March 19, 2020This past week has brought on stress like I never imagined. I seriously never thought that I’d be worrying about a pandemic, especially during a time when I’m about to bring my first child into this world. I remember SARS and Ebola and feeling that we’re safe here in the US. I didn’t think coronavirus would be any different. Even the times when my family was freaking out, I tried to downplay it because this is America. We…
What has been your best moment with WHOA? This is a question that was asked during my retreat this weekend. I’ve only known WHOA for a short 18 months, but the memories I’ve made are unimaginable. To pick just one moment as the “best” is tougher than you’d think. I had to sit on this one for a while… The easy answer would be one of my successful summits. Would it be when I summited Kili? When I stood on…
People often describe Kilimanjaro as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, a “dream come true”, or their “ultimate bucket list item.” In case you haven’t already noticed by my pictures, Kilimanjaro is an absolutely stunning place. It’s one of the seven summits, meaning it’s the tallest peak in Africa, and also the tallest free standing mountain in the world. Consisting of 5 different ecosystems and gorgeous views all around it’s no surprise that people travel across the globe to see…
Continuation from Destination: June Lake Day Two: Bishop and Happies Leaving June Lake in the morning was pretty rough. The cottage was super cozy and warm!!! We took our sweet time and eventually made our way down to Bishop. Our first stop was securing a campsite. We didn’t really know how crowded it would be so we wanted to make sure we got a campsite before heading out for the day. When putting “Pleasant Valley Campground” into GPS, it lead…
DAY 1: June Lake, CA What do you do when you just so happen to get a week off work, your fiance works remotely, autumn/climbing season is about to start and you live like 4 hours from Bishop- one of the best climbing spots in the world?!?! You plan a last minute climbing trip… DUH!!! After Joshua Tree completely kicked our butts and showed us that our V4 gyms skills are nothing compared to Mother Nature, we’ve been eagerly waiting…
Part 1: Permits I remember my unemployed self trying to plan out trips over a year ago. To my surprise practically every single campsite I attempted to reserve was fully booked throughout the entire summer. It turns out that people wait for reservations to open months in advance and as soon as the listings are open to the public, weekend sites are all reserved within minutes and completely sell out shortly after that. The other alternative is to backpack and…
Day 1: Hello, Yosemite! Day 2: Earn that CHEEEZEBurger Day 3: Let’s Race the Sun Part 2: Taft Point
I have come to know that it [death] is an important thing to keep in mind — not to complain or to make melancholy, but simply because only with the honest knowledge that one day I will die I can ever truly begin to live.” —R.A. Salvatore, The Halfling’s Gem These words have become a basis for how Corey and I try to approach life. If anyone really knows him, they’ll know that he has this somewhat irrational fear of…
A few weeks ago (or months at this point) I ventured to Zion for the first time ever! It was a quick trip seemingly no different than my other adventures, but this was one was truly something special! Zion has been a dream of mine since I was kid, and the way this trip came together and the way it panned out was more perfect than I could’ve ever hoped for. I made countless memories that I’ll definitely cherish for…
I didn’t realize that I never posted about our trip to the Mojave National Preserve in 2016! This was our first Thanksgiving away from home which was especially hard for me because it’s one of the few holidays that my family actually celebrates. I ended up working the holiday, but we decided to celebrate a little later with our own little spin… (PS it’s the first video I’ve ever put together!) It doesn’t need to be Thanksgiving Day to be…