Clothes and Trails and Events, Oh My!

When I decided I wanted to start hiking, I knew my wardrobe would need some additions. As I mentioned in my first post, all of the clothes in my closet are organized by type. I have a decided lack of anything that's suitable to hike in, unless you count my Calvin Klein jeans.. which I don't cause they're too nice to hike in! And I couldn't imagine hiking in jeans anyway, just imagine how sweaty and gross you'd be.. eww.

I knew I needed something different than my athletic pants too, at least until I learned the ropes of hiking. So Hubs and I set out to REI to see what we could find that would work. After ogling all the fun stuff, I found a pair of convertible pants. These are the kind of pants that you can unzip the legs just below the knee to turn them into shorts. Nifty, right? I took a look at the price tag and my heart dropped.. I knew it was out of our budget. I decided that another store must have something similar, and off we set on a wild goose chase.

Several stores later, we ended up at Dick's Sporting Goods. Eureka! We found a pair in my size on sale for around half the price of the others. However, they hadn't passed the fit test yet. Being the clothes lover that I am, they had to fit right in the caboose before I would give them a thumbs up, because I refuse to look like a man on the trail. I'm going to hike in style so help me!

You'll be pleased to know that they fit me well. I couldn't find the exact ones I purchased to link here, but the style pictured above is almost exactly the same. I like them because they're so light weight, and and they breathe well. They also accommodate movement really well, so climbing isn't restricted, although I haven't scaled any cliffs.. Yet. I ended up buying a size larger than what I wear normally, so keep that in mind if you order some.

After hiking they were filthy! But they washed really well. All the dirt and mud stains came out without a problem, but I think in the future I'll line dry them because they did shrink slightly (or maybe it was me getting bigger..). Even so, they stretched right back out when I started moving around in them.

After raving about them to my husband we had to get him a pair, too. We haven't hiked yet since we got them, so I'll let you know if he doesn't love them once we're out on the trail again. You can find a similar style by clicking the picture below =]

Our next hike is probably going to be at the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail this weekend, which looks really cool! Check out the link when you get a chance!

And speaking of this weekend, did you know that Saturday is National Get Outdoors Day? This Saturday National Parks will be fee free! Check out the link to find out what events are happening in your area!

What's your favorite way to spend time outside? I'd love to hear about it!