well-being – HykLyt

Happy Little Colorado Camper

Recently my wife and I went on a trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was quite the drive for us to get there so we decided to make a pit stop just about four hours away from our destination. This led us to Stratton, Colorado. We rented an airBNB for the evening and let me just say, it was one of the prettiest nights I’ve ever experienced.

*After we moved our car, this was our view from the porch. Nothing but Great Plains.*

I’d like to share some of that experience with you here, on HykLyt. Just in case any of you are interested in renting out the same airBNB. If, after reading, you do want to try it out, email me at hyklyt@hyklyt.com and I will send you the Airbnb link.

Is It Kansas Or Is It Colorado?

Nobody can tell you when you crossed the line from Kansas into Colorado because the “line” would have to be a very specific blade of grass. Stratton, CO, in and of itself, looks no different than the flat farmlands of Kansas that I had driven through for the past seven hours. But, at last, we were reaching out rental cabin. We were in Stratton, at the cabin.

We were happy to get out of the car for a bit to stretch our legs, soak up sunlight and feel the breeze blowing over the flat farmland. There were no mountains in view to speak of and so it was very much different than what I had expected to see when driving into Colorado. But I guess with every reverb, there has to be surfaces for the sound waves to reflect off of.

Which brings me to the beauty of Stratton, CO. It was tough to see at first because when we drove up it was nothing more than a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere! (Courage The Cowardly Dog, Anyone?) Which, by the way, my spouse and I loved that part! Getting away from it all (day to day rat race) made the trip worth it. So that was beautiful in its own way.

Let’s Talk About Finding Beauty In The Middle Of Nowhere

When my wife booked this cabin for us, she probably didn’t know that we were going to get the show of a lifetime that evening. Thunderstorms formed and we were able to sit on the porch while watching lightning light up the sky. Comulus clouds gathered that electricity up and created one of the coolest cloud formations I’d ever seen. We watched the sky for hours out there, on that little porch, just talking and resting.

The Perfect Setting

And so, I find myself in Stratton, CO.

I’m with my beautiful wife.

There’s no one else around for miles.

The cabin is located on 265 acres and there no city in sight, either.

A Hidden Gem

As for the inside of the cabin. It was cozy, and old. Older than just old. It was “original family on a farmland that had been passed down for generations old”. But everything worked. And that was all we needed.

Inside of the living room, a recliner and a small loveseat faced the television setup with a few DVD’s generously placed out for guests to enjoy. I watched “Little Miss Sunshine” that night. It was a great film.

The kitchen was a makeshift foyer kitchen but it had everything you needed to make simple meals and sit at the small table next to a window for a sunrise breakfast.

The bedroom was upstairs and, if you weren’t careful, you’d knock yourself out climbing those stairs because the stair set was built with sharp (and short) turns.

The greatest part of the house was the porch. The type of porch you can sit in the two wooden rockers (provided by the hosts) and gaze out over 260 acres of grain lands, complete with wildlife dancing their way through the meadows.

The Lay Of The Land

Directly next to the house there was a line of pine trees that had been planted in a v-stack formation. This allowed the whistling of the pines to be heard well when the wind would blow through. What a pleasant sound that whistling was. It was incredibly peaceful.

Because the pine trees were lined there near the cabin, birds were fluttering about. While sitting on the porch watching the sky, every now and then a songbird would swoop past you and give you some tunes to listen to as it did.

I could see birdwatching becoming a thing for me.

From that porch we watched the clouds form as if they were putting on the show of their lifetimes.

When it became dark out. The moonlight was the only real source of light on the 265 acres. This is a huge space and you’d think, “it must have been pitch black out there”. You’d be wrong, though. It was actually brightened by the moon so well that we could still see for miles. We could even still see the rabbits playing tag around the hay bales near an old barn.

Oh, right! There was that old barn, but we didn’t go in there. At night it seemed quite ominous. But that’s just us letting our imaginations go. We jokingly talked about what might be inside. Like telling scary stories around a campfire as kids.

The Bed Was Small

But, we slept great. This might have also been because we were so tired from the drive.

And when we woke up, we cooked eggs in the little kitchen (my wife is a chef around our campsites and she’s quick to whip something up for us, making me quite the lucky man). We cleaned up our mess, and head out for the last 3 1/2 hours of our drive to enter the Rocky Mountain National Park.

This Was An AirBNB

And if any of you are interested in staying a night in Stratton, CO. Let me know in the comments section below or email me at hyklyt@hyklyt.com and I can send you the link to the Airbnb. It’s the perfect romantic getaway!

If you enjoyed learning about this middle-of-nowhere stay, please consider subscribing to the blog. It’s free, and by simply entering your email in the block below, it will keep you up to date on everything HykLyt!

Thanks for reading, hiker!

Hiking For Treasure

Psst. Want an introduction to a secret world that exists right under our very noses?

Well, you’re in luck!

Geocaching is a real, GPS-enabled, outdoor treasure hunting game that many hikers have been participating in playing for over twenty years!

Somewhere, out there, there’s a swag box! If anyone is going to find treasure in this expansive world of ours, it’ll be my wife (pictured). She is able to see better than me. I’d walk right past it!

What Do You Need?

Yourself. Your GPS device. Swag-items for swap out (described below). Snacks, water, safety materials that you’d bring on any other hike. Trekking poles are great for poking around while searching for a container inside say, a log, or a hollowed out tree, as well.

How Do You Play?

Geocaching (geography + cache) has two different roles to play.

1) Seekers: As a seeker, you’ll follow coordinates to a specific location where another geocacher has hidden a container, know as a swag-box. To locate the coordinates you’ll utilize your mobile phone or other GPS-enabled device. Once you’ve arrived at the cache location, you’ll need to search around, as many of the cache locations are hidden, making it all the more fun and challenging. Upon discovery, you’ll open the cache filled with what are called swag-items, and swap out one piece of swag for one that you brought with you. 1:1 etiquette.

2) Cache-Owner: A person who has stashed their treasures for others to find and listed it on the main geocache website so that participants know it is available to be found. A cache owner may place multiple items into the cache container. So long as seekers are practicing proper geocaching 1:1 etiquette, the containers will never run out of new items to be discovered.

What Are The Rules Of The Game?

Geocaching does come with a set of rules to follow. The rules listed below are to ensure that you, and others, have a great time while joining in on the hunt.

1) Leave No Trace. This is the most important rule in many peoples opinions. You’ll hear this rule everywhere when you’re visiting the great outdoors. It’s a good habit to get into. When you are out in nature, it’s usually to get away from the business that circles our cities. There is nothing as exhilarating as finding yourself alone, in the wilderness. Therefore, it’s best to practice this rule with anything you do. Don’t leave food, trash or any other personal belongings out on the trails. And, this can’t be emphasized enough, don’t mark or graffiti the natural scenery along the trails. I’ve read complaints on different forums for things like this happening on trails such as the PCT or the Appalachian. It’s very sad to see it becoming a problem.

2) Caches Have A Logbook: When you find the cache, sign the book. Later, go to the main geocaching(dot)com website to let the owner of that swag-box know that you located the container.

3) Don’t Change The Cache Location: When you find the cache, remember, it’s the owner’s decision on where it is hidden. Do not change the cache location. Some will be harder to find than others. Some, you may think you could hide better. Unless you’re the cache owner, place the container back where you found it.

4) Take A Penny, Leave A Penny: Remember when you’d see a plate out at gas stations offering loose change that someone decided they didn’t need, and you could use it to round up your dollar on the sale; or, to not have to dig around for a nickel? Geocaching is similar, except, for every item you take, you are supposed to replace that item with a different one. When you open the cache there’s no telling what you may find. Many caches will have multiple items inside, and some may even hold value. Your job as the seeker upon opening the treasure chest is to choose one item, and then replace it, and return the container where you found it.

5) Some Items Are Not Allowed: You most definitely do not want to leave food items inside of a cache container. Even if it’s made to last a lifetime and dried. The scent will still attract wildlife and endanger them. Remember, Leave No Trace. Only use family-friendly items, and your items should fit into the ‘swag-box’ without force being required.

How To List Your Own Cache ‘Swag-Box’

To become a cache owner you must first understand what a good cache is. You can research other peoples containers or better yet, seek them out yourself and determine which ones you thought were the best.

Essentially, to hide your cache, all you need is permission from whomever manages the land you are wanting to hide your cache at.

Want a little-known fact reserved for only pro-hikers? There are multiple caches located within National Parks.

Most Importantly, Have Fun

You’re on a treasure hunt… have fun with it! Don’t forget to come back to HykLyt.com to let me know what you discovered on your geocaching adventures!

If you liked the article, please consider subscribing to the blog. It’s free, and helps the HykLyt dream continue. Simply enter your email in the box below to stay up to date with HykLyt articles.

Thanks for reading, hiker!

CoverArt by Andreasrochas

Mindful, Meditative Hiking

People have a hard time stopping. Usually, we start a new activity just as we wrap up a different one. You may be thinking, “Yea right, I can easily hang out on the couch and Netflix my day away.” But the truth is, this is still a form of engagement. Just because it’s sedentary doesn’t mean you’re not constantly processing imagery, perceiving emotions, and your mind is flaying with brain activity!

When we start new activities back to back in our normal, busy, day-to-day lives, we forget to take a few moments to simply stop. When we don’t stop, we don’t decompress. And, if something bad happened early on, it puts a real damper on the rest of the day. Ever heard the phrase, “tomorrow is a new day” …anyone? We’re constantly seeking the “what’s next?”, and we find ourselves losing touch with our own personality.

When we lose touch with ourselves, we carry the stress and anxiety of the previous activities into the new one that we’re about to embark on without even realizing it. Our brains are constantly storing memories and the bad memories will affect everything else, if you let them! Unless you actively change those thought patterns, you may find yourself dwelling and replaying scenarios over and over to catch a glimpse of the “what-ifs”. “What if I would have said this?”, or, “What if I never even bothered going to visit?”. “What if I just did the work myself instead of relying on others?”

The truth is that these “what-ifs” have now robbed you of the enjoyment you were seeking in whatever it is you’re doing (hopefully hiking). So, how do you regain your sense of self? How do you reconnect with the fun in life? How do you rediscover that positive aura you want to surround yourself with?

If you practice the following techniques, you can train yourself to see the silver lining in even the worst of times. Give them a try on your next hike and feel the negative energy dissolve from around you. Report back here, on HykLyt, in the comments section, if any of these exercises seem to work for you. And, if you like the blog, please think about subscribing. It’s free and will keep you up to date on everything HykLyt!

How-To Meditate While Hiking

1) Focus On The Steps: While you’re hiking, begin to train your mind to fully acknowledge each step. What do you feel around the soles of your boots? How does gravel give way underneath you? What about sand? Think about the dampened and matted grass underneath you as morning dew wets the trail. Staying grounded is simply that, live in the moment, and experiencing your surroundings.

2) Breathe In Your Nose & Out Your Mouth: It may seem silly, but this is a very calming exercise. I used this in the army. In fact, I used this technique to stay calm while treating casualties in a combat environment. It steadies your breathes and soothes the mind. Paying attention to involuntary breathing mechanisms can relax you and relieve stress even under the most extreme circumstances. Side note: This simple exercise actually helps with headaches and migraines, as well!

3) Find The Wildlife: As you focus on your steps, and you concentrate on your breathing, your next goal is to find the critters. We can learn so much from the wildlife that we cross paths with along the trails. Learning something new about any animal is a great exercise that will provide a friendly challenge to yourself while you hike. It’s a blast to discover new things and personally I have been surprised by wildlife plenty of times!

4) Bring A Sketchbook: Look, I’m far from a great artist (or even being called an artist), but there’s something special about art. As you hike, take a pit stop at a scenic overlook and stay awhile. Sketch the landscape or your close surroundings. Jot down the trail and date to look back on it in the future. Ever hear that “putting it on paper” makes it easier to remember? Well, I figure I might as well put my happy memories on paper in some form.

5) Move With Each Breathe: So, you’ve already been mindfully breathing while meditation hiking. Now, let’s add an element of fluidity. Feel your fingers by wiggling them at your sides. This breaks the outside distractions. Upon inhale, take a step, and on exhale, another. This will make you move slower, but deliberately. Concentrated.

6) Listen And Respond To Your Thoughts: I won’t call you crazy for talking to yourself when you’re out on your own in the wilds. This is a good time to really hear yourself out and work through anything that you feel may have been holding you back lately. Many times, our problems are only our problems because we continue to ignore them. They want to be validated, just the same as individuals. Everyone wants their place in life. Your problems do to. Address them. Work on solutions.

7) Practice Physical And Emotional Awareness: This could look different for each person, but as an adventure guide, I would recommend to hikers to feel out their surroundings and listen to themselves. This step is essentially putting all of the previous 6 steps into one. And once you’re able to do all of these things, you’ve found your way into mindful and meditative hiking.

Let Me Know What Works For You

This practice of mindful hiking is not the only way to expressly meditate while on the trails. I plan to write more articles on this subject but I’m curious to know what others have discovered that works for them. If you have grounding techniques that you practice often and it seems to help relax you, let me know in the comments or email me at hyklyt@hyklyt.com

Thanks for reading, hiker!

This post was written by Evan

How Hiking Can Impact Your Mental Health

I love to hike.

There’s something special about the feeling of pebbles under your boots. Or, the way dampened grass mats down beneath you as you cut through a meadow. The sense of touch.

The sounds of the bridge’s planks creaking while you crossover a rushing river, and the babbling stream against the sandstone riverbed. Birds will call out above you and the cicadas make music for their day to day dance. The sense of sound.

The visuals cannot be matched, as you gain elevation you will literally watch as the clouds form around you. Cities will become small, and treetops will become your new carpeting. The sense of sight.

You can taste the fresh air. Your breaths get shorter and more frequent as the oxygen thins around you, yet somehow, you are encapsulated in the truest form of freedom. The sense of taste.

The air smells of pines, wildflowers and rain. the raindrops flee past you as they race their way to the ground, though sometimes they take the long route and travel sideways with the wind. They carry all of the wonderful scents that nature has to offer, neatly packed into tiny water molecules. The sense of smell.

Hiking Appeals To All Of The Senses

Recently, I watched a “Ted Talk” about an experiment to create a new type of clock that was conducted by two researchers.

One man created a clock that would read time based off of shadow positioning, similar to a sundial. This clock only appealed to the sense of sight.

The other man created a clock that had multiple magnifying glasses. As the sun would rise and set throughout the day it would reach a point where it hit each magnifying glass. Those magnifying glasses would then beam the sunlight into a shot glass containing essential oils that would heat up and release a scent. People would be able to tell time based on the sense of smell, and also based on looking at which magnifying glass the sun was currently lighting. This clock appealed to two different senses; smell and sight.

What made the second clock so much better than the first? The stimuli. Also, what does that have to do with hiking?

Luckily for us, hiking appeals to all of the senses, providing a multitude of stimuli to respond to, which has been proven to effect the brain’s healthy chemicals. Serotonin, especially.

Smell – Pleasing smells reduce stress.

Taste – Eating natural foods such as trail mix (without added sugars) increases well-being and mindfulness.

Touch – Sometimes, you just need to feel some sunlight on your skin to boost your mood.

Sound – The acoustics of the great outdoors are what people evolved to hear. They are usually more subtle and less dramatic than sounds from inside the city. The decibel range is quite low. Many of today’s auditory disasters, are man-made.

Sight – Without mentioning the obvious views, let’s talk about something else that acts as an energy booster. The hiking community is genuine. Many times, it’s full of friendly people you may come across. As people seek peace in the outdoors, they generally respond to others in a peaceful light to match their surroundings. You may come across something as small as a hiker smiling as you trek past. This elevates your mood.

Engaging Mindfulness While Hiking

If you use your five senses to respond to stimuli around you with mindfulness, you’ll find that you’re happier. To engage in mindfulness you’ll want to practice grounding techniques.

As an example:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – This exercise requires you to name five things you can see, four things you can physically feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. This exercise helps you to shift the focus of your anxious mind away from the thoughts that may be causing you to feel anxious. Repeated use of this exercise can help you to reframe negative or harmful thought patterns.

With hiking, you’re able to practice techniques such as the one above without even realizing it. Because no two hikes will ever be the same you’re constantly shifting your thought patterns, problem-solving, and allowing your creative juices to flow.

You can also participate in fun ways to learn, another great grounding technique.

Things like plant identification can make the hike more enjoyable and adventurous, you can read about some of the common ones you may see in the United States, here:

Releasing Serotonin

Immediately after you begin your hike, your brain will release serotonin, also know as the happiness hormone. This chemical is even more effective because you’re senses are stimulated. Think of it as “keeping your body in as healthy a state as possible”, because your mind doesn’t know what to expect next, it preserves your health in preparation, including your mental health.

It’s been proven in studies that moderate exercise results in a happier lifestyle, and hiking provides that exercise without feeling like a chore. After all, you’re simply going for a walk to get a good view, right?

Stanford University released a statement that, “being in the great outdoors reduces anxiety and leads to lower risk of depression.”

This study also noted that hiking helps to calm the portion of your brain that dwells on bad thoughts.

“Outdoor exercise has a direct correlation to greater feelings of positivity and energy and fewer feelings of tension, anger and depression.” -Environmental Science and Technology Journal.

Burning Calories For Your Mental Well-Being

Let’s face it, when we’re out of shape, we don’t feel good. We don’t feel good about ourselves and we don’t feel good about our lifestyle.

I know.

I’ve lived it.

For a long time I sold myself on the idea that I was happy with my way of life. It involved very little exercise, if any at all, and sedentary hobbies. In hindsight, I was nowhere near as happy as I am now that I’ve become active. I learned what the outdoors had to offer and it changed my life for the better.

This has helped my general thought processes greatly. I think in a much more positive, silver-linings way, and I really appreciate that I was able to discover this at a young age.

What Are The Top Benefits Of Hiking For Your Mental Health?

To wrap this post up I want to summarize some of the benefits acquired by hiking. If you have others that you’d like to see make the list next time, let me know by commenting below; or, send an email to hyklyt@hyklyt.com

Happy trails!

1: It Reduces Stress

2: It Makes You Happier

3: It Will Boost Your Self-Esteem

4: It Strengthens The Brain

5: It Decreases Negative Thoughts

6: It Increases Your Endurance

7: It Delivers A Creative Outlet

8: It Harbors A Friendly Community

9: It Presents The Most Memorable Views

10: It Challenges You

This post was written by Evan

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Thanks for reading, hiker!

Cover art by Snatti89 (Deviant Art)