Life of a Gal Named Liv

Phin here: Getting to Stanley Hot Springs is generally a pleasant meander of a walk, but I have always chosen to venture there in the winter months—because what better time to sit in hot water? These winter trips have generally been some of the most miserable trips that I’ve had, which is saying something because I’ve often been described as a connoisseur of miserable adventures—generally termed “Phin-adventures” by unassuming friends and family that have had the joy of experiencing them. The miserable nature of these trips was largely due to my laissez-faire attitude towards outdoor outings—otherwise known as being ill-prepared and/or overly confident in my questionable decisions. For example, some of this attitude shines through on things like starting the hike at two in the afternoon which lead to crossing a raging stream at one in the morning when it was 10 degrees outside with a backpack on and my dog in my arms, or post-holing up to our nipples in the snow instead of turning around to get snowshoes.

I am also highly goal-oriented and push everyone else in the group until they can go no further with comments like: “it is just around the corner”, “there is maybe only a mile left”, and “I’m waiting to eat until we get there”.

This all sounds pretty bad, but I do genuinely try to take care of those around me on these Phin-adventures. However, even this can go wrong. One such example and the cherry-on-top for the most miserable Stanley trip was me trying to thaw the group’s frozen-solid boots next to a fire in the morning before our hike out after having to spend the night on the trail because none of us could make it any further after post-holing for miles into the early hours of the morning. In my attempt to make everyone’s morning slightly less miserable with thawed boots, I ended up melting multiple pairs while their owners slept blissfully with no idea of just how bad their mornings would be.

With all of this said, everyone who has come on Phin-adventures—whether to Stanley or elsewhere—generally has a lifelong story, where they maybe thought they were going to die, but everything turned out fine in the end, just with participants gaining a higher appreciation of life itself.

Liv here- So with all that said, I had slight concern going into this adventure….BUT it turned out to be incident-free!

Hiking in was exceptionally easy for this time of year. We brought our snowshoes and didn’t even have to use them! Our new winter tent (thanks Annie & Steve) and our double sleeping bag (thanks Jay, Heather, & Pop) kept us plenty warm all night.

I forgot my insoles (they were on our drying rack when we left at 5am), but other than that we were well prepared! The most painful part was crossing an ice covered stream- that was up to mid thigh! BRRRRR!

With our busy life/work schedule, we were in much need of a relaxing adventure.

We are so grateful to live so close to pristine wilderness like this, and can’t wait for the next adventure!