Heckel's Adventures

Day 1 Hobbs lake 6.75 miles Great camp with shelter after scouting a while Storms at 230 and wicked wind and thunderstorm 1045-midnight Day 2 Hobbs lake to island lake with full packs Scouted a site Set up camp Had lunch Day hiked with lighter packs to Titcomb Basin Dug a big hole Day 3 Day hike up Indian pass trail stopping at 11100 at Upper Indian Pass Lake Storm clouds building with early lunch Got back to camp just in time to shelter from a thunderstorm Day 4 Early start at 750am and had thunderstorms plague us for most of the day. Didn’t make it to elbow lake as planned due to risk of thunder at the pass. Set up camp at lower Jean Lake. Day 5 Another early start at 750 Mostly sunny day, long day to make up for a shorter day 4 Had lunch at summit lake Found camp at trapper lake 12.5 miles Day 6 Another good start though most of us had either blisters or hot spots A ton a down hill today making it worse on the feet Took a nice break so Anita ...

The High Uintas Jen and I first went into the High Uintas together in 1999! Back then, we were rained and thunderstormed out from summitting King's Peak. Our hope this year was to see some new territory of the Uintas while also being able to summit King's Peak. I arrived to Moosehorn campground on the western edge of the Uintas at 0830 the morning of Friday August 5, 2022. There are 33 no reservation campsites at this location in the Uintas. I got one of the last 3 remaining camp sites at that time. We had a great spot, decent level location for the tent, decent spot to hang a tarp in preparation for the rain. Jen arrived that night, so I was able to settle into camp and take the occasional refuge from the rain. I also drove back to town at one point due to forgetting to pack a camp chair, found some GF snacks, and also some cider. We had a great little dinner and drinks at camp after another bout of rain. On Saturday August 6th, we did a long dayhike of 12 miles re...

2021 Girls' Trip to Colorado Our hiking team included: Mary (me - ID), Ann (ID), Jen (MN), Lora (MN), Anita (MN), and Krista (MO) The expected altitude for the Maroon Bells 4 Pass Loop is no joke with four mountain passes all around 12,500 ft. in elevation, so our preparation included arriving to the Aspen area for some day hikes for acclimation. American Lake Day Hike Lora, Anita, Krista, Mary, and Ann at American Lake Our first day hike on Aug 2, 2921, was to American Lake out of Aspen.  We left early due to the recent rain fall and forecasted rain for the afternoon.  Our starting altitude was near 9,000 and we climbed to  bird looking for handouts 11,400.  I started to experience altitude symptoms at 10,000 promptly, despite living at 2,700 and doing numerous altitude training hikes in ID.  My symptoms were primarily nausea, lightheadedness, and a mild headache.   I later realized I was a bit dehydrated, and this didn't help my body's effort to accl...

 Day 1, Sunday August 16, 2020: We (Lora, Krista, and Mary) started at the Windy Saddle Trailhead and began our journey in a clockwise direction at 9AM.  Elevation at the start was 7600 ft and quickly descended.  We turned and headed uphill to Cannon Lake for lunch.  This was reported in our guide book by Gary Jones to be one of the most swimable locations.   Our trail undulated on our way to Dog Creek.  We decided to camp at Dog Creek at 7000 ft due to the steep climg up to Dog Lake and the heavy weight of our packs.  Our day's climb and descent was 1000 ft and 1600 ft respectively.  We were treated to a fire pit with log benches, a nice stream for a rinse off and treated to visiting deer to the site. Day 2, Monday August 17, 2020: We began our day planning for the dry day as we couldn't expect any water (all dry creek beds) until we would reach camp at Baldy Lake.  I carried 4 L and drank 3.5 L during the day.  It was another hot ...

I love to travel and see new locations around the world. Most of my vacations are continental USA for backpacking, though recently I have done some trips abroad with the Wild Women Expeditions (WWE). This has been a great travel group for me to travel with as it is devoted to groups of women. WWE posted a couple years ago that they were beginning to craft a trip in Bhutan and I have been looking forward to this trip since then. I knew I needed to get into better shape for the vertical climbing to the renowned Tiger’s Nest, but I have been limited in what my body would tolerate due to an old spinal injury that resulted in a neck fusion in 2012. Since 2012, I have lost the ability to tolerate most of my favorite forms of exercise due to risk factors associated with them and I subsequently have gained some mass myself. I did however, with slow diligent progress beginning in March 2019, build up tolerance to spin classes, thereby building my endurance. By September 2019, I was ...