Quick Overview of this newsletter:

1. ☀️ Summer is here!
2. 💦 A menu of water-based activities
3. 🛶 What I didn’t expect on a Grand Canyon rafting trip
4. 🧴 Product of the month
5. 💌 Sharing is caring
6. 🌼 Seasonal treat

SUMMER IS HERE!!

It takes a while to fully warm up in the Pacific Northwest, but when it does, it’s glorious. I’m currently writing this outside on my back deck, while in the shade of my Douglas Fir trees and listening to the birdsong. Just glorious.

Everything is available to do now, including higher elevation hiking, dips in the rivers, paddleboarding on lakes, picking the ripening blackberries, and maybe an escape to the coast, if it gets too smoky or too hot. Truly, this is my chance to do water-related activities like swimming and paddleboarding, so that tends to be my focus this time of year.

I also just got back from a family trip to Lake Tahoe! We did double beach days at Sand Harbor and D.L. Bliss State Park, where we were swimming, paddelboarding, and smiling all day long. Since I’ve been here many years now, we opted for a hike in the Kirkwood area to switch it up. Lake Winnemucca and Round Top Lake blew my hair back with incredible wildflowers and alpine scenery. If you haven’t checked out this area, I’d recommend it!

Due to wildfire smoke, I feel a particular pressure in late-June, early-July to do as much as I can because we really don’t know if these activities will get smoked out. It’s late July now and yes, wildfire season has begun, though not close to Eugene. It makes me grateful for the punch of summertime that I get during each Tahoe trip.

Hanna

A Menu of Water-Based Activities

Like wintersports, I like to have a menu of water-based activities to choose from or rotate through based on availability and my own energy level. Here are a few ideas from most lazy/relaxed to most action:

• Hammocking/reading next to water: Who says you need to actually get in the water to enjoy it? One of my favorite days is to go blueberry picking and find a spot next to a river or lake to read.
• Lazy swimming holes: Dip your feet in or take a full dip on hot days, then try out on whatever flat rock you can find.
• Beach or pool day: Obviously.
• Waterfall chasing: The flows are not as high now as in the spring, but the mist feels just as nice.
• Floating the river: The activity is relaxed, but the logistics are not, which is the only reason I don’t do this more often. The time I floated through Yosemite is still one of my most popular posts.
• Sunset cruise: I should look for one in Oregon because I almost always love these. I’ve done one in Seattle and Lake Tahoe.
• Renting a boat: Expensive, but fun, if you know someone who can drive a boat. Thanks, Dad, for always driving us.
• Paddleboarding/kayaking: I don’t own a paddleboard, but my partner and I are getting particularly tempted after going paddleboarding on the Deschutes River in Bend AND on Lake Tahoe.
• Whitewater Rafting: Definitely with a respected outfitter, I haven’t done a day whitewater rafting trip in years. Maybe it’s time to go again.
• Multi-day Rafting Trips: These are such unique trips - I’ve done one in the Grand Canyon and another lodge-to-lodge trip on the Rogue River in Oregon. Both were phenomenal - see next section for what I didn’t expect on the Grand Canyon Trip.

What did I miss? I'll add it to the list for next year

Water-based fun! Clockwise from upper left: Paddle boarding from D.L Bliss State Park, Round Top Lake near Kirkwood, one of the waterfalls beyond Tumalo Falls near Bend, and reading next to Blue River Reservoir.

What I Didn’t Expect on a Multi-Day Grand Canyon Rafting Trip

After I first heard that you can raft through the Grand Canyon, I couldn’t shake the idea. Seeing the canyon from below? Moving with the current of the river? Sleeping with a view of the milkyway in between the canyon walls? Sign me up!

And I chose a trip that suited me even more perfectly - a 5-Day Hiker’s Special, where we hiked to vista points, a waterfall, indigenous granaries and carvings, and from the river to the Rim on the last day. You’re welcome to read the entire breakdown of the trip in this post, but I also wrote a separate post about the 8 things I didn’t expect when embarking on this journey. I’ll give you a taste here:

1. Lack of Privacy (and Specifically Where to Pee)
2. How Quickly You Bond with Others
3. The River Fashion
4. The Physicality of the Trip
5. Sleeping Outside Is Incredible
6. Alcohol is Chill
7. How easily you can adapt to river life
8. How much I would enjoy a motor trip

Read through the post for my reasoning. If the lack of privacy or sleeping on a cot outside seems a little too adventurous, the paddling trip I did on the Rogue River with ROW Adventures was lodge-to-lodge – bathrooms and beds every night!

Just two solo ladies taking a bite from a Snickers in one hand and a tart green apple in the other while on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. What could be better?

Product of the Month

Two summertime products that I haven’t talked about yet (my Cupshe bathing suits worked out great, by the way), but used often in Lake Tahoe are:

1. Trader Joe's Gel Sunscreen - have you tried this yet??! I’m not even sure how to describe it - it soaks into the skin, making it very soft and easy to re-apply. Diligently using this sunscreen, I didn’t get burned in Bend or Tahoe. Heads up, this is not a mineral sunscreen.
2. Dry bag - keep your phone, car keys, and other essentials completely dry while you float or paddleboard. I use the Sea to Summit 5L bag, which is available at REI, Backcountry, and Amazon.

A friend of mine let me know that I never actually added the right link to my Amazon storefront last month - whoopsies. Here’s the link, and I now have categories for Water-Based Adventures, Summer Hiking, Indoor Plant Care, and Car Camping.

Tell a Friend About the Moderately Newsletter

If you’ve been enjoying my mix of travel and seasonal activities, would you consider forwarding my newsletter to a friend or family member? Perhaps one that you’d like to hang out at the creek or beach this summer?

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Seasonal Treat

This will be the second year I am doing two different CSA (community supported agriculture) items. One is a cropshare with Little Wings Farm where I get to choose my farm-fresh produce each week (I’ll share photos in a future email) - delicious! And the second is a monthly flower bouquet with Smiling Frog Farm, which I suppose is a subscription. But since it’s so local, it feels different.

I just picked up my July bouquet this Tuesday, and the combination of yellow/orange with purple makes me so happy! Honestly, Christina’s flowers and bouquets are always well done with unique flowers and lovely color combinations. Both CSA items make me a little more conscious of when certain flowers or produce are coming into season, and I love supporting local farms. If you’re local to Eugene, I recommend stopping by the Tuesday Farmer’s Market to purchase a bouquet from her - tell her Hanna said hello.