Happy Thanksgiving from me and the most cutest Mr Sparkles ❤. Thankful for this dog and for the network of hiking paths up the hills 1 mile from my house!
This dog has the makings of a most excellent hiking companion. Love him to bits, can't wait for him to grow up and also wish he could stay a puppy forever ❤️.
#hikingwithdogs #hikingmillcreek #saltlakecityhikes
Heart is full and happy. Here's a shot from my last day of guiding in this my first season in Yosemite, in front of the California Tunnel Tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Sometimes I forget I'm working, and just get to enjoy these beautiful places with lovely people.
Yesterday Sparkie was officially no longer a lost dog since no one has reclaimed him after 30 days. Pup is officially mine! OMG I have a dog! I miss him after 12 days away and when I get him tomorrow we won't need to be apart ever at all until I guide again next spring.
We have a few weeks on the road, then make our way to Salt Lake City to ride out the rest of the year. Woo!
Made the flight to the East Coast to provide evidence of my new found auntie-hood :). Matthew Jurchak and Sarah Hoolahan Jurchak you did good :). Your little guy is perfect and I look forward to watching him grow up, so glad I got to meet him as a newborn ❤.
This "Philly boomerang" is taking off again...
You are looking at the newest Yosemite National Park backpacking guide :). After a work from home winter, back into the great outdoors. Moving on from wilderness therapy to work with (allegedly) healthy adults, who pay (yes PAY) to go backpacking.
I have two weeks to be road-ready! Planning a healthy stop in Colorado (woo!), and an otherwise spontaneous road trip... to the land of huge trees, beautiful mountains, too much legislation and $6/gallon gas prices (aka California 😝).
This restless soul still feels the most settled on the road, going somewhere. Full on a roller coaster of feels after a cozy winter, goodbye (for now) to a sweetheart, nephew arriving in August ❤, and excitement/imposter syndrome with this big new challenge.
(Photo is from Bok Bar)
✔Warsaw>EWR
✔PHL>SLC
👉SLC>PHL
1st two pics are this morning at the SLC airport, waiting for my flight back to Philly to spend the holiday with family (for once!) and the cuddle floofs featured in pics 3-5.
Successful quick trip to Utah to collect some personal assets, see some friends and put my van in a safe place until I can come back and drive her.
Can consider myself a pro at navigating the airport with one foot!
Got airlifted today out of this INCREDIBLE BEAUTY. Probably still in shock. Was climbing in the snow, slipped, microspikes caught on something, felt a crack. Ow. Butscooched maybe 30 feet down the slope to a safe spot. Was lucky to be near the only two other hikers on the trail that day, who helped me call search and rescue. Copter was there within I want to say 30 minutes, 45 tops.
Currently waiting on xrays to see if foot is broken.
Now to navigate traveling across Poland and flying home with a potentially broken foot. Is it worth it? YES.
So I decided to not be a party pooper and give the High Tatras (east side) a try even though it's November. Picked up NEW GEAR while in town (queue happydance!). Thermos is apparently more essential than I realized, I will be trying it out with the "grandma tea" recipe I got from some new friends. Thanks @woman_in_the_hiking_boots and @lauralee_hikes !!!! (3rd pic is our "tea on the mountain" in the Western Tatras)
The Western Tatras are pretty chill with some really pretty hikes, while the High Tatras are known for spikier peaks, ladders, chains... a much more mountaineering experience. Some of the pictures I've seen would have me scared shitless... so we'll see how much I end up doing now that I'm hiking on my own!
Have some glimpses of my journey on foot from Meppen to Bramche along the Hünenweg (concluded just over a week ago).
It started with a two day river walk (quite boring and not anticipated), a lot less prehistoric rocks than the Dutch portion, and a really touristy feeling with tons of metal signs. A bit of a disappointment but also an opening to wrestle with inner struggles. Not great fun, but productive. My hikes are something of a retreat for me, a reaching for an intense spiritual experience, and Germany did give me a bit of that.
En route to the Tatra mountains in Poland, so stay tuned.
#hondsrug #huneweg #hondsrugpad #hünenweg #solofemalehiker #solofemaletraveler #thruhike #longdistancewalking #longdistancehiking #germany #hikegermany #meppen
A magical morning like this makes the whole week of clouds, mist and rain worth it. Thanks to @anouk_goedknegt who offered me a warm shelter during the rainiest days, I could continue on with dry gear and a full belly and food bag!
Bargerveen moor was the grand finale of the Dutch section, have now crossed into Germany and continue southward bound to complete the route.
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#hondsrug #hondsrugdrenthe #hondsrugpad #hünenweg #drenthe #terravita #solofemalehiker #solofemaletraveler #thruhike #thruhiker
Finally hiking! Here be snapshots of my first 2.5 days on the not yet official #hondsrug path. Say hi to Rosie, Groningen friend's dog and to misty, swampy Netherlands. Lucky that any actual rain has been at night inside my tent. Currently halfway through section 5 having a pizza break in Gasselte. TBD if I just do the 100 ish miles of the Dutch portion or if I continue southward in Germany on the #huneweg starting in Meppen, for a 200+ miler.
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#hiking #hikingnetherlands #longdistancewalking #notreallyahikeitstooflat #solofemalehiker #solofemaletravel
And I'm a crossin' dat pond!!!!
Fulfilling the promise I made to myself that I would spend at least 2 months out of every year backpacking (and no, guiding doesn't count 😆).
Flight to Brussels, then train to The Netherlands where I visit good friends and get celebrated for a research award by my Dutch alma mater. Then, on to Spain to present (a year late) my research I won the award for. And finally onto backpacking trails! Will be looking for some trails through the Pyrenees, Slovakia and Poland.
Carrying many manythings that aren't mine for delivering to a friend :) I don't actually pack this heavy.
#solofemaletraveler #backpacking #backpackingeurope
