Unedited

Meet the Experience Life team, and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the magazine comes together each month.

Recently in Outdoor Adventure Category

Hiking on Crane Mountain

By Jamie Martin (@jamielmartin) / March 14, 2013

The April issue of Experience Life hits newsstands and homes next week, and I’m quite excited: My “Head Out” article on glamping in upstate New York is FINALLY being published! I’ll let you read all about it when the article goes live here on ExperienceLife.com next Tuesday

In the meantime, though, here are some of my favorite pics from my favorite part of our trip — my husband’s and my hike up Crane Mountain. We did this on our first full day at camp, and it was SO MUCH FUN! It was a challenging climb followed by a rocky descent.

Getting ready to scramble my way up Crane Mountain in the Adirondacks.

Half way there! We take a break at Crane Pond, the half way point to the summit. Crane Pond is one of the only bodies of water on a mountain on the east coast.

We made it to the summit — just in time for a quick little storm.

This ladder made what was a really rocky descent just a little bit easier.

Everything about our hiking experience was beautiful and challenging and rewarding.

You can read all about my glamping adventure in the April issue of Experience Life — coming soon!

A Few of My Favorite Things

By Heidi Wachter (@wachtergrrl) / December 31, 2012

One of my favorite movie scenes is when the viewer gets taken on a journey of Amelie’s likes. My favorite is that Amelie likes the sound of crème brulee cracking!

In the spirit of Amelie and in celebration of 2012, I thought I’d look back at my favorite things of 2012. One amazing thing I found is that it was very hard to limit it to only 12!

At the beginning of 2012, I resolved to be more creative. I couldn’t do, see or be involved in enough creativity this year. I read books on the subject, I “instagrammed,” I made prints, I made necklaces, I talked about “what being creative” means with friends, I took in art shows, performance art and shared my poems with more people than ever.

I rode my bike more in 2012 than ever before and loved every second of it. Thanks to Sir Walter (my trusty vintage touring Raleigh 12 speed) for all the great trips. Shout out to friends who pedaled to places far and near with me. Hope we pedal together again in 2013!

The sound of music permeated my ears this year. I took in 45 concerts with my concert-crew (you know who you are!) in 2012 and they were mostly all wonderful. Glen Hansard and St. Vincent – both at First Avenue, THE best concert venue in the U.S. – stand out in my mind at the moment so I’m listing them as my two favorites.

More music to my ears was being reunited with my vinyl record collection. I pulled it out of a storage unit in Salt Lake City and my friends helped me spin the dust off in fine form for my 40^th birthday vinyl party. We had some great five-song playlists and danced the night away in my pal Karen’s garage with disco lights and all!

Speaking of 40^th birthday parties, turning 40 definitely makes the list. I believe I understand the phrase “getting better with age” now. I don’t know what it was about turning 40, but I finally feel like I know, accept and like myself for the first time. I care a lot less about what other people think or who they want me to be. Or, maybe I have a better ability to establish healthy boundaries. Whatever happened a few months ago, I’m grateful for the wisdom, inner peace and sense of “home” within that I finally feel I have.

Getting into the swing of working out with kettlebells was an unexpected pleasure this year. If you want a fun and efficient cardio and strength workout, learn how to use a kettlebell. I’m living proof that you’ll get fit fast.

I had fun working out outside with my State of Minnesota parks pass. Who knew a sticker could be so fun!? I was given the parks pass as a gift and was it a great one! It was the impetus for more than usual outside time and led to some camping, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, swimming and even stargazing. I discovered several parks very close to my house that I didn’t even know about!

I learned to drink up with green tea. This year I did a detox diet and one of my favorite drinks, coffee, was forbidden while on the diet. Green tea was allowed and I learned that it is a tasty drink – whether served iced or as a tasty latte mixed with almond milk. Even my friends at Peace Coffee know how to whip up a tasty variation.

Speaking of tasty variations, Mojo Monkey Donuts, an independently-owned, St. Paul (donut) hole-in-the-wall has my vote for best donuts ever. Just because I work at a health magazine doesn’t mean I don’t like a little sugar and fat every now and then!

I began practicing daily meditation again after about a twelve year break. It has helped me be more aware of my thoughts and feelings and become much less reactive. Having the support of other meditators via my weekly trips to a local meditation center helped me stick to my daily sessions. Plus, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of really awesome people!

This was the year that I made a conscious effort to embrace my job as the Community Engagement Specialist for Experience Life magazine. I stopped looking at it as simply “I tweet stuff” and began understanding just how important the job of engaging our online and offline communities really is. I found myself thinking and saying “I can’t believe I get paid to do this” on more than one occasion. I’m truly grateful for this opportunity.

By far my favorite things of 2012 were the adventures I had with family and friends. There’s no way to list them all, but much love and thanks to all of you who took time to hang out with me in 2012 – whether for five minutes or five weeks. I appreciate all the shared hugs, laughs and tears!

What were YOUR favorite things in 2012?

What are YOU doing New Year’s morning?

By Jamie Martin (@jamielmartin) / December 11, 2012

In years past, my response to the above question has always been, “Sleeping in.” After all, like many around the world, I’ve spent many a December 31st out well past midnight, ringing in the New Year with a few cocktails.

I’m still planning to go out and celebrate this year, but I won’t be imbibing or staying out super late for two reasons: 1) I’m expecting my second little one in June and partying to the wee morning hours is just not part of my lifestyle these days; and 2) I’m participating in the Commitment Day fun run/walk in downtown Minneapolis on New Year’s morning.

While I’m obviously thrilled about the first reason, I’m also very excited about the second. I’ll be joining most of my fellow Experience Life team members, as well of thousands of other folks in the Twin Cities and across the country, in showing my commitment to living healthier in 2013 and beyond.

Jocelyn Stone, EL’s associate editor, and I rock our new Commitment Day T-shirts.

Presented by Life Time Fitness, the healthy way of life company AND Experience Life‘s parent organization/publisher, Commitment Day is a nationwide initiative created to inspire healthier choices and behaviors both in the short and long term. Run/walk events will be happening simultaneously in 30-plus cities across the country, with people of all ages and fitness levels participating. (As long as it’s not below zero here in Minnesota, I’ll be pushing my 2-year-old in the BOB!) It’s going to be one of the largest fitness movements to date, and I’m pretty darn excited to be part of it.

With that in mind, I invite you to join the Experience Life team and myself in partaking in the first annual Commitment Day — whether you’re here in the Twin Cities or not (we’ll also have team members representing in Chicago and New York)! Not near a race location? Lace up those sneakers anyway and join us in spirit: It’s all about taking a proactive stand for your health.

To learn more, to register, or to simply share your healthy-living commitments, visit www.commitmentday.com. I hope to see you there!

In Search of Snow

By Steve Waryan / February 22, 2012

This has been the winter that wasn’t, which has made it tough for Nordic ski training and racing. We haven’t had enough snow to open any of our local ski areas except the man-made ones. I’ve been skiing around in circles at our 2.5k loop with hundreds of high school kids having meets and masters skiers training for races that may not happen. It’s so monotonous that sometimes I just have to pack up and leave. I can’t go on!, I exclaim to myself. That, unfortunately, does not make for having the kind of fitness required for racing, which will indeed become a painful reality when the Birkie arrives in a couple of weeks and I’m skate-skiing up the hills of northern Wisconsin.

I did experience real snow when I went downhill skiing in Montana in December, which is certainly a lot easier than the uphill skiing of cross-country. A good friend and I, after not skiing together for 35 years, took a “mancation” and left the families at home in search of a little adventure.

We skied hard for four days, closing the mountain each day after about 15 runs of nonstop fun. Our two best days were powder days, and we couldn’t get enough of gliding through the light stuff, run after run, sometimes with no one else on the slope. It was a far cry from the fake snow I’d left at home and would return to. I had to enjoy the swirling white stuff while I could.

After the skiing part of our trip, we spent a couple of days exploring Yellowstone in winter — a tranquil time of year, without all the summer tourists. I’d never seen the park in winter before, and experiencing bison up close and a wolf pack eating an elk were highpoints. The bubbling, steaming hot springs at Mammoth were an eerily sublime part of the winter backdrop.

Now that I’m back to our snowless winter and once again skiing the “hamster loop,” as we racers call it, I’m indeed grateful that we at least have fake snow to ski on. Even though the loop is short and the k’s still get monotonous, skiing on man-made snow is better than no skiing at all.

Between a Rock Wall and a Hard Place

By Jocelyn Stone (@jocelynstone) / July 5, 2011

After almost a month of the rain denying me the experience of my first outdoor climb, our group finally got out this past Saturday. It was a sparkly, sunny day, mid-80s, not a chance of rain. We drove with the top down on the car and basked in the beauty that is a Minnesota summer day. After the exhilarating hike up to the bluff, my first climb was. . . anticlimactic.

After all the build-up and talk of how fun this was going to be, a real outdoor climb was drastically different than I had anticipated. You mean the holds really aren’t conveniently marked in red and white so that I can plot where I’m going before I even get started? And what about those big handles that are so easy to grasp onto — where’d they go? Needless to say, not only did I not make it to the top of any of my climbs, I didn’t even get close.

Although I enjoyed the day, I have to admit that I was pretty sullen about my performance. My friends tried to console me with the reminder that this was my first time out. To which it took every ounce of restraint I had (and a couple of ounces that I didn’t) to stop myself from saying, “But it’s (my climbing partner) Ryan’s first time, too, and he’s doing really well.” That would have been just downright whiny. Not to mention that Ryan (the triathloner) is younger, stronger and healthier than I am.

They say that each new experience is a learning opportunity, and I definitely took away something from the outing this weekend: Finally seeing what real, natural rock is like has given me an idea of holds and techniques that I want to practice, ones that I never would have guessed before being out there.

But I’ve also learned that my determination has really grown over the years. There used to be a time that if I didn’t excel at something the first time I did it, there wouldn’t be a second time, and I’ve probably missed out on some really fun experiences. Today, I’m saying that not only will there be another climbing adventure, but when it comes I’ll be ready to kick some butt on that bluff!

I Hate Exercise

By Heidi Wachter (@wachtergrrl) / May 15, 2011

OK, it’s not really exercise I hate. But, I’ve had to overcome some skewed ideas about it. I like my first memories of motion — the ones where my mom would say “go outside and play” that include tag and jump rope with friends and games of catch with my older sisters.

As I grew older, I internalized the idea that exercise was anything but a joyful experience. Media fitness messages weren’t about achieving enjoyment, but a certain size. I quit playing organized sports because they valued winning over sportsmanship or teamwork. School recess was about avoiding bullies.

Later in life, I was fortunate to rediscover how much fun it can be to put my body in motion. For example, when I visited friends in Colorado, we rode everywhere on bicycles, which rekindled my absolute love of pedaling around on two wheels. There are many reasons I enjoy riding a bicycle. I like the DIY nature of it. You don’t need fuel, silly gadgets or fancy equipment, although some of it is helpful. All you really need is a bike and your own energy. Biking is also an efficient use of time. I have places to go and I have to be active in order to keep my body healthy, so combining these two things by riding a bike is practical. I can’t explain the joy and freedom I feel on a bicycle.

Meet Sir Walter, my ’80s Raleigh 12-speed.

Hiking has become another of my favorite activities. I enjoy it because it puts me in touch with the wild. I don’t mean wilderness, although I love to be in those places. I mean wildness as described by Gary Snyder in The Practice of the Wild. The wildness found in involuntary reflexes we don’t notice while we sit scrutinizing data we put into our computer or glean from a heart-rate monitor. I mean the wildness of breath, the reflexive turn of the head when you hear a whistle and the adjustment of your body to the terrain around it. It is these moments of exercise that satisfy both my mind and body.

If you are like me and the thought of “exercise” is unappealing, know that you are not alone. If hearing the word exercise conjures unpleasant flashbacks of grade school gym class, I’m with you. I’m certain you are not alone if the word reminds you of being the last person picked for any athletic endeavor. But, I hope you don’t let those soured memories prevent you from enjoying movement. I’ve overcome my own unpleasant memories and found the peace and joy that moving can provide. These moments have given me so much more than big muscles.

– Heidi Wachter, Experience Life freelancer

Unedited

Recently in Outdoor Adventure Category

Hiking on Crane Mountain

Trackbacks

A Few of My Favorite Things

Trackbacks

What are YOU doing New Year’s morning?

Trackbacks

In Search of Snow

Trackbacks

Between a Rock Wall and a Hard Place

Trackbacks

I Hate Exercise

Trackbacks

A BLOG FROM

Subscribe by Email

Search

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories