I want to share a few more photos from my adventures in the forest - this time, the ones I’ve shared with some of my good friends. The forest can be the most amazing experience alone, but every now and then you want that adventure pal or pals with you along the way.
Kayaking down the Salt River (Tonto NF)
I had made the journey out to Phoenix to meet up with a longtime online acquaintance for a backpacking trip in a special canyon. The fear of a flash flood kept us out of the area, and we made a backup attempt in the Superstition Mountains within the Tonto National Forest. The whole thing didn’t work - rain, illness, etc - so we trekked back out and had pizza and beer. The silver lining of all of this was that a day was freed and the Salt River was calling. I had never kayaked. The adventure was fun, I tipped, which felt wonderful, and got to meet another longtime online acquaintance.
Lazy Days at Blanchard Springs (Ozark/St. Francis NF)
The pandemic was raging and I was in a cabin on the White River near Mountain View, Arkansas with one of my dearest friends. Life was good. We had drinks, we had a campfire, and we had a grill daddy. That’s as funny as it sounds. Nicknames. HA! Anyway, it was great, but only got better with a day trip to Blanchard Springs. The water was turquoise, the trees extra shade, and the streams cold as ice. It was a casual, lighthearted day of no agenda or plans.
Hammock Beers in the most Superior NF
A trip to the cabin rarely involves hiking - unless it’s across the frozen lake. This time, it was late summer, and we took the boat from the cabin to the landing to go for a little hike on the nearby Border Route Trail in Northern Minnesota. We packed our backpacks with beers, our hammocks, snacks, and headed out. There was NO ONE on the trail, so we strung our hammocks across it and had a little break.
