Offering organized hikes and backpacking adventures for women as they explore their unique badassery
Yosemite weekend morning update: Huge reminder to check your gear before heading out. Despite my experience, I got complacent, and didn’t. Could have been a huge mistake had I been backpacking. Yes, we all make mistakes. We learn and move on. Absolutely a beautiful day to have a beautiful day
Training doesn’t have to be dreadful, it can also be fun. Day 1 of a Yosemite get away. Carrying 36lbs, we enjoyed an amazing display at Vernal falls despite the “Disneyland” type crowds. The water was raging as we made our way up to Nevada Falls and around past Clark point. A cozy fire, homemade dinner and good conversation capped off the day. It is, indeed, good to be alive
There’s just something replenishing about mountain air. For a change of scenery, I finally made it back to the mountains. Still a fair amount of snow which moved us from Plan A (Ralston Peak via Echo Lakes) to Plan B (Lake Aloha via Echo Lakes). Merlot had the time of her life.
Air was fresh. Scenery stunning
13 milles… 2500 feet ascent
Test runs for long treks are essential. I’m so glad I have been doing them. I have finalized my layering system, am still working on shoes, and just confirmed the pack I was going to use will not comfortably carry 36lbs. I can use it for a weekend, but no way it will work for 30 days.
It’s easy to get caught up in the “ultralight” frenzy. Cutting and eliminating to lighten the load. While I started riding that train, I’ve come to realize that at my age I have to pay some attention to comfort. I don’t know for how long my body can do these treks and if being comfortable means carrying a few more pounds, then my time is better spent preparing my body to carry a few more pounds. What works for one may not work for others. To each his own. I was thrilled to note that aside from pack discomfort, my legs felt strong with that weight.
Enjoy the journey, my friends
Sometimes the body needs a little shift to regroup, reground, and recenter. Stepping away a bit from training and just enjoyed a beautiful day with the girls
JMT meal prep continues. With 30 days on trail, the food situation is daunting. Wrapping my head around the fact that I will need significantly more calories than I currently eat daily is difficult. It just feels like so much food. I have spreadsheets and lists everywhere. I have storage containers of all shapes and sizes and almost daily I am prepping something. Sure I could buy all the food I will need already prepared. That is costly, and a big game of roulette when it comes to taste. I have spent months going through recipe books and testing various things. Doing this work gives me the opportunity to try and then modify. It also gives me the ability to adjust portions and plan to my liking. As it stands now, breakfast and lunches are a rinse and repeat pattern with about 5 different things. I found several recipes fabulous for cold soak lunches and I am stoked about that. For dinner….. I have no meal twice.
When I trek, I want a hot breakfast (although I did plan for about 5 days with protein cereal), and a sit down lunch. I have planned for a morning snack, an afternoon snack, and dessert/hot tea after dinner. Yes….. my home routine transfers to the trail.
They say I will likely lose weight……. I feel like this is so much food I will gain weight. Bottom line…. Food is fuel and I know what it feels like to bonk on trail because the fuel wasn’t there.
I am about at the end of my “to be dehydrated” list, and now I have started making individual packaging. This is all being vacuum sealed to stay fresh until my final prep and sort for resupply boxes. Stayed tuned for more on that later.
For now, I have buggies to cut and seal into smaller baggies…… yes, we are officially counting grams and the weight of unnecessary packaging adds up
This is all part of the Journey
JMT: Where Grit Meets Granite
05/18/2026
Some days are just hard
My body didn’t feel right
Nothing about my pack felt right
My head space was off
The JMT is quickly approaching
I’m tired. I’m getting nervous
I’m overwhelmed
What do we do when things are hard? We do hard things
I tackled the trail at a slog pace
I soaked up the sun. Saw bunnies, deer, quail, lizards and a snake. Even chatted with interesting humans
Ate a good burger and fries on my way home
Despite the hard, it was a good day
Training hike
Double Dipsea
16 miles, 4400ft elevation gain
Pack Weight: 36lbs
I can do hard things. You can do hard things
One.Step.At.A.Time
What happens when you combine a training day with a gorgeous National Park with great weather, a group of badass ladies, and boulders to climb on? Why you have an amazing day of course
Pack weight: 31lbs
Distance: 13ish miles
Elevation gain: 3500 feet
04/17/2026
There are a few reasons why I had not considered hiking the John Muir Trail prior to this year. Together, they add up to OVERWHELMED
The first is time. I know that, at this age, hiking big daily miles with a heavy pack is hard and while I can do it, the second half of the day is simply miserable. Solution: I am retired now and have the luxury of time so I will take 29 days with an average daily mileage around 10.
The second is logistics: 240 miles, point to point, lends to lots of decisions. Decisions that must be made ahead of time. Transportation to and from, resupplies, pack weight, and food….. food for 29 days. I am blessed to have my dear friend in my corner. She has volunteered to provide transportation to/from AND will bring the first resupply. With that settled, I began to tackle the food. There are many strategies and lots of options to purchase. That adds up quickly. One must consider weight, shelf stability, and taste. I have opted to make and dehydrate my own. Whew….. now that’s a lot. Finding recipes, meal planning, researching, cooking and dehydrating. My dehydrator has been running for a month or more, and per my daughter it looks like I’m prepping for the apocalypse. I’m about 3/4 of the way through the list. Some complete meals dehydrated together. Some, single item things to be mixed and matched. Today going in is quinoa/bean/cilantro salad and feta cheese. On deck….. tomato/sweet potato/carrot soup.
Third is fear. Let’s face it… 240 miles through the eastern sierras, over 11 high elevation passes is intimidating. Exciting but intimidating. I feel both excited and scared.
Moral of the story…. What do we do when we are overwhelmed and scared? Why, we do it overwhelmed and scared of course. One step at a time
Let’s do this!