Backpacking Day 2: Farley Lake

We made the decision pretty early (like right when we found this spot) that we were going to camp at Farley Lake for more than one night. It was just too pretty to pass up. And it was evident that we were no going to be able to continue the loop, with not making it far enough in the first day (having only 3 days allotted for this trip). Thanks boots. Our second day in was spent relaxing and exploring. We woke early with the sunrise and Will didn't waste anytime getting a line out in the calm water while I made us breakfast. Pippin enjoyed warming up in the morning sun after a chilly night. That silly little dog slept the whole night curled up completely in my sleeping bag, all the way down by my feet. He normally can't even stand being covered by a blanket. I was so paranoid all night and kept having to check that he was breathing (because he never makes any noise).

Most of the morning and afternoon was spent simply enjoying each other's company and enjoying being out in the beautiful wilderness. We even all enjoyed a sunbathing session, though Pippin mostly lounged in the shade. It was all lovely lovely lovely.

Late in the afternoon I retreated back into the tent for a nap, having not slept well the night before thanks to Pippin paranoia and an achey body and also because I was feeling a little drained after laying in the sun (oops). While I napped Pippin got to go on a walk with Will. I was jealous. I woke feeling better and made us all peanut noodles for dinner.

Another group set up camp a little ways from us that night and they had a large dog they were letting roam all over. If you know Pippin at all, you know he isn't the friendliest to strangers, especially strange dogs. He is just shy and little and it doesn't come off well. We're working on it. He was so good, though, and didn't try to run off after it and didn't bark at all. But he was so paranoid all night. We snuggled and watched Will fish some more and that helped a little bit. The sunset this night was so breathtaking, slowly coloring the tips of the mountains pink and then the whole sky. It had been windy and cloudy during the day, but it cleared out completely as the sun set and all the stars came out for us again.


Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 3!

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Toxaway Loop Day 1: Hiking In

I should start by saying that this trip went extremely not according to plan and that it was also perfect.

Our trip took a turn for the unexpected immediately, when we headed out late Thursday night to drive up to the trailhead. We had left the house around dinner time, with a few errands to run. It was dark by the time  we made it to Highway 55, only to soon learn that the road was closed due to a massive mudslide near Banks (right where we needed to turn onto ID 21). We were a bit grumpy, as we had wanted to camp at the trailhead that night to be able to start our trek early the next morning, but we decided to just go home and leave early in the morning (instead of drive a different route in the dark). We didn't wake up as early as hoped, though, and didn't roll out of Boise until 8:00 AM.  We weren't too upset to have to drive up all the way along Highway 21, it didn't take too much longer than the original route would have. Plus, we would have missed all that prettiness in the dark. The drive is very scenic and it is always nostalgic (for  me) driving up around Idaho City. It was a lovely, foggy morning.

We drove up to the Tin Cup campground at Pettit Lake in the Sawtooths to leave the car and start our trip along the Toxaway Loop trail. Our next unexpected turn quickly followed. It wasn't far into the trail (not even a mile) that I noticed my boots were really rubbing on the back of my heels. I immediately took them off and bandaged and wrapped my feet, as I was not going to let it stop me from continuing as planned, and I didn't want it to get any worse. Unfortunately, it didn't help much and walking soon became unbelievably painful. I was so mad, because I was keeping the pace at an unbelievably slow crawl, and because I had worn these boots many times with no issues. My feet swelled considerably and the pain got even worse. I couldn't complain too much, because the walk (though a bit unbearable) was remarkably beautiful.

We had absolutely every intention of completing, in it's entirety, the Toxaway Loop trail. It wasn't too ambitious either, it would only have required us to hike about 6 miles a day. I took me quite awhile to accept the reality of my situation and realize that our trip was going to be a lot different than I imagined. We had been planning this trip for awhile and I had been quite excited for it. But with the condition my feet were in it was evident I could not hike the whole loop. In fact, we stopped at the very next lake we encountered, Farley Lake. It sure took as long enough to get there, too, with my painfully slow crawl. But you have no idea how good that little glimpse of water through the trees was after climbing up and up all day with swollen, raw feet.

We found the perfect little spot on the lake to set up camp. We had to drop quite a ways into it, which meant it was right on the water (on two sides!) and was completely secluded from the rest of the lake and from the trail. I couldn't have dreamed of a better place to camp. We spent the next hour or two cooking, eating, and relaxing.

We ended the night by watching the sunset and drinking tea near the calm, pink water. Pippin and I could watch Will fishing for hours. So peaceful. It was a remarkably clear night and so many stars came out for us. It was so lovely to slowly fall asleep staring up at them.


Be sure to read Part 2 and Part 3!

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The Mountains Have Been Calling For Far Too Long

Will and I are leaving on an adventure in the Sawtooths later tonight, so we can be at the trail and ready to go bright and early tomorrow. We'll be hiking the Toxoway Loop with little Pip in tow, taking lots of time to leisurely explore the area and the several mountain lakes along the way.  I'm so excited to test my new gear out! And to just be out in the wilderness; it has been far too long. Enjoy your weekend, lovelies. You'll see me back here Monday (Tuesday at the latest) with plenty of pictures and stories.

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30 Days of Truth: Day 2 | Something You Love About Yourself

Two of my favorite pictures of me. The first is from Nov 2011, the second from May of this year.

I've been putting this post off for awhile because I was having a hard time deciding how I should go about writing it. I wasn't sure how I wanted to come off. I could simply pick out one thing I love about myself and elaborate on it extensively, or I could list all the things I love about myself and likely appear self-obsessed to some. But you know what? Fuck that.

I am a very humble person, but you can be humble and also love yourself. It is hard to be body positive in this society that scrutinizes all types of women's bodies, that bombardes us with images of what is pretty, what is sexy, and what is young. I'd like to think that I am pretty comfortable with myself' despite all of this. And I think it is good to know that it is perfectly okay to feel good about yourself. You can say "Damn, I am cute today."  Because you are! Take a selfie of your cute damn self. Don' let anyone tell you otherwise or that you are full of yourself.

But it is a lot easier for me to love myself for so many other qualities before I even consider my appearance. That is important to me. I am extremely proud of the person I continue to become. I am highly critical of myself, as you learned from my response to the first prompt, but I am also extremely confident in who I am and I am damn self-assured in all my opinions/beliefs. I am a walking collection of contradictions in a way I suppose, but I always welcome self improvement and that is something I can love.

I have a huge capacity to care for other people. I always thought I'd become a counselor or therapist, because I love to listen to other's stories, problems, questions, doubts. Although I am probably not the most qualified person to offer someone advice (seeing as I have so many of my own issues), maybe I will end up with a similar career some day. I am a very tender person and I genuinely care about other people, even if they don't know it. I also love that I am a very open-minded person. I had great parents who taught not to judge quickly; I was great at making all different sorts of friends, even at a very young age, because of this. I am open to discussion, always. And I'm not afraid to share my opinion or back it up, but I am always willing to set it aside to see someone else's side of things and I am always willing to change it if I feel it necessary. Which leads me to another thing I really like about myself, my passion for truth and for learning. I consider myself to be on an endless pursuit of knowledge. It says just that on my side bar here because it is something, above all else, that I think defines me and that I love. I'm talking about self-directed learning, simply wanting to know why things are the way they are. And what that means. I also really enjoy challenging myself and trying new things. Some times they work out in my favor (like teaching myself html) and sometimes they don't (like when I tried to teach myself to play guitar). But I'm always learning.

What do you love about yourself? I'd love for you to share with me below :)

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Goals for September

Just some simple reminders and small things I need to work on to get me through the month of September. I love this time of year; as the world outside goes through a rebirth of sorts, I too welcome change in the Fall. It's a great time to shed some weight (figuratively) and simplify, really evaluating what it is that I consider a priority. You'll notice a few of these goals are carried over from my August list. They obviously still need to be worked on.

Oh, just a cool dragonfly Will found in the front yard.

Goals for September

1. Get outside as much as possible. It is cooling off already and that is as good enough an excuse as any to be outside. I want to take full advantage of nicer weather as much as I can before the winter cold sets in. Especially once those Fall colors start showing up, I'll be living outside then.

2. Plan out meals/eat better. Lately I've been considering brown rice crackers and large amounts of spicy yellow lentil hummus lunch. While delicious, I've been really missing structured meals. I've been craving salad like crazy, if that is any indication to the fact that my eating habits need to change. I've been inspired by this post and that whole blog (Garden of Vegan), actually.

3. Just relax. I'm the type of person that needs large amounts of down time in order to feel sane. My introverted personality and hypersensitivity mean I tire out pretty quickly. We spent a lot of time out and about this past weekend shopping, running errands, helping my sister move, doing fun things, and visiting family. I was burnt out after shopping for an hour the first day of the weekend. I've been really taking it easy since then and spending a lot of time alone and reading. I need to remember it is okay to take breaks or stay home instead; it keeps me feeling balanced.

4. Keep moving. I've noticed (since no longer doing Revolt) that if I try to push myself to exercise or workout that I will keep putting it off, and likely not do it at all. I am much happier simply working exercise into my day in little ways.

5. Show appreciation. It's been really easy to get caught up in everyday stresses lately (thanks, anxiety) and to let those stresses nag and nag at me. One way I am trying to combat this, when it happens, is it to take a step back and a deep breathe and think of something I am grateful for. More times than not, that something is the people in my life I am closest too. I am trying to show appreciation for those people, in little ways, more often.

6. Craft my heart out. I don't know why, but my creativity has been on such a high lately. I've even been getting ideas for what to make as Christmas gifts for a few people. I just want to craft and craft! I need to set aside more time daily to get these ideas out of my head. If they ever become successful, tangible realities, I may share the end results of some of them here.

7. Sleep fuller/enjoy mornings. I am sleeping better than I did the past few weeks, now that Will is home. I'm no longer up all night worry about him sleeping in a little tent smelling of salmon carcasses in the middle of bear country. But I am still feeling rather exhausted. I need to get back to sleeping earlier so I can enjoy mornings and sunset walks in the neighborhood again.

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September Wishlist: Fall Anticipation

first outfit: hat / dress / sweater / boots
second outfit: sweater / scarf / shirt / leggings

With all the money spent on new backpacking gear this weekend, it is unlikely that I will be adding anything new to my wardrobe for a while. But it is still a bit fun to window shop, especially with all the Fall clothes now out. And I've been doing some hypothetical outfit planning. Because it has been feeling so extremely almost Fall-like here. This weekend stayed a lot cooler than it has been and we're even getting rain. It was such a lovely rainy morning today. It gave me a great opportunity to test out my new fancy rain jacket, though Scout wasn't too happy about a rainy walk first thing after waking up. Pippin didn't care one bit that he was soaked to the bone. Those two, complete opposites. But, in my defense it wasn't raining when we left and I didn't think it'd come down that hard. You'll be happy to know that my rain jacket works remarkably and I felt guilty for being the only dry one of the bunch.

I am so excited for Fall fashion again. Summer clothes seem so boring to me, as my aim is to always wear as little as comfortably possible in preparation for the balls of sweat I will produce upon simply stepping outside into the heat. I get lazy and bored with summer fashion. Bring me layers. All the glorious layers that I get to don in the crisp cool Fall air. I can't wait for sweaters over dresses, tights with boots, tall socks, hats and scarves.

Are you ready for Fall? I am downing one chia latte after another in anticipation.

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Spirit of Boise (Balloon Classic)

Well I sure had a rather lovely weekend. Will came home Friday night to a fresh homemade pizza and drinks and I got to listen to all the stories from his (second) week away. Saturday, we slept in and then went out for quite the shopping adventure, enjoying a late lunch at Big City Coffee and a much needed (and delicious) dinner with his folks. Sunday, we crawled out of bed early early early to make some coffee, pack some breakfast, and head down to the park to watch the balloons launch with the sun rise. The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic is one of my absolute favorite events in Boise every year. It occurs over labor day weekend and always seems like the first cool morning that actually requires a warm jacket; it is the perfect event to celebrate a transition into Fall. Watching the balloons is also rather nostalgic, bringing me instantly back to the River Festival days of my childhood.

There is also something rather magical about seeing all those balloons slowly inflate together and seemingly sprout to life from the green ground. The park becomes a whimsical display of colors within minutes. And seeing them drift off into the crisp morning air and hover their colors above the city, is something else. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't ideal for flight Sunday morning and all of the pilots agreed not to risk it. I was a bit sad, then, that we didn't come watch the day before. But I didn't mind too much; the pilots were great sports and most inflated anyway. They stayed tied to the ground and drifted and hovered around for a good while. They were all even letting kids in the baskets for short little rides. I know my 5 year old self would have loved that (so would my 22 year old self, but I was too embarrassed to ask). Seeing all those balloons together I can't help just feeling instantly happy and thus I having that feeling stick around for a day or two. How could a morning filled with colorful hot air balloons not be perfect?

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