Your Gateway to Outdoor Adventure

Have you ever found yourself standing in front of a beautiful mountain scene, feeling a wave of peace slowly wash over you, and thinking to yourself, “I really should spend more time out in nature?”

I know that I have had countless moments such as these myself, and I knew that living in the mountains was exactly what I wanted most in life, even as a young child. I just somehow always felt most at peace being closer to nature and the outdoors. It’s like this magical connection that I can barely even put words to because it goes so far beyond that? 

Here in Steamboat Springs, each spring the snow reluctantly begins to slowly give way to progressively greener and greener meadows and the aspens begin to slowly come back to life. The rivers and streams all rise to the occasion, as the sun slowly begins to warm our beautiful valleys allowing the snow to gradually change forms back into water once again. It's like flipping over the open sign on nature's front door to welcome yet another beautiful summer. 

My friends and I are always so excited to get back out into nature, and to explore the unbelievable beauty that we are so blessed to have right in our own backyard. As we all head back out onto the trails after a long winter, there are always friendly smiles all around. We all love the summer so much, not only because they are far too short, but here in Steamboat the summers are pretty damn hard to beat quite honestly. 

I recall hiking with some friends just this last spring with a huge grin on my face and a lightness in my heart as we steadily marched out to the wilderness boundary (or as far as we could get through the still melting snow). Fortunately, we were able to get all the way to the boundary on this occasion, and the entire day I just felt so incredibly peaceful and happy just spending time out in my element.

Here's a fun fact, there is this very unique smell here in the valley during the springtime as the snow begins to melt away, I am not sure what it is exactly, but it is definitely unique from every other place I have ever been? I have often thought it was skunk cabbage as we like to call it, otherwise known as Corn Lily, but I am not 100% that this is the only source of this unique spring time scent? 

Here is a bunch of it sprinkled throughout a wet meadow on one of my local hikes, and it is the broad leafy plants you can see all over. Not a great shot of it, but you can get a fairly good idea if you look at the bottom right in this pic.

California Corn Lily is a poisonous plant that grows in wetlands and moist areas, and it is native to western North America. It usually blooms during the middle of summer and has a very strong scent to it, and a unique one at that! I have often heard locals say that the height this plant grows each year can be an indicator of the snow levels for the upcoming winter. I have no idea if this is actually true?

Exploring and enjoying the outdoors has always been the most satisfying part of my life. It never gets old and I am always learning something new. After spending 30+ years doing all sorts of different activities in the Colorado Rockies, I feel inspired to lend some guidance and inspiration to those who might also aspire to create their own meaningful experiences and memories. 

While I do not consider myself an outdoor expert, I am certainly a very experienced and competent outdoorsman. That being said, I think it should be noted that keeping a modest sense of humility and a persistent willingness to learn is crucial for every aspiring outdoorsman (and woman), these are indeed the most valuable qualities you could possess, in my opinion. Nature is more than happy to put us in our place from time to time.

If I had to choose a key piece of advice to pass down to any aspiring outdoor adventure seekers, it would be this: Safety and awareness need to always be your top priorities in the outdoors. Take a few moments ahead of time to assess where you will be going and what you will be doing, and just plan accordingly.

Make sure you are at least reasonably prepared to mitigate any potential risks the best that you can. Depending on the situation, this could mean having the proper clothing and gear, food and water, a fire starting kit, a first aid kit, a headlamp, a map and some basic navigation skills, and telling someone where you are and when you intend to be back. 

If you are going somewhere even slightly more remote, it is always a good idea to have the necessary equipment to spend a night outdoors safely, and take what you need to be able to do that. Of course, there are no silver bullets here, but the main point here is that a little preparation will go a long way toward having safer and more enjoyable experiences in the outdoors. We will be covering a range of these different scenarios and topics in more detail in other posts. 

After all the years I have spent outdoors, I have learned some really important lessons, and I have found myself in a handful of situations that I would not wish on anyone. Naturally, I would like to help you avoid those things and to be prepared so that you can enjoy your own adventures safely.

I also truly enjoy learning new skills that will benefit me on my own adventures, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me to improve my own skillset as well. This is something we should all aspire to do if we feel compelled to feed our more adventurous side. 

I don’t want to give the impression that danger is all you will ever find, but strive to always keep a modest sense of humility and acknowledge the fact that there are some risks that you should attempt to be prepared for. These simple concepts will absolutely be a great start to help to keep you safer and actually enjoy your time in the outdoors.

I encourage you to get out there and explore and be adventurous, but just recognize that this comes with some responsibility to step up your game when it comes to improving your own skills and knowledge. 

The whole idea behind Outdoor Informed is to provide you with at least a reasonable level of the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to enjoy the outdoors safely. You can certainly aspire to step out of your comfort zone to create some amazing new experiences, and you don’t have to go completely overboard to do that safely, it just takes a little bit of education, awareness, and practice, just like everything else in life. 

We will do our best to cover a wide variety of topics that will help you to accomplish this, and more. When I think back over my own life, so many of my most cherished memories and experiences were created during my time spent outdoors. I also think that one of the things I love most about being out in nature is that I can actually quiet my mind and just be present with what I am doing. I don’t worry about my job, my responsibilities, or so many other things in my life, I am able to just be in the moment, you know?

It feels rare today to find the opportunity to shut everything else out and just enjoy living life in a simple way, but this is where being outdoors absolutely shines! It is so much easier to unravel the knots we all build up in our lives and in our minds when we get out into nature, and it is here that we can find some true peace and clarity. I don’t know about you, but that is very appealing to me? I believe that our connection to nature is so incredibly important and valuable, and that we should all honor and enjoy that. 

I hope you will join me on this exploration, and please share your special experiences with me. Bringing nature and the outdoors closer into your own life will add an element that you simply won’t get from the material world we get so caught up in. I believe it is a connection that we all need, but one that has been slowly drifting further away from each of us in many respects.

This is your invitation to come back and establish your own connection, to create amazing memories with your friends and family, and an opportunity to release so many of the burdens you carry in your day to day life, if only for a short while.  

Nature is waiting for you to come experience this for yourself, and I only hope I can help you find your way back to that place. A little education and inspiration may be all you need to find a new level of happiness and fulfillment in your life. I would like to invite you to come along on a new adventure, subscribe today and let’s venture out there safely, together! 

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world." - John Muir