Imagine the Milky Way crisper and clearer than you have ever seen it. Imagine the moment when you realize that yes, it really looks the way in person that it does in professional photos. Or perhaps the rising full moon over a glittering lake or ocean, the reward for a tough upward climb.

Imagine hiking up to a mountain top or vista to watch as the sun rises over a bay, mountain range, lake, or great basin. Or perhaps you’re catching the end of the day as the sky turns orange and brilliant red over beautiful natural landscapes.

This is why I hike in the dark. I crave these moments when fewer people are on the trail, when I can enjoy the tranquility of nature, and when I can do a tough hike without the sun beating down on

Just below Canada and to Idaho’s west, Washington is home to islands, fjords, temperate rainforests, dramatic mountain ranges, and glacier-carved bays reminiscent of scenes one might see in Scandinavia.

I’d been seeing moody and awe-inspiring photos of the ‘PNW’ for years and had been dreaming of my own Washington adventure. Finally this summer, I got a gorgeous week of weather and numerous hikes of varying degrees of difficulty and variety under my belt.

It’s a big state with probably thousands of trails to choose from, but if you’re attempting to narrow it down, allow me to share my hours of research and firsthand testing with you. These are 6 of the best trails in Washington:

Skyline Trail – 6 Mi, 1794 Ft Elevation Gain

Unless you have total cloud cover, Mount Rainier is hard to miss on the skyline when exploring the

I’ll never forget my first solo hike. It wasn’t something I’d planned and prepped for. It wasn’t even intentional, as most of my solo experiences started out. Fact was, there was just no one around to join me, so I went alone.

It was a night hike. It wasn’t particularly far – just a few miles to the Kawah Ijen volcano in a tiny village in East Java. I’d ridden there at 3am on the back of an ojek, or motorbike taxi, climbed off, bid my driver adieu, wrapped a sarong around my shoulders and got to walking.

I remember looking up and being in awe of the stars that night. I made my way to the famous blue flames, saw the local men walking up and down with their shoulder baskets full of sulfur, and made my way upwards to the ridge to take it all in.

Virginia encapsulates some of the best landscapes on the East Coast. You can experience the Appalachian Mountains on one side of the state and the glittering Atlantic Ocean on the other!

With camping season in full swing, there are a lot of well-known and hidden gems to explore in Virginia. From getting out there and visiting places like the largest caverns on this side of the United States or an island where wild horses roam free, camping allows you to immerse in the state’s uninhibited beauty.

Here are some of the best of what Virginia has to offer:

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah is arguably the most famous park in Virginia. It’s a long sliver of land that sizes up to around 200,000 acres on Virginia’s northern side.  While admission to the park and its well-known valley costs $30 for a single vehicle, the fee covers unlimited entry for seven

Welcome to Washington state, the kind of place where we’re so spoiled for choice that any visit will result in multiple heartbreaking decisions.

OK yes, I’m being dramatic, but there are so many mountain trails to choose from, it would take months just to scratch the surface.

But most of us don’t have months, we only have days!

I visited Washington at the end of August with one goal in mind: See as many of the national parks – Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades – as I could with only eight days.

Under a similar time crunch? Just want to see the best in the state has to offer? I got you! This is one epic Washington national parks road trip itinerary:

Mount Rainier National Park

Before we begin, it’s worth noting that there is no real right or wrong order to do this national parks itinerary in. I

We’ve finally made it to the last post in our chakras series! Today it’s all about the crown chakra! As the final chakra in the system, it has a unique role in human spirituality, connection, and consciousness.

If you want to start at the beginning, check out the first post in this series on the root chakra, followed by the sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, and third eye chakra.

The Crown Chakra at a Glance

The crown chakra, or sahasrāra chakra in Sanskrit, is known as “the bridge to the cosmos.” It is the most spiritual in nature of all seven chakras. Located above the crown of the head, it acts as the individual’s center of spirit, enlightenment, wisdom, universal consciousness, and connection to higher guidance. In a sense, the crown chakra is our highest potential. It governs interaction &