Hi. My name is Laura, I’m a former trail, campground, and entrance station ranger for the National Park Service. (That’s me outside the entrance station at Grand Teton National Park – good thing green is my color!). I love trail running, hiking, biking, and lots of other outdoor activities! I spent several years working seasonally, jumping from park to park and spending my days off hiking and exploring. These days I’m more of a spreadsheet desk ranger, but I still get out to different parks and explore new places and trails pretty often. I’m passionate about our public lands, both preservation to protect pristine landscapes, and conservation to effectively use the incredible resources we have (within reason), and for different recreational opportunities. 

How I got Here

I grew up in the Midwest (Missouri), and for 1 week (sometimes more) every sweltering hot summer, my parents would load up the maroon minivan and drive some god-awful distance to visit one of our nation’s absolute gems. Sometimes it was a national park, sometimes it was a state park, or national seashore, but almost always it centered around a protected place with outdoor activities. My very best childhood memories are those vacations. We certainly had our fair share of disasters, whether it was locking keys in the car, bouts of giardia, getting lost while hiking, or epic sibling fights resulting in the dreaded “I will pull this car over right now!” from our dad. I loved those trips.

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here… my parents were by no means “outdoorsy”. We were more the hotel/motel/lodge visitors rather than camping, but I will give them this: They recognized the importance of building a healthy relationship with nature, and passed that on to my brother and I. Or maybe they were just cheap vacations, but regardless, I grew up loving our public land and I love supporting an industry that provides those experiences and memories for everyone. 

I hope to inspire readers to explore opportunities our outdoor environment has to offer through some personal stories about some of my experiences, hiking recommendations, reviews, and seasonal changes. I also share what gear works for me so you don’t waste your money! I’m not sponsored so I only share gear recommendations, hikes, and activities that I would share with my family and friends. Hope to see you outside!