Hiking News - A Photo Op Isn't Worth Your Life

A very tragic story came out of Denali National Park this weekend. A hiker was killed by a grizzly bear while taking pictures of it.

To read the whole story, click here.

It's important to supply yourself with knowledge before you head into the woods. Read up on the wildlife you can expect to encounter while on your trip. Keep your food and personal hygiene products in a bear bag at night, and read these tips here for what you should do if you encounter a bear. Also, remember the 7 P's: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance - and in some cases can save your life.

Pulled from Wikipedia

Summer Clearances are Oh So Sweet!

The REI Summer Clearance sale started Friday. I had a whole long list of things I wanted to look at for our first overnight hike. First on the list was to get fitted for a pack. Needless to say I was pretty excited when Hubs said that today would be a good day to head over there.

I love REI. There's so much to look at, and so many cool gadgets, it's easy to get sucked in and want to buy everything. If you couldn't tell, I'm a huge impulse buyer. Hubs balances me well because he contemplates every purchase before he makes it. We make a good team. So of course before we headed to REI, he's researched a whole bunch of packs, bed rolls, and tents. Shopping informed is a great idea.

I tried on a bunch of packs, wanting to make sure I got one that was as comfortable as possible. REI will stuff them with weight for you, so you can get an idea of what it will feel like on the trail. The associate that helped us was so patient, moving the weight back and forth between packs for me. After a lot of deliberation, and walking around the store with weighted packs, I decided on the REI Flash 52.

We have loved our Flash 18s. They've been a perfect little day pack, with just enough space to throw what we need in. So it seemed like a natural progression to move to the larger Flash. It fit me well, particularly around the neck. I discovered as I tried packs on, that my short torso makes fitting through the upper back/shoulders/neck difficult, but we found that the Flash 52 adjusted well to fit me, and gave me the most room in my neck.

While we were talking to the man who was fitting me, we mentioned, our Flash 18s and how much we've used them. He suggested using it as a bear bag! You can put all your food and hygiene products in there, and then string it up in the trees. What a fantastic idea!

We also got an REI Lightweight 1.5 Women's self-inflating bed roll. It's insulated against the ground temperature, and provides more cushion than a traditional foam bed roll. I'm excited to use it for the first time!

I feel like a real hiker now, guys! I'm so excited!

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!

Susquehanna State Park and Breaking Records

9.9 Miles.. Our longest hike ever! To some of you, that might seem really, really lame. To Hubs and I, it's huge! We finally broke our record of longest hike! It seemed that we kept getting stuck in a 5-6 mile range, fearful that if we went too long or too far we wouldn't have enough [fill in excuse here] to go that long. Maryland Heights was the exception at over 7 miles. Now all excuses are gone, nullified, void! We know we can hike that long, we know the pups can hike that long, and I'm still living off the adrenaline!

 Last week a certain *cough* friend *cough* of ours was supposed to hike with us (love you!!). We arranged our trip so that we could go on Sunday with her, and then she bailed.. lame, right? Ok, ok! Not lame! She was sick. We decided to stick to our original plan of a Sunday hike, and after church we loaded up the dogs and headed to Susquehanna State Park. We followed an awesome trail guide from Midatlantic Hikes. It was so well put together and thought out! The trail guide wound us around the park, following the Susquehanna River for a bit, and then heading off into the hills. The trail guide says it's 8.7 miles, but our GPS recorded us at 9.9 (see my EveryTrail map). The guide was written in 2006, so it's possible that the trails have changed a bit since then.

Grist Mill, where you pick the trail up

We had a fantastic hike, and saw a lot of cool nature things! There were a lot of deer. A. LOT. OF. DEER! It seemed like every time we turned around there was another deer and fawn, or deer and fawns, or deers and fawn.. you get the picture (no bucks, sorry!).

Deer hiding in the tree

We also got to see some trees that looked (to me) like they'd been woodpeckered (yes, I do enjoy making words up) to death!

I did some research (I Googled), and all of these type of holes in the tree came up for woodpeckers. If I'm wrong, let me know in the comments! Share your knowledge, people!

We saw beaver damage:

But sadly, no beavers.

We also saw this:

And we have no idea what it is.. Do you?? Hubs tried to figure out where the wire goes to, but it gets pretty overgrown there and we didn't want to disturb nature. Leave no trace, and all. While we were checking this out, the dogs were getting restless..

And we saw some berries (again, please share your knowledge. Google failed me).

The coolest part of our hike was walking through a field. It was amazing. One minute you're trekking through the woods, wondering when is this hill going to END! and then BOOM, you're in a field.

As the hike continued through the woods, there is an old stone wall that weaves its way around. The trail crosses it a few times. You see it mainly as your on Old Farm Trail. The history in this area is palpable. I loved every second of it!

The longer our hikes get, the less I am able to do them justice in a post. There were so many adventures from this day that I want to share, like Cocoa learning to eat an apple!

Or the really awesome, really old White Oak we saw. This tree has a special sign pointing hikers towards it.

And even the super cute red mushrooms! I wonder how many power ups those are good for in Mario???

But then, I haven't even mentioned the river or Old Flint Tower or the rail road tracks!

I guess you'll just have to go see for yourself! It really is something!

By the end of the hike my feet were sore. I couldn't wait to rip my boots off. However, I'm happy to report that I still haven't had a blister yet! I'm sure I've just jinxed myself, but it's worth saying that these boots have been pretty awesome. I think that I'll be getting some gel inserts for our next adventure, though, because my feet have never hurt so bad in my life. I live in high heels. That's saying something. 

Hubs and I are getting closer to our first overnight hike! We're heading to REI this weekend to start looking at gear. Y'all know shopping is my favorite thing, and I smell a sale! The Baltimore market REIs are having their end of summer clearance this weekend, so if you've been looking for an excuse to go, you're welcome!

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!

Hiking News - Broken Ankle but not a Broken Spirit

Hubs stumbled across a story about a 21 year old girl who was hiking with a friend in Wyoming recently. After they saw a gorgeous sunset, they started towards their intended campsite. On the way, they came across a deep trench - 6ft wide and 8ft deep. As Lexi attempted to jump across she slipped, fell, and broke her ankle (pretty severely).

As her friend rushed off to get help, she made a video to try to keep herself positive and to take her mind off the pain. It's pretty awesome! Take a look!

Keeping your fear at bay is so important to be able to survive in an emergency situation. Whatever situation you find yourself in, take a deep breath, let go of the "what ifs", and allow yourself to think in terms of survival. 

And like I seem to be saying quite a bit - Always be prepared!

Way to go, Lexi!

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!

Wolf Rock - Catoctin Mountain Park

All last week I was singing "On the trail again! I just can't wait to get on the trail again"! Saturday we finally did! Due to problems with our GPS logger, I'm unable to show you a map of what were we hiked =[ but I imagine in the not too distant future we'll be back up at Catoctin Mountain. It was just that beautiful!

We set out intending to do 8-Mile Loop. Unfortunately, the 'bugs' we thought we avoided from the Dominican Republic picked Saturday to bite us, so we only did about 3.5 miles of 8-Mile Loop. Believe me, nothing is worse than trying to push through a hike when you stomach is screaming "NOOOOOO!!! Stop moving!!" However, we're both feeling a lot better now, and we're hoping that our energy will be back up for this weekend's adventures!

So, on to the good stuff!

Catoctin Mountain is so incredible! The area that we hiked in was rocky, and there are large rock formations jutting out of the mountain. It's so cool!

We started our hike from the visitors center heading towards the Park Headquarters. If you do this, pay careful attention to the trail. Catoctin does not blaze the trails, and we ended up getting a little lost when the trail made a sharp turn to the left that we missed.

You'll know you missed it when you come across this big "rock field"

If you see this, turn around. DO NOT go down the hill like we did.. oh my were we lost..

On the trail, we came across some Fairy Houses! I first saw a Fairy House when I was in Maine for the summer with a friend. I love coming across them! They're so whimsical looking =]

I have no idea why people make these (or should I say fairies?), but they're really neat to look at!

As we were walking up the mountain, we were feeling pretty out of it. So we stopped for a minute to rest up. The dogs were none to happy.

 Can't you just see in Cocoa's eyes "COME ON, Mom! I want to keep moving!"

And really, who can resist those eyes? So keep moving we did.

 The best part of the hike was obviously Wolf Rock. I've heard people say that they were unimpressed, or that the views weren't great, but I think it's amazing! You have to do a bit of rock scrambling to get to it, but it is so worth it. We stopped there for a long while to eat lunch and just to enjoy nature.

Cocoa decided to take a nap while we were eating lunch =]

Sprocket laid down, too.

And of course, I couldn't just sit there for too long. I had to go explore the rocks! The formations were so neat, and some of the splits were really deep. I'm sad to say I noticed a lot of trash at the bottom of the crevices. If you're hiking, please remember to pack out your trash. Let's not ruin the beauty of our trails for others.

After we were done hanging out on Wolf Rock, we headed back to the trail. The trail was really busy! I couldn't believe how many groups of people we saw! A lot of the groups had children with them, too. I was really excited to see so many families out enjoying the day with their kids.

Of course all the rain that we've gotten recently left it's imprint on nature. Anyone know about mushrooms? I know zilch.

There were mushrooms all along the trail, but this double mushroom was definitely the coolest.

Even though it was a short hike, it was so nice to get outside and get moving! There's something about being outside on the trail that speaks to my soul. It's peaceful, invigorating, and so awe inspiring to see God's beautiful creation. It preps me for the long week ahead, and helps me relax from the week I just had. There's nothing like sitting under the trees on a sunny day =]

I have to leave you with this adorable picture of the pups. They were all tuckered out after our hike =]

I hope you had a chance to get outside last weekend. Been anywhere fun recently? I'd love to hear about it =] Feel free to leave a comment here, or on Facebook. And when you get a chance, please pop over to Facebook and Like my page.

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!

The High Heels Side of Life - Missions Work

Hi Everyone! Did you miss me?? I sure missed all of you!

Hubs and I have just gotten back into the country from the Dominican Republic. Remember a couple months ago when I posted about a fundraiser for our missions trip? Well we've just returned from the trip late last night! What an incredible experience it was!

In a city called Pimentel, we support a church/school ministry called MIVA - Ministerio Infantil Viva el Amor. This year, the trip was a special Anniversary Celebration for 15 years of MIVA. Hubs and I were part of a 20 person team from the Baltimore area, and we were lucky enough to be there during the celebration week. Every day was filled with activities and work projects and the whole trip was such a blessing for all involved!

After a long day of traveling on July 30th, the team dove right into working. The construction team worked on assembling a stage that would be used throughout the week's events, and the VBS team started organizing supplies. Tuesday was filled with more organization and VBS prep, with the construction team moving on to more projects. Throughout the week, the construction team replaced all of the mechanical pieces in the toilets throughout MIVA, cleaned the fence line from overgrowth, rewired a church member's house, repaired the generator used when the city has no electricity, built a back drop to be used during Friday night's rap competition, and built stands that the church could use as "lemonade stands".

Wednesday was perhaps my favorite day of the trip. MIVA held a special Olympic Games day, where the children of Pimentel could participate in Olympic style games. The day was kicked off with a Torch Race through the city, and had perhaps 75 people running through the city by the time it reached the final pass-off location.

The white flags are the front of the Torch Race line heading towards our pass-off location 

Kids running at the front of the Torch Race

The race started at the outskirts of the city, and finished as we all ran into MIVA. 

After the Torch Race, the kids broke out into groups to do the games and the Americans went out to help them! I got assigned to go with the dodgeball group, and I had fun entertaining the kids that weren't playing at the time!

In the afternoon, the older kids did a scavenger hunt through Pimentel, and we got to run with them as they completed their tasks at each location! I spent a lot of time running around trying to keep up with them! Wednesday was an awesome day! 

Thursday and Friday we did VBS. The kids got to do a craft (that they could take home with them), play games, and hear a bible story. During the lessons, the kids learned about Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. After the lesson was complete, the kids "built" a wall of gratitude to God, to thank Him for what He's done in their lives.

I brought the fabric home with me and I will quilt it to look like bricks, then next year I'll take it back down there and give them the finished wall. 

Thursday night MIVA brought in two comedians for a special show, and they had over 1000 people in attendance! Friday night there was a rap competition where the youth from Pimentel competed in an "American Idol" fashion (with judges). After the competition a popular rapper in the Dominican gave a performance. What an incredible experience! It was so powerful to see the young people show up in such numbers! 

Saturday was the day we'd all been waiting for: Celebration Day. People from all over came to celebrate MIVA's 15 year anniversary, and I've never seen the church so packed! All these people walked through the streets praying over families, businesses, parks, and many other things. Then we all gathered back at MIVA to release the balloons. Around 1500 balloons were released into the sky, each with a message inside: Jesucristo es el Senor de Pimentel - Jesus Christ is Lord of Pimentel!

It was such a sight to see! The atmosphere was electric! 

Every time Hubs and I go down to work with these people, we come back feeling so blessed. It was spirit renewing to see old friends, to see the smiling faces of the kids while they were playing games, and to work together as one body of Christ regardless of language barriers. I love the people of Pimentel, and MIVA is like a second family. If you have any questions about the work we did, I would love to answer them for you. Feel free to leave a comment here or on Facebook.

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!

P.s. I'm super excited to tell you that Hubs and I are back to hiking this weekend! I promise a blog post featuring a new trail will be up before the weekend is over!