Travel Thursday- Sequoia National Forest

Travel Thursday-it's a thing or well, if it isn't a "thing" I'm making it one ; ) . I've been able to experience some pretty amazing places thus far (and hopefully many MANY more) and wanted to share with you some of my favorites (and maybe some advice, too). We road-tripped to California last October and it was possibly one of my most memorable experiences ever. I highly suggest traveling via car if you really want to try to see as much as possible. To make it the most affordable, we did a bunch of camping along the way and our first night of camping was in Sequoia National Forest (on our way from Death Valley National Park and to Sequoia National Park/ King's Canyon). I think this was one of my favorite campsites EVER. It could've been the season that we visited that helped keep the crowds down or excitement of the trip or the fact that we were camping right along a beautiful river, but everything about this part of our stay was amazing. 

Our campsite was one of maybe 6 or 7 total sites in the Limestone Campground and we were less than a 1/4 mile walk down to the river (site was situated directly above the water on a small hill). 

It was also super sandy at our site (which is a total change from normally pretty hard ground here in Colorado), which made it feel amazing! The site had a good amount of shade, but I think our favorite part was the sandy beach that awaited us down below!

Stella, oh, and Alex's butt ; )

I was also already so impressed by the size of pinecones that California has! It's no wonder why it's such a big state- they need enough room to fit all of the GIANT pinecones! 

Once we left our site, google maps took us on this super remote stretch of roads to go to Sequoia National Park (which we were basically already in, but we had to leave the park and then re-enter it to get to the main entrance)- Sherman Pass. It was a pretty terrifying road at some points and did not offer much cell service, however the views that it took us through were fantastic! I think the speedlimit for the entire pass was maybe 30 mph and I'm pretty sure it took us twice as long to go this was as it would've going back out on the highway, however I would recommend it if you're looking to make your way to Sequoia/Kings Canyon area! 

I think the drive between the Limestone Campground and Sequoia Nat'l Park took us 3-4 hours (much longer than we thought), so I would recommend trying to get one of the sites that is located between Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park if you want to see more of the scenery. Regardless, this campground and area is stunning and I highly recommend visiting!

What's one of your favorite trips you've taken recently?

Any favorite campgrounds or National Parks?

Any recommendations on where we should travel to next?!

Mountain Monday!

Happy Mountain Monday (is this a thing, yes I believe it is)! Once I heard about #mountainmonday, I knew I had to incorporate this into my corner of the internet because I LOVE MOUNTAINS and beautiful things that you are only able to see from hiking!

This week to kick off this new series, I am sharing with you one of my first experiences with backpacking (no, I didn't just grow up backpacking through the mountains believe it or not) through the Zirkel Circle in NW Colorado. This is a FANTASTICALLY BEAUTIFUL hike and the views are stunning, but it is not easy! I believe the hike is around 11.5 miles and includes some serious vertical (we did the circle in the clockwise direction- the only way I'd recommend it), but also some pretty fun downhill!

We did this trip from a Friday-Saturday, so headed out on the trail later on Friday evening. I believe we made it maybe 3 or 4 miles in before we decided to pitch up camp for the evening and we would finish out the circle on Saturday. It's always so difficult to find a flat spot for your tent when backpacking and we haven't had TOO much luck thus far (unless it's been a pretty utilized trail system for backpacking). 

Since this was one of our first backpacking adventures, we had our food all over our backpacks (not organized & not recommended) and carried WAY too much in general. We've since switched over to almost all Mountain House freeze-dried meals (they're actually really good) and keep our food in one dry-bag to make it easy to pack up the next morning (and hang our food at night). 

We also have previously had a lot of trouble hanging our food, but gotten better at it with having just one large (22+ gallon dry bag) and a very long rope. We used to split our food into multiple food bags and have rope-like material (also not recommended). 

I was so concerned that we were going to get eaten by a Mountain Lion that I think I slept for maybe 3 hours that night (I've gotten way better at just believing that no animal will "get us") and we headed out to finish the circle bright and early. The entire trail brings your around the first lake that you come to and up and over a pretty high ridgeline (with spectacular views). The trails between the two lakes have some amazing campsites if you're able to get to that point before turning in for the evening. 

Some things we always bring backpacking with us:

• Rope
• Large dry-bag
• headlamps (1 per person)
• book of some sort
• JetBoil
• Map of trails
• Compass
• Bear Spray
• Water & lots of it
• Snacks!
  • My favorite snacks are: Honey Stinger Gels, Almonds, Starbursts, Dried Pineapple, Larabars, Luna Bars, Pop Tarts

Ever gone backpacking before? Have any good secrets or suggestions? What's some things that you always bring backpacking with you?

Smith Lake

On Sunday, we hiked to Smith Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness and it was so beautiful! This was a very gentle hike (less than a mile out), but very remote- we were the only ones out there. I think next time we definitely need to do a picnic at the lake or carry out a blow-up paddle board. We came across two small bogs and it had minimal elevation gain. I would HIGHLY suggest doing this hike with either small children or those older relatives. 

The Half Marathon I'm doing in 3 WEEKS & Unplugging

Alright, so I FINALLY pulled the plug on a half marathon that I'm racing during this training cycle and it's in 3 WEEKS! I'm so excited (especially after seeing the awesome race swag (you have to check out their facebook page) that they've done in past years and because it's in another state that I can check off) and will be running the Jackson Hole Half Marathon during Labor Day weekend! 

The race looks like it gains little elevation overall and honestly looks like an amazingly organized event. I'm so excited to go there with Alex and Stella and since it's early Saturday morning, we'll have the rest of the weekend to explore Yellowstone some more (we went there about 2 years ago) and just relax. It always makes it easier when a race is at the beginning of a vacation/ weekend away. 

We are camping for the weekend (one night in Grand Tetons Nat'l Park & the other two nights in Yellowstone) and the course is run mainly on their bike paths (which are seriously so amazing). I CAN'T WAIT! I'd like to try to get in under 1:55 (and utilize some miles as my marathon pace). I'm still thinking about my race strategy, but thinking my first 3 miles will be a warm-up (around 9:00 pace), then 7 miles at marathon goal pace (8:46ish), and if I'm feeling good bump it up to around 8:30ish pace for the last 3 miles (finishing under 1:55)! That's obviously a 'goal race time/paces', so I'm open to whatever and would just really like to enjoy the race. 

This morning, I had my Track Tuesday workout (5 x 1 km repeats @ 7:12 min/mi with 400m repeats) and did it on the treadmill since I really didn't feel like going to the Track again and having it being used. I think next week the track schedule should change (getting ready for school to start) and I'll be able to use it again!

8 miles total (1.65 mi warm-up & 2 mile cool-down). I felt pretty strong and while the last 1 k repeat was hard, I could definitely still do another one or two before really struggling (which I'm taking as a good sign).

I'm really focusing on fueling properly after my runs, so I had some of the Superhero Muffins I made from Run Fast Eat Slow cookbook and their Can't Beet Me Smoothie. YUM! Also, definitely needed some Iced Coffee to wash it down. I'm also a bit disappointed because our temperatures are already starting to feel cooler and Fall-ish which means I will need to switch back to hot coffee here shortly. 

I slept better last night (normally I don't sleep as well before my speedworkouts) and I really think it was because I didn't overthink my workout that I had on the schedule the next morning! I actually totally forgot what my paces were supposed to be when I was getting ready to leave the house this morning and had to go back and double check it!

I'm going to try to NOT overthink my workouts for the rest of this training cycle because really, what's the point? We overthink things, stress about them, lose sleep, adjust our eating habits (maybe), and all for what? We typically don't gain much from overstressing situations, expect negative habits. Having confidence in yourself and these situations can be difficult to gain (especially in the beginning of a new endeavor), but it helps you tackle situations SO much easier (even IF they don't go exactly as planned). While it's definitely still a work-in-progress for me to have confidence going into each training run or difficult personal/work situation, I notice a large difference when I am able to really 'own' it and believe in myself. 

I saw this quote on my Facebook Timehop the other day and was really moved by it again. Maybe if we are able to 'unplug' ourselves from our destructive habits and thoughts, we'll be able to see the other side of each situation and believe in ourselves? Before tearing yourself apart, unplug. think. reset. and plug yourself back in. 

Backpacking on the CDT

Last weekend we went backpacking on the Continental Divide Trail to the 6 Fishing Lakes in Routt National Forest and it was amazing! We had previously done this hike (but camped on a different lake this time) and last year, it was raining/lightning almost the entire time. We got lucky and had spectacular weather the entire time! 

We decided to begin our hike earlier than we normally do backpacking (we typically don't start our hike until 2 or 3pm, but went out at around noon) and this gave us so much time in the afternoon to just relax and read and fish. We set-up our camp 3.5 miles into the trail at the 3rd lake we came to (Lake Elmo) and were the only ones there the entire time. The trail passes by our campsite a bit, but it was nice to have some passersby once and a while and still feel like we had the entire place to ourselves. 

At first, I was a little skeptical towards backpacking as being out in the woods by yourself and far enough away from anything & everything is a bit scary, but this trip was SO wonderful it really began to change my outlook towards backpacking. I also think this is a great trail for beginning backpackers (I've gone on maybe 10 backpacking trips & still consider myself a beginner) because it's not so remote that you feel helpless if something were to go wrong, but it's also a good distance from anything. 

We arrived to our campsite by 2 and cooked up some lunch (we typically just pack along some snacks and a few mountain houses to make clean up easy and keep our packs light) then set up our tent and relaxed! I think I probably read about 100 pages in my book on the trip and we saw maybe 30 fish jump (but sadly caught nothing...I'm beginning to think that there's some consensus between all the fish to not latch onto just our pole because others around us ALWAYS catch something). We also saw a giant moose pass about 200 meters by our campsite- it was so out of the blue that I didn't even have my camera on me to take a picture!

Sunset views from our tent

The views were so wonderful and my photos definitely do NOT do it justice! We got up the next morning around 7:30 and I headed out for my solo trail run shortly afterwards. I ended up getting stung by a bee on the top of my ankle about a mile in, but luckily I had my compression socks and that really kept the swelling down and I managed to get in 4.5 miles and reach the final 6th fishing lake, Long Lake (the biggest one) at an altitude around 9,200 feet (we camped at an altitude of just over 10,000 feet). 

The wildflowers were in bloom throughout our entire hike and the trails were really well maintained (it's a popular mountain biking trail as well). I'm so glad I was able to fit in some trail running because that's been on my wishlist to do for a while. This trial is also part of both a 10k that our local running series puts on (I'm thinking about signing up) and their annual 50/100 mile trail run! It's pretty cool to say that my training run was along these routes, as well as on the CDT. 

Overall, this was a perfect backpacking weekend. We got back to our car around noon on Sunday and that gave us the afternoon to do (what seemed like) a million loads of laundry and meal prep for the week ahead. HIGHLY recommend doing this as a backpacking trip if you're ever in Northwest Colorado- you can tie it into a loop hike for higher mileage (10 mile or 20+ mile round trip) if you want to. Happy hiking and trail running!