a trail to self discovery...

“IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO MORE THAN YOU ARE PAID TO DO, EVENTUALLY YOU WILL BE PAID TO DO MORE THAN YOU DO.” In 2011 I was living in Boston and looking for something new. A change of pace, a different job, a new lifestyle. I really started to enjoy hiking and hiking solo. I was looking for some way out of the life I was currently living. One day I was in Eastern Mountain Sports where I picked up the book Not Without Peril. I started to read it and enjoy every story, chapter by chapter. I was sucked into this life of a rescuer saving lives in the Mountains of New Hampshire. I suddenly realized, that is what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help save the lives and lessen the suffering of those in the wilderness enjoying the same sort of adventures I was starting to enjoy. I badly wanted to teach and educate others on how to be prepared for a worst case scenario. I applied to NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) and I also applied for a job at the Mount Washington Obs

I will be updating shortly. Please stay tuned for the next exciting blog post. Many changes in my life have happened in the last 9 months and I can't wait to share a few of them.

"I am quickly learning that every ounce counts- both when you are packing and when you are minimizing." Have you ever heard the term "Sink or Swim". It's a common phrase used by many to encourage. Encourage you to give it your all. Actually, that is my interoperation of it. I am sure many have their own. As an avid hiker, you learn so many things along the way. Not to mention you learn even more about yourself. The list starts when you are a beginner, the first thing I learned was hiking a "mountain" is not as easy as it looks. Then came proper clothing, equipment, amounts of water to miles, comfort, etc. Then came the medical emergency parts to it. I quickly picked up on all of the negative things that could go wrong while out in the middle of no where, let alone on top of a mountain that just took you several hours to get too. I joined a local search and rescue team shortly after moving up to New Hampshire, and was inspired to do so because

School vacation week started up and the weather was intended to be quite nice. I was hoping to get Josh and Harper out on a hike. It didn't quite work out how I wanted but we still managed to get out. We hung around the house getting the normal life like duties done and as soon as it was done we all agreed to hit the trail. On Thursday we packed up a lunch and took a leisurely stroll down to Sabbaday Falls. The trail was hard packed ice. We all had microspikes on and did just fine. We then took a drive over to the Rocky Gorge. We walked across the bridge and over to the pond and then back to the car. Once back at the car we ate our packed lunch before heading home. Living in the North Country is not all that exciting during school vacation week. It is not any fun trying to fight all of the crowds and paying for over priced stuff just to stand in line. It leaves your options very minimal when you're trying to keep your kid entertained as well. Friday came arou

It's Wednesday morning and it is the start of my 5 days off. I have been looking forward to today for a few months now. Josh and I booked a night stay up at Doublehead Cabin. The closer the days crept up the worse and worse the forecast looked. Josh had been spending nights in this Cabin for most of his life. I wanted to give it a try. Winter camping in a cabin that even has a woodstove and is only a 2 mile hike in from the car- Sounds like my kind of winter overnight. I purchased a bundle of kindling to pack up to the cabin on Wednesday morning. I filled my entire 65L pack with that plus some basic water and snacks to get my through the hike. The forecast was looking interesting to say the least. Snow in the early morning with temperature warming up and turning to rain. Pouring. wet, rain throughout the afternoon. With a chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Josh asked me if I still wanted to go, I replied "ABSOLUTELY". We packed our packs the night before s