Kevin and I have been planning a backpacking trip of a lifetime. The first two weeks in July we are going to Wyoming to climb Gannet Peak, the highest point in WY. We plan on taking 2 weeks off, but the actual hiking trip should only take about 7 days. I CAN"T WAIT!
In preparation for the trip, we have been hiking every weekend around the area- mostly within an 1-1.5 drive away from home. I'm really thankful we took the time to do this. First of all, Kevin and I got to spend some quality time outside together. Secondly, we experienced a lot of interesting parks and sights. I'm really looking forward to going back to these parks to see the impact of the change of seasons. We will have more trail options since we won't be competing with the skiers and I'm looking forward to how the parks change with the seasons.
Here's a list of where we hiked (in order favorite to least favorite):
Nerstrand Big Woods State Park: Nerstrand SP is located south of Northfield. This was a very interesting park with one of the last extensive stands of the "Big Woods." Very cool frozen waterfall in the winter. Not heavily visited.
Wild River State Park: Beautiful scenery along the St. Croix River Valley.
Lebanon Hills Regional Park: This very near my house so we hiked a lot here this winter. It's a great park to hike in the winter because there are 2 hours worth of hiking only trail and we didn't have to worry about getting in the way of the skiers.
Lake Maria State Park: A variety of scenery and trail selections.
Lake Elmo Regional Park: Very pretty park with wide open spaces. We also saw an interesting site - a partially hibernating raccoon - in the middle of our trail.
William O'Brien State Park: This would be a better park to hike in the summer and fall. We were here in the winter and there weren't a lot of hiking only trails.
Fort Snelling State Park: Very cool little loop around Pike Island
Afton State Park: Pretty park but I was expecting more climbs and views of the region.
Carver Park Preserve (Three Rivers Regional Park): This was a pretty park but not a lot of trails in the winter.
Frontenac State Park: This would be a better park to hike in the summer and fall. We were here in the winter and there weren't a lot of hiking only trails.
Willow River State Park (WI): Very pretty park but heavily used.
Happy hiking!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
I'm OK, You're OK
I had to work yesterday and I was totally crabby about that. However, once I left the Capitol and headed over to my local favorite mountain bike trail everything was right again. Then, I heard this song on my way home and it completely described what I've been thinking/feeling lately.
It has been ages since I wrote anything on this blog. It's mostly because work has been all consuming and I've had to let lot fall to the wayside. However, my work is a priority, it's important and it's worth it.
Here's what else I've been up to:
- Training! I am planning on doing a number of endurance mountain bike events this summer and I've been sticking to my plan. Plus, I feel much better when I exercise and it helps me relieve a lot of stress! (I'll post my race schedule very soon.)
- Planning for a trip of a lifetime to WY. Kevin and I are going to climb Gannet Peak this summer. To prepare, we have been hiking every weekend since October. I've been to a lot of cool hiking trails over the winter and I'm looking forward to experiencing them now that winter is over.
- Cooking and meal planning. I've been trying to cut back on spending, saving more and as result I've been doing a lot of cooking at home. It's been fun.
- Sleeping. I wake up at 4:15 am most mornings to train so I pretty much plan on trying to be in bed by 8:30 or 9:00. Plus, I nap on the weekends!
- Facebook is my new addiction. I've also just discovered Twitter.
Stay tuned for more as I plan on being better about sticking to this!
It has been ages since I wrote anything on this blog. It's mostly because work has been all consuming and I've had to let lot fall to the wayside. However, my work is a priority, it's important and it's worth it.
Here's what else I've been up to:
- Training! I am planning on doing a number of endurance mountain bike events this summer and I've been sticking to my plan. Plus, I feel much better when I exercise and it helps me relieve a lot of stress! (I'll post my race schedule very soon.)
- Planning for a trip of a lifetime to WY. Kevin and I are going to climb Gannet Peak this summer. To prepare, we have been hiking every weekend since October. I've been to a lot of cool hiking trails over the winter and I'm looking forward to experiencing them now that winter is over.
- Cooking and meal planning. I've been trying to cut back on spending, saving more and as result I've been doing a lot of cooking at home. It's been fun.
- Sleeping. I wake up at 4:15 am most mornings to train so I pretty much plan on trying to be in bed by 8:30 or 9:00. Plus, I nap on the weekends!
- Facebook is my new addiction. I've also just discovered Twitter.
Stay tuned for more as I plan on being better about sticking to this!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Every day I wake up I choose love, I chose light,....
These are the words of the song I listen to often by the Submarines and it often makes me think of the New Year.
It's been a really long time since I last posted. It's been so long that I'm not even sure if anyone will read this! Not a lot has happened other than a lot of illness. I've been sick three times since the middle of November. I had the flu and missed work and then a nasty chest cold and finally a horrible stomach flu over the holidays. After all this, I decided to take a lot of time off to rest and get healthy.
Christmas came and went and I was so sick so I just slept a lot. New Years came and went and I slept a lot but I also had fun. Kevin and I went up to his family cabin in MI and snowshoed, skied and hiked. We saw a cool ice cave and ice formations and I will post pictures soon.
A lot folk on the blogs I read have either posted New Year's resolutions or looked back on 2008. I don't usually have a New Year's resolution but decided that it's probably a good idea to reflect on things so here you go:
- 2008 and 2007 were ok but 2006 and 2000 are the banner years in which I measure all things to.
- I'm a really lucky woman. I have great friends, family, a loving partner and lots of fun things with which to keep me occupied.
- I'm happy I learned how to snowboard this year.
- I want to have a variety of friendships.
- I want to read more.
- I want to mountain bike the entire Colorado Trail.
- I spent more time cooking this last year and have a new goal to only go out to eat when it's really important/exciting and not just because I don't feel like making dinner.
- I hope I do better in reaching my goals on endurance mountain bike events.
- I'm really excited but nervous about my backpacking trip to Gannet Peak, WY.
- I want to/need to learn more/experience more about meditation.
- I'm really afraid of losing my twin sister.
- I really want two tattoos ( designs already picked out) but am to0 chicken to do it,
- Turning 40 wasn't as bad as I thought and realized that a lot of people are surprised to learn that I'm 40.
-- My profession/career has very little to do with my overall happiness. Yes, it's important but it's not how I measure my success but it allows me to do the things I love and for that I'm very thankful.
- Having the nickname "the General" isn't all that bad. At least I can make a decision.
- Most importantly, I'm comfortable in my own skin.
Happy 2009!
It's been a really long time since I last posted. It's been so long that I'm not even sure if anyone will read this! Not a lot has happened other than a lot of illness. I've been sick three times since the middle of November. I had the flu and missed work and then a nasty chest cold and finally a horrible stomach flu over the holidays. After all this, I decided to take a lot of time off to rest and get healthy.
Christmas came and went and I was so sick so I just slept a lot. New Years came and went and I slept a lot but I also had fun. Kevin and I went up to his family cabin in MI and snowshoed, skied and hiked. We saw a cool ice cave and ice formations and I will post pictures soon.
A lot folk on the blogs I read have either posted New Year's resolutions or looked back on 2008. I don't usually have a New Year's resolution but decided that it's probably a good idea to reflect on things so here you go:
- 2008 and 2007 were ok but 2006 and 2000 are the banner years in which I measure all things to.
- I'm a really lucky woman. I have great friends, family, a loving partner and lots of fun things with which to keep me occupied.
- I'm happy I learned how to snowboard this year.
- I want to have a variety of friendships.
- I want to read more.
- I want to mountain bike the entire Colorado Trail.
- I spent more time cooking this last year and have a new goal to only go out to eat when it's really important/exciting and not just because I don't feel like making dinner.
- I hope I do better in reaching my goals on endurance mountain bike events.
- I'm really excited but nervous about my backpacking trip to Gannet Peak, WY.
- I want to/need to learn more/experience more about meditation.
- I'm really afraid of losing my twin sister.
- I really want two tattoos ( designs already picked out) but am to0 chicken to do it,
- Turning 40 wasn't as bad as I thought and realized that a lot of people are surprised to learn that I'm 40.
-- My profession/career has very little to do with my overall happiness. Yes, it's important but it's not how I measure my success but it allows me to do the things I love and for that I'm very thankful.
- Having the nickname "the General" isn't all that bad. At least I can make a decision.
- Most importantly, I'm comfortable in my own skin.
Happy 2009!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The right to vote
I was walking my sister's dogs (I'm dog/kid sitting while they are in Hawaii) this morning and thought about what this day meant to me.
The right to vote is something that a lot of us take for granted - especially people from my generation who have always had this opportunity. I thought about the fact that there are people all around the world today who don't have a right to vote and I thought about the 110 year old woman who remembers the first time she voted in 1920 and has voted for 9 decades.
Today is a big day and regardless of who you want to win, please go vote. It's a right we should never take for granted.
Since I've been a voter, I've never felt more proud and more hopeful. Most importantly, I have a deep sense of the profound influence that I, one person, might have on the outcome of an election.
I thought about writing about why I'm voting for Barack Obama but so many people do it much better so I'll leave it up to them. Check out this post by an average citizen and this post by Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly.
The right to vote is something that a lot of us take for granted - especially people from my generation who have always had this opportunity. I thought about the fact that there are people all around the world today who don't have a right to vote and I thought about the 110 year old woman who remembers the first time she voted in 1920 and has voted for 9 decades.
Today is a big day and regardless of who you want to win, please go vote. It's a right we should never take for granted.
Since I've been a voter, I've never felt more proud and more hopeful. Most importantly, I have a deep sense of the profound influence that I, one person, might have on the outcome of an election.
I thought about writing about why I'm voting for Barack Obama but so many people do it much better so I'll leave it up to them. Check out this post by an average citizen and this post by Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Conquering Demons
I have a lot of demons to conquer but a particular one has been nagging me a lot lately.....especially since a few friends have been bugging me about it this summer.
That demon is Jan's Rock at Lebanon Hill's Regional Park. For some weird reason I always chickened out when we came up to this section and have only tried it once before. I always thought it was too steep and never had a good approach (lame excuses, I know). Well, riding Slickrock Trail in Moab completely changed my idea of what's too steep.
So, today when I was at Leb I told myself that I was going to do Jan's Rock. I got up to it, stared at it for a while and then road right down it. I even went back and did it again. I can't believe I let myself get freaked out by this for so long as it was like going down a slide.
On to the next demon - the teter totter.
That demon is Jan's Rock at Lebanon Hill's Regional Park. For some weird reason I always chickened out when we came up to this section and have only tried it once before. I always thought it was too steep and never had a good approach (lame excuses, I know). Well, riding Slickrock Trail in Moab completely changed my idea of what's too steep.
So, today when I was at Leb I told myself that I was going to do Jan's Rock. I got up to it, stared at it for a while and then road right down it. I even went back and did it again. I can't believe I let myself get freaked out by this for so long as it was like going down a slide.
On to the next demon - the teter totter.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The wild, wild west
A few weeks ago Kevin and I headed out on vacation. We planned our trip in three stages: biking in Fruita, CO; hiking and biking in Moab, UT; and hiking and biking in Salida, CO.
Here are the highlights from the trip:
- Mountain biking on some amazing trails with friends in Fruita.
- Having a bolt come out of my rear suspension and walking 5 miles out of the Slickrock trail.
- Kevin giving me an early birthday surprise by staying here and here. I thought we were camping the entire time.
- Climbing 2000 feet for 12 miles and 2 and 1/2 hours to riding parts of the Monarch Crest, Colorado Trails and Rainbow Trail.
- The amazing beauty of Arches National Park.- Climbing 2000 feet for 12 miles and 2 and 1/2 hours to riding parts of the Monarch Crest, Colorado Trails and Rainbow Trail.
- The La Sal Mountains.
- The beautiful golden aspens in Colorado.
- Peace, quiet and serenity.
- Needing to send my bike in for warranty because the rear triangle was coming apart.
It was great week and I came back home totally decompressed and not stressed out. I also realized how lucky I am to be able to go on all these adventures!
Enjoy the pictures!
Janet and Nicole on Mary's loop - Fruita, CO
Justin walking down to Horsethief Bench trail - Fruita, CO
Nicole - Fruita, CO
Chicken Head, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
The Dark Angel, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
Balanced Rock, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
Marching Elephants, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
Double O arches, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
Marching Elephants, Arches National Park - Moab, UT
Big Hands, SlickRock Trail - Moab, UT
Thursday, October 16, 2008
I've been a bad blogger
The last few weeks have been very busy at work and then I left on vacation. I'll post a write up and pictures in a few days on the trip to CO and UT with Kevin. We had a lot of fun and he had lots of surprises for my birthday!
In the meantime, here are two videos on why I'm hopeful for Barack Obama.
In the meantime, here are two videos on why I'm hopeful for Barack Obama.
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