Whether you are an experienced outdoors person or someone starting out on trails for the first time, we all ask ourselves big questions: How to pack your hiking day pack? What if you encounter a bear on the trail? What gear do I need to get started trail running? This blog shares sensible, critical information and how-to’s filled with pictures, humor, and geared toward the modern adventurer.
Meet Magdalena
I am Magdalena, the voice behind most of these posts. I’m avid outdoors woman, and have been for my entire life. Growing up in northern New Mexico, I fell in love with the landscape while hiking, running, and camping in the mountains around my family’s small farm. Most of every summer weekend was spent in the mountains, exploring trails, splashing in streams, and summiting peaks.
I am a geologist by training: I earned my PhD and MS from the University of New Mexico. My research focused on better understanding the evolution of topography in the Rocky Mountains. Big questions I like to ask are: How did these mountains get so high? When did this canyon form? What is this rock?!
I also truly love distance running and am a 2-time Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier. Post-collegiately, Brooks Running sponsored me, now I coach for them! I ran cross country, indoor and outdoor track for the University of Oregon, and loved every minute of it. Now I run more recreationally, and spend a lot more time hiking and walking.
I am an outdoors woman: a geologist, writer, elite distance runner, artist, and mother. My husband and I have 3 children, and our family of 5 are often hiking, camping, and backpacking around New Mexico, Colorado, and the rest of the Rockies! We spend pretty much any extra minute outdoors, and love exploring.
I hope you join me on in your outdoor adventures. Have a question? Send it my way? Think this information would be useful to someone you know? Get semi-weekly tips, tricks, and more by signing up for the newsletter!