Lovin' the outdoors

In the past, I found myself measuring all my outdoor adventures against my time spent in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park - which I would repeat in a heartbeat. As the park was 75 miles from the nearest town, I was able to focus all my attention on a landscape that was void of almost all man-made noise and light pollution (which was a brand new experience in itself), and was just so very different from anything I ever saw in Ohio or during my other travel adventures. Since moving to the southwest, I have had a hard time finding a place that I enjoy as much as Canyonlands. However, the more time I spend on the PCT, the more I'm loving it, and I think I may have finally found another place that I love just as much as Canyonlands... or perhaps, I just really love being outside.

But first, for those of you who have never been there, I'd like to share some photos I took while interning at the park so you can get a better idea why I enjoyed this place so much.

Near Squawflats Campground

 The joint trail

Taken from the doorstep of my apartment in the park

Winter time in Elephant Canyon

The night sky

This past weekend (on Mother's Day, actually), I went on a 20.2 mile hike on the PCT with Aaron and two friends. We left a car at Campo's post office and started hiking north to Lake Morena, where we had left another car. The trail was beautiful and zigged and zagged all over the landscape. It was never flat, but kept our bodies working with lots of gradual ups and downs. We hiked along mountain sides that looked out over wide valleys, made our way through some previously burnt areas that contained charred manzanitas, and lots of blooming re-growth, and bumped into a few PCT thru-hikers. The landscape was beautiful, and there was always something nice to look at: blooming flowers, mountain top views, railroad tracks, even the border in its own way. The main challenge of the day was a steep climb up to the top of Morena Butte, before winding our way down to Lake Morena. After arriving at Lake Morena, we drove back to the border to hike the 1.5 miles back to the post office to complete our 20.2 mile day, which is officially my first 20 miler.... also, in case you were wondering, we all stuck our feet under the border and "visited Mexico" again. It was just as lovely as our last visit.

Hillside with some burnt Manzanitas and blooming re-growth

A valley not too far from Campo

Lake Morena!

Besides our long Mother's Day hike, I was able to visit House Wren nest boxes again and this time got to see some tiny little baby birds. Also, I hiked around Black Mountain with another friend from Mission Trails. AND, one afternoon I returned home to find Aaron had set up a tarp in the backyard just for kicks. So we have been enjoying discussions about switching our shelter system to a tarp and bivy bags, and reading and napping under the tarp... which is, by the way, currently one of the best places to nap around the house.