Base Camp: Rules of Being a Dirtbag Darling

I finally got around to putting the rules up on the blog. Learn them, live them, play dirty.

Gear Review: Vasque Rift Hiking Boots

It's kind of amazing what a great sole can do. Take Vasque's Rift hiking boots for example: besides the gorgeous color combo (chocolate brown and sky blue, you steal my heart), they have Vibram soles. Vibram soles, ladies! That means they stick, grip, stay put, don't slide—however you want to say it, they provide the best traction out there for an approach shoe.

The other parts of the shoe are pretty darn reliable, too. The leather upper isn't totally waterproof, but it more than protects socks in wetter conditions, and it's pliable enough that you won't need to spend weeks breaking them in. Did I mention the color combo? Oh yeah, but it's worth talking about again...these babies look good with everything.

These shoes are my new go-to for regular hikes and climbing approaches that are too tough for my FiveFingers. Try the sticky grip for yourself at vasque.com.

Newsworthy: Should Outdoor Athletes Compete While Pregnant?

Kayaker Emily Jackson, photo via Women's Outdoor Alliance.

Last week, the word about town was that freestyle kayaker Emily Jackson was aiming for a spot on Team USA at the U.S. National Freestyle Team Trials in North Carolina. Being that she’s the 2012 World Cup champion and the daughter of whitewater legend Eric “EJ” Jackson, it should have hardly caused a ripple in the news pond. So why were people up in arms about it? 

Because Jackson is seven months pregnant. (Read more after the jump!)

Get Inspired to...Enjoy the Simple Things in Life with new Climbing Film "35"

If you’ve ever fallen asleep in a van with a coiled climbing rope for a pillow, be prepared to get hit right in the “feels” while watching the newest short film from Duct Tape Then Beer and outdoor brand Arc’teryx, “35.” It’s a five-minute exploration of growing older and a glorification of the simple joys of the climbing life, and its beautiful commentary will hit home with almost everyone. Stick with it until the end and I promise you you’ll have a tear in your eye and a whole new appreciation for climbing.

Travel Guide: Hiking Observation Point Trail in Zion National Park

Photo by Dirtbag Darling.

There’s a reason the beaten paths in Zion National Park and so, well, beaten. Classic hikes like Observation Point trail offer unbeatable views of one of our country’s most beautiful parks—think rusty red rock formations, crisp greenery, and purple-blue skies stretched out for miles. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming “America the Beautiful” for the majority of the 8-mile trek—we did the same thing.

What: Observation Point trail.

Where: Zion National Park, Route 9, Springdale, Utah.

The stats: 8 miles roundtrip, 2100 feet in elevation gain, strenuous. No permits required.

What to do: You can’t leave Zion National Park without trudging up the intense but satisfying Observation Point trail—it’s a Zion classic to rival Angel’s Landing but without the latter’s exposure and fear factor. There’s no beating around the bush when it comes to the trail either, and you’ll start feeling the elevation gain in your legs almost immediately while following switchbacks up the eastern walls of Zion Canyon. Rest often to soak up the views before being swallowed up by Echo Canyon, a deep-water gorge with impressive sandstone waves and pockets. You’ll come out the other side and continue your steep zigzag ascent until you find yourself at Observation Point. What’s waiting for you? A beautiful panorama view of sandstone reds against clean blue skies.

How to get there: From April 1 through October 30 Zion Canyon should be accessible by shuttle—the trailhead at Weeping Rock parking lot is stop seven (but double-check for changes before you go). Others can pick up a map at the park office to find the parking lot.

What to bring: Sturdy shoes, a camera, enough food and water to last you at least five hours, and a fleece or an insulated jacket and windproof shell in the winter—the canyons can get pretty cold.

Do: Pick up a guidebook at the park’s office if you want to explore tangential paths like the East Rim Trail, which heads to Cable Mountain, and Deertrap Mountain. You’ll probably pick up tips most hikers never notice!

Don’t: Underestimate temperature fluctuations and ice. It may be hot at the trailhead but residual spring snow requires micro spikes and wind at the top of your hike could throw you for a loop if you aren’t prepared with an extra layer. Better warm than oh so sorry!

Get Inspired To...Slow Down

All photos by Johnie Gall.

During the week my life is a blur—the type of blur where I have to schedule time for yoga between conference calls and editing. On the weekends things slows down; I get to revel in two full days of doing the things that make my soul sing. Slowing down may not be the right word for it—but taking a bike down a mountain and paddling across a lake are types of meditation for me. Sand between my toes, grit under my fingernails, poking around some trees...you know what? It's better than the spa. 

Girl Gone Wild: Surfer Mary Osborne's Journey with 5 Gyres

Patagonia surfer Mary Osborne aboard the Sea Dragon.

It’s a sickening image: A decomposing albatross, its stomach pried opened to showcase a collage of plastic lighters and colorful bottle caps. But the famous photograph, taken by Chris Jordan as part of his Midway series, is quickly becoming just a highlight in a saddening collection of portraits of marine animals stuffed full of plastic waste. The scary part? They weren’t out feasting on some mythical “Island of Trash” floating through the ocean, much like we’ve been led to believe by our morning news hosts. If they had, the problem would be manageable—the reality of the plastic pollution situation is much worse. 

“All I knew was there was this big ‘pile of trash where currents cumulate and it’s the size of Texas,’” says Mary Osborne, a Patagonia Surf Ambassador who, in 2010, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with the 5 Gyres team to witness the pollution firsthand. “I didn’t understand why we couldn’t just fly there, document the gyre, help clean it up, and fly back.” With a team of 13, Osborne voyaged from Brazil to South Africa aboard the ship the Sea Dragon to the South Atlantic Gyre, a massive, slow rotating whirlpool where plastic waste accumulates. We caught up with the 31-year-old Ventura, California, native to learn about what exactly she discovered on her month-long expedition:

Read our interview after the jump!

Rhea's Bucket List

Rhea in Lolli swimwear. Photo by Allan Nadel. 

Rhea, our Swim and Surf Ambassador, works as a freelancer like me, so I can relate to her summer goal of going totally off the grid. No email, no cellphone, no blogging. For us, it's close to impossible, but it's exactly what we need to reconnect with the great outdoors. Nothing ruins the feeling of being wild and free like the *ding* of the email alert. I'm so thrilled she's ready to try rock climbing—fingers crossed next time I'm out her way she'll teach me how to cross-step and I'll teach her how to pull some gear.

What's on your summer bucket list? There's still time to scribble down some goals, take a picture of your list, and upload it to Instagram. Tag @dirtbagdarling and #growyoungbucketlist and you'll be entered to win a rad shirt from Element Eden!

Guy Lines: Webbed Hands' Burg Thurston

Guy Lines: The men we love, sharing their love for us. Also: A rope that keeps a tent from blowing away.

The Guy: Philip "Burg" Thurston is a fish born without gills, always swimming toward some massive wave with fins on his feet and a camera in his hand. Sure, he gets beat up sometimes, but it's worth it when you see the incredible photographs and videos he creates (often with his brother, pro bodyboarder, Glen Thurston, by his side). Case in point: The Morning Shift.

The Girl: "Often girls can be so different from guys when it comes to adventure," Burg tells me, "but in my opinion it's the similarities that are exciting to see. I recently went on a trip out into the bushland of outback NSW; there were six girls and six guys staying in a remote cabin. The girls mostly stayed at the cabin while the guys scaled the mountains and went exploring. One particular girl, Natasha, came with us one time to a giant rope swing that was semi-intimidating even for the guys, but she was the first to step up and have a go and was actually the first one of us to push the limits and go fully vertical on it! That was so inspiring to see, the enthusiastic, 'let's go' kind of attitude that pushes even the guys and inspires the other girls to do new things. Personally, I think that's an incredible attribute for a girl to have." 

Burg, we couldn't agree more, and when we make it down to Australia we'll have to show you what we're made of! Check out more of Burg's work at webbedhands.com.

Dirtbagging 101: Three Yoga Moves to Try On Your SUP Board

Imagine this: Your day job involves tasting wine made for outdoor lovers. You live in Hood River, Oregon, one of the most picturesque places in the country. In the winter, you teach children how to snowboard, and in the summer, you head up an outdoor SUP-yoga program that teaches people yoga while balancing on a stand-up paddleboard. Bliss, right? It’s the life of Naked Winery’s tasting room manager Emma Rossoff. While she may not have a lot of stress to release, she was one of the first yogis to take her sport to the water (read my chat with her HERE!). Here she shows us three easy ways to find Zen above H2O:

Photos by Jock Bradley.

Pose: Navasana Variation

Difficulty: Beginner to intermediate

What it does: Strengthens the core muscles. Tones the legs, arms and back.

How to do it:

Sit facing the front of the board with outstretched legs. With the paddle in your hand, bend your knees and lift them as you lower your upper body slightly back. When you feel your core engage, you are there. Variations include holding this position, bringing the opposite elbow towards opposite knee and alternating, or performing a sit-up.

More moves after the jump!

Lizbeth's Bucket List

It's funny how mutual admiration can spawn some great things. I've always admired Lizbeth for her drive and the no-holds-barred enthusiasm she has for every project she's working on (seriously, the girl never stops)—so imagine how stoked I was that my recommendation made her Summer Bucket List! Not sure which hike I'll send her on just yet...still deciding if I want to make her really sweat or not ;)

I love Lizbeth's bucket list because it's so her—creative, spontaneous, daring. What's on your bucket list? Scribble yours down on some paper or draw one up on your computer and upload it to Instagram or Twitter. Tag @dirtbagdarling and #growyoungbucketlist. Lizbeth, Rhea, Lea and I will decide on our favorite list at the end of the month and that person will win a "Grow Young" T-shirt from the new Element Eden X Jac Vanek collection. Here's to a summer of dirt, salt, new trails and adventure!

Girl Gone Wild: Gillian Gibree Shares SUPYoga Tips

Yoga isn’t easy to begin with (not many people can readily twist themselves into figurative pretzels), and it’s gotten progressively tougher thanks to variations like sweat-inducing Bikram and inverted trapeze yoga. But no form of yoga fires up those little (and rarely used) muscles quite like standup paddleboarding yoga, the art of stretching out while perched on a SUP board in the middle of the water.

SUP yoga is relatively new, too, with the first weekly classes sprouting up in San Diego about three years ago. The woman behind the craze? Paddle Into Fitness’ Gillian Gibree, the lanky blonde beauty you may recognize as one of the models from the new Roxy Outdoor Fitness campaign. The Massachusetts native grew up lifeguarding, ocean swimming, and surfing on Cape Cod, but it wasn’t until she moved to San Diego that she decided to combine two of her favorite fitness pursuits—yoga and standup paddleboarding—and launch the first set of weekly SUP yoga classes through her company, “Paddle Into Fitness.” Here, we catch up with Gillian to get the scoop on the benefits of yoga on the water and her tips for getting started.

What are some of the benefits of practicing yoga on a SUP board versus in a studio?

It’s a fun way to get outdoors when the weather is nice. The unstable surface of the board makes it a little more difficult—even planks and other simple poses become harder and they fire off muscles you may not be working on stable ground or in a studio. It’s a nice change from the mirrors and the studio—our goal is to have fun and enjoy the elements, to get out on the water and try something different.

Gibree wearing Roxy Outdoor Fitness apparel. Photo by Shadow Van Houton.

What are some beginner yoga moves we can try on our boards?

Anything from a seated position—eagle arms to open the shoulders, even meditating from a seated position to get into the routine. From there coming to all fours, doing some cat-cows to warm up the spine before extending the opposite leg and hand, which will get the core firing. Work on some balance moves and you’ll start noticing the board making something like the table top position more difficult. Get into plank pose for a few breaths, then move to downward dog.

More after the jump!

Get Inspired To...Camp in a Van

Photos via Tumblr, collage by yours truly. 

My boyfriend recently bought a Sprinter and...it's huge. And awesome. And hugely awesome. Not only can we fit all of our gear into it and then some (that's kayaks, mountain bikes, surfboards and more), but we can sleep in it, which means less time setting up a tent and more time hiking or whatever it is we're doing. If you ever get the chance to camp out in the van, do it. In fact, add it to your bucket list. 

Editor's Letter: Tipping the Bucket

One of the best things I've done for myself recently was to write down my reverse bucket list (you can read about that here). Reflecting on the past year was refreshing and inspiring, but summer is my favorite time to look forward, so I'm changing my pace once again: This month is all about the bucket list.

Starting out with some little coral watercolors...let's see if I can get something on the wall!

On my to-do list this summer? A cross-country road trip, a bit of education, a hobby I've been meaning to practice and a new climbing spot. On a more personal note, I'm making it a goal to stop fixating on how I look and focus instead on how I feel by eating clean, lifting heavy and thinking positive. To help accomplish this, every time I think a bad thought about myself I'm doing five pushups—let's just say my arms are getting jacked!

Enough about my goals—what are yours? I want you to write down your summer goals (make them as specific as possible so you'll actually feel like you can accomplish them), snap a picture of your list and tag me on Instagram @dirtbagdarling with hashtag #growyoungbucketlist. At the end of the month, I'll be going through every list with Element Eden to pick a favorite. That follower will win this tie-dye tee from the Element Eden X Jac Vanek collection!

The Element Eden X Jac Vanek Grow Young collection is all about quitting your day job, falling in love, going on an adventure...whatever it is you've been putting off. 

To get your brain ticking, I asked my editors and some Dirtbag Darling friends what's on their bucket lists. Watch out for their lists all month long!

Live Adventurously,
Johnie

Ed Picks: Little Luxuries

Photo by Dirtbag Darling

I enjoy the little things in life: the sunscreen that smells like vacation, the bikini bottoms that make my butt look good, the camera that listens when I talk to it. Yep, that's why this month my Editor's Picks aren't dirtbagging necessities, they're just the little luxuries that make me smile. All the info on where you can get them after the jump: