Adirondacks

I am in the process of hiking all 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. It's a goal that has been on-going for some time, and will probably take the next few years to complete. A couple weeks ago my boyfriend and I took a few days to go and get some peaks under our belts (well my belt, he finished all 46 at the age of 10 or something). It was a fun and arduous trip with lots of ups and downs. Highlights included getting into double-digits for hiked peaks, summiting my first mountain with a full pack, successfully opening a can of ravioli without a can opener while car camping, setting up our tent near a lake, drinking whiskey, listening to podcasts and going to bed as soon as it got dark. One of my favorite moments was after a 10 mile hike, stripping down and going for a swim in Heart Lake. The feeling of floating weightless after a day of trekking up and down mountains is the most freeing feeling. The low points included have to descend 2,000 feet in one mile with a full pack (resulting in lots of tears), losing our tent poles, and having to hike out early. Even though my boyfriend is a very experienced outdoorsman, trips like this show that anything can happen. It's always a great lesson in strength to push through the tough times and accept that out in nature, you relinquish a lot of control about your surroundings. Though we had to leave the woods sooner than we wanted, it meant chowing down on cheeseburgers and blueberry pie at our favorite diner.

Up next? I'm headed down to Washington, D.C. for Landmark music festival. I can't wait to boogie down to Alt-j, Drake, the Strokes, and so many more. Make sure to follow me on instagram for updates @foxtrailsblog

Sundaze

One of my favorite parts about living in Philadelphia is how easy it is to get out of the city and into nature. Wissahickon Park is only a 15 minute drive from my apartment, so that's where you'll find me on a Sunday morning. Yesterday my boyfriend, roommate and I went to the Wissahickon for a little hike. Jimmy needed to collect plant specimens for a class, so we spent a couple hours getting a botany lesson from him and learning how to press plants. The Wissahickon is such a cool place because you immediately forget that you're just beyond the city. Every time I go hiking, I find new places to explore. It's a place that's filled with cool little things, like this statue we stubbled upon. I'm always the one trying to get us to go down to the water, leading us down a treacherous path to take off our shoes (and shirts) to cool off our feet in the water. Spending a beautiful day in the woods is always my favorite way to round out a great weekend.

This weekend in particular was one of reflection and humility. It's easy to get caught up in being stressed out sometimes, I know that this one of the things I really struggle with. This weekend I was overwhelmed with the love and support of people around me. I often forget when I'm going though something, that I am never alone. Knowing I have so many people cheering me on from the sidelines is truly a wonderful thing. So thank you to everyone who has supported me, I can't wait for what the future has in store! 

So Long Summer

This past weekend I went to visit my boyfriend in Syracuse. He's starting his last year of school, so this weekend was a clear demarcation of summer's end. Now that I have a job and have less of a "summer," it was weird to be involved in catch up conversations learning what people did for the past couple months, since I didn't have much of a response myself.

It was one of those perfect end of the summer weekends — driving to go hiking with the windows down, blasting the Avett brothers, wearing our bathing suits under our clothes, stripping down to cool our bodies in a waterfall, ice dyeing some thrift store finds, and having one too many beers on the front porch. I wish weekends were always like this, mornings spent eating the peanut butter chocolate chip waffles my boyfriend makes me, our days dictated by whatever we feel like doing. Though I am actually taking a class at the Community College this semester, I find that I am still nostalgic for the back to school feeling. I guess I'll have to settle for weekends of pretending I'm still in college...oh well!

Amalfi Coast//Pompeii & Vesuvius

Final day in Amalfi was spent in Pompeii and on Mt. Vesuvius. In 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius exploded and blanketed Pompeii in ash and smoke, killing 16,000 people. The people were naturally mummified and look as though they are made of cement. Other elements of Pompeii like clothing and houses are also incredibly preserved. It was eiree and amazing to walk around the historical ghost town that was packed with tourists. I think it would have been more upsetting if the bodies looked closer to reality. It was easy to disassociate them because they looked like statues. We left our hostel, bringing all of our stuff with us, and took the bus to Pompeii. We got in around 10:45 and were told we could meet at 12 for lunch back in town. My friends and I declined because an hour was just not enough time to spend in this amazing city. After seeing a brothel, tons of houses, including the Villa of Mysteries, and preserved bodies we had lunch. I got a sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella and arugula (because honestly i don't eat much else), a salad and espresso.

Afterwards we started a wild goose chase orchestrated by yours truly. I had learned about a fresco of the Greek poetess Sappho and wanted to see it. We didn't have the best map and we spent the rest of our time running around to different areas (because everyone we asked said something different), never seeing it. I must admit I was bummed, but I had made it a bigger deal than it was. It's just such an amazing feeling to see something in person that you've learned about in text books! 

We left Pompeii at 2:00 and drove to Mt. Vesuvius. It's impossible to climb the whole thing, so the bus driver took us the majority of the way up. We "hiked" the last bit and were at the top within twenty minutes. I've never been on the top of a volcano before and was disappointed when there wasn't Mt. Doom lava everywhere. Movies have ruined my perception of Volcanos...We spent about twenty minutes at the top observing the view and taking photos before heading back down. At the bottom I bought a set of carved rabbits out of volcanic rock for myself and a tiny, glitter-covered Virgin Mary for Katherine (I know I'm an excellent friend). We left directly from Vesuvius to go back to Florence. The bus ride back was a breeze! I didn't sleep because I didn't want to mess up my schedule and instead watch Iron Man and then Wayne's World (excellent).