Rocking the Red River Gorge

Geared up for the next adventure.

It's been a while, I know, but the impact of this the second trip of my summer hasn't left me. This trip was to (of all places) Kentucky -- and it was fantastic! I went to a place called Red River Gorge. I went with my backpacking group. We had a veteran among us who knew the place, but for the rest of us it was new.

That's me, heading off into the wild green yonder.

I've been told that Red River Gorge has the most natural arch formations after Arches National Park (one of my favorites!).

It also has lots of rocks to climb and scramble up:

I'm happy to be near the top.

Scoping out the task at hand. (Okay, I didn't tackle that one but next time I will!)

Scrambling up Indian Staircase:

And scrambling back down Indian Staircase:

And other sides of caves:

Group shot!

Need to rest every so often...

Lovely flora.

Amazing rock jumping!! (that's not me jumping but I *did* jump -- twice!)

Vista.

Don't know specifically where I was but I loved being there.

Cool fauna.

Group shot.

We were able to do what every backpacker loves -- Cowboy Camping!

Camping without a tent -- under the stars.

So incredible to wake up to this view.

I have one more trip planned for this year (somehow didn't get in as many as I wanted!) which may be interesting since it will be in late fall when that white-stuff-that-will-go-unnamed could happen....

On the Trail 2015

The summer 2015 backpacking season has begun! A week and a half ago I finished my first trip of the year which was to circumnavigate Trout Run Valley in West Virginia. It was a three day hike covering 27 miles and, for me --- it -- was -- tough!

The whole trip was up and down, up and down and that was at an elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet and it was on incredibly rocky terrain:

But there were many gorgeous views:

And lovely flora too:

And of course fun around the campfire with the others:

I have a couple other trips planned for this summer but I'm hoping they won't be as tough as this one! In the end though, I did it and it was quite an accomplishment!

So now I'm on to more jewelry -- stay tuned!

On the Trail

I went on another backpacking trip a couple weekends back. This time it was in the Allegany Mountain range at Minister Creek, which is right in Ohio's backyard -- and it was just lovely. It was a shorter trip this time, but it gave me a chance to breathe and be in the quietude of nature. 

Additionally, I made new hiking friends as well as some new non-hiking friends -- such as this little salamander:

The trip entailed lots of wooded forests as well as ancient rock formations: 

And my morning view from my tent was picture postcard perfect:

And it seems the color of the hiking day for me is teal. I seem to have acquired lots of teal for my hiking life including my pack --

-- my tent and my clothes! It's a bit much but I'm liking it.

So, with inspiration from my new hobby I made this color blend called, "On the Trail." 

Penny size (3/4" - 20mm disc) teal green earrings.

It's (obviously) a lot of shades of teal. I also made these boho earrings:

Funky Modern Bohemian Teal Green Dangle Earrings

And I couldn't resist expanding on the idea so I made this modern pendant:

Modern Enamel Pendant with Copper Wire

I'll be going on two more trips next month (during the height of autumn!) so I expect to be inspired by the browns and oranges and I look forward to coming up with some new color blends in that theme. Until then, have a great fall season!