a trail to self discovery...

Just another beautiful day. I woke up and the birds were chirping the sun was shining. It was a good day to be alive. I hit the Subaru dealership for my oil change at 8am. Leaving there I was not please at the morning I had so I decided a hike would be in need. I chose to head to Arethusa Falls. Knowing that I wasn't going to have all day and I was pretty tired I knew it would be short and easy. I met a friend who wanted to join.  We hit the trail sometime after 10:30am is my guess. I wasn't really watching the time. Starting hiking in. The trail was well maintained and very dry. We came across 2 beautiful bridges and continued on. This hike was fairly easy. Also, very well maintained as I'm guessing they keep it that way for tourists to visit in the summer.  In some sections it was like a stairway to heaven! Just the landscape around you was gorgeous. Shortly after hitting the trail junction for the cliffs we continued down .2 miles to the falls. Coming a...

The alarm went off at 3:45am in my Phoenix, Arizona hotel room. I rolled over turned it off and hopped out of my bed! Excited I was; but nervous was taking over more of my emotions. Mentally I had prepared myself for what to expect and had done the day's worth of hiking in the grand canyon 2 days earlier. Also, I had done the hottest hike I have ever done in 90 degree heat at 9am in the morning the day before with NO shade to stop and cool off. That hike was Camelback Mountain. South Kaibab Trail-Grand Canyon Camelback Mountain- Phoenix, AZ Camelback, as much as I really do NOT like to admit this. But I didn't make it to the summit. I hate to admit it because I am such an avid hiker and this trail was so easy with all the switch backs and the mountain itself was so small compared to what I hike on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I had no idea what it was like to hike 1.6 miles one way, reach the summit, turn around and do it again all without any type of shade or a w...

Destination: Grand Canyon National Park I started my day at 5:30am. It's kind of a benefit coming from the east coast because getting up early is much easier being 3 hours behind your normal schedule. I had planned to arrive at the Canyon around 10:00am. So leaving Phoenix by 7 was a must. My breakfast consisted of just 2 slices of toast. I wasn't feeling so hot when I woke up and decided to keep it light for the morning. I headed back up to my hotel room and started packing up my pack. I figured if it was 45 at 7,000ft (Flagstaff) it would still be somewhat chilly at 6,000ft (Grand Canyon). I brought my polartech fleece from EMS; I work capri synthetic pants and a tank top. Both black. I figure it would keep me warm throughout the day. I packed a turkey sandwich, jerky, fruit snacks, and some granola bars. As for water I brought 2 1/2 Liters and drank a liter plus a gatorade on the drive there. I tend to get incredibly bad headaches and migraines ...

I have 3 days before I jet set to Arizona. While I am out there I will be doing some hiking in the Grand Canyon and I will be attempting to summit the highest point in the state, Humphrey's Peak (12,633). This will be the highest elevation I have ever hiked in and am looking forward to seeing the difference. Meanwhile, in preparation for my hiking in the hot desert sun & cool temps and Mount Washington like conditions on Humphrey s Peak, I figured I should do some hiking before I leave since it's been about a month since my last hike. What a perfect weekend to get out. Since my day pack is mostly packed away in my suitcase ready for take off; I had to pack up my multi-day pack. A little heavier but much more comfortable, so the weight doesn't bother me one bit. Being that the temperatures decided to drop significantly over the weekend I picked Sunday to be the best day to hike. I decided Kearsarge North Mountain(3,268ft) would be a good place to start. Sunday morning ca...