100 and More Miles Preparation

It's time to get my ass in gear - both literally and figuratively.  My Dad, Cheyenne, and I are setting out to do the 100 mile wilderness of the Appalachian Trail at the end of this month.  It's time to finalize my gear list and acquire everything I'll need.  So here it is:

Gear I have:
Tent - Tarptent Rainbow (2.25lbs)
Pack - Deuter ACT Lite 70+10 SL (4.5lbs)
Stove - BioLite Campstove (2.5lbs)
Headlamp - Petzl Tikka RXP
Camera - Canon EOS Rebel T5
Water Filter(s) - Sawer Mini Squeeze filter, and LifeStraw
Sleeping Bag - Enlightened Equipment Revelation 
Sleeping Pad - Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
Boots - Saloman Ultra X mid 2 GTX

With all the gear I have so far (with the exception of my camera, but including my boots and some other random little things) my pack weighs a little over 17lbs.

Gear Cheyenne has:
Pack - Wolfpack Banzai
Sleeping bag/bed - Noble Camper
Bowls - Generic collapsable bowls
Treats - TurboPUP Superfood Snacks

I did get some more gear tonight, so I'll post an updated gear list soon.

My dad's gear list and other information about our hike can be found on his blog.  He's just as (maybe even more!) excited as I am for this trip.

I'm definitely in shape, I walk, climb, bike, and dance as much as I can.  Cheyenne with her fairly recent knee surgery is my bigger concern.  We'll be going on long gentle hikes these next couple weeks to get her ready.  We only have two more weeks until we leave.

We leave around the 27th for 10-14 days, it'll be my first real backpacking trip.  I'm definitely nervous, but also very excited.

Area Spotlight: ARLGP

This may seem like a strange area spotlight.  It's an animal shelter.  The animal shelter where I volunteer to be exact!

The Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook, Maine, helps almost 4,000 homeless animals a year! They have a very small shelter currently, and have been fundraising in order to expand to be able to help even more animals.

Instead of my usually area spotlight I'm going to tell you the upcoming events the ARLGP is doing.

On August 11th 2015 at Otto Pizza in South Portland, some people from the ARLGP will be hanging out, and a portion of all food sales will be going back to the shelter.  A great time to talk to some of the staff, eat some pizza, and help out a worthy cause!

On the 12th WGME and FOX23 are hosting a day long pet food drive for a couple of the shelters in the area.  If you're interested, food can be dropped off at the studio!

The 15th they are participating in the national #ClearTheShelters campaign.  This is a big one, so I'll come back to it. 

Also on the 15th Fianna Tattoo Studio in Portland is doing a fundraiser.  $50 for a paw print tattoo, or $100 for a custom paw print.  All the money raised goes back to the shelter, I plan to do this one if I have time! I'll be knocking something off my list, and helping out my favorite charity.

The 26th is annual Martinis for Mutts fundraiser.  $25 per human, each human is allowed a doggie +1.  The price includes admission, valet parking, a "signature mutt-tini", and hors d'oeuvres.

That's not all of the events either! Check out the others, too, you might see something else you'd like to attend.

A bit more about #ClearTheShelters.

First of all, this is not the only shelter doing it.  It is sponsored by NBC, and NECN.  NECN is going to be broadcasting live from the event!

It will take place August 15th, 2015, from 9AM-3PM.

There will be more than 150 pets to be adopted just at the ARL.

The fees are going to be by donation, so you get to pick your own adoption fee! Though $0 is not an option, that isn't an adoption fee.

The goal is to clear the shelter, and raise awareness for pets in need.

No pets can be placed "on hold".  If you are interested in a specific animal get there as early as possible!

It is a wonderful organization, the staff are all amazing, and working with the animals is beyond rewarding.  I have been walking dogs there for almost a year and a half, and fostering dogs for a few months, I highly recommend volunteering, whether at this animal shelter or another.  Personally, t's probably the most rewarding volunteer work I do.

Area Spotlight: Salt Pump Climbing Company

For all you climbers, or aspiring climbers, here's a place you should definitely check out; Salt Pump Climbing Company on Haigis Parkway, in Scarborough!

A beautiful facility, in a convenient location, with a gorgeous pond view, it's an excellent place to go to climb, or just to hang out. Which is encouraged. It's not just a climbing gym, they have all kinds of other things they are planning on offering. It's a place to go to learn, climb, and be part of a community.

For climbing they have a bouldering, top-rope, and lead climbing. The rope climbing walls go up to 45'. They are also offering Intro to Climbing, and lead climbing classes. The Intro to Climbing are two hours long, five days a week.  The Lead Climbing classes are three parts long, two hours each, and Monday evenings. They have around 90 different routes of varying difficulties to climb, so there's no chance of you getting bored! 

In addition to climbing they are offering yoga classes beginning in early August, and they will be offering more variety of fitness classes, and such soon. They also have some fitness equipment available to use. The goal is not just to focus on rock climbing, but to focus on general fitness, and wellbeing. 

Another goal at Salt Pump is to be as environmentally friendly as possible. The waivers are all digital, a huge paper saver, and most of the light in natural through large windows throughout the facility. Most of the windows look out onto the pond! There is also a deck overlooking the water where you can hang out. 

There are many places to put your stuff, and a lot of seating around so you can just be there. Bring your laptop and work for a bit before or after you climb/tale a class. There are opportunities for birthday parties, there are kid's classes, there will be after school programs, and much more.

One more thing, they actually open tomorrow for the first time! Tomorrow (July 30th, 2015) at 10AM is the official soft opening. The grand opening is set for September, however it's definitely worth it to visit before then! An amazing place, with amazing staff. As with Monkey Trunks, I may be a bit biased, as I am also employed here, but take my word for it and check it out! 

Here's the website!

Area Spotlight: Len Libby's

I've gotten behind on my posts, just trying to figure out my order.  I have started a list of spotlights, so I shouldn't get so far behind again! (Queuing helps, too!)

This week's area spotlight is Len Libby's candy store, on Route 1 in Scarborough Maine! It's a wonderful little candy store, where a lot of their stuff is handmade.

My personal favorite is the Bangor Taffy they sell, at about $12 a box.  It's amazing.  If you do stop in they usually have free samples of it, I'm sure you'll find it worth the price!

If you like fudge, they have a large selection of different kinds of fudge.  The classics, like peanut butter, and chocolate, and a couple fancier flavors, like rocky road.

The thing Len Libby's is most famous for?  The life-sized 1,700 chocolate moose, Lenny.  

They've also more recently added a black bear, and her two cubs!

If you're just visiting Maine there's a lot of fun Maine souvenirs you can get there.  If you live in the area and you've never been, it's well worth the trip.  

Area spotlight: The Scarborough Marsh

Today's spotlight is the Scarborough Marsh in Scarborough, Maine.  This marsh is the biggest saltwater marsh in the state, with about 3,100 acres of various types of marshlands.  It's also a great place to visit, birding, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, even walking and biking, it's a beautiful place.

My favorite thing to do at the marsh is photography, obviously.  It's actually many people's favorite things about the marsh, the different species of wildlife, especially birds, and the gorgeous scenery it's the perfect place for pictures.  My family actually had a photoshoot done there a couple years ago!

Fishing is another thing that is quite popular at the marsh.  With a fairly large population of Striped Bass (or "stripers") swimming in and out with the tides many saltwater fishermen.  There are even some clam flats open for clamming.

Sorry for the blur, my phone hates zoom.

Though I haven't really been specifically bird watching here, yet, I haven't completely missed some of the species there.  The most common species I've seen are Snowy Egrets, and of course, Seagulls.  Great Blue Herons aren't uncommon either, they are often seen flying over the roads of the towns surrounding the marsh.  Mallards seem to be the most common duck of the area, the marsh, and Milliken Mills pond almost always have a pair or two of mallards on any given day, I haven't ever seen a nest, but occasionally you even see the ducklings following their parents around in the water! It's very cute, and always fun to see.  One of my favorites is the Glossy Ibis, I don't see them often, but they're gorgeous, and fun to watch!

There are many trails, including the Eastern Trail that I talked about last time.  Most of them are walking only, unlike the Eastern Trail where you can also ride bicycles.  Another way to see the marsh is by train! There is a train track over the marsh, that's definitely an interesting perspective!



Of course, no tour of the marsh would be completely without talking about the canoeing and kayaking opportunities.  The water is fairly calm, and some of the channels are very wide, making it easy to paddle.  Along the way you'll see lots of different kinds of wildlife, including many species of birds, and possibly some mammals species, such as muskrats.



If you get hungry after spending all day in the marsh you can visit the Clambake, just down the road from the parking area at the Eastern Trail opening into the marsh!

 There's a seating area with big windows looking out onto the marsh, and there are always lots of hungry seagulls outside.  While waiting for your food, and eating you can watch the wildlife outside the window. and when you're finished you can take any leftovers outside to feed to the seagulls.  The birds there have been fed like that for so many years that they will take food right out of your fingers if you hold it out to them.  Just be careful, their beaks are sharp, and it can hurt if they accidentally bite you.

No matter what you decide to do I'm sure you'll enjoy your time at the Scarborough Marsh. :)

Area Spotlight: Eastern Trail

This is my first post highlighting the wonderful things about where I live in Southern Maine!


I'm starting with the Eastern Trail, one of my favorite places to ride my bike, walk my dogs, look for turtles, and practice photography.  Last summer it was my favorite place to fish, also.

The Eastern Trail is 65 miles with some beauty scenery.  It goes all the way from Kittery to South Portland.  It's usually well traveled, but never too busy, people walk their dogs, jog, run, go cycling, and even ride horses down the trail! 

The trail does follow some roads in certain places, but it's fairly well marked, and easy to follow.  I can easily ride my bike 6 miles out and back in under two hours because most of the trail is fairly flat.  The many trails going into wooded areas off the main trail are nice for walking, too, though a bit more muddy with a lot of roots making it hard to ride through.

My favorite place is a little path into the woods off the main trail that connects to the Milliken Mills Pond, where I find several different species of turtles, frogs, fish, and birds! It's an area full of wildlife.


A couple of animals that live there are the usual, chipmunks, grey and red squirrels, painted turtles, wood turtles (I believe, though I'm not a turtle expert), garter snakes,  largemouth bass, pumpkin sunfish, and many many birds, there are also bigger animals, such as deer, and raccoons.  According to the lake survery I found we even have eels, and a couple types of catfish in the pond.

Some people enjoy kayaking or canoeing on the pond, though it's not the most popular activity on this section of the trail.

"Ralph" the Painted Turtle.

One section of the trail also crosses the Scarborough Marsh, that is my other favorite section.  The marsh is next week's spotlight, so I won't go into any detail today!

The trail's website.

Only one of these pictures has been edited at all.  These are not pictures from my Instagram, most of the pictures on my Instagram are edited in some way.  All of my photography is currently taken and edited on an iPhone 4S.

Area Spotlight 1

This summer I have decided to make at least one post a week highlighting something special or interesting in my area.  Not just in my little tourist town, but also in the surrounding towns and cities.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people come to visit my town every year, the beach is completely covered with people almost daily.  Why?  There are so many other things to do, the water isn't even that great temperature wise, and there are so many people it's not even worth it! Not to mention how many beaches are around besides the one in my town.  Starting in May I'll begin, and hopefully I'll have at least one place to feature every week until September!