• Endurance vs Strength

    Endurance vs Strength

    Endurance vs Strength: Whatโ€™s Most Important for the Trail? You want to get in shape for hiking, but you’re wondering, “Whatโ€™s most important for the trail… exercises to build endurance or strength?” When training for a specific sport or activity itโ€™s common to thinkโ€ฆ โ€œWhat exercise is most important?โ€โ€œWhere should my primary focus be?โ€โ€œHow should…

  • How to build & maintain muscle at any age

    How to build & maintain muscle at any age

    Why is muscle important? Maintaining muscle as we age has less to do with the “beach-bodies” we desired in our 20s and more about the implications it has on our health, function, abilities, and independence as we get older. Muscles power ALL your activities from daily tasks of living to hiking your favorite trails. Less…

  • Food: The fuel and recovery tool for exercise

    Food: The fuel and recovery tool for exercise

    Nutrition plays such an important role in how our bodies feel and function. Not only do our food choices contribute to our overall health, but they also affect our physical performance during activities and our ability to recover. In this article I’ll provide guidelines for structuring your food choices, discuss essential nutrients found in food,…

  • Avalanche Lake Hike on New Year’s Day 2024

    Avalanche Lake Hike on New Year’s Day 2024

    With a low snowpack to the start of our winter, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hike up to Avalanche Lake on the first day of 2024. We ended up with the gorgeous lake all to ourselves. With nobody else around, most all of the animals not making a peep, and snow to absorb…

  • I think I can, I know I can…

    I think I can, I know I can…

    Stay motivated & consistent with exercise Having the right mental space for working out is equally important as the right physical space. You can have all the specialized tools, equipment, and professional guidance, but if you donโ€™t cultivate the right head-space for working out itโ€™s likely you wonโ€™t follow through, or worse yet, you wonโ€™t…

  • 6 tips to create a home gym spaceโ€” that works for YOU

    6 tips to create a home gym spaceโ€” that works for YOU

    Whether youโ€™re new to working out or youโ€™re a long-time fitness fanatic, youโ€™ve probably contemplated the pros and cons of a home gym. In this article Iโ€™ll explain how to determine if setting up a home gym is right for you, and Iโ€™ll share valuable tips on how to create the right space and what…

  • Jewel Basin Hawk Watch 2023

    Jewel Basin Hawk Watch 2023

    As summer wanes in later August, my fellow bird nerds and I get excited for an annual event, raptor migration. Unlike many bird species that migrate at night, raptors such as hawks, eagles, and falcons, choose the day time along mountain ridges where they can ride currents and updrafts. This saves valuable energy as they…

  • North Inlet and Cascade Falls with Lake Nokoni and Lake Nanita

    North Inlet and Cascade Falls with Lake Nokoni and Lake Nanita

    Whether you’re looking for a lovely stroll through some meadows along a creek, a slightly longer hike to some cascades, or an epic day to two gorgeous alpine lake, the trail along North Inlet in Rocky Mountain National Park gives everyone a plethora of options. In 2019, I hiked all the way up to Lake…

  • Mirror Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park

    Mirror Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park

    Tucked in the remote northwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, it will take you just as long to drive to the trailhead as to hike to this stunning alpine lake. You’ll have to work a bit to get there and pass through the scar of the 2020 Cameron Creek Fire. While taking away the…