In this episode I walk you through our first time hiking Half Dome! Gear, timing, fear of falling, and HOLY CROWDS BATMAN! I hope you enjoy this talk-through on our Half Dome experience, and find it helpful if you are planning your Half Dome experience!

Best Time to hike: April through October

Type of hike: Rigorous day-hike, or adventurous overnight with backcountry permit; out and back from Happy Isles trailhead

Distance / Elevation Gain: 14-17 miles (depending on route) / ~5,200 ft (1,585 meters)

Our Excursion: Out and back overnight at Little Yosemite Valley in early August of 2022 with clear skies day one and afternoon thunderstorms day two; ~16 miles on AllTrails app, leisurely ~11 hours hiking and rest time plus overnight; ~5,250 feet elevation gain on Garmin GPS; cables in good condition with uncrowded ascent at sunrise; fear of heights/falling overcome with minimal whimpering.

Have you ever hiked in the pitch black night with nothing to guide you but your headlamp and a somewhat reliable GPS?  We've done more than our fair share of night hiking, but Whitney wins for being the most impressive, oppressive, and exhilarating! 
We scored a single-day permit for Mt. Whitney for July 31st of 2022! Now, what this means is that we were blessed with a 24-hour period in which to hike the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.A., 14,505 ft of forests, creeks, and granite over ~23.5 miles up and back down with ~6,400 ft of total hiked ascent (according to my Garmin; 20.9 miles, 6,600ft according to AllTrails).  This trip was made extra-special by some dramatic weather that opened up on us with ~5 miles to go in our hike, resulting in washed out trails, washed out selves, and rockfalls booming down the mountain as though Thor was having a temper-tantrum. 
We loved a lot, learned a lot, and lucked out a LOT on this trip! We hope you enjoy hearing about our experience!

Gear List - a lot of this is our tried-and-true standards:
Osprey Tempest 20 & 22L daypacks (his & hers) with hip belt
Platypus 2.5L bladder with hose and Camelbak bite-valve
Gregory 2L bladder/hose/valve
el-cheapo trekking poles off Amazon (we will be replacing after this trip, but they've lasted 10+ years)
T-shirt-turned bandana from our church (gotta represent!)

Amanda:
Danner Trail 2650 Gore-Tex boots (LOVE!)
L.L.Bean hiking zip-off pants and anorak 
Mountain Hardwear tank top and Ghost Whisperer packable down coat
Mammut med-weight jacket
Ex-Officio unders
VS wireless medium-impact sports bra
SmartWool Liner socks and Merrell wool-blend hiking socks (extras packed for wet feet)

Dan:
Asolo Agent Gore-Tex (his go-to boots)
Mountain Hardwear hiking zip-off pants 
Mountain Hardwear Gore-Tex raincoat 
Mountain Hardwear buton-down and med-weight jacket
SmartWool liner and hiking socks
Ex-Officio boxer-briefs

Food:
Stinger Waffles, Clif Bars, Clif Blox, Quest bars, some gross high-protein cookie Dan got excited about, Kind bars, dried fruit, candied nuts, Stinger Gels, candied ginger (for the win!), Justin's Nut Butter individual packs, bagels

 Part 2 of our chat with Lance - his time in Cali on his Jeep journey, musings on healing in nature and how it ties to faith, and what's happening next with his backyard biking ventures.  Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get you podcasts, and to check out Lance's Instagram @lance_rk

 We were super excited to sit down and chat with our friend Lance Kriesch, a fellow outdoor enthusiast who is passionate about encouraging people to experience the outdoors and adventure. He recently went on a Kerouac-inspired jalopy road trip with his brother in his Jeep Cherokee dubbed "Black Betty," and has some fantastic reels you can view on his Instagram @lance_rk while you listen to his stories here! 

We are hoping to get permits to hike Mount Whitney this year, revisiting a place where Dan had a fantastic experience back in 2008!  We will likely have a few episodes this season as we prep for this trip, and we wanted to start out with a revisit of Dan's '08 trek.  

We are working with a new setup in our recently renovated basement, and are finally on dual mikes, so please bear with us as we work to reconfigure our audio (a new mixer program and I'm learning the tech!), but the content will continue to flow as we get into 2022!

This is part 2 of our coverage of Glacier National Park!  Bears, Whistle Pigs, and more epic hikes!  We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed our trip to Big Sky Country!

Our 2019 trip to Glacier National Park was AMAZING!  We hope you enjoy hearing about our time in Big Sky Country, and that maybe you learn something useful for your next outdoor adventure. 

Amazing geology, glaciers, wildlife, and hiking await you in the Crown of the Continent, as well as a deep feeling of appreciation for the ancestors who settled this area thousands of years before we got here. 

In this episode we document our hike out of the canyon, the gorgeous North Rim Lodge, and gear, food, clothing for the trail.  We started this day with an AWESOME breakfast at the ranch, followed by an even more AWESOME dinner at the Lodge after some hot, sweaty mileage.  

We seriously want to go back and do it again, this experience was so challenging and rewarding!  

We did rim-to-rim South to North, with a full day down in the canyon at Phantom Ranch to explore and enjoy!  Our adventure started with a long shuttle ride from the North Rim, where we staged our car (and a well-insulated cooler of frosty beverages), and ended with amazing views of the canyon from the North Rim Lodge whilst sipping a Prickly Pear Margarita at sunset. 

Part One covers the start of our adventure and our hike into the canyon down the South Kaibab trail, as well as our day of exploring from Phantom Ranch - including scorpion hunting, tales of tragedy, the importance of hydration, a hidden waterfall, and a unique Civilian Conservation Corps installation.  Part Two will get into our hike out and enjoying the North Rim Lodge. 

Hope you enjoy joining us on this adventure!

References:

Fedarko, K. 2008. They Call Me Groover Boy. Original from Outside Magazine, Jul 2008. I read it in this awesome book - Out There: The Wildest Stories from Outside Magazine. Falcon Press Publishing. April 2018.

National Parks Service site for the Grand Canyon: https://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Xanterra for Phantom Ranch lottery: https://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/lodging/phantom-ranch/

Correction: In reference to scorpions, I say "keratin," I meant "chitin," this is what happens when you're used to talking about mammals... reference for scorpions lighting up under UV light here! https://www.terminix.com/blog/bug-facts/why-do-scorpions-glow-under-ultraviolet-light/ 

Hi Everyone!  We are back after a trip to explore New Orleans!  This isn't our typical, outdoors/hiking type trip, but was an exploration into the culture of New Orleans, especially the food!  The history and beauty of the area are enough of a draw for most folks, but the food and music should keep people coming back.  We found a lot of places still shut down due to COVID, but we were able to find some great live music and still enjoy a lot of what the city had to offer - on a positive note for us, it was much less crowded in the city than normal, according to the locals.  We did take an awesome kayaking tour with Wild Louisiana Tours - lots of natural and cultural history learnings, as well as gators, snakes, and birds of all kinds!

We are looking forward to going back someday, to explore more of the city and surrounding area when more things are opened up, and hopefully, we can catch more live music.