2016 Highlight Reel

Q

This year held both my proudest accomplishment with this horse (also, one of my proudest life accomplishments to date) and the saddest event with any horse of mine to date. To quote Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

The beginning of the year held hope, promise, and fear as I put as much time and effort as I could into preparing for the Old Dominion 100 in June. Q and I embarked on multiple long training rides and changed up our typical "hill sprints" to "mountain sprints". We finished the No Frills 55 at the end of April with plenty of gas left in the tank and seemed to finally be gaining a hold on our girthing issues which were my biggest concern. (The final answer to this puzzle was a mohair girth with ample Body Glide.)

I hawked the weather as June 11 approached, groaning at the 95+ degree (and don't forget the added humidity this temperate rainforest is so well-known for!) prediction. Regardless, Q and I loaded up and headed over the mountains to basecamp.

The short of it is that with help from an absolutely amazing crew Q and I completed what is arguably the toughest 100 course in the country at 5:11am the morning after we began. We had a "moment" at 78 miles where I thought we might be pulled, but with careful management, Q bounced back and we found ourselves true 100-milers.

It's taken months to come to terms with the significance of this achievement. Few are so lucky to go out and find success on their first 100 with their own horse. Fewer find that success on the hardest courses in the country. Like Tevis, which is much better publicized, studied, and known, the OD 100 boasts completion rates from the 35% to 60% range. I stacked the odds in my favor the best way I knew how: by intensely studied the course to the best of my abilities and conditioning Q over similar terrain to the best of our abilities. And things played out quite well, considering.

I gave Q a solid month off following the 100. We enjoyed a brief conditioning ride before (like, the day before) her next ride - the RBTR 30 with dressage aficionado Austen aboard for her first foray into the endurance world. The pair completed without a hitch - Q had As all day long and CRIs in the 40s despite the 80+ degrees and enough humidity to make you feel like a fish underwater.

Three weeks after RBTR, I noticed Q seeming off. Circles on the flat triggered it and movement downhill even moreso. It had been a very, very bad summer for abscesses, so I didn't fret much at first (Griffin was dead lame for 10 days with a HUGE abscesss). Q did blow a big abscess in her right front within a week of my notice of her lameness, but the lameness didn't completely resolve. By September 19 we'd had a lameness evaluation and confirmed the culprit: lesions near the origin of her suspensory on her left hind. Well, fuck.

And so, my little mare has had time off ever since and will continue to do so until next summer. The 60-day ultrasound showed marked improvement, which is a great sign. Time is my friend right now. Q approaches me first every time I'm in the field these days, knowing I have a treat for her. She seems eager to come in with me the few times I've brought her in and enjoys grooming more than I've ever known her to. She's enjoying being a horse (albeit a fat one!) right now.

The plan to bring her back into work mid-late next year is a slow one that will begin with hikes in hand, then follow with a long while of walk-only work that will be very dressage-focused. Q has to be a dressage horse before she can be an endurance horse again. I need to develop her body in a balanced way if she's to ever have a hope of another endurance completion. While this injury is the absolute pits, I'm trying to make the best of it so that she comes back from it with a stronger-than-ever-before body and a better relationship with me, because we all know that's had it's ups and downs over the years. I am very, very cautiously optimistic.

Griffin

Oh what a journey! Come late January, this guy will have been in my life for 5 years. He's come an incredibly long way and I've loved every part of the journey.

At the start of the year I was riding Griffin sparingly as my focus was centered on getting Q ready for the OD. Griffin was my main lesson horse until mid-summer when I noticed repeated signs of him greatly disliking the job - the first time this horse has ever NOT liked a job! And I honestly don't blame him. To rectify the situation to prevent potential injury to the newbies and to save the relationship I had with the horse (who was very uncharacteristically running away from me every chance he got in the field), I "fired" (for lack of a better term) my lesson students.

Around the same time, I was focusing on getting Griffin in better shape to make his second attempt at the RBTR 30. Steady, thought-provoking and strength-building work with his main human brought him right back around to his normal self. While he certainly wasn't in the best shape possible, he did complete the RBTR 30. Other than his limited gas tank (totally due to not quite enough conditioning), the only issue he had at the ride was his total and complete (uncharacteristic) reliance on Q. His CRIs were heightened more than I would have anticipated because of his concern for where "his mare" had gone. If I wanted to continue to compete in endurance with him, I'd have focused to resolve this more, but I don't have a desire to keep him in that sport so it is a non-issue.

Following our RBTR completion, I buckled down and focused on dressage and jumping more. Griffin has so much natural talent for jumping. If I keep my shit together, he's picture-perfect. Days I am less than stellar, he is less than stellar. The variety of exercises I have presented him with he masters and I have so much fun working through them with him.

I had hoped to make it to volunteer at a jumper event this year to learn more and travel to school on a XC course a time or two, but neither worked out. I also fostered some hope of getting a jumping lesson with a trainer, but that didn't work out either. 2017 will hopefully allow these opportunities to represent and be accomplished. I still foster a dream to try my hand at eventing one day, but until such a time as I can school a XC course several times, I am going to focus individually on jumpers and dressage and see how those pursuits work for us.

Where we slacked off meeting my small goals for jumping, my goals for dressage were achieved and surpassed. At the end of August, Griffin and I trekked to Austen's barn in Maryland to ride with Stephen Birchall. It was everything I'd hoped for and more out of a first dressage lesson. I have been taking the things I learned very seriously and have practiced my "homework" diligently and am pleased to report that I have a completely different horse now than I did 3½ months ago.

I try to ride Griffin a minimum of 3x a week right now. He understands and accepts contact and requests for "forward" very well now. He has his distracted days, but they are few and far between. He's mostly a very good worker and I try to be a very fair rider and not ask him more than he can handle.

I'm very pleased to report that he has developed buttons for lateral movements! I always wanted to install these on my own horses, but doubted my ability to do so. Doubt no more! I just need to hone and fine-tune now - and I am having so much fun developing and fine-tuning.

I had planned to ride again with Stephen this past weekend, but a last minute issue with my trailer (seriously, last minute - the car was packed, the trailer was hitched, and the horse was loaded) halted that effort in its tracks. C'est la vie. I will try again in a few months - though it would have been wonderful to have had updated homework to concentrate on through the winter months.

I hope to make it to a few more lessons with Stephen next year and hopefully a schooling show or two with Griffin by mid-summer. With any luck, perhaps we will make it to a horse trial or two, also!

Stan

Stan was definitely this year's wild card and the best surprise possible. It was a wonderful to get to welcome my OG back into my life for good.

He was a great weight when he came back into my life, but was certainly lacking a bit of attention to his coat and definitely needed to tone up and build some fitness. I quickly took care of his mane and tail and with help of the junior I have been mentoring for endurance; we had him back to a level of above-moderate fitness within a couple months time.

My only firm goals for Stan  have been to get him fit, keep him happy and healthy, and keep him in my life for the rest of his. All other goals I foster for him are quite fluid. It would be great to get him back to being fighting fit and tackle some LDs and maybe a 50 or two with him. Or polish him up with some dressage (this is the most likely) and dabble in some jumping at home. We'll see! I really enjoy having a horse who I don't feel a need to "achieve" anything with. A horse I can just go out, ride, and fully enjoy the moment with without feeling the need to practice a certain skill that day. I love the regimented schedule I have with my other two, too, but no schedule is also fun. I'm a multi-passion person in many ways, so three horses that I can focus on different things with pleases me greatly and suits me well.

Stan is currently on a part-time free lease with Lauren until her horse arrives in March. It's a great arrangement that allows him to gain/maintain fitness, but without such regimented practice. I anticipate that come spring/summer, Stan will be my main mount out on the trails for the 2017 year, as I'm enjoying keeping Griffin in arena settings more and more.

Regardless of what I may or may not dabble in with Stan, I love having him back in my life for the confidence he is re-teaching me. I know I'll gain it back and then he'll help me maintain it. <3

Kenai

I'm so grateful that this year involved nothing but adventure and strengthening for my favorite adventure partner. I think the worst thing for him this year was that I put him on a diet after he'd gained about 7 extra pounds!

He's not quite able to keep up with the intensity of adventure as he once was, but those adventures are so few and far between that things really haven't changed too much for him. Hikes < 7 miles, bikes < 5 miles, and no trail rides unless they are strictly walking on the part of the horseback riders are what he can handle now. His osteoarthritis as a result of the stifle surgeries means he is stiffer and sorer sooner and longer than he used to be.

At the beginning of the year, he was getting one Dasequin +MSM once a day. Now, he gets one in the morning and one in the evening. He is also on a different joint-specific food. While he's certainly stiff behind, his movement is equal on both sides and he doesn't favor one leg more than the other.

We still visit the rehabilitation therapist once every 6 weeks for cold laser and general check-in to see how he is doing. I keep thinking we will plateau with the healing/improvement process, but so far, we get a more positive report with every visit. I really enjoy getting confirmation from a professional about how well he's doing; I notice it, but I still second guess a lot.

With the return of cold temperatures, Kenai is back in his truest form. He has more drive and stamina than he did at all during the warmer months. The cold is better for his joints, I think. He seems less stiff after more activity than he did a few months ago. Perhaps he really has built strength, perhaps not. We'll know for sure when the weather breaks back into warmer trends in March and April! Regardless, I'm so happy to see his puppy-like behavior as he approaches 7 years of age this upcoming March. He's not a youngin' any more, but boy does he act like one most days!

I hope that with careful management on my part, Kenai will have high quality of life for many, many more years. I hope surgeries are behind us!

Adventure

Skiing

This year was a bit of a bust so far as east coast skiing went. We had one epic storm (Jonas) in January that christened the area with 3½ to 4 feet of pristine champagne powder. Dave and I were totally snowed in and he ended up having to hike a half mile uphill to the house because his truck couldn't make it up the last two switchbacks. Fortunately, I had the foresight to park my car at the base of the ridge we live on the night before so we were indeed able to get into work (ski patrol) the next day. It involved us skiing down the 1-mile road (a 700' descent)' to the car in the early morning hours with snow still pounding the area, but that was just a good excuse for some more vertical before we would spend the entire day skiing some truly epic conditions. And yes, it's true what they say - No Friends on a Powder Day! ;-)

I garnered a few more telemark lessons with a local/national telemark legend and finally had some huge breakthroughs that have helped my skiing immensely. I'm very exciting to begin this upcoming season and apply this knowledge. Here's hoping for a better snow year than the last!

I also managed to get out on several XC skiing jaunts this year - but still not enough! I have plans to upgrade a few key pieces of gear this year that will enable and motivate me to get out on the XC trails more this season. It's such a great way to explore and get exercise.

Climbing

We didn't have nearly the frequency of trips this year as last. We did make it out to climb in Nevada and Utah in April though! I would love to go back to both places and climb more in the future. True crack climbing is a whole other kind of monster that I got to experience for the first time in Utah. While I struggled immensely at the time, it motivated me to get better so that I can find more success in future visits.

I did continue to lead this year and I find my head to be in a better place each time. In moments that would have had me packing my bags in the past, I instead pushed through my fears and completed climbs. Leading is a completely mental battle for me and one that, while not easy, I very much enjoy pushing myself through. The mental exercise of overcoming some pretty strong fear is an easier battle each time.

Dave and I have plans to build a climbing wall in the basement this winter, so I am excited to get into much better shape for the 2017 season. I have missed having the luxury of a gym very much the past 5 years and am so excited to finally have the opportunity to climb daily again and keep my body strong.

Mountain biking

2016 was the year I fully fell in love with mountain biking. I started this year with the purchase of a brand new bike. As with most things, the money you spend dictates the quality of the product you're getting. I was amazed at the difference riding a high-end bike did for my skills development this year. From Arkansas to New Mexico to Arizona to Moab and at home, I built and honed my skills on the bike.

The crux rides of the year for me were two ~24 mile rides we did - one in Moab and one in West Virginia. The Moab adventure involved mostly downhill ride on slick rock  that took place over seven different trails and is known as the Magnificent 7, or simply, Mag 7. It was a total BLAST. Sections of it certainly challenged me, but I built confidence as the miles ticked past and powered through the off-camber single track at the end that would have royally sketched me out at the beginning of the day.

At home, we made a drunken brilliant decision the night before to tackle the 24-mile North Fork Mountain Trail in one go the following day. This ride, while similar in length to the Mag 7 trails in Moab, involved equal parts climbing and descent. It was an endurance feat of epic proportions for me! But I LOVED it. Even when I hated it, I loved it. I was by and large the weakest link in our group (riding with an Olympic caliber rider and and her equally talented boyfriend will do that), and it really motivated me to want to get better so I'm not dragging down the group so much next time.

Hiking and Exploration

Another year in Canaan equaled another year of hiking and exploring the beautiful place I am fortunate call home.

Travel

Hot damn did I do some driving this year. I visited 27 of our 50 states this year for either work or pleasure and saw some truly beautiful sites along the way from A to Z. No, literally, A to Z! Acadia, the Adirondacks, Arches, and Zion were just a few of the beautiful areas I had the pleasure of exploring.

I also spent a significant amount of time with birds this year for work and pleasure alike.

What a wonderful year of travel it has been. This country encompasses some truly beautiful landscapes.

Conclusion

This year certainly had its ups (travel, OD 100 completion, Stan) and its downs (Q's suspensory tear, various personal strife that isn't blog-worthy), but by and large it has been yet another incredible year. I'm so grateful to get to live the life I live and do the things I do. And I'm so happy I have taken the time to document my many adventures these past six years on the blog.

Cheers to a wonderful, adventurous year and here's hoping for more fun to come! I hope your year has held moments of wonder and adventure and that you find even more in 2017.

2015 Highlight Reel

Q

Q's year began with a focus on activities that would build her confidence. I completely removed most activities that were not trail-based from her repertoire and did all I could to build our relationship to a better place.

We began with in-hand walks and hikes, progressed to some ground driving, and then hit the trails again, first with buddy horses, and then solo. New additions to tack included a hackamore for her and a dressage whip in my hand at all times. I affectionately refer to the whip now as The Confidence Stick. You see, Q is the most looky horse I've ever witnessed; she actively scans the terrain with big sweeping motions, not just her eyes. As a result, she forgets about me a lot in her worry with the world around her. However, when The Confidence Stick is tapping her shoulder, flank, and neck periodically, it helps bring her mind back to me. (No, she could give zero f*cks about my voice. I've tried. The whip registers more with her and will give me an ear flick of acknowledgement much more often than I ever get with my voice.)

Another tactic I employed this year was to ride her greater distances with less frequency, or in other words, seek to condition the same mileage we have in past years but do it with fewer rides. This began as a by-product of my busy life and resulted in the new norm for Q as she proceeded to take to it so well. She holds her fitness wonderfully (yay Arab) which aids in this conditioning program being so successful. I also think the larger amount of time-off she receives (10-20 days between rides) does a world of good for her mental health and her physical health - a fact that became more and more evident as she began to excel on our rides.

Beyond frequency and length of rides, changed tack/aids, and my mindset, the only other major change to how I conditioned Q was that we finally added downhills with speed to our rides (when footing wasn't technical). Building strength and skill with this was the last piece to our conditioning puzzle that really helped to make a huge difference for us this year.

Beyond finding success at building my relationship with this horse this year, my favorite memories all involve riding her in Canaan Valley and Dolly Sods. I trailered her away from home for the majority of our training rides this year and those two places were often our destination. The terrain is rugged, unforgiving, and outstandingly beautiful. I foresee many, many miles there through 2016. It doesn't hurt that our favorite "local" riding buddy is there either!

Due to financial restraints, Q only competed in the RBTR 50 and then, on a last-minute whim decision, October OD 25. She finished STRONG with PLENTY of gas in the tank at both events - even finishing 4th and showing for BC in the 25. I plan to move her up in distance during the 2016 season at some point as we continue to march ever onward toward the goal of joining the Decade Team. Three years at endurance distances are under our belts now!

2016 will likely involve many more training miles AWAY from the barn as Q gives her best efforts when she is trailered away from her herd. I foresee a lot of time spent in the valley and hopefully some weekends over on the Old Dominion trails. I feel like I'm finally unlocking some key pieces of this enigmatic mare. She's been a really hard nut to crack, but I'm enjoying the journey of figuring her out - even though it frustrates the hell out of me sometimes! Fortunately, I'm more stubborn than she is and time is in our favor. =)

[525 miles logged riding this year, large majority on Q as I didn't track Griffin's jumping/flatting]

Griffin

In 2014, Griffin spent a lot of time on the trails. It was the perfect environment to introduce him to how to best handle life under saddle outside in a way that was least stressful to him. He almost always had a buddy horse to look to and the nature of trail riding lent itself well to his developing brain so that by the time 2015 rolled around, he was much better prepared to tackle the more mentally (and physically) stimulating work I threw at him.

I spent a lot more time jumping and flatting Griffin as opposed to trail riding this year. He has always hunted jumps and poles that were lying about in the barnyard/field and I was waiting until he was a long 4 year old to really start playing with them.

At the beginning of this year, I was more focused on Q than Griffin as I originally had a full endurance season planned for the mare before my financial woes began. I'd tool around with Griffin here and there, but nothing of great significance. Once my financial situation reared it's head though, I couched nearly my entire ride season for Q and with the time that opened up, I began having fun with Griffin.

To provide more direction and structure to my chaotic [by choice] schedule, I decided that I would give each horse a set discipline of focus for an indefinite period and see how that worked. In the past, I have dabbled within multiple disciplines with each horse because my tastes are so varied. Not this year. Q would be trail-focused for endurance and Griffin would be flat and jumping-focused - it's work he really enjoys and has wanted to do since I put him under saddle, so it seemed perfect.

With the start of April, I consistently worked Griffin several days a week. We began with a lot of flatting that involved many bending exercises, a lot of circles, serpentines, and figure-8s. Griffin mastered that very quickly and really excelled; I could practically SEE the cogs in his brain whirring and turning as he figured out the "right answer" to each query. As he figured out the flatting, I added in ground poles to make him think even more. We began these exercises (and all later jumping exercises) on the lunge so he could figure things out without me on board first. I always tried my best to set him up for success and he excelled time and time again.

From those exercises, we added in cavaletti and finally jumps. We kept things mild at 18" for a few months, throwing in the occasional 2' standard. When Griffin began cantering over the 18" cavaletti more and more often, I added gymnastics. Lots of bouncing and additional ground pole work between cavaletti/jumps. That led to gymnastic lines with a 2'+ jump at the end which then led into micro "courses" that involved 2-3 jumps in some kind of pattern. By August, we attempted 3' for the first time; Griffin said NBD! I didn't jump 3' again until October - and when we did it then, we even went up to 3'6" one time. For a 15hh horse, he makes it so easy!

Now, we've been schooling 18" - 2'6" pretty regularly through all of my jumps and cavaletti to create a 9 jump "course" complete with 1 skinny and two or three rollbacks. In December I began adding in a 3' jump a little more regularly (often 3-4 times in the last half of our workouts). Griffin and I both have to work together more over that height. It's perfect for pointing out areas we need to finesse more and I'm enjoying how it is making us both grow.

Of course, in between all of his jumping progression, we were also working on more dressage-focused concepts on the flat, most often with a bareback pad. 95% of that work was at the walk and trot. I am learning as I go as much as he's learning from me. It was a lot of fun to get him to where he was listening to my seat more than anything else. It's fortunate that he has such an easy riding trot that I can sit without too much issue. It's been hard translating things from bareback pad to saddle, but we are getting there. With the bareback pad Griffin will transition from a tiny, collected trot into this huge lengthening trot purely from my seat. I can't tell you how much fun it was for me (both of us, I think) to figure that out! I was focusing on NOT MOVING MY HANDS ANYWHERE while Griffin's little brain whirred away trying to figure out the new "right answer". I think a choir of song birds was singing amidst a herd of unicorns under a rainbow when that clicked for both of us.

All of the flatting and jumping has done so well by Griffin. He's really bloomed into a gorgeous creature this year. About 2 months shy of his 5th birthday, he started bulking up and filling out in a whole new way - there is so much substance to him. He's so SOLID, a fact that is VERY evident when I ride him right after Q. While Q has a huge stride, it's lofty and dainty in it's execution. There is power behind it, but it's the kind of power you see in a yogini as she flawlessly executes a series of difficult poses. She is a strong, highly dynamic and flexible athlete. Griffin though? His solidity and power is more akin to mid-distance Olympic swimmer. He's powerful and strong with perfectly timed and executed efforts that help him meet his goals without making it look like he busted his ass to do it in a record-breaking manner. His strength is visible in his physique, but despite that strength, his movements also have this unwavering grace to them.

While I have no solid plans for Griffin in 2016, I'm really excited to see how things will fall into place. I'd like to enter him into one or two competitive events of some kind. Discipline to be decided later. He possesses talent in multiple areas, so we'll just see which one we dive into!

Kenai

When Facebook offered up the "your year in review" this year, mine was 90% KENAI. This has been the year of Kenai. And not for the greatest of reasons.

Kenai entered 2015 lame. I had him on and off crate rest with limited leashed activities for a long while, in fact. We visited the vet in January and she confirmed that we should keep doing what we were and added some pain killers to the equation. By March, he was no better and so we did more analysis and discovered that the surgery he'd had in 2013 had failed on the right stifle and his meniscus may be torn, too.

We scheduled TTA surgery for April. There is a 0.5% chance of implant failure with the device used. Well, you guessed it, luck didn't favor us and we fell into that small percentage - it failed. Kenai went back to have another surgery to repair the failure. THAT surgery failed < 24 hours post-op while he was still at the hospital. Yet ANOTHER surgery was performed within a day of the failure. It was a fucking SAGA. (If you're behind on the story, please just click the links because I simply cannot bring myself to relive it by writing it great detail.) 

To say I was stressed would be an understatement. The financial burden of all of this coupled with worries about if he'd ever be okay again consumed me. Crowd-source funding (started by Saiph) helped raise about a third of the ultimate cost of surgeries/rehab - and I cannot say thank you enough to those who helped us during this time. The generosity of others blew me out of the water. THANK YOU, again. Kenai is loved by so many near and far.

In July, Kenai began the physical therapy rehabilitation (rehab) process. The lady we worked with through it all was absolutely incredible. What an amazing human.

I drove to Morgantown (3-hour round trip) multiple times a month from July - December for Kenai's rehab. In addition to those visits, we had a lot of homework to keep up with. We'll have homework for life. But it's worth it. And it's paid off. On December 2, Kenai met the discharge criteria. He's been cleared to return to normal life. It is such a relief and blessing. I am SO HAPPY to have my best adventure buddy back in action.

All I wish for 2016 is to have a healthy adventure dog. If it snows, we plan to pursue a lot of XC skiing this year.

If you're the instagramming type, feel free to follow along with Kenai's adventures at #kenaithehuskydog .

Adventure

Skiing - The 2015 part of winter 2014-15 was absolutely outstanding. I began working at Timberline in addition to Canaan. Both resorts are in Canaan Valley and while they are mere mile or two apart, the terrain at each is drastically different. Canaan boasts wider slopes with less steep terrain while Timberline has a wealth of steep slopes that are much narrower. Working both mountains was an exercise in time management and involved me becoming very skilled at driving my car with ski boots on as I would work shifts on both mountains in one day!

I was schooled more heavily on my telemark technique this year than ever before. I spent a lot of time focusing on HOW I was skiing and did a lot of things to tweak my style. This was my fourth season on tele vs. alpine gear and it was a good year to really begin buckling down and getting more technical with my form.

Ski, bike, climb - I have many passions

I finally added more time skiing in the trees this year. It will be a long time yet before I master the
finesse of tree skiing, but I'm getting there a day at a time! I'm really thankful to have such an outstanding group of tele skiers to ski with now (an added benefit of patrolling at Timberline).

Climbing - My unwritten goal for myself this year was to climb as many days as I skied. At last tally, I racked up 27 days climbing this year, give or take one or two. It didn't hurt that I had a full-time climbing partner all year! Dave and I were motivation for each other to get out and climb more. A lot of excuses I've made in the past about climbing revolved around not having a partner to go with - and a partner is critical in this sport!

Dave and I climbed in all of the WV areas (New River Gorge/Summersville Lake, Seneca, Smoke Hole, Nelson, and Franklin) and also made it to the Obed in Tennessee for a week. It was a very enjoyable year in which I managed to lead a few more times. My head is progressively in a better place for being on the sharp end and I'm optimistic that I'll maybe one day meet my very modest goal of leading a 5.10a.

Mountain biking - This sport was a new addition that I never saw coming. It surprised me and I fell in love almost immediately. I'm really excited to pursue more of it next year and have plans to get a new bike that will better hold up to the beating that Tucker County trails put on a bike and body.

Mountain biking augments my fitness unlike any other sport since swimming (I swam competitively for 10 years and had scholarship offers for college but decided to head in a different direction - one I don't regret). The cardio and general fitness I gain from mountain biking is so awesome; I missed burning calories like that (swimming was the best for a secondary reason of I could eat whatever the hell I wanted whenever the hell I wanted lol). My rider fitness SOARED this year because of mountain biking. I think this is one of the biggest reasons I'll stick with the sport into the future - the things it does for my [endurance] riding are so incredible. [177 miles logged on the bike this year]

Mountain momma

Hiking/exploration - Living in Canaan, a vacation destination, half of the year (weekends/holidays) was motivation in itself to get outside more often for exploration. The people up there are such an active group of individuals. I LOVE it. (Shocker, no?) I hiked more and explored more and saw more of West Virginia's beauty than I have ever before (gah, just look at the collage image above). The amount of awesome I fit into my life this year with regards to outdoor exploration was incredible. I don't think I'll settle for less ever again.

It is one of the most beautiful places, hands down. Don't believe me? Come visit. I'll show you first hand. Just ask Dom or Saiph, I think I've made them believers. ;-) I'm happy to be your host/guide for West Virginia mountain adventure any time. [63 miles logged hiking this year - definitely missing some; at least 22 nights spent sleeping outside]

Travel

Thanks to work, I saw a bit more of the world this year than I have in awhile. At least more of the US with a big emphasis on the East Coast. My travels to me to or through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri this year. I racked up over 17,000 miles on the road.

I saw some beautiful places, did some really cool things, and visited some of my favorite people throughout my travels. The biggest highlights were definitely the coast of Maine (work), Cape May (workcation) banding raptors, and Tennessee climbing.

My travel budget & plans next year are very up in the air right now, but I'm excited to see where they will lead me. Puerto Rico? Mexico? A road trip through the south and into the west for some adventure? The PNW? Montana? It's all in flux at the moment. I know the right things will fall into place. European and South America are travel plans I'd love to have, but I don't think they'll fall into line for another year or two.

Conclusion

A really outstanding year. I jam packed it with a ton of West Virginia adventures and time spent with absolutely amazing people. I hope to continue these trends into the future and make the most out of every opportunity.

See y'all in the new year.

Autumn Adventures

My social media skills are definitely lacking of late.

So here, have a photo dump of epic proportions chronicling my adventures from late summer as it faded into and through autumn in West Virginia and beyond.

Took a photo from this same spot in summer. The change is incredible.

So many leaves! This was on October 2.

I spy with my little eye, a Kenai!

Happy, happy, happy dog.

Leaves, ferns, ground cedars.

Still happy as can be!

Those trees though...

It was a very misty, murky rainy day in Little Alaska.

Kenai still had time for a swim though.

Beaver dam holding the water back.

Reds and russets.

Fallen red maple.

Sir Chicken Legs in the Blackwater.

The ominous skies with the trees made for a pretty backdrop.

Apples at the first cider party

The press and juice/cider in progress

Old, but it's perfect for the job!

A bit of apple butter in progress as well

The literal fruits of our labors at the first party before I headed onto party #2

Dave is churning the apple grinder (behind me), I'm pouring apples, Dan is working the press.

Party #2. More apples and another press and more wonderful people. Dave working the press this time.

More fruits of our labor at the second party. So freaking delicious. Pairs perfectly with pear/brie pie.

My 7 year old lesson student went on her first trail ride. Things were still green in Elkins despite the relative peak color in Canaan.

I took photos for several friends of their kids. Kenai photobombed this shot of little Emma in the absolute sweetest way, kissing her on the nose very gently.

Back in Canaan though, the colors were still showing off.

It's worth noting that zero of the photos posted here of autumn colors have been filtered or edited beyond cropping.

Just look at the valley behind Kenai!

We climbed a very steep slope on this day.

The views were worth the climb.

How beautiful...

The slopes at one of the resorts I ski patrol at.

Blueberry bushes ablaze with color.

And two sugar maples showing off near the golf course.

So this was one of the most epic hikes I've ever done. View after epic view. It go to where we were joking about the view "sucking" because there were just so many outstanding vistas.

I adore red spruce <3

Lots of scree to hike across.

Kenai never poses. Ever. ;-)

Dave and I at one of the first "more open" vistas.

I freaking LOVE this state. No filters or editing to any of these photos, once again.

I mean, look at it! Mountain momma, I do love you. And this view? This wasn't even "the good one".
We reached this view and immediately (very sarcastically) stated, "Ugh, this view sucks. Can we go home now?"

We also joked that we didn't understand why they call it the "mountain state", wouldn't the "tree state" or "valley state" be better?

<3 <3 <3 <3

Another of the same but with red spruce because they are my absolute favorite.

"THE VIEW" taken from an area call The Promontory. 270° vista.

Dave and Kenai.

Moi and Kenai

Tree pose. Because Chipper requested it.

Photo by Chip Chase. Dave was a very good sport and joined my posing.

It seemed like a good time for a selfie.

Upwards of center is Seneca Rocks in the distance.

Most epic helmet ever? Yes. Yes it is.

My lesson student is becoming bolder by the lesson.

See? And in a bareback pad to boot! I did a lot of bareback riding as a kid and it really helped me, so my two lesson students are doing the same.

And then, last week, I went off the radar for a whole week in TN.
Camp fires every night, 3 guitars and a mandolin. And a whole lot of climbing.

Dave working his way up to the roof on Heresy.

Getting horizontal on Heresy.

Yep. Typical Obed roof climbing.

Not a bad part of the country at all.

One of the campground host's dogs. This is Big. Big Scruggs. He's a doll.

Group selfie with Big on our last morning. <3 It was as great week.