Concrete Jungle to the Sawtooths of Idaho

Reflections on my first backpacking experience and how the wilderness heals us

Over labor day weekend, I ventured to Idaho to meet Sebastian who was finishing up a 10-day hunting trip. He was hunting for elk the week prior in the Sawtooth Wilderness, just outside of Stanley, Idaho. Always wanting to hike and experience the beautiful places Mother Nature has to offer, I thought this would be a great time for me to explore some of Idaho. We decided to make a small vacation out of it!

I’ve only recently become an outdoors gal. Prior to 2020, I always thought I’d live in a concrete jungle for the rest of my life. I loved being able to walk everywhere, not depending on a car to get around. However, after 2020 came and went, I realized that this is no longer where I saw myself.

I think 2020 is the year a lot of us began to wake up and realize just how bad things really are in our modern-day society. We were all commuting hours just to work jobs we hated, only to have a few hours for ourselves at the end of the day. We were eating like crap, shoveling junk food into our mouths, only making us more depressed and anxious.

This is when I realized how I was living was not sustainable. Running around a noisy, busy city wasn’t helping me live a better life. It was fooling me into thinking I was working hard when I was really just running myself into the ground. In 2020, I really began connecting with nature. Sebastian and I ventured out west, hiking beautiful mountains, discovering alpine lakes, and watching some of the prettiest desert sunsets.

I came to realize how good I felt being outside, connecting with Mother Earth. I was more present than ever, feeling so grateful to be alive every time I was out in the wilderness. It was refreshing to not be in a constant state of stress, surrounded by artificial light, noise, and technology.

I slowly started to have the itch to go camping, and then backpacking. I went on my first camping trip in March with Sebastian, enjoying a great time by the lake just us and our two doodles. I still laugh thinking about all of us piled into his small hiking tent. A little girl even came up to us and said “Wow! Your dogs even have their own tent- I love it!”. Nope, not the dogs’ tent. A tent for the whole family.

Backpacking in Idaho

This past weekend in the Sawtooths marks my very first backpacking trip! Sure, it was only one night of camping and two days of hiking, but it was amazing. I already can’t wait to do it again.

This week’s email is about my backpacking trip with some information about freeze-dried foods, how nature regulates our circadian rhythm, the health benefits of cold plunges, and the importance of being present.

Saturday evening, we embarked on the Tin Cup Hiker trail, a 17-mile loop (although it ended up being over 20 miles) around some of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Idaho. We opted for the counterclockwise route in order to make it to one of the lakes before sunset.

After about 5 miles, we reached Ferley Lake and set up camp on a cliff edge looking right over the lake. It was the most perfect campsite I could’ve asked for! You couldn’t help but sit there in awe.

A freeze-dried food review

I’m not going to lie, being a foodie, I was very worried about the freeze-dried meals. Something about having all the liquid sucked out of my meals didn’t sound appealing. Luckily, we found a brand called Heather’s Choice that uses natural ingredients, grass-fed meat, and wild-caught fish. No preservatives and icky ingredients here!

You simply boil some water, add it back to the dehydrated meal, and wait 5-20 minutes for the food to rehydrate. A weird concept, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food. I opted for salmon chowder the first night and grass-fed shepherd’s pie the second day, both of which were delicious! It’s amazing how satisfying something so, well, dry can be.

A sky without artificial light

One of the things I was looking forward to most about backpacking was the untouched sky. Sure, I’ve seen the stars in relatively remote places, but nothing as remote as in middle-of-nowhere Idaho. The closest town barely lets off any light pollution, and even that’s a 5-mile hike 30-minute drive away from the mountains.

The milky way out here was like nothing I had ever seen before. We could see it perfectly looking up through the mesh roof of our tent. I was also amazed by how the moon lit up the lake in front of us. It’s amazing how bright the moon is when it’s not contrasted with the artificial light of street lamps.

If you didn’t know, artificial light is dangerous to the natural rhythm of our bodies, particularly our circadian rhythms. We are meant to rise and set with the sun. Our daily exposure to blue light through phones, televisions, and overhead lighting has thrown this off.

One study looked at participants’ circadian rhythms and quality of sleep before and after a few days of camping in the wilderness without technology. The study found that the participants’ circadian rhythms actually resynced with the rising and setting of the sun. In turn, the participants were able to have deeper sleep following the study. This just shows how detrimental modern-day living, especially exposure to artificial light, can be to our health.

Being out in nature, living as Mother Earth intended, acts as a natural reset for our bodies. I noticed a huge difference in my circadian rhythm after being out there for just two days and one night! In the days following, my WHOOP recovery scores were also the highest they had ever been, despite the effects of a strenuous 20-mile hike on my body. I fully attribute that to being out in nature, away from modern-day living.

A dip in an alpine lake

Nothing beats waking up with the sun, immersed in nature, and bathed with the sound of silence. After a surprisingly refreshing night sleeping on the ground, we headed off to finish the loop. This was pretty ambitious being that it was over 12 miles and 1,500 feet of elevation gain, all done in the hottest hours of the day.

A few miles in, we came to another lake, and we decided to trek down from the mountain we were on and enjoy a swim. Most people would be intimidated by the temperature of a lake created from melting snow, but this was something I was looking forward to for months. An icy dip in an alpine lake.

It’s hard to get yourself into the water at first, but the view surrounding you motivates you to just do it. After you’re in, it’s cold, but the feeling is addicting. It energizes you like nothing else! If you want to feel alive, jump into a cold body of water.

Studies have shown cold immersions reduce pain and inflammation, reduce muscle spasms, and increase blood flow. All benefits are particularly important when doing a strenuous activity like backpacking. It’s almost as if Mother Nature put them there for us to strategically enjoy!

Presence, silence, and beauty

The 10 miles after the lake swim were some of the hardest. We were ascending a mountain for the first 2 miles, at the hottest part of the day. It’s amazing how doing something hard, while also having so much beauty around you, immediately humbles you. You don’t even think about the energy you are exerting because you’re so grateful to be seeing what you are seeing.

We are so used to escaping while doing hard things. We run with music to distract ourselves from the pain. We watch television while the dentist drills into our teeth. We scroll through social media while bored out of our minds in a Zoom meeting. When you’re out in nature, you can’t escape your pain. You have to acknowledge it, become one with it, and learn to enjoy it.

The same goes for silence. When was the last time you sat with yourself in silence for more than an hour? This means no television in the background, no radio on, and no friends to chat with. Just you and a quiet room. For many of us, our 10 minutes of meditation is the only time we are truly silent. When you’re backpacking for multiple days, with no technology to distract you, you become one with silence.

Studies have found an association between the number of hours spent outdoors and greater happiness, lower risk of depression, and less tiredness. I believe this is because we are finally forced to enjoy where we are at. We are present, appreciating the small things in life, rather than looking for the next best thing. We notice the sound of flowing water, we appreciate the orange sunset, and we talk about things that truly matter with the people we are with.

When we are out in nature, we are the humans we are truly meant to be. After all, we are hardwired to thrive out in the wilderness. Not in cubicles or concrete jungles. We are meant to be one with the trees and birds.

Take action: Download the All Trails app and find a nature hike near you. It doesn’t need to be long or somewhere breathe-takingly beautiful. It just needs to be outside. Invite a friend you haven’t talked to in a while and catch up while enjoying nature.

I am already counting down the days until I get to go back to Idaho and on other hikes in beautiful spots I’ve never experienced before.

Where are your favorite places that you’ve hiked or camped?

Next week I’m off to Greece for another adventure exploring somewhere new!

Madison