It’s been a dream of mine to explore Idaho. I met up with a friend and after picking up our home on wheels at Wandervans, our hot spring journey began.

It’s been a dream of mine to explore Idaho. I met up with a friend and after picking up our home on wheels at Wandervans, our hot spring journey began.
You know all of those places you have saved on your maps? Maybe you too have a list titled, “BRB”? How about those IG friends you’ve never met?
It’s Memorial Day weekend. Winter is gone, and for the past 4 months, I have successfully gone on one solo trip every month this year.
“One, and done, and never again,” I said as I completed the Trans-Catalina Trail 5-years ago. The year was 2016, and I had only gone backpacking a handful of times within the two years of discovering my passion for backpacking.
It was officially the first backpacking trip of the year. 32-miles in the middle of Ojai, CA and thankfully, it was the last few days of winter.
Being able to show my sisters just exactly why I don’t mind the 6-hour drive to Mammoth is probably one of my favorite ways to get them outdoors and in the backcountry.
Once places started to safely open up to the public; hikers and backpackers, like myself, took full advantage of getting back on the trail.
When there’s too much snow in our local mountains, you’ll most likely catch me warming up somewhere in the desert. The month is February and this was my first backpacking trip of the year.
2019 was my year of backcountry memories and alpine lakes. From Washington during spring and Colorado in the summer, I was lucky to be able to dip my toes in a few alpine lakes last year.
Not only is my pack 29.5 lbs, and not only are we and planning to hike the tallest mountain in America, and not only are we planning to be on trail for the next 5-days, while attempting to hike two 14ers, when I haven’t even hiked my first one, but of course, this morning– I started my period.
“Some of the best memories cannot always be captured; so long as there is that memory in your mind, it’ll forever be a memory in your heart.”
My very first backpacking trip ever was in the San Gabriel Mountains, nearly 8 years ago. I was lucky enough to fall in love with backpacking on my very first trip. We camped at Kelly Camp and I clearly remember there was a bear next to our tent in the middle of the night.
There are some places that you keep returing to because it just feels right. So, how many times do you visit a place before fully exploring it? It was my 5th time hiking this specific trail, but my 1st time completing the loop.
A good friend of mine is currently training to hike the John Muir Trail this summer and has committed to camping or backpacking every weekend until her start date in August.
1,543 miles spending 4 days and 4 nights wandering 2 states, exploring 3 state parks, 1 national park and a quick overnighter in Grand Staircase-Escalante.