've never done it, it can be a bit daunting. I was comfortable day hiking alone, but the the idea of backpacking alone was different. First, I didn't have all of the gear, but secondly and more importantly, I didn't know if I was mentally up for the challenge. This last weekend I went on a day hike and I revisited the place of my first solo backpack trip, and it brought back memories... I decided I would go on my very first backpacking trip alone in August, 2014. I made the decision sometime on a Friday afternoo ..read more

  Photo Taken by Jason Zabriskie    "Are you wearing less makeup?" I met up with my boss from a previous job a few weeks ago and she asked me that. I hadn't realized it, but she was right. I was wearing less makeup. She commented that it looked good, but it got me thinking about how much I have changed over the last year. In my early Instagram days, prior to focusing solely on the outdoors, I would post images of random things... and one of those random things was pictures of my high heels. Yep. That's right. I'm literally laughing out loud as I write this, remembering that one ..read more

  When I think about the people closest to me, aside from family, more than half of those individuals have come from social media. I have been introduced to some incredible folks through Instagram, Facebook, OkCupid (yep, that's right), and other various sites or apps that allow you to connect with others. The world is literally at our fingertips and if you haven't taken advantage of that, you've been missing out. In all my years of meeting people "online," I've never had a truly bad experience. Sure, I've had some unique encounters and connected better with some over others, but overall ..read more

  Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow. You might think you're going backpacking the coming weekend, have a plan all laid out with routes and permits, but then you get invited on a last minute trip to Hawaii and everything changes. I already had the additional day off, had the pet sitter lined up... I just had to get there and join Aaron. I'm blessed to have a pilot for a brother-in-law, so I used a buddy pass to get out there (which was genuinely stressful) and I purchased my flight home - just to be safe. I mean, who wants to get stuck on a tropical island... right? Riiiiiiight ..read more

  Photo Credit: Kyle Frost It may not always appear that I have, what I consider, a regular life... but I do. When you look at my Instagram page, you'll see picture after picture of mountain landscapes, as well as images of my friends and I in our element. A little over a year ago, I decided to dedicate my Instagram feed solely to photos from my hiking and backpacking excursions. Pictures of family functions, my niece and nephew, holiday parties, karaoke night, etc., that was what Facebook was for. However, the continuous stream of outdoor photos on my Instagram account seems to confuse ..read more