From the category archives:

Favorites

Ice, ice, baby

December 8, 2009 Favorites
Frozen grass at Umpqua Hot Springs

I recently camped out with some friends at Umpqua Hot Springs. Here are some pictures from our hike in.

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Elaboration on being a solo female hiker

October 9, 2009 Favorites

I’ve gotten a lot of responses to my blog post “On being a solo female hiker.” Almost all of them have been positive and I feel encouraged to know that I have a community of supportive men and women. However, there is one response that I would like to address, and I will tell you [...]

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On being a solo female hiker

October 1, 2009 Favorites

It is nighttime at the hiker hostel and the guy next to me says to the group, “I hate it when a girl goes around a shelter. I mean, I don’t want sloppy thirds.”
I say, “I’m surprised you made it in the top five.” Then I smile (a technique that my friends Jade and Monika [...]

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I am not cute

September 30, 2009 Favorites

I was recently in the White Mountains talking with the leader of a group of college kids, when one of the students walked up and said, “Something smells awful!” She looked at me and reddened. “It’s not you,” she said. “It’s something else.”
I shrugged and said, “No. It probably is me.”
It’s true. I stink. We [...]

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Self-portrait in the White Mountains

September 19, 2009 Favorites
Addy self-portrai

If you are my facebook friend then you have already seen this. I took it with my camera on a tripod and used my remote release.

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Emergency blanket: win

September 11, 2009 Favorites

It’s 3:30 on a cold, foggy night and a woman tells me that my attitude is not helpful. “We’re all in this together,” she says.
And I think, “I’ve been ‘in this’ for 6 hours. You’re just now showing up.”
Let me rewind a little and say this: an emergency blanket is a windproof, waterproof material that [...]

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Shoving my pack through the Mahoosac Notch

September 6, 2009 Favorites

The Mahoosac Notch is known as “the hardest mile on the Appalachian Trail.” In it, you wiggle under big boulders, stuff your backpack through holes, and hop from rock to rock. It was incredibly fun. Here are a few pictures of me shoving my pack ahead of me as I climb through a tunnel.

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Reader Question #8: Being a wimp

September 2, 2009 Favorites

Audrey B from Lookout Mtn, GA
Question: My brother/cousin/friend/grandmother/pet ferret did the 100 mile wilderness and did not have as hard a time as you. Is it possible that you are a wimp?
Answer: Yes. Although we in the wimp community prefer to be called badass challenged.
Actually, there are many stories of people who start out and [...]

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How to climb a mountain in Maine

August 25, 2009 Favorites

I’m done with the state of Maine now, so I though I’d pass on a few tips. Hiking here can be challenging because there are no switchbacks. It is as if the creators of the trail said, “Lo, there is a mountain. You will now walk straight up it.” Often, the trail is actually a [...]

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Impossibly beautiful

August 23, 2009 Favorites

Last night I stayed in a lean-to with an impossibly beautiful couple from Holland. They snuggled and kissed and spoke to one another in Dutch. I had to interrupt them, “Um, excuse me,” I said to the man, “would you mind turning away while I change?” This is what everyone does in lean-tos. Neither them [...]

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Weight, weight, don’t tell me

August 22, 2009 Favorites

“You are never going to make it through the Whites or the Mahoosacs with that pack,” another backpacker tells me.
I nod and think I heard you the first four times you told me.
He is traveling with a friend, wearing spandex, carrying only a fanny pack. He began to lecture me on the weight of my [...]

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Word of the day: submudged

August 18, 2009 Favorites
Addy's leg is covered in mud

Submudged: (verb) to step deep into bog water or mud.
As in, Adelaide submudged her foot so deeply in the muck that she almost lost a boot.
Coined by hikers Nick and Josie in the 100 mile Wilderness.

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Waterfalls in the 100 mile wilderness

August 1, 2009 Favorites
Waterfall on Mt Katahdin

I have been learning a lot about my camera lately and here are some of my experiments.

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On top of Chairback Mountain

July 31, 2009 Favorites
On top of Chairback Mountain

On top of Chairback Mountain in the 100 mile Wilderness. I was so proud of myself when I summited this mountain because I could see all of the bogs and tough trails I had been struggling through and suddenly it all felt worth it. It was so calm and serene and I just sat up [...]

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Solo hiking

July 22, 2009 Favorites

Several people have asked me if I get lonely being a solo hiker and here is my answer:
Hiking alone is not so bad. I make up games to pass the time. My favorite one is “Count to 1000.” Not to be bested by “Count to 1000 again” and “Which piece of gear will I jettison [...]

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