It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

12 07 2010

Imagine an amazing hiking day.  There’s a light breeze, but the temperature is nearly perfect.  You’re whistling a little tune as you’re hiking down the trail.  You have your backpack of supplies.  You’re reveling in the sights, sounds and smells of nature, dawdling here at a brook, spending time setting up the perfect shot there, laying out on the rock at the peak, closing your eyes to just be for a while.

Sounds like a great day, doesn’t it?

Suddenly, in the distance, you see some angry-looking dark gray clouds.  They seem to be moving toward you awfully quickly.  You start down the trail, hurrying now, but sure enough, it soon starts to rain.  Hard.  You find some semi-shelter and wait it out, but by the time it stops the sun is going down.  Suddenly, what started out as a great hike, one that was simple for you, turned harrowing, all because the weather and the time caught up with you before you realized it.

Something similar happened to my friends.  If you remember, they left for their hike on the late side, were not familiar with the trail, took a couple of wrong turns, were hiking slow, and then it started getting dark — and scary — fast.  Everything is different in bad weather and when the sun goes down, and all the slightly dangerous things about hiking get a lot more dangerous: animals moving under cover of the darkness, higher chance of injury because you can’t see where you’re going, the temperature drops, etc.

How to prevent against this situation?  Rule Number 11:

Pay attention to the time and the weather.

Please don’t leave for a 3 hour hike 3 hours before sunset.  Please check the weather forecast for where you are hiking (i.e. not your house) before you leave.  Please keep an eye on the time — yes, wear a watch or have something on you that keeps track of time — and an eye on the weather.  Watch for clouds, darkening skies, temperature dropping, the smell of moisture in the air.

This is not to say that, on some occasions, you can’t hike with an iffy weather forecast.  Just use your head.  If the forecast calls for light showers in the late afternoon and you plan to be back by noon, you just have to keep watch on the weather while you’re on the trail.  If, on the other hand, you’re planning to snowshoe and there’s rumors of a blizzard, today might be the day to catch up on that novel you’ve been wanting to read.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Hiking, Rules for Safety

The Answer, As Always, I’m An Idiot

11 06 2010

But you don’t have to be, because I’m here to help you not make the mistakes that I made when I started out hiking and camping solo.

On Wednesday, I posted this photo, of me at the end of my very first solo hike, on the teeny, easy little Door Trail at Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  I asked you what was wrong with the picture — in other words, could you tell from this photo all the rules I was breaking and mistakes I was making?

Well, you guys did great!  It’s a little embarassing, but here are the answers:

  1. I’m wearing the wrong shoes.  If you look closely, you’ll see I’m wearing Teva sandals.  Why are these wrong?  Let me count the ways.  First of all, they don’t provide the support needed for “real” hiking.  Second, they leave my feet (including fragile toes) completely unprotected.  They might be cooler than boots, but jagged rocks and sticks and rocks could do a number on my poor exposed feets.  Because this was a very short, easy hike, this wasn’t really a problem.  Would I do it again?  Not if I had never hiked the trail.  If I knew the trail well, I might, but without knowing the lay of the land, that was dumb.
  2. I’m not wearing a hat.  This is open, arid land.  There ain’t no shade anywhere in sight.  A hat is really really really a good idea.  But even worse…
  3. I’m not wearing sunscreen.  Now, you can’t see that from this photo, but trust me, it’s true.  I didn’t get too burned.  I actually think I had put on sunscreen that morning, but at this point it was early afternoon and it was time for some more.
  4. I’m wearing the wrong shirt.  Yes, that is a cotton t-shirt.  I like that t-shirt.  But it isn’t hiking-friendly, particularly not in hot, arid, South Dakota in August, when I was sweating just standing around.  This isn’t a fatal mistake.  I spent years hiking in regular old t-shirts before I discovered the wonder of wicking, and now I live in my hiking clothes in the summer.  But since we’re picking out things I would do differently with the experience I have now, this goes on the list.  Oh, and Josh is right: while somewhat minimal here, lighter colors and the desert are usually better companions.
  5. I’m not carrying my first aid kit.  Oops.  Now, I have said it isn’t strictly always necessary to carry your first aid kit, if you’re doing a really easy, short hike that you’ve done a million times and there’s a decent population there with you.  I don’t bring my kit when I traipse around Walden Pond, for example.  But here, in a part of the country I knew nothing about, on a hike I had never done, which could have rattlesnakes (something that wasn’t even a little bit on my radar at this point), not carrying the kit is stupid.  Thankfully, this was such a short hike, and there were a fair number of people there, so I wasn’t really in any danger from this mistake.  The next hike I did, immediately thereafter, however, I was the only one on the trail, and it involved climbing.  Not having the kit there was especially especially stupid.
  6. As Dad and Deborah noted, I also don’t have a pack.  This means my water is limited to my Nalgene bottle, and I don’t have any of the other essentials with me (cell phone, whistle, compass, etc.).  For this hike, again, it was short, easy and well populated, so it wasn’t a problem.  But for the next hike, what was I thinking?

I’ll tell you what I was thinking.  I pulled off the main road and into the trailhead parking lot.  There were a lot of people there.  I was so excited, because I knew this was going to be my first hike of the trip.  I got out of the car, pulled my hair into a ponytail (it was very hot), and grabbed my Nalgene bottle.  I went to the trunk and looked at my hydration pack, which was filled with hiking essentials, and my boots, and then I looked at all the totally non-hiking dressed people headed out on the trail, and decided it was all overkill.

I was sort of right.  The Door Trail is very simple.  The first part is handicap-accessible, for goodness sake.  But in retrospect, and especially when I headed out for the Notch Trail, I should have geared up.  If I didn’t want to fill my hydration pack with water, or if I didn’t want to carry too much, I could have at least put the boots, sunscreen, and hat on. 

Here is another photo of me, from several weeks later.  As you can see, I was learning my lessons, hike by hike, trail by trail:

This is on a hike in Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah.  As you can see, I’m more appropriately geared.  Those are pants (and yes, I did see a rattlesnake on this trail).  I’m wearing a hiking shirt, and a hat.  I am wearing sunscreen (though you probably can’t tell).  I’ve got my hydration pack filled with 2.5 liters of water, first aid kit, cell phone, compass, etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for playing.  Remember, we all make mistakes when we don’t know any better.  My goal is to help you avoid them as you embark upon your own solo journeys.

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Hiking, National Parks, Photos, Rules for Safety

What’s Wrong With This Image?

9 06 2010

Take a look at this photo:

There I am, nearly six years ago (yikes), at the end of the Door Trail at Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  There are a couple of very significant things about this photo.

  1. This was my very first solo hike ever.  It was day five of my Road Trip.  The first four days I was concentrated on getting west as fast as possible (with a two-night stop in Chicago to visit a friend), and on the fifth day, I finally arrived, early afternoon, at my first National Park.  I was chomping at the bit to get out on the trail, since hiking was the focus of my trip.  I was also scared about my first solo hike, but comforted by the fact that I had picked an easy intro hike, and the fact that the beginning of the Door Trail (which is less than a mile out-and-back, the first bit of which is handicap-accessible) was crowded with people in sundresses and little children.  Yes, I looked at them and thought, if they are doing it, then I certainly can.  But that’s all right.
  2. I was doing this all wrong.  Seriously.  Can you pick out what I was doing wrong in this photo?  You’d think that, since I had been hiking before, and since I had done all this research, I would know what I was doing.  But nooooo.  Of course, on this hike, it was really fine, since it was so low-key.  Mostly flat, pretty well populated (at least the first half), short.  But I look at this photo and remember the mistakes I made.  Can you see them?  (Hint: one of them you can’t see, but you might be able to guess.)

On Friday, we’ll talk about the things I did wrong on that hike, and on the one that happened right after, that make me cringe at my own naiveté (or, in some cases, overconfidence or laziness).  Make your guesses in the comments!

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Hiking, Photos, Rules for Safety

Questions Answered! Secrets Revealed!

26 05 2010

On Monday, in a moment lacking inspiration, I offered to answer some or your questions.  In no particular order (except the order in which I felt like answering), here we go!

Adelaide of Dressed in Dirt asked:  Ok, here’s mine: when did you first start hiking solo and what motivated you to do so?

My solo hiking was borne out of necessity, and a desire to not be a wimp.  Oh, and a need to keep up my image as a cool, independent woman who backs down from no challenge.  Back in 2004, I graduated from law school and found out that I had two and a half months between taking the bar exam (at the end of July) and starting my job (mid-October).  While my first thoughts were to panic about availability of cash, my second thoughts focused on travel.  Immediately, I seized upon the fantasy of driving around the United States, especially since I had really only ever seen the eastern seaboard, Denver, and Chicago.  Going alone was a little scary, but I thought I was up for the challenge…and after all, who else could leave their jobs/families for 6 weeks and go with me?

But what to do while driving around?  Realizing I had to find some way of picking where I was headed, I thought about different themes for the trip, and immediately knew I wanted to visit National Parks.  I wanted to hike.  But…I had never been hiking alone.  Was it safe, especially since I’d be in unfamiliar places all by myself, thousands of miles from anyone I knew?  Was I physically capable?  Did I have any idea what I even needed?

And there it was.  A challenge.  I sort of thrive on challenge.  Telling me something can’t be done — or that I can’t do something — is a sure way to make me find a way to do it.  I decided that I could hike and camp alone if I set my mind to it.  The best part was, if I hated it, I only had to turn around and drive home.  So I did my research, mustered up the courage to ask a lot of questions of the helpful REI clerks (who were, really, all too happy to walk me through the stores and help me try on backpacks and show me different types of hunting knives, I might add), and gave it a try. 

The rest, as they say, is history.  Or herstory?  No, I didn’t just say that.

Sara asked: We’re moving out west this summer (Albuquerque, to be exact). Neither Bryan nor I have ever spent any time in that part of the country, and we’re looking forward to exploring it. Other than the grand canyon (which neither of us has ever visited and will only be two hours away), any good suggestions for day/weekend camping/hiking trips? Any favorite places in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, or souther Utah?

Oh dear.  How I love the West.  How I love, love, love the West.  This could spawn an entire series of posts.  And since that’s the kind of idea I like, I’ll launch into that in the near future.  For now, please consider the following:

  • Southern Utah is my favorite hiking destination yet.  Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon are spectacular, amazing, incredible, and totally different places only an hour and a half from each other.  See my two posts about Zion, and also reader Andra’s blog about her recent trip that included both parks.  On the Utah/Colorado border is Moab, Utah, home to Arches National Park, another one of my favorites.  This is desert hiking at its finest.  Between Moab and Bryce are Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.  With smaller parks as well, southern Utah is a playground for campers and hikers.  I’m not sure if it’s a weekend from Albuquerque (a day’s drive or so), but it’s worth a trip.
  • In Arizona, there are a few suggestions I could make (aside from the Grand Canyon, which is a given).  First, you might want to check out Canyon de Chelly National Monument, which is between you and the Grand Canyon.  I’ve never been, but there are self-guided and guided hikes, and a campground.  Second, this isn’t a hiking or camping destination, but you’ll definitely want to go see Meteor Crater, which is also between you and the Grand Canyon.  It’s a very well-preserved…yes, meteor crater…and it’s really really really big.  I promise it’s not as kitschy as the website makes it look.  Third, try venturing into Oak Creek Canyon by Sedona, Arizona in the Cococino National Forest.  Tons of hiking, fishing, camping, and watersports available all over the area. 
  • Ah, Colorado.  I haven’t spent much time in southern Colorado, so you’ll have to check it out and report back.  Or maybe I need to do some “research.”
  • Finally, New Mexico itself.  I haven’t spent any time camping or hiking in New Mexico.  I meant to, but on my road trip New Mexico was where I blew out a tire on the highway and ended up spending the night in a teeny little town, eating at a Denny’s, and then getting a new tire when the tire shop opening in the morning.  Check out the NPS page for New Mexico for ideas; there are quite a few National Monuments, including Petroglyph, near Albuquerque.

In any event, enjoy Albuquerque.  When am I coming to visit?  Or meeting you at one of these places?  🙂

Dad (yes, my dad) asked: Tell us about your youthful adventures at Alton Jones, Chewonki and backpacking in Ireland. And don’t forget Mark Trail.

Well, that’s not a question, Dad.  Those are suggestions.  But they are much appreciated.  I’ll share one anecdote for now, and file these ideas away for future posts.

When I was maybe fourteen, my ninth grade class spent a week camping at Chewonki in Maine.  I was not a camper back then.  The woods scared me.  Animals scared me.  Dirt scared me.  Bugs scared me (okay, bugs still scare me).  One night, the girls in my group were misbehaving and hanging out in one of the boys’ tents.  Eventually, everyone fell asleep.  Except me.  I realized I still had my contact lenses in, and had to take them out if we were going to spend the night.  So after debating with myself awhile, I very carefully snuck out of the crowded tent, made my way in the pitch black forest to my own tent, located my lens case (in the dark…I couldn’t find a flashlight), removed my lenses (in the dark), and proceeded to try to make my way back to the boys’ tent (in the dark, now without my lenses, meaning I was basically blind).  I was trying to walk quietly, to not wake anyone up, and slowly because I was mainly guessing where I was going.  I put my left foot down onto something that felt weird and soft — and it moved!  It ran.  I am not kidding.  I caught myself, choked back a scream, and ran myself — over a small sapling and smack into the platform with the boys’ tent.  Trying not to panic, I climbed into the tent and settled myself back in.  Of course, me banging into the platform had woken up everyone inside the tent, and we girls decided to go back to our tent to sleep, so we wouldn’t get caught in the morning.

To this day, I don’t know what I stepped on.  A raccoon?  A skunk?  I don’t know, I don’t care, and it scared me silly.

Thanks for the questions, everyone!

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Camping, Hiking, Musings, National Parks

That’s not “Hiking”

21 05 2010

You’re a busy person.  You’ve got a job, or school, to deal with.  Maybe you have a family.  You have friends, social obligations, cleaning to do and errands to run.  There’s that book you’ve been meaning to read, and you have really got to catch up on all those DVR’d episodes of the Vampire Diaries.  How in world can you find time to hike, particularly if you live in a city and hiking involves waiting for the weather to be nice, then driving out of the city and hoping the close-by hikes aren’t too crowded and you can find parking and anyhow won’t that just annoy you and shouldn’t you be doing laundry instead?

Or maybe that’s just me.

I struggle with finding time for “real” hiking.  Because I live in Boston, there aren’t a lot of mountains nearby.  Getting to a “real” hike — i.e., one that involves reaching a peak (or the bottom of a canyon), is at least several miles round trip, and requires packing a lunch — is not always possible, especially since I’m not naturally an early riser.

What is a city girl to do? 

Take your hiking wherever you find it.

This past Sunday, I had one of those days where I decided not to set an alarm, and I clearly needed sleep, because I didn’t wake up until after noon.  The night before, I had told myself that if the timing worked out, I would drive up to southern NH and get in a “real” hike, but at that point it wasn’t a real option.   By the time I got going, stopped for food, and got up there, it would be after 3, and I wasn’t comfortable starting a hike that late in the day.

The Minute Man NHP Visitors Center

Instead of throwing in the towel, however, I decided to try something a little different.  I went to the National Park Service website and looked up all the NPS sites in Boston and the surrounding area (there are twelve of them, in case you’re curious).  I’ve been to most of them, but since the weather Sunday was amazing, I wanted to go somewhere where I could hang around outside, even if I wasn’t hiking up a mountain.  I chose Minute Man National Historical Park.

Now, I’ve been to Minute Man before, but, as it turns out, I’ve only been to one corner of this site (the one in Concord by the North Bridge).  This time, I started at the main visitors center at 250 North Great Road.  The center itself was gorgeous, but more on that another time.  I didn’t stick around there long enough to watch the film — it was beautiful outside, remember? — but instead set out on the Battle Road Trail.

Battle Road Trail

The Battle Road Trail stretches five miles, connecting historical sites from Concord to Lexington, following much of the path the British soldiers took on April 19, 1775 culminating in the battles of Lexington and Concord that mark the beginning of the Revolutionary War.  Along the road are sites such as Hartwell Tavern, Wayside (which, among other things, is the house where Louisa May Alcott wrote her first published work), and the place where Paul Revere was captured during his famous ride to raise the alarm that the British were coming.

The trail itself is level and wide.  There isn’t an elevation gain, you don’t have to be careful of your footwork, and you’re unlikely to run into wildlife (aside from a squirrel or two).  At some points along the trail, you can see cars whiz by on Route 2A, though for the most part the trees mask the auto road and muffle the sounds.  Walking on this trail won’t give you a hard workout.  You’re likely to run into other people, but even if you don’t, you’ll never feel like you’re far from civilization by yourself.

Muskets!

Even so, the Battle Road Trail gave me what I needed last Sunday.  I was outside.  I was moving.  I was surrounded by beauty, and when no one else was in sight, that familiar calm settled over me — even though I didn’t feel like it was just me and nature, the quiet of the park and the absence of others in front of me or behind me gave me time to think and be.  (Also, I got to see a reenactment with muskets being fired.  Serene?  No.  But very neat.)

Sometimes, you have to take your hikes wherever you can find them.  You don’t always have to be climbing a mountain.  Figure out what it is you’re seeking from your hike — solitude, being outdoors, whatever — and find a place where you can get that.  You’ll be glad you didn’t just throw in the towel because you didn’t have time for a “real” hike.

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Hiking, Musings, National Parks, Suggested Hikes

Humility and Community

17 05 2010

What goes around comes around.  Karma.  The Golden Rule.  Give and take.  Pay it forward.  Quid pro quo.  Cause and effect.  Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

No matter which way you put it — based in science, religion and spirituality, psychology, human nature — the concept is the same.  Your actions (and inactions) have consequences.  As a child, we are taught to treat other people as we would like to be treated.  Share your toys, so that if you want to play with someone else’s toy, they will want to share with you.  Comfort someone who is upset, so that when you need comforting, they will be there for you. 

As an adult, these simple concepts become weighted with complexities: politics, familial obligation, autonomy and independence.  Once upon a time, when people lived in small communities and knew all of their neighbors, the logic in considering the consequences of your actions was simple.  If you wronged Joe, Joe would remember, and tell everyone else.  If you helped Joe when he needed it, Joe would remember, and be around to return the favor.  Nowadays, our communities, where they exist, are disjointed.  We have sub-communities of family (whom we may rarely see), the office, perhaps the neighborhood (but that is increasingly rare in cities).  It becomes harder to connect your actions with direct consequences because of the diminished contact and commitment we have with those around us.  We find ourselves either having to work harder to convince ourselves to lend a hand, or work harder to establish and become part of a true community.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: hikers and outdoorsy people have a natural community.  It comes from having a similar interest, but I also think there’s a certain type of personality that revels in being outdoors.  I have never come across a hiker on a trail who was unfriendly.  We say hello, check in to make sure things are going all right, offer to snap a photo, give advice about the trail, and so forth.  I have never found a community so willing to share information and help each other out, even though we’re a bunch of utter strangers who know nothing about each other aside from the fact that we yearn for the trail.

A few weeks ago, I talked about Rule No. 10, asking for help when you need it.  The “Good Stuff” side of Rule No. 10 is that, when you ask for help while hiking and camping, you don’t need to be embarrassed that you couldn’t handle something on your own, because chances are, the person you’re asking has asked for help themselves.  For every time that you need assistance, you’ll find opportunities to give assistance to someone else. 

The wonderful part about all of this is that, with each instance in which you lend a hand or ask for one, you’re reinforcing the community.  While you still may not see immediate or direct effects of your actions — i.e., that guy you helped may not be the one to help you out when you need it — because, as a community, we have all needed assistance at one time or another, we’re happy to repay the favor in whatever direction it’s needed.  Then, we can trust that when we do need a hand, there will be one available. 

It’s the cycle of hiking life.  Embrace it.  And the next time you need help, just remember that you’ll be able to help someone else around the next corner.

 © Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Camping, Hiking, The Good Stuff

Photo Friday

14 05 2010

One of the things I love most about hiking is that the work (and there is work) is well-rewarded.  Here’s a photo in which you can see the reward coming…

The trail down to the closest viewpoint at Lower Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY, circa September 2, 2004.  Yes, you then have to go back up, but you’re so amazed you don’t think about it as work anymore.  At least, I didn’t.

Happy Friday!

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


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Tags: ,
Categories : Hiking, National Parks, Photos

Back on Schedule

12 05 2010

Bonjour, faithful readers.  I’m so embarrassed.  Have you missed me?  I’ve missed you!

The last month has been a busy one for Her Side, culminating in being away with limited internet access for the past week-and-a-half, and a nightmare return transatlantic flight in which we flew around the volcanic ash that is wreaking havoc over the ocean.  But I’m back, and no more excuses.  While I recover from jet lag and get back on track, here are a few tidbits to keep you occupied.

In the coming weeks: gear and food reviews, the completion of the Rule and the Good Stuff, and the unveiling of a new and exciting project…

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


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Categories : Hiking, Musings, National Parks, Photos

Women Leading Women

28 04 2010

Part of the purpose of this blog is to encourage women to believe in themselves, to challenge themselves, and to take the time to reconnect with themselves.  Sometimes, however, doing something on your own for the first time is scary.  If you know you want to try outdoors activities, but charging into the woods alone is more than you can handle just yet, there are other options.  Lots of them.  I’ve talked before about local classes and group hikes to join.  Today, I want to address another phenomenon that has grown in popularity in recent years: women’s adventure vacations.

Google “women’s adventure travel,” and you’ll be overwhelmed at the number of companies out there offering active trips for women.  These outfits encourage solo travelers, and focus on the comraderie and community that develops between women in a non-competitive environment.  They take women up mountains, down rivers, and into canyons…and can give you the opportunity to learn about outdoor adventure without having to worry as much about relying only on yourself.  The list below is just a few of the companies offering these trips.  (Disclaimer: I haven’t taken any of these trips, so can’t endorse a particular company.  However, I can endorse the idea, which is what I’m doing.)

  • Adventurous Wench: Started in 2003 by founder Deanna Keahey, this women’s active travel company specializes in trips for solo women.  While you’re welcome to bring along a sister or a friend, AW seems to cater specifically to solos looking for company.  Trips currently advertised include hiking in Sedona, Ireland, or Napa, hopping around Greek Islands, and confronting wildlife in Costa Rica.
  • Canyon Calling: Founder Cheryl Fleet decided to start Canyon Calling when she realized that women traveling alone bonded easily with other women travelers and were more willing to open up and show interest than in co-ed groups.  Starting with a trip through Northern Arizona, the company now offers trips all over the world, including Alaska, Australia, Peru, and the Swiss Alps.
  • Adventure Women: Founded in 1982, Adventure Women specializes in group trips for women over 30.  Founder Susan Eckert explains, ” [o]n an all-women’s trip, women tell us that they can be totally and unequivocally themselves.”  The company is currently offering trips to places as varied as Kenya, New Zealand, Egypt, and Montana.
  • Adventures in Good Company: This eleven-year-old company specializes in active outdoors trips for women in Europe, Africa, and North and South America.  Trips include backpacking, kayaking, riding, climbing, and other outdoor activities.
  • Call of the Wild: When Carol Latimer lost her secretarial job in 1978, she decided to start organizing wilderness tours, and Call of the Wild was born.  This company specializes in trips for women from all walks of life, traveling together or solo, who want outdoors adventures.  Currently offered trips include backpacking in California, day hiking in Hawaii, and doing all kinds of things in Guatemala (among others).

For something a little different, check out the Women’s Wilderness Institute.  This organization provides “wilderness experiences and outdoor adventures for women and teen girls in the Rocky Mountains and the deserts of the Southwest.”  This organization is different because it primarily offers trips that are “courses,” in hiking, backpacking, mountain climbing, fly fishing…even “Wilderness Yoga.”  The focus is on instruction, guidance, and growth, teaching women and girls skills to build their self-sufficiency, confidence and strength.

So take a look at what’s out there.  Women are leading women into adventure everywhere you look.  If you’re not ready to commit to an extended trip, look into your local adult education centers and wilderness clubs for day hikes and courses, or short overnights.  Go ahead, dangle your toe in the water…and see how long it takes before you start heading out on your own.

© Her Side of the Mountain, 2010.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Camping, Hiking

Wait…I’m supposed to what?

27 04 2010

I know I owe y’all a post, which is coming tomorrow, but for now, have a funny:

With thanks to Kelly Ferguson, author of basketcase comix.

Who can explain why that’s so funny?  (Hint: it’s a take on a well-known hiking/camping credo.)


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Camping, Hiking

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