So You Want to Hike? My Beginner's Guide

When "hiker" comes to mind, most people conjure images of granola middle-aged folks, clad in over-sized khaki pants, athletic Jesus sandals and sloppy, huge backpacks - sporting a perpetual can-do grin and a thumbs up. Nah son, that ain't it, at least, that's not all of it.

If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or know me even remotely, you've probably realized that the call of the wild isn't just a whim for me, hiking is an essential part of how I run my world - how I keep my balance. But you're not here for all that zen sh*t. I get asked all the time how I started hiking, and how a beginner should start their outdoor athletic experience, and instead of typing the long soliloquy that I reply with when asked, I figure I'd give my guide some roots on TheAngelEra.com. You're welcome. This is a beginner's guide to hiking.

How Do I Start?

The first thing you should do is decide where you're hiking. If you're an absolute beginner-hiker, you should start on a trail that's short, (a day hike) less than an hour from where you live, and has easy to moderate terrain (this also depends on your fitness level.) Several sites like AllTrails.com, Trails.com, EveryTrail.com, and AmericanTrails.org allow you to enter you zip code, and they'll give you trail options close to where you live. Most of these sites offer reviews from users who've already traversed the trail, and tips on where the trailhead (beginning of the trail) is, and if the trail is worth the hike. Remember, DON'T choose a difficult or long trail if you're a beginner. A big mistake beginner's make is underestimating a hike. After you've chosen your trail, research it, read insights from other hikers, and actually look the trail up on a map. You want to try to familiarize yourself with the trail as much as you can. You know how fit you are, gradually push it. 

Pick a friend to go with you! This is the department I have the hardest time with. Most of my girl's are city dwellers, and hiking on a Saturday just isn't their idea of a good time. But if you're just starting out, bringing someone with you is a safety issue. It's harder for two people to get lost, usually one has a better sense of direction, and if you God-forbid get hurt, they can get help if your cell doesn't work for some reason. This leads me to the next part.

What Should I Wear?

Hiking Essentials by theangelera featuring lip care

It's cold as sh*t outside right now, and about two weeks ago I made the mistake of not dressing properly for a mountain hike, yes me. An experienced a*s hiker forgot to wear Under Armor under her pants. Needless to say, I suffered right away. Bronchitis had me in it's grips just because I didn't take a little more time to prep my hiking outfit. Don't worry, I won't let you do the same. These are essentials: 

• Wicking (wicking material draws of sweat and moisture from your body) long-sleeve shirt
• Wicking long underwear or Under Armor
• Hat, cap or headband (synthetic or wool)
• Gloves
• Insulating fleece jacket or vest (an inside layer)
• Sturdy pants that don't weigh you down, but also aren't like, sweat pants... Nah
• Coat (that allows you to move, and doesn't weigh tons, I LOVE my Adidas Hiking Heldinnen Jacket, and it's on sale right now)
• Sturdy hiking boots or trail running shoes that preferably come above your ankle
• Socks (I suggest SmartWool, not only does the material keep your feet dry, -yes your feet sweat don't front- but SmartWool is comfortable as sh*t. Literally a cushion for your feet) 

For warm weather:

• Wicking T-shirt
• Wicking underwear
• Quick-drying pants or shorts
• Long-sleeve shirt (for bugs, sun to wear over the wicking sh*t)
• A hat with a brim
• Insulating fleece jacket or vest
• Bandana or buff
• Sturdy hiking boots or trail running shoes that preferably come above your ankle
• Socks

In your backpack: 

• A first aid kit (you can buy complete, yet mini ones at places like REI)
• Map (physical, I'd store it in a ziplock or waterproof case)
• GPS (on your phone is fine, a separate one is better)
• Compass
• Knife or multi-tool
• Fold-up tarp or tent
• Emergency blanket (the foil kind, they reflect your body heat to keep you warmer)
• A flashlight w/ extra batteries or a headlamp
• Matches in a waterproof container, or a lighter, matches and a waterproof case are better
• Water bottle with water, or a Camelbak
• Water treatment (like purification tablets, a LifeStraw, the new fangled portable purifying pens)
• A fire starter (I like good 'ol fashion FireSteel)
• Snacks (the best kind are non-perishable like almond butter, granola, almonds etc.)
• Insect repellant
• Trail guide (tailored to the trail you're on)
• Duct tape (it's literally good for anything, from repairing a rip in your backpack, the binding a limp if it gets injured)
• Waterproof sunscreen
• Lip balm with SPF
• Backpack (to put all this sh*t in... I thought that'd be obvious, but you know, some of y'all...) 

"Why do I need all of that? It's just a beginning hike." Because your a*s is a beginner, that's why! Anything can happen in the wild, it's not far-fetched scenario that you could hurt yourself, get lost, over-estimate your hiking ability and become disoriented. You'll be glad you packed these things if any of that occurs. Don't let this list deter you from the hike however, every activity in life has risk associated with it. It all depends on what you deem as acceptable risk. 

OK! I'm Ready, Now What?

Now, get out there, and go hike! The night before your first hike, check the weather forecast for the area you're going to be hiking in and get a good night's sleep (I don't suggest hung-over hiking). When you wake-up day of, have a full, protein-packed breakfast, down some green tea and a multi-vitamin, and re-check your backpack. You can never be over-prepared. 

My Personal Tips and Tricks: 

• I like to go hiking at the crack of dawn. You're the most alert that you'll be all day, you have tons of energy, (presuming you slept well the night before) and the trail is fresh. Believe it or not, sometimes tons of people on a trail can be disorienting, or a stupid experience. 
• Follow the trail markers! Most hiking trails mark trees with different color stripes to indicate which direction and turns you should be taking. This will help you stay on course. 
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate before you hike! Drinking water before the hike, and taking small sips during will help you sustain energy, sweat less and stave-off the creeping fatigue that can sometimes be associated with hiking.
• HAVE FUN! Take it in, de-stress, forget boyfriends, work, city problems, and take pictures! But don't take pictures while you're walking, lol. OH! And I shouldn't have to tell you this but, charge your phone. 

Anymore questions about hiking? Feel free to hit me.

- Angel

DIY: Angel's Recipes for All-Natural Spring Cleaning Products

Spring is here! Which means it's time to get lazy a*sses up and do a deep clean to clear that winter funk out of the house. My usual routine consists of deep cleaning the carpets, sliding the windows off and cleaning the front of them, and just generally getting down and dirty double time with the house. In an effort to go organic in recent years, I've tirelessly researched all-natural cleaning products, got recipes passed down from grand-folks, and researched on the net. Now, I bring my curated list of all-natural, DIY home cleaning products to you. Don't be scurred. These are tried and true solutions that have been working since antiquity. You pretty much just need lemons, white vinegar, lavender essential oil and baking soda to get started. For the ENTIRE house. You're welcome. Happy spring cleaning!

All-Purpose Lemon Vinegar Cleaner:
This is a concoction that cleans the kitchen, the bathroom, windows, and a myriad of other surfaces. Is it safe? Hell yeah! White vinegar kills salmonella and e. colli, and lemon has classically been used as an all-purpose cleaner because of it's bacteria killing properties. Here's what you'll need:

1 mason jar
Peels from 3 to 4 lemons
1 cup of white vinegar

Fill your mason jar with the cut up lemon peels, then add the vinegar, it should completely cover the lemon peels, if not, add a little more. Seal the lid tightly and put it away for two weeks. After the time is up, strain the lemon peel/ vinegar mixture using cheese cloth. Add equal parts distilled water to the mixture in a spray bottle, then use this to clean everything from walls to counters, brass and nickel fixtures to toilets.

Vinegar Glass Cleaner:
Ammonia can often be secretly harmful to our senses, not to mention it can mess up a perfectly good manicure for no reason. Go the natural root and mix equal parts white vinegar with equal parts distilled or purified water in an empty spray bottle. Shake, and use on glass surfaces for a great, non-streaking cleaner. Not a fan of the smell of vinegar? Add a few drops of lemon juice to sweeten the smell. 

Olive Oil Lemon Lavender Furniture Polish:
That's a mouth-full hunh? I have a lot of reclaimed wood in my house - meaning a lot of my furniture is refashioned from wood found on beaches, in other furniture, or disregarded trees because yeah, I'm a eco-lover. In order to keep my furniture looking good and my lungs clear, I mix:

1/2 cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon 
3 drops lavender essential oil
1 teaspoon distilled water

Mix it up in a wide mouth, short mason jar, then dip a soft cloth in the mixture. This concoction shines and cleans my furniture. The vinegar lifts the dirt, the olive oil and lemon add shine, and the lavender oil cleans, and adds a pleasant smell throughout my house. 

Lavender Linen Spray: 
Forget Febreeze, it's loaded with so many chemicals that you'll choke before your favorite lazy cleaner gets that bun funk out of your sheets. Try this all natural substitute (or, better-stute, whatever): Take a 1/2 teaspoon of lavender essential oil, 1/4 cup unflavored vodka ( I KNOW y'all have some of this laying around,) 3 1/2 cups distilled water (or bottled water for you bougies) and pour all ingredients into a glass bottle. Shake well. When you're ready to use this mixture, pour it into a small spray bottle and go to town on your sheets. 

Baking Soda Carpet Cleaner:
If you have carpet on your floor, it's necessary that you get that winter funk out of there come spring. Even if you're clean and fastidious, odors are bound to get trapped in the carpet. Sprinkle baking soda over the carpet generously, let it sit, then vacuum that sucker up. 

Garbage Disposal DeFunkifier (Yes, yes, made up word):
Chicken bones, broccoli, cheese, garlic, onions, all organic crap that goes down the garbage disposal - and also a funk little recipe for a stinky a*s hole in your sink. Lol. Ready to get that smell out of there? Drop a 1/2 cup baking soda and an orange's worth of peels down the drain, follow with a 1/4 cup vinegar a voilá! Stinky smell gone. 

All-Natural Drano Baking Soda Vinegar Drano:
Been combing your hair over the sink or carelessly putting nasty sh*t down your drains? To clear clogs in sink and tub drains, use a funnel to pour in 1/2 cup baking soda followed by 1 cup vinegar. When the foaming subsides, flush with hot tap water.

Let me knw how these work out if you try them!

- Angel
 

Women's History Month - Breathtaking Chile & Michelle Bachelet

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Pristine, incandescent, bucolic, all words that come to mind when you think of the beautiful Republic of Chile. Nestled between the Andes Mountains to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west, the small South American country is set up to be a natural wonder thanks to it's geography. From the marbled caves set along General Carrera Lake, to the ancient, looming ruins on Easter Island, this gorgeous place filled with culture and preserved nature is a gem. What's this have to do with Women's History Month you ask? Well on this day (March 10) in 2006, the first female president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated.

Michelle Bachelet served Chile from 2006 to 2010, after which she was promptly scooped up by the United Nations to serve as the first executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The people of Chile couldn't get enough of this super woman who is a physician, speaks five languages, and is a staunch advocate for women's equality. In December 2013, Bachelet was re-elected president of Chile with a 62% majority. 

In honor of her accomplishment, and contribution to the greatness of women, check out images from her gorgeous country above.

- Angel 
 

Luxe Living in the Forest

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For about 200,000 years now, human beings have ran roughshod on forests and natural dwellings, once home to a myriad of flora and fauna. Deforestation it's called. We come in, hack down trees that in some cases have taken hundreds of thousands of years to build, and replace them with crude, ugly a*s suburban strip malls, factories that undoubtedly have contributed to holes in the ozone layers, thus, global warming, and cookie-cutter single family home neighborhoods.

This is bad. And I'm not saying we aren't suppose to live, but we could build along side forests, rather than decimate them. Clearly Denmark architect student Konrad Wójcik agrees. 

Scene: Imagine an old forest full of luscious, overpowering pines. You're driving on the road next to these gorgeous monstrosities when you noticed some peculiar, isosceles triangle shaped buildings peeking between trees. Strange yet incandescent, the homes are outfitted with an entire wall of solar panels, bio digesters (which turns any waste into power) and heat pumps that draw energy from the ground. Warmly lit and inviting, you realize these are homes, and, how can you get one? 

These tree-shaped homes are the environmentally conscious imaginings of Wójcik's "Primeval Symbiosis." He designed these homes in an effort to not only save people's nerves from the noise and congestion of the city, but hopefully propose homes who's carbon footprint is far less than that of mcmansions and apartment buildings of today. Made from a lightweight wooden frames, the homes would have timber pole that runs up the middle of the house, supporting the weight, and possessing enough space for 2 - 4 inhabitants. 

These homes are TOO dope. Count me in to be one of the first to own one of these bad boys if they go into production. Learn more about them below.

- Angel

#TrailTuesday: The Bay of Fundy Trail

Oh Canada, we Americans have yet another reason to be jealous of you - besides your great healthcare and poutine fries. The beautiful, bucolic, hundreds of thousands of hiking trails you have are awe inspiring. 

Lucky for us yankees, at least we're on the same continent. For this Trail Tuesday I present to you - the Bay of Fundy. The trail, located in New Brunswick, Canada takes you through primordial forests, wet lands, heights 820 feet above sea level and of course through the gorgeous Bay of Fundy. 

You'll be in for a challenge as you follow The Fundy Footpath starting from the suspension bridge at Big Salmon River hugging the coastline of Fundy National Park for 24 miles. At some point you'll reach the famous Hopewell Rocks. At low-tide you can walk the path along the beach that meets them, at high tide, grab a canoe! If you're not feeling the lengthy trek, you can always enter from different access points to shorten your hike. I suggest your bring the following: 

• Rain gear
• Warm clothing
• Good hiking boots (my favs are my Nike Meriwethers)
• Camelbak (a water bottle is cool, but this is SO much more convenient)
• First aid kit
• Compass (I wouldn't rely on the built-in smart phone one)
• Map
• Tide chart (so you don't uh, get swept away)s
• Water treatment
• Backpacker stove
• GPS (if available)
• Tent

Of course this is all if you're planning to trek the entire 3 - 4 day, 24 mile hike. If not, you can adjust this list accordingly. By the way, you must register to hike this trail. Guess they don't want any Supertramp sh*t happening on their Canadian watch. For more info, visit HERE. 

Happy hiking!

- Angel 

Get Outside - America's Black Historical Trails & Parks

What better way to celebrate Black History Month (in my opinion) than to get out, enjoy nature, and traverse some of the trails that African Americans took to freedom not so long ago? Just in time for you to get your faux Indiana Jones on, the African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation released a list of ways to celebrate Black History Month in the nation parks, state by state.

• Louisiana – Enjoy a free concert featuring musicians from New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. Hosted by Cane River Creole National Historical Park and Asbury United Methodist Church in Natchitoches, the performers will be playing selections from their acclaimed CD collection, "Freedom is Coming: Songs of Freedom, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad." Find out more here.
• Massachusetts – Experience the powerful story of the Civil War soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, an all-black Civil War contingent, at Springfield Armory National Historic Site. Find out more here.
• Missouri – Encourage all fourth graders you know to enter the George Washington Carver National Monument's annual Art and Essay Contest! This year's theme is "Overcoming Obstacles: Struggle and Triumph in the Life of George Washington Carver." Find out more here.
• New York – Take part in an African Beads Workshop or an African Person Puppet Workshop led by anthropologist and designer Vickie Fremont African Burial Ground National Monument. Find out more here.
• Ohio – Help preserve the incredible legacy of Colonel Charles Young and join the African American Experience Fund in its efforts to establish the Colonel Charles Young Leadership Academy at the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. The academy will focus on leadership, and through community service, it will inspire young leaders, cultivate future park stewards, and rangers to follow in the footsteps of an "officer and a gentleman" who never wavered in his pursuit of excellence.
• Virginia – Spend the next three Saturdays at the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site watching the award-winning PBS series "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." Find out more here.
• Washington, D.C. – Celebrate the life of Frederick Douglass with a community-wide birthday party at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. Live music, games, films, speakers, and plays will fill the day! Find out more here.
• Everywhere – Experience Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by exploring www.WeAreStillMarching.com. Not only can you read Dr. King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech and record yourself reciting it, but you can also connect with the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The interactive site transports you to August 28, 1963 and allows you to engage with the momentous march that epitomized the civil rights movement.

If you're a loner and community engagement isn't your type of thing, you can still enjoy the country's national parks, AA history style by traversing part of the Black Heritage Trail. The Black Heritage Trail links over 15 pre-American Civil War structures and historic sites, including the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest surviving black church in the United States and the portions of the Underground Railroad. 

And of course, Black history is infused in every part of this country because let's face it - the United States was built on the backs of Black's ancestors, literally. Slaves were hauling sh*t on their backs. For a more bucolic, reflective experience, visit Richmond National Battlefield Park - the park commemorating (which is a confusing thing but I digress) 30 American Civil War battles around the state. How does this connect to Black history you ask? Well we all know why that war was fought.

Now bundle up, and get out there! If you happen to take any of my suggestions, let me know how it went!

- Angel

Taking You Through Space, Time & Sh*t

There's no better way to experience nature, if you can't be there in the flesh, than through time-lapse movie photography technology. You think the sh*t you do is epic until you experience these awe-inspiring clips that capture a sliver of creation's awesomeness over time. 

I won't geek off on you, but I'll just tell you that time-lapse is achieved through capturing the footage at a lower/slower frame rate than used to actually view the footage. Anyhow, I thought these videos were dope, and would hopefully inspire to get your a*ses outside. Forget the cold. :) 

The Grand Canyon Switches Teams

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Photo via NPS

Damnit! I can only blame myself for missing this once every decade occurence. The next time it happens I will more than likely (barring some catastrophic bout of singlehood) have kids and a hubby to contend with. What are you talking about you ask? The Grand Canyon experienced a temperature inversion that caused the celestial looking natural attraction to fill with clouds. Sigh. A wanna-be photogs dream. 

And for nerd's sake, a temperature inversion is when a layer of cool air gets trapped underneath a warmer layer, which is, the reverse of the usually pattern because you know, temperature increases with altitude. Mmk. Got my point dexter on. Isn't this photo the picture of grandiose natural gorgeousness? 

- A