All photos by Nick Lake.
“Rope!” I shouted, tugging on the rope we were rappelling on. Above us, the sky quickly turned black. It didn’t budge. I yanked on it again. Small bits of debris rained down on us. Josh grabbed it and pulled. More debris came down.
It was clear, the rope was stuck. Night was falling fast and most of our party didn’t bring a headlamp. We didn’t expect Prusik Peak to turn into such an epic…
I turned 28 on a quiet evening in the Sierra Club Hiker’s Hut. The next morning, we woke up to fog and the slow pitter patter of rain on the wooden hut. Josh had class in the afternoon and I had plans to curl up in bed for a lazy birthday. We packed up all our things to head back home.
Instead of retracing our steps, we opted for the Heritage Grove trail instead.
I’ve been winging it on plans lately. I seriously just don’t feel like planning anything. I realized a few weeks ago that my birthday was coming up. Last year, I backpacked in Zion. I’d taken the day off work, but aside from that there was nothing on the schedule.
The Sierra Club Hiker’s Hut in Sam McDonald County Park is a spot I’ve been meaning to check out for a while. It’s close enough for me to not want to spend a weekend there when I could be elsewhere. But for a quick overnighter for my birthday, it was perfect and did not disappoint.
Last October, my Feral Female Weekend crew and I reunited to chase fall colors in the Eastern Sierra. The best thing about hiking with these ladies–aside from the belly laughs and conversation–is we all absolutely love food, because I am 98.3% sure that I hike so I can eat.
After deciding to hike no further than the closest spot we could camp, we made the prettiest snack board imaginable. Now you can create your own, too!
When Josh and I backpacked the Laugavegur from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork this past summer, we had the option of adding on 30 bonus kilometers! We decided to tack on the Fimmvörðuháls, the trail that connects Thorsmork out to Skógar, for another long day in the Highlands.
