Wilderness First Aid

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Wilderness First Aid

A question I get a lot is, should I take a CPR or Wilderness First Aid course to do big adventures or should I just carry certain first aid items?

The way I see it is anything can happen. My question for you is how prepared do you want to be in order to handle it? All it takes is a split second for someone to twist something and fall. Or to hear a crack above you only to see a huge branch coming down to flatten you (which I have seen before). When you are in backcountry or at least an hour from definitive care, you are the first responder. Anyone who is around at the time of the accident with the most medical knowledge could be the difference between someone never adventuring again or making a speedy full recovery. I don’t mean to scare you but this is the reality. If you are the one who is injured it would absolutely be a huge help for you to be able to walk others through what to do to save your life or limbs.

Let’s change the scenario a bit. The aftermath of a natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flooding, etc. are other forms of a “wilderness” or when an ambulance may not be able to get to you as fast due to the conditions or simply because they are overwhelmed with mass casualties. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what to do to properly take care of your friends, family, and neighbors until help arrives? I’ll let you in on another bit of insight. First responders are very relieved when they hear that there is someone already on the scene who is properly trained to keep the patient alive and stable. This buys them and your patient valuable time. It’s also helpful to have someone who is trained to communicate a thorough, accurate patient assessment and can give them a much better picture of what they are walking into as well as what they need to bring with them to provide farther care for the patient in a timely manner. So why can’t that person be you?

I have taken CPR, Wilderness First Aid, and Wilderness First Responder courses and I absolutely recommend taking as many of these courses as you are able. But at the very least Wilderness First Aid is a great one to have under your belt for the average outdoor enthusiast. So how does one accomplish that? My personal recommendation is to take a course with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). NOLS has one of the best reputations worldwide of great quality education and the biggest variety of courses to choose from in terms of locations and times. I’ve provided a link below to find a course that works for you! I’d also recommend taking the course somewhere awesome so you can get some great exploring in before or after your course! That bit of advice is just for funsies!

What’s the difference between courses? CPR is included with most NOLS wilderness medicine courses but the course description will tell you. Wilderness First Aid is a 2 day course with both classroom learning and field scenario training. The classes usually run from about 9am to 5pm. Be sure to note that the class times can vary. The requirement for the certification is 16 hours of training. The course tuition typically ranges from $300 to $400.

Wilderness First Responder courses are about 2 weeks long or 80 hours of training time. Course tuition can range from $800 to over $1,600 depending on where you take the course. WFR courses go much more in depth on musculoskeletal injuries, environmental injuries, preexisting conditions, mental health, administering medications, common wilderness medical problems, evacuation plans, leadership and decision making, medical legal considerations, and more. The scenarios are more intense and include night scenarios. There’s more strategy on how to treat injuries, build splints, tourniquets, etc. with the tools you already carry in your backpack. You learn to work with and lead a Search and Rescue team for a single patient and mass casualty situations. If you can’t hear it in my description, I had an absolute blast in my WFR course. The information is invaluable and I loved having the privilege of meeting so many great outdoor professionals and athletes in the class that I would be honored to work with in the field.

What do I have in my First Aid Kit you ask? The most common things of course such as bandaids, blister care, Neosporin, Advil, and Tylenol. Beyond that I have several sealed baggies of latex free gloves that are exactly my size. This is very important and the first step you take when you realize you have a situation on your hands. I also carry plenty of gauze, scissors, tweezers, SAM splint, tape stitch wound closures, medical tape, dramamine, super glue, mylar blanket, small vials of lavender, ginger, and peppermint, a lighter, aloe vera, a thermometer and disposable covers, self adhesive wrap, athletic wrap, velcro ACE wrap (we go through a lot of wraps), cough drops, safety pins, antiseptic wipes, an irrigation syringe, butterfly closures, hand sanitizer, tampons, q-tips, and a mini Wilderness Medicine field guide.

Everything should be packaged away neatly, organized, sanitary, and waterproofed. You should know exactly what is in your medical kit and how to use it before you need it in the backcountry. It’s not a great idea to buy a standard first aid kit, throw it in your backpack, and never think about it until you have an emergency. Get familiar with your supplies. You can also tailor it to your specific adventure so you’re not trying to carry an entire hospital every time you hike. The items I listed above are my personal choices and things I am willing to accept the consequences of added weight. You have to make your own decisions on this and like I said, tailor your bag to your needs. Perhaps you need to carry extra insulin and a bag of gummy worms in your kit. Maybe you need disposable contacts if you normally wear glasses and happen to break them on your trip. I can go through tons of scenarios but you get the point. Think about yourself, your companions, and your children perhaps. The more you adventure and unfortunately have an incident or 2, your kit will evolve. That’s expected. What’s most important is that you feel confident dealing with the task at hand.

Hopefully this encouraged you to pursue Wilderness First Aid education! Have other questions? Ask them! Have input or tips on how to build ones first aid kit? Let us know in the comments! Enhance the community with life saving info helping us all be better equipped with the tools we need to enjoy this beautiful world with peace of mind. Safe travels everyone!

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Training for the Trek

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Training for the Trek

How do you know when you’re ready for your dream treks?? Truth be told, you’ll never really know exactly until you do it. However, there’s a lot you can do to be as prepared as possible.

First, what are you training for? Are you backpacking, climbing, biking, kayaking, doing big day hikes, or pushing into higher elevation? Are you from a state or country that sits at a lower altitude than your upcoming adventure? Depending on your adventure, your training is going to vary. You can always go for the general “get in shape” routine and just do the workouts you know make you feel stronger and build your endurance but that is never going to be as effective as getting specific about what kind of endurance you are going to need on your trip.

I want to put out the disclaimer that I am not a personal trainer or fitness professional. I am a backpacking instructor, climbing instructor, multisport adventure guide, kayaker, trail runner, and all around outdoor enthusiast. I’ve also been a 4 sport athlete consisting of gymnastics, softball, basketball, and volleyball from elementary school through college and captained most of those teams. These are the training tools I have picked up along the way as well as feedback I have received from the clients I have guided on treks through state and national parks all across the United States.

If you’re here reading this you must be someone who is taking your training seriously which is the first huge green flag on your part. Search and Rescue teams often recover hikers and climbers who took on way more than they were ready for and found themselves incredibly humbled by the mountains having perhaps gotten lost, obtained injuries or worse. Depending on what adventure you have coming up and your current physical state is going to determine how soon you need to start training. Of course the earlier the better!

One training tip I can pretty much guarantee will benefit almost every adventure is to start running! That’s something you can start today! Almost every one of my clients who has a regular running regimen typically does very well with endurance for the long hall including big uphill treks and changes in altitude. Respiratory endurance and cardio vascular endurance are crucial for the mountains. My favorite tool for this is the Nike Run Club app. This app provides guided runs with a Nike coach right there in your headphones. You can choose runs anywhere from 5 mins, to 5, 10, 30K runs, and even marathon training! You can track your progress right there in the app and have a little healthy competition with friends you link with for some great accountability. These coaches really helped me understand how to build my respiratory endurance SLOWLY. What I had a bad habit of was running full speed too soon, for too long, buring myself out, and discouraging myself from going back for more. Taking inventory of my body with these coaches and jamming out to my own music while they cheer me on, counting me down to the finish line changed my entire perspective on being a runner. Another thing that shocked me is that I had so much fun! I couldn’t wait to get back to the start line which even for me was bizarre! I absolutely suggest giving it a shot! Respiratory endurance is not the only thing you are gaining as a runner. You’re also building the muscles and ligaments in your legs, increasing ankle stability, and another detail many don’t think about is learning to manage your knees!

Running is obviously a lot on your knees which if not managed well can do quite a bit of damage. I myself had awful knee issues for most of my athletic career. I even wore a knee brace for nearly every game and practice. Today I very rarely have any problems with my knees and I take on bigger adventures today than I ever have in my life. For me the biggest change was specifically targeting the muscles around my knees in surprisingly simple strength training exercises. It was like night and day! I can’t guarantee that this will solve all of your knee problems but its absolutely worth a try! It’s too easy and too accessible not to. There are an infinite amount of videos on the internet explaining how to “bulletproof your knees”. You can do all of them at home and you can work at it starting with very low impact to your knees if you are beginning your journey with some injuries. If you have a physical therapist or personal trainer they should be more than happy to provide you with loads of great training tips. Knee injuries are one of the top injuries I treat on tours. If you can take care of your knees before your adventure you’re way ahead of most.

HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training exercises are always a great avenue as well! That will look a bit more like your CrossFit or Spartan Race friend’s work out. Yes, the crazy friend! HIIT workouts will have your clothes quite literally dripping with sweat but they will get your body in gear in a short amount of time. Once again there are plenty of videos and available material out there to find what works for you. I find that HIIT workouts are best with friends. It’s super easy to tap out early when you’re by yourself but if you have a few buddies who will push through every rep with you, that camaraderie can go a long way. Misery loves company right?? Just kidding. But conditioning with a team and collapsing on the floor together creates a different kind of hilarious and empowering bond that keeps all of you working towards your goals even though your whole face now has a heartbeat. You’ll thank yourself when you get to those mountains and feel great as you climb hundreds or thousands of feet of elevation.

Speaking of the mountains!! Everything I’ve mentioned so far is generally going to get you in a good place to take on your adventure. However, we can get more specific. One thing I thoroughly believe is that you have to train for the mountains in the mountains. You can do everything we just discussed but what your body is not acclimating to is all day treks where your muscles are at top performance for 8-12 hours in a day. You’re not thinking about the impact your legs are going to take when you are traveling down hill on rocky scrambles for 5-6 miles. Those are unique movements that you can only adapt to by doing it. So… how do you train for your trip without doing the trip? Just get on a trail! Hike a lot! Look for different types of hikes around you. If you are training for a backpacking trip put that backpack on! Load it up nice and heavy and do some technical day hikes. Go one step farther and try to challenge yourself to a decent time to be done with your hike. Get that heart rate pumping. Also observe your bag. Is your bag crooked feeling? Could you pack it a bit better for weight distribution? Are you noticing hot spots in your straps? Do you have it adjusted correctly? Are there items you realize you want conveniently in your hip belts instead of somewhere deep in the abyss of the main compartment? Where’s your headlamp now that dusk is coming fast? How much more water are you drinking while carrying this extra weight? How much slower are you traveling? Are there items you realize aren’t worth the weight in your bag? Every time you get home from a training hike give yourself the space to look at your bag and edit what could be more efficient. Maybe your Nalgene bottle was supper annoying to keep reaching for and you need to purchase a hydration bladder before your trip. And now that you have a bladder can you still fit everything you wanted to in your main compartment with an additional 2-3 liters of water? These are just some of the questions you can be asking yourself as you train in the months before your trip.

You also want to take inventory of your body. You should not be hiking for hours in pain and have done nothing to remedy the pain source. I watch my clients do this all the time. When I catch it, we address it. It’s best to catch potential injuries early and not just let them fester and become something unnecessary. How are your shoes serving you? Do you need arch supports? Ankle support? Tons of blister tape? Are your toes jamming in the front of your shoe going downhill? Do you need a bigger shoe? Are you getting the hang of your trekking poles? Really pay attention to things that hurt or are not working and rethink them or try to find solutions. Suffering in silence is not the way out here! You need your body to perform at its best for the long hall. The threats are much different than running out of steam on the treadmill in a gym. You don’t get to quit in backcountry until you reach camp, the water source, or the trailhead.

Caving, climbing, canyoneering, and kayaking are just examples of more upper body focused adventures. Finding a local rock gym in your area is, in my opinion the best way to strength train mid and upper body. Climbing is absolutely a full body work out but the focus on your upper body is going to give you a more dynamic workout verse upper body machines in a traditional gym. Indoor rock climbing allows you to build at your own pace. It has a great mix of calisthenics and yoga movements as you transition from one awkward position to the next increasing in grace the more you practice. You also test your mentality making clear, direct decisions through the stress of the height and physical fatigue. There are plenty of beautiful things to be gained in a climbing gym that can equipped you for adventures, including learning proper use of climbing gear, climbing etiquette, safety standards, communication lingo, advanced technique, etc. Another huge perk to getting into your local climbing gym is the outdoor community you’ll gain. Being able to connect and grow with the other outdoor fanatics in your town is bound to push you to the next level and give you great insight on the adventure scene!

I’m sure you all have clever tips and tricks that you have picked up along the way and hard lessons you’ve learned. I want to hear them! Pay forward the cautionary tails! What not to do can be just as important as the must-do list! Hopefully, you’ve taken something valuable from the lessons I’ve learned in my experience that brings you closer to your dream adventures! Be safe but get out there sooner than later!! I swear you’ve got this. You just have to start somewhere. When you need a pick me up on the rough days, ask me how to connect with some of the best humans who are just as in love with the outdoor rush! A community of positive energy, healthy habits, and high ambition might be exactly what you need to kill that last mile every time.

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Solo Adventuring

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Solo Adventuring

I think this has been one of the most self empowering experiences in my life thus far. I have no idea exactly how I was supposed to learn the things I did. But what I did was, I took a big ol series of baby steps and a lot of calculated risks with plenty of contingencies. I planned well. However, at the end of the day sometimes I just had to go for it! I could plan all day and think of every creatively horrible possible outcome and how I thought I would escape death or injury in each case, but at some point you have to learn in the field. I don’t think my journey was perfect by any means. And there are a million different ways to do your journey well for you. Perhaps you can still take a few things from my trek to get yourself out there much sooner than later.

If you’ve been doing the solo thing for a while now, tell me how you did it! Tell us how you got into your groove braving the wilderness with you, yourself, and you. As for myself… These are the steps I took to become a solo adventurer.

The call to the outdoors I believe existed for me at a young age but was not really pursued until well into adulthood. I always enjoyed hiking but it was an experience that I simply understood was only a group activity and way too dangerous and even stupid to do alone. However, after so long hiking with others, I realized that I wanted to hike for much longer on much more intense terrain than any of my hiking companions. That was very frustrating in the sense that the fulfillment I wanted in the outdoors was contingent on the limits of others. It felt like I could see the sky but my wings were clipped.

Solo adventuring for me was something I wanted to prove to myself. I saw all of these people, especially women on social media and television living my best life and I felt trapped. I felt trapped by money, by my surroundings in Ohio not having any of the majestic mountains I wanted to explore, by my lack of understanding of where I stood on the fitness scale of being able to summit these mountains vs. being completely gassed out only a couple miles in, my lack of knowledge on wildlife and poisonous plants, or my 100lbs frame being chopped up into pieces by the serial killer I met on the trail. Lack, lack, lack. I could go on and on. There were so many things floating around in my head of reasons I believed this life was for all of these lucky people I saw on my screen but perhaps never for me.

So how did I get from that mentality to the one I have today. Long story short (well.. sort of) the call to adventure grew louder and I tried harder to get my then romantic partner on board with my adventure aspirations. But he too had his limits. So I began toying around with the idea of solo adventuring which was immediately shut down and discouraged. Not just by him but also by my family. I knew these people had my best interest at heart. That doesn’t mean that they were right and I knew that. They say don’t ask for advice from people who don’t have what you want. I needed to hear from the ladies I saw killing it on these incredible thru hikes such as the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. I watched YouTube vlogs like it was my job, studying every detail. All the good, bad, and terrifying parts of their journey were super over analyzed. It was also very important for me to begin picturing the reality of this lifestyle for myself.

After so long in front of the screen it was eventually going to be time to test out my own courage on an actual trail despite the opinions around me. But… the catalyst for my launch into the next phase of my life was a breakup between myself and that significant other. Of course there’s a much deeper story there that we won’t get into. The important piece is that I no longer had his doubt in my thinking. Also.. I was ANGRY! I had so many emotions and I needed somewhere to put them. I also lost a lot of my inhibitions in my new singleness, rage, and the ability to do absolutely whatever I wanted all of a sudden without having to compromise or consult a partner.

In my grief I pretty much immediately chose adventure number one. I didn’t go completely off the rails though. I chose a trail I’d done quite a few times before with others, was only about 5 miles, was well marked, well maintained, not too far from my parents place, I had a clear AllTrails map for it, and there were plenty of what I refer to as “bailout points” or places to short cut back to the car if I need to for any reason. My backpack was incredibly over prepared but I showed up at the trailhead and began my trek. I arrived at bailout point after bailout point and I remember laughing and saying to myself “okay, when is this supposed to get hard??” I was almost done with the trail and had barely broken a sweat. Next thing I knew I saw my car emerge through the trees and I was finished! “Wow!” I thought. It was almost disappointing how underwhelming the hike was but at the same time my confidence got a major boost.

After adventure number one I was a solo day hiking feen. I sent my family the AllTrails map of where ever I was headed next, told them when I was starting and what time I was expected to finish. With all of the emotions I was experiencing at the time I ended up making my hikes very intentional in my healing process. Some of it happened naturally. When I got to the trailhead I would allow myself to take all of the big painful thoughts that I’d avoided all day long in order to do my job and function in my day to day, and I allowed myself to bring them to the forefront of my attention. Then I’d begin the hike. I would cry, yell, climb hills like a mad woman, have arguments with myself, stab my trekking poles into the dirt extra hard, you name it! I let it all out in the woods. I think even the critters were afraid of me. What I began to notice was that I was finishing my hikes earlier than expected, I was doing more challenging hikes and my body was keeping up just fine, also by the time I got back to my car I felt better! I felt lighter and like I was able to start seeing a way through my pain. This was an incredibly therapeutic journey that I needed more than I realized at the time.

Next it was time to up the anti. I’d gotten comfortable on day hikes all over town so naturally it was time to collect backpacking gear. That was a hurdle for me financially so it took a while but in the mean time I learned how to pack my backpack properly, how much water I required for the amount of adventuring that day, how to deal with some Ohio level wildlife encounters, how to time my hikes before sunset, etc. That was exactly what I needed at that phase.

Once I’d collected sufficient enough backpacking gear I chose my local trail, studied it, and packed up. A big piece of gear I refused to go without was a Garmin inReach Explorer Plus Satellite Communicator/Navigator. I went ahead and dropped the cash necessary for the ability to contact my family or Search and Rescue should anything happen and my family had a lot more peace of mind being able to track me from their cellphones.

First backpacking plan was for 2 nights and 3 days. I know! I know. I bit off way more than I could chew. As you can imagine I learned that the hard way. This was my first time carrying the backpacking weight on trail. I’d carried it all around my apartment but that was of course a nonsensical level of understanding. My bags starting weight with water was around 40 pounds. Day one wore me out of course. My bag was very uncomfortable and fairly cheap as far as backpacking bags go. There was a metal bit shoving into my tailbone, the straps were causing my collar bones to swell, and the weight was more than I was in shape to carry at that time. I ended up making camp at an undesignated camping spot not too far off trail.

As I was setting up camp, I was feeling like it wasn’t the best spot due to all of the over grow I was trying to stomp down to make a flat ground for my tent, also it was not very far away from the trail. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge on how to properly set up a campsite. Because I wasn’t too far from trail, I could see other hikers. Which of course also meant that hikers could see me. After starting dinner there was a man who seemed to be walking back and forth pass my campsite. Eventually he came back and started asking me questions. He asked me where all I planned to backpack, how many nights I was planning to camp, which trail I was taking, etc. He caught me off guard with all of his questions. He could have been genuinely curious but I regretted the fact that I answered all of his questions honestly. I told this strange sketchy man all of my backpacking plans. I took maybe 5 minutes to think it over before I started packing up camp and preparing to camp elsewhere. I remembered a designated campground that I’d passed maybe a 1/2 mile back where I saw some other campers setting up their tents. I didn’t initially see that as an option before because those campsites were reservation only and I hadn’t done that. Regardless, I decided to leave most of my things and just hike up to that campsite to speak to the other campers.

When I arrived to the campsite more campers were setting up their tents. There were 2 guys camping together and a younger couple. I saw the young couple first and decided to approach them, partially because I wanted to speak to the woman. I asked if it was okay that I find a grassy area somewhere around this site. I explained to them that I did not have a reservation and what happened with the guy who asked a bit too many questions for me. They were very sweet and told me to absolutely camp with them and that they were sorry I had an unfortunate experience. I felt so much better about their overall vibe so I skipped out to get my gear and came back to that site to camp around my new acquaintances. I had a great night with the other campers. They invited me to have dinner with them and they were full of fun conversation. When we were ready to turn in for bed the sounds of their soft snores and shifts on their sleeping pads actually brought me a great deal of comfort. So technically I didn’t sleep in the woods completely alone my first night backpacking but I was okay with that.

The next morning… when I say my body hurt, MAN, was I sore. I suspected it was primarily from the new muscles I was using to carry more significant weight. My bag was certainly taking a toll on me as well really digging into my tailbone, the waist belt bruised my hip bones, and the straps were pressing on my collarbones increasing the redness and swelling. But I was on a mission! So I said goodbye to my new friends after breakfast and set off for day 2.

Day 2 did not last long to say the least. After a series of creeks going straight down and then immediately straight up, my body was screaming for me to stop. I continued on but took more and more breaks. The hours were passing and I was not covering very much ground in order to get to my next campsite before dark. Once my body was so tired I had less and less patience for other inconveniences. Some severely overgrown areas full of burrs, 2 annoying shin high water crossings, and a very confusing fork in the road pretty much wiped out what was left of my morale. Eventually while trudging on I heard an ambulance off in the distance. This perked up my ears and basically told me that I was done. I hiked towards the sound seeking the road until I finally found it. I had one service bar on my phone and got a call out to my mom. Mom was tracking me and knew I was far from my campsite. I told her I was done and asked if she and my dad could call me an Uber. I could see a house and the address on their mailbox so that’s what I gave my parents for a location. My dad ended up getting ahold of a buddy of his who lived in the area. This family friend along with his wife and son pulled up to get me off of the side of the road in a beautiful white sports car. They smelled great and looked very nice… much different from me. I was so embarrassed by my dirt troll appearance and questionable smells but I was eternally grateful to be rejoining society. They asked me plenty of questions about my adventure as they drove me to my car. I soon said goodbye to my new heroes and drove myself home feeling incredibly relieved, proud, humbled, and so many emotions I really can’t narrow it down.

Most of all I learned so much about my gear. I figured out what I loved, what I hated, what I wish I had, etc. I learned the limits of my body and what I wanted to improve on. I also learned to be flexible on my plan. If the plan needs to change I can’t be so stubborn not to go ahead and adapt to a new plan if it’s simply in my best interest to do so. I am now open to lying to strangers who I don’t necessarily like because of this trip. I upgraded my bag and a few other key items, and rethought my packing technique. So much changed after this one backpacking experience. It’s likely you will have a similar experience in that regard. The bottom line is you have to start somewhere. You have to pick your date, get the gear and shop to the best of your ability (which I will happily assist with), and you have to edit your backpacking system to suit your own needs and preferences. I have countless backpacking trips under my belt since this first trip and I still edit my gear choices, but for the most part I now have a system that works out great for me and I don’t really have to think too much about it. I can finally enjoy the views and relax at camp come rain or shine. I got here through experience and you will too. My goal is to help you get to this place of confidence faster than I did.

Tell me your thoughts, questions, ideas, on Solo Adventuring. Give back to the community and teach us all what you have learned. Let’s exchange the knowledge necessary to get all of us out on the next grand adventure!

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Talk Mountains With Me Intro

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Talk Mountains With Me Intro

First of all, WELCOME! So glad to have you in the discussion of all things wilderness! This is where questions can be asked and enlightenment can take place. I’ve realized that a lot of us are watching reels and liking photos on social media of the places we wish we could go but one of the big things holding us back is know-how on getting from point A aka the couch to point B aka the dream destination. That’s what I aim to remedy here! Get quality info for the confidence to tackle your trek where ever the wind takes you.

Now to be clear I am an adventure guide and an explorer at heart but I don’t pretend to be an expert at everything. That’s where you come in! There is a wealth of knowledge between us on logistics, locations, travel tips, types of terrain, weather, national parks, wildlife, gear, training, safety, navigation, wild stories in the back country, etc.

I am going to start the conversations and you all are going to let us in on your own nuggets o’ wisdom. Or ask any and all of those burning questions. Even if the question is “WHYYY do you crazy people like the woods so much!?” Curiosity is welcomed! Respect is required! Let’s keep it open minded everyone! This is a place to learn, so judgements, rudeness, or uncalled for comments have no place here. We have an opportunity to enlighten and empower each other and create a solid outdoor community.

It doesn’t matter if you have never set foot on a trail before or you are a raging sponsored Red Bull Athlete at the peak of your game, your voice is valued! So by all means, introduce yourself! And talk mountains with me!

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