Anticipation 2020
Anticipation of 2019
I have a confession, I've been kind of obsessed with the Wind River Range. I've driven past this incredible uprising of rock twice and I've always imagined the adventures that it holds. Well, I'm going this year. I have a couple of buddies that have offered to join me on this trip. Now the fun begins. I'm weighing my options between traveling through Titcomb Basin or Cirque de Towers.
2018 was a surprise! An unexpected deal on a plane ticket to Denver, then decidedly selfish reasoning to make this trip happen.
Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, here we come!
My wife and I had backpacked the Teton Crest Trail in 2003 and now we return with our 12 yr old daughter. Neither one of us had visited Yellowstone, and the proximity to Yellowstone was too close to pass up!
Anticipation of 2017!
So planning for big trips hasn't really been a strength of mine, but with the new year and inspiration from friends, I think its time to start.
- We haven't been on the Buffalo River for a few years, although this is an outing depends on rain and flow of the river, noting the intention puts the family on the same page and ready to roll (if we don't have anything else planned).-Check
- Rocky Mountain National Park.
We are going to take our first backpack trip in Rocky Mtn National Park. The camp sites have been reserved and we've been training for the occasion. We will begin at the Sandbeach Lake trail head, hike two miles to hole-in-the-wall campsite, then continue to Sandbeach Lake for the second night, another 2 mile stretch of trail. The difficulty will be the elevation gains of about 1000 ft a day and the altitude, although we will be at 8000 ft elevation for 4 days prior to our outing.
I'd also like for Sophia to take a whitewater rafting adventure while in Colorado. We've scheduled a half day whitewater rafting outing with Rapid Transit Rafting, I'll follow up after the trip. -Upcoming
- Fall canoe outing.
Other ideas:
- Canoeing the Green River in Utah
-Zion National Park Backpack
-Glacier National Park
I guess I've starting something and I'll keep it going....
If any other families have outings planned or have suggestions, I'm always in interested in learning more, let me know!
Anticipation of 2019
I have a confession, I've been kind of obsessed with the Wind River Range. I've driven past this incredible uprising of rock twice and I've always imagined the adventures that it holds. Well, I'm going this year. I have a couple of buddies that have offered to join me on this trip. Now the fun begins. I'm weighing my options between traveling through Titcomb Basin or Cirque de Towers.
2018 was a surprise! An unexpected deal on a plane ticket to Denver, then decidedly selfish reasoning to make this trip happen.
Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, here we come!
My wife and I had backpacked the Teton Crest Trail in 2003 and now we return with our 12 yr old daughter. Neither one of us had visited Yellowstone, and the proximity to Yellowstone was too close to pass up!
Anticipation of 2017!
So planning for big trips hasn't really been a strength of mine, but with the new year and inspiration from friends, I think its time to start.
- We haven't been on the Buffalo River for a few years, although this is an outing depends on rain and flow of the river, noting the intention puts the family on the same page and ready to roll (if we don't have anything else planned).-Check
- Rocky Mountain National Park.
We are going to take our first backpack trip in Rocky Mtn National Park. The camp sites have been reserved and we've been training for the occasion. We will begin at the Sandbeach Lake trail head, hike two miles to hole-in-the-wall campsite, then continue to Sandbeach Lake for the second night, another 2 mile stretch of trail. The difficulty will be the elevation gains of about 1000 ft a day and the altitude, although we will be at 8000 ft elevation for 4 days prior to our outing.
I'd also like for Sophia to take a whitewater rafting adventure while in Colorado. We've scheduled a half day whitewater rafting outing with Rapid Transit Rafting, I'll follow up after the trip. -Upcoming
- Fall canoe outing.
Other ideas:
- Canoeing the Green River in Utah
-Zion National Park Backpack
-Glacier National Park
I guess I've starting something and I'll keep it going....
If any other families have outings planned or have suggestions, I'm always in interested in learning more, let me know!
Finding time to get out and go isn’t easy. There’s always a reason to stay home, the yard needs to be mowed, I’m tired after a hard week at work, I don’t have time to get all of my gear together. I recently wrestled with everyone of these thoughts but it comes down to making each outing a priority, you only get one spring and one autumn per year.
I’ve done a few things to ensure I don’t forget something crucial when heading to the river for an overnight adventure. The LIST, after making a list of what I need for every outing, my wife decided to save a few trees by typing and laminating said list for future use. We have a list for CANOE DAY outings, a list for CANOE CAMPING and a list for CAR CAMPING. These handy dandy lists have check boxes and an expo marker allows me to mark each item as it’s packed so I don’t have to dig back through the perfectly packed dry bag for piece of mind. I’ve also created a system for storing my outdoor gear in our garage, at the moment “system” doesn’t quite describe it but I still know where everything is, I think. I have a variety of plastic bins with a lid, on the outside I’ve put masking tape on them and listed the items that belong in each bin. I’ve tried to categorize them so I don’t have to dig through canoe items or car camping items when I’m going backpacking and vise versa. Generally, I have Sleeping items (sleeping bags, sleeping pads), Tent items (tent, tent stake, rain fly), Cooking items (stove, fuel, pump, utensils, pots, matches, plates, cups), Canoe items (dry bags, bungee chords, straps for canoe, mesh bag of canoe goodies for the kiddo, life jackets and paddles sit nearby), Backpacking gear and “other items” fill the last bin (water purification, first aid kit, gaiters). My system has made packing and preparing for any trip much easier, I still remember spending way too much time with my head in the bottom of my closet looking for my outdoor stuff, now I sip on a beer, plug in some tunes and smile with anticipation.