Getting you started on outdoor adventures

Posts Tagged ‘outdoor adventures’

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you’re having a fun-filled holiday weekend.

This weekend, I got the honor of converting a geocaching “muggle” into a brand-new cacher. If you’re not familiar with the term muggle (outside of the Harry Potter books) it means a non-geocacher and someone who knows nothing about the game of geocaching.

Here are some links to help you out:

• What Is Geocaching?
• Geocaching Terms Explained

A couple of weeks ago, I “introduced” Greg, the former-muggle to kayaking. Since he’s hooked, I thought I would also try my hand at making a true cacher out of him.

For our first outing, I was sure to pull out all the stops in my geocaching bag of tricks. Since we were going kayaking at Goldwater Lake, I figured that it would be easier to just put the kayaks back in the truck and head out directly to go geocaching.

Here are a few tips when you’re heading out caching, ESPECIALLY with a newbie:

• Load MORE caches to your GPS than you know you can find. That way, you can pick and choose depending on if the newbie needs easy or hard to find, wants to hike or is more of a park-n-grab.
• PRINT the logs sheets. Even if you usually cache without them, having a print out that a newbie can hang on to really can make a difference. I let Greg read up on the caches as we were heading out so he knew what size container he was looking for and could refer back to the tip often.
• Bring SWAG to trade. Geocaching was new and exciting. Part of the thrill when you’re fist getting into caching is the swag. How cool is it when you find a container you might have passed every day and not only do you find it, you can trade for trinkets.
• Let them really LOOK for the cache. Yes, your geosense will just light up and tell you: “It’s got to be right behind that rock” but let the other person have the thrill of discovery.
• Set them up on ACCOUNT on geocaching.com. That way, as soon as you get home, you can show them the other side of caching: the digital component. As a new cacher, I would too often forget to log the cache online. Greg’s login on geocaching.com is CodeWolf.

When Greg and I went out, I broke my cardinal rule of caching (find bigger caches with new people) and when after a micro. But, I know the hiders’ style pretty well so I wasn’t too worried. I think it was a good choice because not only did Greg find it right away, he was also introduced to a travel bug on his very first cache. Very cool!

All in all, we found 3 caches and 1 did not find. I thought it was a very successful first-outing.

Oh, and later that day, Greg turned to me and said “Next time I come visit, can we go kayaking AND geocaching?”

I think he’s hooked! Welcome to geocaching!

Seems like I am the designated “introducer” in my circle of friends. It doesn’t really mean that I’m necessarily the expert at anything, just that I’m the go-to person when somebody want to try something new. For example, my friend Greg was visiting me from Mesa this past weekend. Greg had never been kayaking (something I love) so I invited him to try it out. (It helps that since ESP Boss bought a new kayak, I can borrow his anytime I want!)

So whenever somebody wants to try kayaking, or tent camping, or geocaching, or metal detecting, I’m their go-to Princess. (Figures, since it’s in the name, right!?)

Greg was an absolute good sport about it all. From helping me load the kayaks the night before, to watching as I assembled the paddles, to letting me help him adjust his life vest. When we were unloading the kayaks from the back of my truck, he told me he was both nervous and excited. I thought that his honesty in the face of being a beginner was fantastic!

Ah, being a beginner! When was the last time you tried something new? How did it go?

Here are my tips for anytime you are sharing your “expertise” with somebody who is just trying out something you’ve done for a while:

1. Remember what it was like to be new at it.

The first time I went kayaking, I had NO idea how to paddle without slamming my elbows into the seat. Or how to keep myself mostly dry. Or how to launch. Or get out. Or even which way was “up” on the paddle!

Remember all YOUR frustrations as a beginner. Then gently share your knowledge.

2. Gently share your knowledge.

If you’re anything like me, you want to KNOW but sometimes ASKING can be embarrassing. Especially when the person you’re out with seems to have loads more experience!

When you’re “instructing” somebody in something new, try forming your instructions as suggestions. Like: I found it works better if I put one foot into the kayak and then sit down right away. That way, the newbie gets the advantage of your “been there, done that, feel in” experience without feeling like they’re being lectured.

The caveat to that, of course, is for any must-know safety tips. In that case, lecture away!

3. Don’t take it for granted that it is “easy”.

Nothing is more frustrating to me, as a beginner in Fill-In-The-Blank, than having my friend assume some level of knowledge. With many of my friends who I introduced to kayaking, they didn’t know how to snap the paddles together. Yes, it is just a compression button and the two halves of a paddle snap together, but don’t assume they know how. Just kindly demonstrate how it’s done and move on.

4. Don’t hover.

Sure, the first time I taught somebody how to use my metal detector I was absolutely panicked at letting an expensive piece of equipment out of my sight. And then I got over it.

How?

By realizing that it’s much better to damage a piece of equipment through USE rather than just letting it collect dust until I was obsolete. And frankly, your friend probably won’t hurt your equipment at all. Isn’t it better to be able to share your excitement with somebody than always going out alone?

5. Assume that they want to take care of your gear.

Sure it can be never wracking letting somebody borrow or use your gear. As on only child “share” wasn’t really part of my vocabulary growing up! But, make the assumption that your friend will take good care of your stuff. After all, they care for YOU so it’ll naturally extend to your gear.

6. Reassure them it’s okay they use your stuff.

Hand-in-hand with #5, be sure to tell your buddy that you’re glad to have them along and excited to show them what you’ve been up to.

In the case of the kayaks, I always make sure to tell my friend that the kayaks are pretty much indestructible. With my metal detector, I just show them the bits that they need to be gentle with.

7. Don’t wait to “introduce” somebody to what you like to do.

I had barely started geocaching before I started dragging my friends along. I figured I knew more than them (how to use a GPS) so I could teach them what I knew.

Same with kayaking: I had done my research and gone out once. ESP Boss saw how much fun I was having so decided to try it too. (At the time, we only owned one ‘yak so he had to buy his own.) I gladly shared the little I knew and we learned together on the rest.

8. Enjoy yourself!

Your friend is more likely to relax and enjoy herself if you’re doing the same. When I’m “introducing” somebody to kayaking, I always go to Watson Lake. Why? Because the boat launch doesn’t stress me out, the lake is gorgeous any time of year, and I know it well enough to show off my favorite rock formations and islands.

9. Let them do as much as possible.

Sometimes I’m so busy trying to show off my knowledge, I forget to let my friend participate! I had to remind myself to let Nicole hold the GPS (and not lead the way to where I knew the cache was!) Or let somebody take the lead on a hike or kayak.

There’s a fine like between giving them knowledge and not letting them learn anything on their own. Sometimes, falling in the lake IS the best way to teach somebody how NOT to get out of a kayak!

10. Ask if they’re having a good time.

It’s usually pretty obvious, but asking if your friend likes it is okay too. I try to keep an eye on facial expressions and body language as well.

When I was in college, I liked to ride the bus across town to go ice skating on Friday afternoons. Since I liked it, I had a stream of friends that I took along. Some liked it, some didn’t. But when I took my friend Elise, I made the mistake of not paying attention to HER. I was busy skating around and I didn’t realize that she was taking fall after fall. After about thirty minutes she begged me to go home. If I had been paying more attention, I would have realized that she wasn’t having a good time and cut the trip short.

11. Don’t expect everybody to love it.

Just like with Elise, I have plenty of friends that never want to go Fill-In-The-Blank with me again. It just wasn’t their cup of tea. But for every person who said “Thanks. I’d always wanted to try it and now I have. Bye!” there is somebody else who’s asked me: How do I register to find geocaches? Where should I buy a kayak? Or Can we go again?

Remember, your goal is to INTRODUCE somebody to what interests you. It’s up to them after that!

You might remember that back in April, ESP Boss & I attended the Overland Expo 2010, near Tucson. While there, we met some really amazing people, not the least of them Mark & Brooke Stephens of AdventureParents.com. Mark & Brooke take their young daughter, Chloe, on just about all their outdoor adventures.

Since I’m not a parent, I asked them a few questions about their experiences. I’m really curious to see if all you parents out there have had similar experiences!

1. You go camping with a toddler! Wow! Why didn’t you & Brooke say “We’ll wait until Chloe is older before taking her camping?” What was the number 1 reason you didn’t want to wait?

Mark: When Brooke and I began dating, we enjoyed a lot of backpacking, rock climbing, trekking, back road driving, and those types of things. We had fun and accomplished some significant achievements together; particular hard or significant hikes and climbing routes especially. We made some good memories together in the outdoors, which really shaped our relationship. We believe that spending our time doing active things together, completing goals together, was good for us as individuals and as a couple. So we simply decided that we’d raise our children while showing them how much fun we can have outside, and also using an active lifestyle to teach goal setting and personal achievement. So, the number one reason? It was a lifestyle choice.

Brooke: I think Mark even bought the domain adventureparents.com when I was still pregnant with Chloe! We both knew it might be challenging camping with an infant and toddler, but we understood it can become too easy to wait for “the right time” to get out and do neat things. It’s good for our marriage, and therefore our daughter, to keep doing the things that brought us together as a couple to start.

2. If you could give one piece of advice to families that are just getting started with outdoor adventures, what would it be?

Mark: As parents, we are typically way off base about what will get our children’s attention and hold it. It’s pretty normal to think you have to bring along 4,000 lbs of toys from home and make sure the backseat DVD player is running top notch. It’s just not true. Kids find more entertainment in a fallen log and and some open space than we can fathom. St. Exupery even wrote, “Only the children are pressing their noses against the windowpanes. Only the children know what they are looking for.” He wasn’t full of crap. It’s true.

Brooke: On another side, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be comfortable while you camp. In fact, it’s far more enjoyable when you are comfortable. It doesn’t have to be like bad memories of a boy-scout backpacking trip. You can cook good food, and sleep on very comfortable bedding arrangements if you want. Mark has engineered a water tank and shower on our Frontier. Nothing makes me happier than being somewhere beautiful and exploring all day, having a great time with friends around a campfire, and then to top it all off with a shower. Added bonus: if you’re comfortable, your kids will pick up that vibe and have an enjoyable time, too!

3. What items are on your “Can’t have an adventure without _______” list?

Mark: Chloe’s purple blankey, a topo map, a camera, and a bright attitude.

Brooke: Swimsuit, s’mores fixings, headlamp, and a good mixture of music (currently we alternate between Dora and Friends, and Counting Crows)

4. What is the scariest thing about taking a toddler on your outdoor adventures?

Mark: Having to come home. She hates that part. No kidding! How many times have we been out on a little hike or bike ride and if she senses us turning around she’ll say, “We’re not going home!”

On a serious side, getting too cavalier about her safety, or oblivious to potential danger, is a constant thing we watch out for. Chloe recently fell into the coals of a dead campfire and burned the skin on her lower back. There were three adults within an arm’s reach of her and it still happened. Chloe wasn’t running or jumping or anything like that; she simply tripped over her own feet while walking and tumbled in.

Brooke: I have a fear sometimes that we are ruining all of the routines we work so hard to put in place at home. Sleeping through the night, eating well, having good playtimes inside and outside, and most recently, using the toilet like a big girl. It just seems so dangerous to mess with those things when they’re going so smoothly at home. It’s no different than every parent feels taking the kids on vacation, though. Just throw the routines out the window for a while, keep what semblance of normalcy you can, and then get back on track at home later.

5. What is the best thing about taking a toddler on your outdoor adventures?

Mark: The absolute best part? We don’t have to put our travels on hold. We get to expose her to the world, to wildlife, to plant life, to culture. We’ve taken her to Mexico a few times and she’s played with local children there, eaten the food, seen 17th Century missions, learned a few words of Spanish. Chloe knows that cacti have spikes that can hurt her, she knows what a California condor looks like and can see a picture of one and call it out. To some degree, I’m just a parent bragging about my child right now. But she’s experienced some cool things and we can see that she’s learning from them.

Brooke: I love seeing her eyes light up when we talk about getting the tent and truck ready for a road trip. And it’s like that when we’re someplace new, too, she is eager to see and play and talk about everything. I think about how many types of experiences she is getting and as a teacher, I can appreciate how that will help her future learning in school. Also, I like the slower pace we are “forced” to take on with a toddler along. We might spend a long lunch at the park, just so she can stretch and play for a while before our next drive. Having a child with us gives us a need to immerse deeper into where we are and to interact with more people along the way.

6. How do you plan your trip? What resources do you use? What steps do you take to make sure the trip is fun?

Maps! I like to look for the empty spaces on the Arizona map. Other times a trip just kind of unfolds as an attachment to something else. One time we were at home and got to talking about our dishes and how we wanted something new in the cabinets. I suggested we drive down to Nogales on the Mexican border for a day and buy some Mexican glasses. That flourished into a fun three-day weekend near Patagonia; we camped in the mountains down there, did a little biking, and made some tasty meals. Eventually, we made it to Nogales and bought those glasses.

I also like to read Arizona Highways and get specific ideas for destinations or things to do that I’ve never been to or done. Sometimes it just serves as inspiration to go find my own backcountry drive.

We just discovered EatStayPlay.com and look forward to using that as a resource as well. (We met Kim at the Overland Expo 2010.)

To maximize fun for everybody, we try to keep the driving time down, eat meals at funky small town restaurants, find hikes or geocaches to find. Chloe can’t hike much more than hour on her own two feet before she starts asking to be carried, so that’s limiting. One of the best formulas for maximum fun is to go someplace and set up camp by about 3:00 or 4:00; that gives us plenty of decompression time for exploring, relaxing, and getting dinner ready before the sun goes down.

However, I think for a trip to be really fun is that both Brooke and I have to be on board with the whole idea. If she or I really don’t want to be on the trip, it’ll contaminate the spirit of things and deteriorate everything else. So, it’s best if we all have a good attitude. Chloe just wants some open space to go play. That’s easy.

Background / About Adventureparents.com

Mark and Brooke run their website as a source of inspiration and advice for other parents who enjoy adventure travel with their children – or parents-to-be who have that understandably typical fear of being forced to trade their active lifestyle for something dull. They enjoy the outdoors with their daughter Chloe by traveling throughout Arizona, the southwestern U.S., and Mexico. www.adventureparents.com

Every year I anticipate The Camping Trip. This year is no different. In April we gathered around a calendar to find two weeks that would work for everyone to enjoy the great outdoors. Well, that in and of itself took forever. Meetings, appointments, oh my gosh! We aren’t celebs, just way too busy with life events.

We settled on a couple of workable weeks, reserved a spot in our favorite campground and slipped into our crazy busy cycle of work, work and more work.

I’m a list-a-holic. I live by my lists (packing, to-do, grocery, you name it!) I teach school and the last few weeks of school are hectic to say the least, but on my desk I kept a bright pink piece of paper folded length wise for my camping list. The first list is a mish mash of things to pack, things to do to get ready for the trip, and household things to do that in my opinion must be done for my own peace of mind.

So I’ve been working in the garden, trying to get the new drip system finished before the trip, packed away the winter clothes, and I’m still waiting on a bid for some exterior painting that really needs to be done before the July monsoon’s start. Every week when I go grocery shopping I pick up a few camping foods that aren’t on my usual list. That all got taken out to the trailer already.

I went through all the closets and cupboards in the trailer to take inventory. I’ve already added paper plates, paper towel and a fresh roll of tin foil.

The one job that I was dreading, but turned out not to be too bad, was seasoning my new Dutch oven. I ‘m trying Cornish game hens and I found what looks like a pretty easy recipe for Dutch oven biscuits. The Outdoor Princess (Kim) will let you know how those turn out.

I don’t plan a daily menu for our trips, but we do decide ahead of time what we want to eat. I mean what’s a camping trip without hamburgers! I always take a bag of frozen shrimp, if we get back to camp too late to cook, I just quick thaw some shrimp and make a salad and call it dinner. I’m also making some smoothies this year, pouring a serving into a Ziploc bag and freezing it flat. That should taste good after a day of hiking or fishing.

Tomorrow I’ll start packing our duffel bags. Northern AZ is still very cold at night in June so I’ll need sweat shirts. Since those are so bulky I have a great cubby in the trailer for them.

I love working from lists, I love seeing the task scratched off the list, but most of all I love the feeling of working toward a good thing when I look back on my day.

I really don’t even care if I’ve forgotten anything, because the whole idea is to get outside, and appreciating my camping experience.

It’s raining.

I was born in Arizona. My dad was born in Arizona. Our mantra is “we need the rain.”

But you know what?

After about an hour of the rain, I’ve about had it. Okay, bring on the sunshine!!!

Of course, a few days ago I was ready for summer to be here and its only January! As I was looking out the window willing the clouds to go away I was remembering another time I wanted things my way.

Usually this family goes camping in October for just about 2 weeks. I teach school and fall break happened to fall during the Best Camping Season of all!! The weather is cool, the colors are vibrant in Northern Arizona and the campgrounds are not crowded.

I was packing up the trailer in August. No fall break this year. I really need to learn to be grateful that I was even going camping at all.

Pine Grove Campground, just outside of Flagstaff was beautiful. And full of people!! I must admit though the place was full of outdoor lovers and considerate campers. We pulled into our reserved spot, set up camp, unloaded the kayaks, set up the screened dining fly.

Geez there are a lot of flies and bees in August who love camping, too.

Bruce and I were taking a stroll around the campground that first evening when a lady came race-walking away from the trash can area.

“There’s a skunk over there!” She was moving fast and just sort of jerked her head in a general direction.

We kept walking and sure enough there he was making his way into a culvert. Yuck!

The second week into our outing Kim and Lily (the dog) joined us. One evening Kim and I were washing dishes and putting all the dinner makings back into the trailer. It was still pretty light out and the lanterns hadn’t been lit yet. I heard a scratching noise and looked up and dropped the washrag I was using.

That skunk had walked right into our dining area!

I think he was smiling.

He must have been far sighted because he paid no attention to Kim, Lily (who was sitting quietly in her crate) or to me.

I don’t think I ever moved so fast in all my life! It was a good thing that the zipper on the dining fly was down or I would have gone through it! I stopped half way to the trailer, ran back, grabbed the dog in her crate and raced back to the trailer.

To this day I have no idea where Kim was at or what she did. I jumped into that trailer and slammed the door. That skunk was just as calm as could be; he helped himself to a drink out of Lily’s water bowl, found a crumb of something on the dirt and ducked out the same way he came in.

Bruce just stood there laughing; he hadn’t even tried to get away from the critter.

For the rest of the week that skunk came by every evening, like he was on his way somewhere important and we were in his way. He never sprayed, or even smelled skunky.

We had a wonderful vacation. We fished, hiked, geocached, kayaked, ate way too much, but what I really remember about that trip was that pesky skunk.

Building memories is important to my family and by golly that skunk sure had a hand in our summer at Pine Grove Campground.

The Queen Mother called me this morning, early, and asked if I would like to go geocaching for the day. Hello! Like I ever need to be asked twice for an Outdoor Adventure. It was decided that we’d head to Sedona from Chino Valley, along the Interstate instead of over Jerome, caching along the way.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that my family isn’t really the biggest on doing a bunch of Park-and-Grab geocaches along a route. Oh, sure, we PLAN it, but we usually find something interesting along the way and get sidetracked. So, this was a new record for us: 10 finds in one day and 2 more that we attempted with no luck.

We started out along highway 169 going after a series of jeananjoe caches. jeananjoe are some local Prescott cachers that hide some NASTY micros and some very kind not-micros.

In one of the first caches of the day I found this AMAZING ring that just screamed my name:

It was also at this cache that we finally met a police officer while out caching. I’ve heard that 99.9% of law enforcement are totally cool when you explain what you were doing. This gentleman didn’t even seem to care WHAT we were doing poking around in the bushes as long as we hadn’t heard any gun shots. Apparently, he had been called out by a report from the locals about gun shots.

I was just glad that it wasn’t a report of suspicious characters poking around in the bushes!

The next cache of the day netted another wicked-cool ring, this time in yellow. You can see The Outdoor Princess & family “striking a pose” near the cache site. Another jeananjoe but not too hard a find.

Although, this being yet ANOTHER nut jar from jeananjoe, I did have to wonder just how many nuts they consume in a year!

I took this photo as an illustration of the term: UPR – Unnatural Pile of Rocks. Refers to common practice of stack rocks on top of the cache to hide its location. The resulting pile often stands out to natural formations. You can find out all about terms at the post: Log Abbreviations: Decoded!

This was the hiding place for a “theme cache”. This is the type where all trades are asked to have a common theme. In this case, trading pez dispensers. I was excited to see that there were 3 in the cache. Of course, I didn’t have time to actually hunt any of my old pez dispensers down so I couldn’t trade for one. I know I have one (or 5) in a box in my garage somewhere, but I just didn’t know WHERE. I’ll have to remember this cache and come back to trade one someday.

Unfortunately, a lot of these caches required the crossing of cattle guards. On foot. Neither The Queen Mother nor myself really likes crossing these things. I think it has something to do with my wonky depth perception alá my astigmatism. Still, The Queen Mother and The Outdoor Princess bravely crossed them. My dad, on the other hand, just trotted happily across. None of the hang-on, pigeon walking of us ladies!

Here’s a closeup of feet. Firmly planted on the slat, if at all possible, walk across on the concrete!

Now, my father, aka ESP Boss, really is NOT a fan of micros. Maybe that’s because the very first one we went after was another jeananjoe cache and we spent nearly an HOUR searching a “zebra” looking for it. To no avail. So, I did convince him to look for one.

I KNEW it had to be in the end of the guardrail. And it was a painted Altoids tin so it wasn’t TOO tiny. Thankfully, my mom, aka, The Queen Mother, found it easily.

This container was actually large enough for a few trade items so I left a pair of EatStayPlay geotokens and then signed the log.

From there, it was onto a series of not really hard to find, but great camo. Even though they were kinda out in the open, so to speak, we still had to hunt for them.

This last cache impressed me just because someone had taken the time to paint the tin the same colors as the dirt. Even though this LOOKS obvious from the photo, it was really well hid under a bush.

And, our favorite hide of the day was a travel bug hotel with a difficulty rating of 3. Even though we didn’t have any bugs to trade, I really wanted to find it since it was a FULL SIZE ammo can. I mean, who can hide something that big? (As usual, I am not going to post the GC code so as not to spoil anything. Just  the photos!)

Now, that doesn’t look like anything, right? Just a root sticking up? Well, scroll down!

The only thing about this cache was that the sticky-up root just invited a kick. I don’t know how long it’ll last with people kicking it all the time!

Holy cow! We didn’t have to dig for it, just lift a lid.

From here, we just had a few more we wanted to find, racing the coming darkness. And, since it WAS New Years Eve, we wanted to get home before the crazies came out!

We got close enough to SEE the red rocks of Sedona, but didn’t actually make it to town.

Since you can see from the FIRST family photo, we’ve started piling on the layers. Next time I go caching, I need a princess tee from CafePress!