A Marine and an Artist...

...decided to pair up and take some trips together.

The Marine 
[Meghan]

     I was born in Hinckley, MN where we lived on 280 acres. When I was younger, my dad would always take my sister, myself, and his friends on "walk abouts" where we would walk miles through the woods and scout for deer. We would also go camping all the time. I don't think I spent a weekend inside in the summer until I was a teenager. When I was 13 we moved up to Lake of the Woods, and the outdoor activities did not stop then. It didn't matter if it was fishing or setting up deer stands with my dad I were always outside.

     When I was 18 I joined the Marine Corps where hiking 12 miles before lunch happened pretty frequently.  To be honest, having to hike at someone else's pace can kind of take the fun out of it, but being on top of a hill to see the Southern California sunrise was amazing.

     Now I am currently chained to a desk for 8 hours a day dreaming of weekends and vacation days so I can get some sun on my face and dirt on my shoes. I love planning these trips that we are going to be taking. Figuring out what trails and the best water sources, food planning, the best gear, filling out permits and the whole process have completely filled my winter and I am so excited to get started!

The Artist 
[Marie]

     I was born and raised on Lake of the Woods; wasn't too hard to explore nature as a kid. I would spend most of my days playing around the creek behind my house, throwing rocks at Canada, and burning to a crisp in the middle of the lake. I was always hard to wrangle in as a kid from playing until sun went down and after the mosquitoes had taken a pint of my blood.

     After high school I went off to college to get my art degree. I never knew what I wanted to do with it but learning about my art and myself made me realize my love of nature. It's so fascinating and ever changing that it is a shame not to explore it. 

     I've always listed hiking as one of my favorite things to do. It's my favorite way to enjoy the outdoors and discover new things. It's been exciting being able to plan all these trips with Meghan. Outside my window at work is a creek that is always full of wildlife, and it makes me want to lace up my new hiking boots and turn them into old ones. 

The Places

     When we aren't at our day jobs we have plans to take trips to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, weekend camping trips to the North Shore, and weekends at various state parks all leading up to our greatest trip, Glacier National Park. Annually we want to tackle a new trail, at a new park, for a full week at a time. We hope to take up as much of our free time as we can with finding new trails. We are going to be able to get on our gear, slap on some sunscreen, and wander around to find new places. 

The Blog

     Mainly this blog is for us, family, and friends. This will be our documentation, writings, photos, and videos of all of our hiking endeavors. We want to offer any advice we can that we we had before taking trips such as what we wish we knew before our initial preparations, quick trips, tykes who hike (Trips that will include Meghan's daughter), etc. This is also a way to show off all the fun we will be having together.



     We hope that we've peaked your interest and you'll join us along our travels!

Stay awesome fellow Adventurers!

-Meg and Rie