Justin & I wrapped up a week’s worth of Leave No Trace work in northern Arizona/southern Utah (and are now in the mountains for back-to-back Winterfest events). The Arizona trip more »

Earlier this month, when we landed back in Denver from Baja, Mexico (sea level), we decided Denver’s 5,000 feet of elevation wasn’t enough gain for one day. So we picked more »

About a year ago, our nomadic/hiker friends, BJ and Clara (also known by their trail names Shadow and Country Mouse) starting putting down roots again after 7 years on the more »

I definitely have been silent on the blog lately. It was sort of intentional, as I just needed a small break from social media. But also, we’ve been quite consumed more »

Justin & I do not like to boast, but when it comes to backpacking, we eat miles for breakfast. So I think we were both a bit surprised when our more »

There are a 9 national parks in California (not to mention many more monuments, historic parks, etc) and the last 2 on our list to visit were Sequoia and Kings Canyon. more »

For my 40th birthday, we decided to celebrate in style by visiting one of the many obscure and remote National Parks in Alaska: Katmai National Park. If you’ve ever seen more »

Before I get into storytelling mode, here is the overall summary of our single backpacking trip we took in Denali National Park:  Unit 9 – East Branch Toklat River Total more »

I already boasted about day hiking in Denali National Park in my last blog post and we are definitely NP lovers, but if you are looking for some less crowded more »

Justin & I tried to balance our time while working Denali National Park in Alaska a little better than we did in Wyoming. The long daylight hours really made for no more »

Warning: Picture-heavy post ahead! When you think of the whole United States, most people don’t realize just how far north Alaska is. Go take a look at a geographically correct more »

We are *almost* to Alaska! Middle of nowhere Canada actually!! But, in an effort not to get too backlogged on posts, let’s just pretend we are still in Wyoming. Because more »

Road life. I’ve forgotten how chaotic it is! Actually, the truth is we’ve been going 150 mph even before we hit the road. As my brother-in-law said to us, “it’s more »

Currently living/working in: Nearly done with our 5-week spring teaching session at Fenton Ranch. The teaching schedule is so busy, but it goes so fast! Current mood: Pumped for our more »

Justin and I have thoroughly loved working at Fenton Ranch teaching kids K-5 about nature. We try our darnedest to impart everlasting knowledge, particularly Leave No Trace lessons on the more »

In addition to our bylines in Backpacker‘s Spring 2018 Gear Guide, there are also some full-page pictures of us tucked in the pages and I wanted to share our photo more »

New Mexico is a darn big state. Even though we’ve been living here on and off for 2 years (holy cow!), we’ve hardly explored half of it. Little by little, more »

Justin & I wear many different hats, and one large one is Gear Testers for Backpacker Magazine (and a prototype tester for a few brands).   We get a lot of more »

I have so much to say, yet nothing to say. But if I don’t get a post up soon, we’ll be in March and I’ll be kicking myself. Then I more »

Native Americans have inhabited New Mexico for more than 2,500 years and thankfully, the state has preserved so much of their living culture with a number of national monuments. But, more »