Trail Hydration - An expanding market

Living in Georgia, I know the importance of hydration. Double that on the trail. Triple that when you're backpacking. When I'm hiking, I love water. But as soon as I make camp, I'm desperate for a different beverage. Lucky for me, the market in instant drinks has exploded to my nearby Kroger.

Some like it HOT

I remember my fascination with the first instant coffee packs I saw years ago. We took them on our next backpacking trip and I never looked back. Now the market has expanded to have almost every variety of coffee-drink in small instant form.

Need to have cream and sugar in your coffee? Instead of stealing packets of sugar from your office, I like to bring a salt and pepper shake. This is my personal favorite from container store:

Of course, if you're not a fan of coffee, there are still plenty of options. I've been known to pack a hot chocolate packet and my husband enjoys tea. 

Ice Ice Baby

Prefer chiller beverages? I saw instant iced coffee the other day!

The market has also grown on flavoring your water. From Mio to Crystal Light (my personal favorite), you have plenty of options. Sport stores like REI and Dicks carry additional options in the form of fizzy tablets. Don't know which one to get? REI did an article about it.

Which drinks do you prefer?

Expanding Foam and You: Wrap it up

After a long break due to events season, I am back in the blogger seat. I'm breaking my rhythm to start with a cosplaying blog to wrap up my expanding foam cliff hanger. As we've learned, a lot of this project is based on feel. There is not a formula for how much to carve or where to paint. I can only hope to provide tips to help.

When we last left off, I had finished carving the staff and wrapped it in masking tape. (You can catch up with part one and part two.) We are only losing detail from this step forward so work hard to retain what you have.
When wrapping the staff in tape, make sure to use smaller pieces to help you retain that detail you have carved in. Take your time with this step! Push it into your gaps and massage the tape around the edges.

Half tape -- Half paper mache staff

When you finish wrapping the foam in tape, then you start to cover it in paper mache. Same rules-- use smaller pieces when necessary, push into gaps, and massage around edges to keep the rounded and pointed details. I used good ol' fashion newsprint and watered down some elmer's school glue for this step. The final product was one layer of tape and two layers of paper mache.

Let your staff dry between each layer. Especially let it dry after your final layer. Paint and wet glue mix poorly. 

** Here is where I skipped a step the professionals do. I did not cover the paper mache layer in something like clay to smooth the project out. Depending on your time, budget, and level of scrutiny, you may want to add that step in.

I spent my drying time buying multiple shades of brown to get started -- dark brown, light brown, normal brown, tan, cooper. The first layer of paint was brown everywhere to give it a base. 

After that, most the staff received a second layer of brown because the newsprint was still showing through. But after that I got into using the different colors. Working with slightly wet paint on the second layer helped me blend in other colors, especially the lighter ones. 

The final finished product! I was very proud of how it turned out.  From a distance and even a conversational distance, it is hard to tell this is made from foam and paper mache. Up close with a LOT of light, you can see the outline of the strips of newspaper. For my use though, it works great!

Missed a part? Go back and read:
Part 1 - Foam Art
Part 2 - The Carving

Expanding foam and You: The Carving

Welcome back! To recap, I covered how I created my expanding foam monstrosity in part one.  Now we go on to what I found to be the fun part-- carving the staff out!

Here's what I had to start with. A large and in charge piece of foam that looks like a horror show.

This is a messy process. Be sure to lay down a well anchored tarp to control your shavings as your cut foam off. You can see the start of my work at the bottom of the staff where it is smoother than the rest.

This is also a risky process because you are working with sharp blades.  Using Kami Cosplay's example, I used a box cutter to widdle it down.  She used a cutter with some weight but I really preferred the lighter and cheaper version. You want a sharp blade, which also made the cheaper cutter easier to work with and then discard as it dulled.

This is a whole $1 at home depot.

I've had knife accidents before so I was careful to ALWAYS carve away from myself, not towards me. It is too easy to slip up and slice yourself.

I would gradually bring the staff down the size. My first go around was taking off the first quarter to half inch to start to see the shape of the staff. I continued to do a pass through from top to bottom, taking off 1/4 to 1/2 inch each time. By the third pass, some areas lost more and others lost less as I worked out the thickness. My vision was to have a skinny bottom that expanded into a thicker head.

For the divots and dips, I used sharpies to draw out where I wanted dips to be. As long as I could see the sharpie, the dip wasn't deep enough.

I messed up several times, but you'll see later those errors added character to make the piece look more natural. If I really messed up, would stuff discarded foam into a gap.

Remember in my first post where I glued green foam to the staff? You can see it showing through as the green lines running up the staff. When I hit the foam, I knew I was 1 inch away from the wooden center and need to slow down the shaving. It also helped me gage circumference. I cut down and into the foam at the bottom of the staff but barely scraped it at the top.

The final step was to shaved off a bit more than I wanted because it will be getting covered in paper mache to bulk it back up.

To celebrate being done with carving, I covered the staff in masking tape to prep it for part three - painting. Be sure to really pressed the tape in and around the staff, otherwise you lose those details you made.

Smooth tapped up staff. 

Part 3 will be our final segment. I'll cover the prep and painting of the staff for the final outcome.

** This is a multiple-post article on creating a mage staff for a final fantasy white mage out of expanding foam.  Be sure to catch them all pokemon style!**

Planning a Hiking Vacation: Family Edition

Last year's vacation was a first for us - we went on a hiking vacation with my family. Granted we're an older bunch with the youngest at 24 and we've vacationed with family before, but not like this. We never had to test our nerves together after miles of heat, blisters, and uphill and I was nervous. But I'm a planner at heart and I issued instructions as I tend to do with most things to help make it a better trip.

1) I was a drill sergeant about training
I brought up hiking training in every conversation. I would ask them how many miles they are walking each day, how many or how tall were the hills, and how winded they felt afterwards. I would make comparisons to landmarks they know ("Hiking up Highline trail will be like going up Kennesaw Mountain 3 times in a row.") so they could hopefully train more.  I started the training conversation before we even booked the flights. I didn't want anyone unprepared.

Trail signs are better with funny faces.

2) I assigned gear lists
I'm a list keeper. When we booked this trip, I sent them my copy of lists from previous hiking trips to show them the gear they would need. Good news is they didn't have to buy a lot more, but I knew before I sent the the lists what they were missing. I made sure everyone had their own pack and water. We addressed clothing to bring like jackets, convertible pants, HATS! For the love of god always hike with a hat! There was even a first-aid briefing so at least each pair of hikers had basic items for blister care.

We also discovered we are a family who loves puzzles.

3) I listened to their needs
After the first hike, I learned a lot. I hurried us on a 5 mile hike in mid-afternoon in the crowds and heat. We did not perform well. My husband's pace was too fast for the group, my mom liked to break at different points than me, and my sister wanted lots of photos. At the end of the hike we were exhausted in more than one way and it was just day one. I was worried the entire vacation was going to already be a bust.

So at dinner time, we talked it over. I asked how they felt on the hike and what they wanted to change. When we hiked as a family again on Day 3, we made lots of changes. I became line leader as my pace was the right balance. I made sure to stop at the bottom and top of hills, instead of just the top like I was use to.  We communicated more about stopping for photos or changing pace. It was a much better hike!


Hiking with family presents a new set of challenges, but it was rewarding to share the memories together after the trip. Don't get a few bumps prevent you from the same!

Expanding Foam and You: Creating a Mage Staff with Expanding Foam

Do you sense a theme with my latest cosplay posts? That would be prop making. I like to pick one things I want to learn that year and commit to making cosplays that help me learn it. Last year, it was props so I can now share what I have learned with the masses!

My big prop last year (literally!) was a mage's staff. After lots of research, the best material choice for me to follow my three tenets of prop making was going to be expanding foam. Two tutorials sold me on the idea:

• Kamui Cosplay, a goddess of prop making
• MyCuteBow's Etwahl Making

Each project is different so while these served as good guides for me, I still ran into unique issues I had to battle. 

I nailed the first step to create my prop core and outline. 

I got a wood pole from Home Depot to serve as the core for the staff and drew a lot on a piece of craft foam until I found the approximate size and shape of the staff head. I would constantly hold the piece up to myself in a mirror to ensure I liked the scale. (Note: There are a lot of tutorials about using a lot of math to scale props online. At the end of the day, I go with what looks right on me.)

 I went outside with a tarp to start step 2-- attaching foam to my core. 

Expanding foam should be handled with care. Lay down a tarp to protect surfaces and be sure to wear at gloves to protect your skin. Outside application is best for large amounts because you will want the ventilation. 

Look Ma! I even made some guides to 1) help give the foam something to attach to and 2) give me a stopping point in carving.

 From my handy dandy sketch, I knew I wanted the staff to have an approximately two inch diameter. I cut and hot glued on foam pieces that are two inches. When carving, if I saw green I would know I have gone far enough. 

You'll see most people use cardboard in other tutorials. I chose craft foam because it was easier for me to see and glue to my core. I was cutting a lot of pieces out and craft foam is way easier for that than cardboard. 

The expanding foam quickly rebelled against me. 

You see, it is very sticky when it meets cloth or plastic. It does not like to stick to itself after a certain point. The foam would start to build, then slide off the pole as it settled. After one bottle of foam, I was left with a half-covered mess of a staff. 

The solution was more cowbell and more guides. I hot glued craft foam everywhere to create 'V' channels the the foam could rest in.

Now I'm guessing you could also show more patience than me and wait for a smaller amount of foam to dry before applying the next.  However, this method totally worked. Sometimes I would jam a piece of craft foam between hunks of expanding foam - no glue needed. 

It still took several layers and some patience to create the necessary bulk on the staff.

The good thing about bright green guides is I knew to cover the staff until they were not visible. If I could see them or guess where they are, I would add more foam. 

It took between 3-4 bottles of foam to create the staff. Or rather the hunk of foam that would become the staff.  Next post will be about the carving and covering process!

Part II is live! Click here to ead the next steps.

Creating a vacation hiking schedule

It's no secret that we like to plan vacations around hiking. My idea of relaxation is eating lunch on top of a mountain.  My planning approach for a vacation hike is different from my local day hike approach. I'm less familiar with the terrain and weather patterns, I'm more likely to do hikes in less than ideal conditions, and I'm not taking the next day off to recover with video games. So what am I looking for in my hiking vacation planning? This.

1) Write down twice as many hikes as you want to do.
Always list more hikes than you think you can do in a day. One guidebook's strenuous is another book's moderate. I never want to it to be mid-day and I'm still ready to hike but have no clue where to go. Each day of my vacation schedule lists one to two 'must-do' trails and then one to two optional trails depending on the day's condition and my condition.

Goats don't close trails thank god!

This is also helpful if one of your trails is closed due to weather or animal activity.


2) Plan hiking days in pairs
For every day of strenuous hiking, match it with a day of easy hiking. I recognize that I struggle to hike 18 miles with 4,000 ft elevation two days in a row. So if day one is hiking Half Dome, day two is going to the Tuolumne Meadows (true story). This gives me time to recover and take on another mountain on day three.

Up in the clouds day 1...

...down in the meadows day 2. Our legs thanked us.

3) Don't plan a day
My favorite vacation day is catch-up day. This day is left blank at the end of the trip for us to pick up any trail we choose. Sometimes it's a trail suggestion from a ranger or a fellow hiker on the trail. If we got rained out on an earlier day, then we use catch-up day to get in that hike. Mother nature never cooperates 100% of the time. As a result, I never plan 100% of the time so we can still get it all in. Remember all those extra trails you wrote down in step 1? Here's your chance to visit some of the favorites that got left behind.

Eagle View trail may not be popular,but it sure is beautiful. 

Gearing up for abroad - New Year, New Resolutions

At the start of last year, I swore I was going to blog again. Blog more! Blog often! But last year's miss is this year's opportunity. So with a new year, I'm trying to kick my butt into gear again. This time, I'll start with a hiking post about the challenges of going abroad.

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We love to make our vacations all about hiking. Spending seven days in a national park is easy planning. My car is my base camp, I only wear hiking clothes all trip, and I have access to laundry. For our trip to Japan, we wanted to make it all about food and only hike a few days. In lieu of suitcases, we used our multi-day packs. Translation: space was a rationed commodity.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized two facts:

• I did not want to carry Fuji hiking gear for more than the day I needed it
• I could not be the only person who wants to hike Fuji and doesn't have gear

The solution? Rent it! When I started looking at this route, I found there were online sites devoted to rental gear just for hiking Fuji. We could choose what we needed and have it sent to our hotel. I got us jackets (two layers), hiking boots, gloves, gators, hiking poles, and rain pants. You could have rented even more, if needed. We used our own base layers, socks,and headlights for the trip. 

Ricky sporting his rental jacket and gloves. So warm!

Our backpacks thanked us for the saved weight and space.  We were thankful to have gear made for the mountain. At home in Georgia, we have gear for rain and gear for cold but not gear for rain AND cold. From 6th to 8th station, the rain went from a sprinkle to a downpour. Visibility dropped drastically along with the temperature. The gear we rented was airtight. Not a drop got in and I never felt uncomfortably cold. 

We had two jackets - a fleece for warmth and an outer layer for rain.

Returning was just as easy. We threw everything in a pre-paid bag and dropped it off at a post office. Nothing to wash. No dirt in our bags. It was gone as magically as it had appeared.

After renting gators, I had to buy some when I got home!

The only difficult part was sizing. Americans tend to be larger than Japanese so we went with 'size O' on everything. Some items were on the tight side (pants), but it was better than nothing at all. 

So if your trip has you visiting a foreign country and hiking is only a part of your agenda, I highly encourage you looking at rental gear. The money spent was well worth the space saved!