Whitefish Mountain - Christmas Day (with my new WASPcam™)

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of WASPcam™. All opinions are 100% mine.

Christmas 2016 was a stunning day here in NW Montana, I had social obligations in the afternoon but decided it wouldn't stop me from getting to the mountain and killing a few runs. Of course, by killing I mean almost killing myself, haha. Seriously though, I may found my love for powder but at this stage of learning that also includes a whole lot of up close face time with the pow.

Another exciting bit to the day was getting to test out my new WASPcam™! One of the first things I noticed is that it's waterproof WITHOUT a case, that's right, no case needed! If you're an outdoor enthusiast like myself then you realize just how exciting that is.

WASPcam™ 9907 4K

Okay so first thing, I’m getting my boarding gear together and decided to go ahead and open the camera box up. It’s packaged simply, you don’t need wire cutters to break into the thing, so that’s a perk. Once I got the box open all these goodies came out! There are six different mount options that come with this, how rad is that!

WASPcam™
My new WASPcam™ and I are now ready to hit the mountain, and I know I already mentioned how stunning the day was so I want to to see for yourself.

This is what WASPcam™ looks like on it's own.

WASPcam™ 9907 4K

Every corner garnered these views that were to die for! If you’ve never been to Whitefish ski mountain, I recommend you change that. We’re next to Glacier National Park (as you know if you’ve been reading my blog) and on a clear day you get a fantastic view of the park. I love, LOVE getting up to the mountain as they open. It’s my favorite time to be there and I feel great when I’m leaving about the time most people arrive, plus you avoid a ton of lines. I’m pretty sure that Christmas day get real busy up there, it was filling up fast when I was taking off for the day! Luckily I avoided lines and got the best views!

Up at the summit they were snowblowing off the summit house deck and the sun was shining bright, temps were just right and all was right with the world.

I’d just made it onto my first run when I was greeted with a view I knew I wanted to capture.

See what I mean about you needing to get here?? My WASPcam™ can take photos at 20mp quality so really it’s all I need to have on me boarding! I definitely like to be able to carry one camera and my DSLR is crazy impractical so still being able to get high quality shots is a definite plus.

I can imagine gifting a WASPcam™ to my hiking friends too, the compact size and waterproof feature make it a slam dunk for the outdoors! It’s pretty simple to use too so even my daughter can click pics or video if she wants too, plus I don’t have to worry about her dropping it like my DSLR.

Happy holidays and happy trails!!

New website!

Hey everyone, I have my brand new site up and running. This is very exciting! You're welcome to send feedback using the Contact page on my new web page or just send an email to hikingforliving@gmail.com

All new posts will be on the new page and all old posts have been moved over as well.

Here's the link: www.hikingforliving.com

Come visit me!

Akokala Lake - Glacier National Park

Here's a post I should have made a while ago! I had the pleasure to go on a group hike with a bunch of lovely ladies from all different corners of the country. We went to Glacier National Park and took the trail to Akokala Lake. It was a very easy hike, low and mostly flat.

There wasn't a whole lot of crazy things or views on the trail but the lake sure was beautiful!

At this time of year the mosquitoes were eating us alive, you really couldn't stop, even with bug spray they were intolerable.

 Coming up on a small bridge, about three quarters of the way to the lake.

Here's the bridge.



What was neat on this trip is that we got passed by a forest service pack team.









The team was bringing in panels to be installed in the water ways. 

They are hoping to keep the Lake Trout population from infesting Akokala Lake. The Lake Trout is a growing problem in the parks waters.

There were two strings of 5, including the riders mount. It was pretty sweet to watch as they crossed over the creek while I waited for the rest of the group to catch up to me.














When we first arrived at the lake the surrounding peaks were shrouded in clouds creating an almost unreal look. It felt as if you could become enveloped in the soft puffy layers if only you were to stare intently enough. 

Much to my delight, as we sat there eating our lunches, the clouds began to drift away unveiling the magnificent peaks that laid underneath. 

At your farthest left, still beneath the clouds a bit, is Reuter Peak.

Kintla peak is in the middle to the left hand side, also just beneath some wispy clouds.

To the middle right and clear as day is Mount Peabody.

Numa Peak sits on the far right, towering above the lake.

The whole hike was just under 12 miles, so if you're looking for a little distance and an easy trail, this could be for you. 

With all the fish I saw, I would highly suggest bring a rod!

Happy Trails!

What should we EAT?

Now here's a big question! What should we eat? I'm on the go whenever I'm not working and I'm hiking, trail running, backpacking... these are all things that require a lot of energy and therefore a lot of food. 

Calories, carbs, fats, trans fats, protein, fiber, sodium...?! The list goes on of things in food to count and watch. Now I'm by no means a nutritionist, I am not a health professional nor do I claim to be. However, I am generally in pretty good shape and I can conquer a 16-mile hike in one day without feeling like I'm dying for days afterwards. My diet isn't perfect either, there's probably more food I should... or shouldn't eat.

Back to the original question then, what to eat? Let's begin with what not to eat:

Soda - Duh! There are waters that are carbonated with natural fruit flavor, they're delicious and way the heck better for you. They come in a can and everything ;)

Prepackaged foods - To me this means TV dinners. Why? They're packed with salt and very, very little actual nutrition. If I "have" to go this route (it's been a long week and I'm exhausted!) then I will get a minimally processed, all natural meal from the organic section in the store.

Boxed foods - Same basic principal. These foods are packed with sodium and not much else.

Fast food - We've known this for years! How many of you still indulge in this nasty habit though? Fast food is typically the opitamy of what NOT to eat... I mean who else can make a salad unhealthy? Take a bunch of over-processed, nutrition-less junk and put in a meal, that to me describes fast food. Speaking for myself (which of course this whole post is), once I got away from this kind of food it now makes my stomach sick if I munch on a buddies fries or other grease laden food.

Deep fried food - I think we can all figure that one out.

White flour foods - White bread, tortillas, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, PASTA, etc. These are all things which are void of nutrition and when processed by our body do us no good.

Now, let's talk about what we should eat:

Veggies - Yep, that's right, you're momma learned ya good when your were a wee one and she was telling to eat your vegetables. So we don't all like all the veggies out there, I'm not a fan of eating food that tastes bad to me. You can't get me touch a bell pepper but I sure do love me some broccoli! Find what you like in the veggie section, buy it and eat it. Even if it's just carrots with ranch, ya the ranch is bad for you but you're still eating the damn carrot right?

Less processed food - Whole milk instead of non-fat, regular cottage cheese instead of 2%, real cheese instead of american single slices, food made with real sugar instead of sweetener... Why? Well, the way I look at it, less processed foods are more natural. More natural is probably better than artificial, in my mind.

Whole grain - This can be bread, tortillas, crackers, buns, whatever. If I can get my hands on it in whole grain... I'll do it. I prefer whole grain to "whole grain wheat", there is a difference there.

Meat - Yep, I still think meat is pretty good for you. A big juicy steak may not be as good for my health as lean ground turkey but it's a heck of a lot better than a fast food burger!

Fruit - Strawberries, bananas, apples, pears, oranges, plums, etc. There is sugar in fruit, this is a pretty well know thing... arguably making it "not good for you". Ya right?! If the only way you're getting sugar is through fruit I doubt you gonna be packing on many pounds and feeling sluggish!

Beans, lentils, quinoa, oatmeal, etc. - There is really a ton of good food out there for you, all you've got to do is start eating it!

Once you begin eating smarter you begin feeling better. Pretty simple right, give you're body better crap and you won't feel like crap all the time. It irks me a little bit tot hear someone that just when to Fast Food Town say "Gee, I sure do feel sluggish and cruddy everyday after lunch." Well... I sure wonder why! Maybe it was that little gremlin that goes around punching people in the gut and slipping sleeping powder in your drink whenever you're not looking. 

How about some pictures now!

Quinoa, cauliflower, broccoli, fried turkey patty and delicious cheese.

Meal on the cheapy cheap! Tiny steak, tiny scallops, small salad and mushrooms with a bit of spinach and cheese.

Meal eating out at work. Super delightful Cesar salad and black bean soup!

Mhhh wine.

Quinoa, ground turkey fried up with onion and yummy spinach.

Groceries

Maybe this will inspire you to eat better, maybe not. What I can tell you is I feel a hell of a lot better since I began eating well! I still get to eat delicious food too.

If you have pics of some cool food I'd love to see them! Send 'em post 'em, whatever ya want. Towards the end of this hiking season I am considering making a post on trail food as well! Oooh, exciting!

Happy Trails!

Birthday Weekend!

So I admittedly didn't do any hiking this weekend. I did have a very enjoyable time camping for my close friends birthday though!

Here are a few silly photos:

Matt enjoying the water.

We went to Blanchard lake which is South of Seeley Lake, MT by about 20 minutes. 2 hours and 20ish minutes from where I live.

Mr. Pike, caught by none other than the birthday boy himself! And he was yummy. <--- the pike I mean

Ron, my very talented pup... falling asleep suspended in mid air. How does he do it?! What would you call that a zzzuper power?

More silly antics! Ron is clearly not in to it all, or maybe he just wanted a butt photo? Either way I would say, mission accomplished.

Ron, self-appointed cooler guard.

Catching some waves, the Ron dog is so cool he even floats right along with us. Of course all we really caught were fish and moss but it sure was a blast!

Wooh for a fun weekend... until next time, happy trails and wiggly tails!

Clayton Lake - Fishing!

It was going to be a hot day, the forecast said almost 90... what to do? Of course we still wanted to hike but it would be way too hard on our dog, Ron, in those temps. So we searched around for a lake... there are plenty that you can drive to but that isn't terribly appealing to us and would probably be very busy on such a hot day. Skimming over topo maps I noticed one just about 2/3 miles out from a trail head over by the Hungry Horse Reservoir, it looked like a decent size too. Having not spent much time hiking in that area yet I was excited and the hike sure didn't disappoint!

The hike is short, roughly 2.6 miles to hit the lake.

Leaving late morning the temps had already hit 70's in town. From South Kalispell it took almost two hours to get to the trail head, it got warmer the whole time, of course. At the shady trail head the thermometer read 77 dergrees.

On this particular day my roommate was going to float the river, thus leaving her pup without anything to do. We decided to bring him along to have a fun time as well, better yet he just so happens to be a wonderfully behaved dog.

Check out that handsome devil!

The hike in begins very mellow and flat, there's a ton of water on the way. Hitting small streams every quarter mile or so was a wonderful thing for this scorching day!

We were stopping every quarter to half mile in shade spots to give the dogs water and cool them down. There was a wonderful breeze every so often that couldn't have felt better on this day.

About a mile in the climb begins, it's a pretty gradual incline and there are plenty of switch backs. You're also greeted by the views an open uphill climb provides.

Rest break!

Another

And even more resting!

Now those are some Hot Dogs! Too corny?

Moving on...

Nice big creek! Aaah, the water is so cool and refreshing. Ron, however, was not keen at all to cross. The water was clipping along pretty quickly so I will admit that we caved and carried him part of the way across.

I can tell you that if you've never been to Montana, you're probably missing out. Even the less scenic hikes here can wow you!

 Yay for snow!

The lake is close and I can tell the dogs are getting excited.

The heat dissipates as you hit the lake, feels like 70 instead of 80 and the lake is COLD.

Oh ya, that's what I'm talking about! Look at this lake. This day we set out on a mission to find a good, cold lake and get some fishing in. Boy did we, we ended up spending about 7/8 hours at the lake. We enjoyed the dogs, got wet in the water, lost several lures, and of course fished.

 









The dogs had grand time and by the end of that day little Ron was finding any log or rock close to us and napping.

 




Caught a few keepers.

We'll definitely be coming back here to camp, the spots are terrific.

Evening sun at the lake.

The trail makes a loop around the lake.

Great hike, even better lake. I would highly recommend even for the less physically inclined. What seems really wild to me is that we didn't see anyone else the whole day! 

You can bet I'll be back at this lake ;)

Tired pups say, until next time happy trails!

For a full album with even MORE photos, Click Here