Hiker Midnight is a popular term on long-distance hiking trails such as the Appalachian Trail. The general idea is that hikers are tired from the day and want to have a restful night before breaking camp in the morning. The ask is that other hikers tone down the noise and commotion at 9 PM, even … Continue reading Leave No Trace: Be Considerate of Other Visitors
Everyone has a place in the outdoors and nature welcomes all of us. Nature meets us where we currently are in our lives and the trail gives us what we need, whatever it is that we are looking for. I believe that hiking is 90% mental and 10% physical. The amount of kilometers covered on … Continue reading Mentally Preparing for a Longer Distance Hike
I have an older handheld Garmin navigation unit that is about twelve years old. A number of trails in the Whiteshell and Riding Mountain National Park are loaded on it and I have carried it with me in the past. The unit itself works well for navigation even though the mapping technology is out of … Continue reading Why I Bought a Garmin inReach Satellite Communicator
I have the word "real" in quotations because aside from sleeping in my backyard a few weekends ago, Friday night was the first overnight hike of the season. The overnight low hovered around 5°C. My daughter and I have camped in November but this past weekend has been our earliest. I was just itching to … Continue reading Our First “Real” Overnight of the Season
Backcountry Women hosted their first Gear Swap and Sale last week and while I was not ready to part with my gear, which I have a lot of, I showcased three different water filters during a demonstration. I enjoy reading about and testing different gear options. I like being able to dive in deep into … Continue reading Filtering Water Out on the Trail
My husband began to make breakfast on Sunday while I looked out my living room window with my mind in a fog. I felt overwhelmed and anxious when I woke up. I brought my journal and coloured pens to the dining room table and wrote while I sipped coffee. Journaling eased the anxious thoughts. My … Continue reading Savoury Breakfast Cookies for the Trail
I finished setting up camp at 9 o'clock at a fine little spot not far from Flamingo Crossing, also known as my backyard. The overnight low on Saturday, March 23 was predicted to feel like -17°C. The ground was frozen and snow remained around my tent, making it difficult to stake the tent down. In … Continue reading Early Spring Camping
A goal of mine for 2019 is to extend my daily use of reusable food containers into my trail life in order to cut down on the amount of disposable plastic that I take hiking and camping. It is quite sickening to see what our landfills and oceans look like. It also never fails that … Continue reading Disposable Plastic on the Trail – Stasher Bags Review
I can still remember the plain white bags that contained the food that I ate on survival weekends as a cadet. The only knowledge of what was inside was stamped on the individual bags, using an old school typewriter-like font. All the food looked the same and I'm pretty sure it tasted the same too. … Continue reading Fueling Up on Prepackaged Hiking Meals
2019 is kicking off with a focus on health, wellness, and building my physical strength. To keep myself physically active through the remainder of the winter, I am signed up for two fitness classes outside of the 1-2 times a week that I go to the gym and work on incline training. In January and … Continue reading 2019 Hiking and Wellness Goals
Wild Woman Wisdom 