Mountainhaus Basecamp is the space of connections. A Connection to nature, to friends, to the aesthetics of the outdoors, and to oneself. I sought out to create a space in which all of these connections could happen simultaneously and used a House in the Mountains to do so.
All of this started because I got really angry. I was angry about coronavirus, about my dad’s cancer, about my own inability to get a fucking grip on my mental state, and about the world falling apart for so many people. I was so angry in fact, that I just ran out of my house and kept running. I ran uphill and into the mountains, a place that would soon become my daily stomping grounds. I kept running and running until my lungs exploded and my feet were covered in blisters. Even though the physical pain was basically unbearable, the emotional pain that propelled my body uphill started to dissipate. I felt a mental freedom akin to meditation. I guess they call it "endorphins”. I kept going back up the mountain every day, and with each day I learned how to go farther, how to stay safe, how to navigate, and how to find that meditative space within myself.
The funny thing about all of this is that I used to hate “hiking”. I associated it with extreme discomfort, unknown variables, and the pressure to stay on the designated path. I have since learned to take it less seriously and to appreciate all of the unknown variables that used to scare me. I am definitely a nature newbie, but I do want to share my experiences outside as well as my lessons learned in order to inspire others who may have felt the same way about getting outside as I once did.
I have also become somewhat obsessed with lightening my pack load and understanding how to find the most functional gear so that I can venture farther out into the mountains. The obsession extends to the aesthetics of my gear, which should not take precedence over functionality, but are important to my experience outside. I don’t want to wake up in a neon green tent or a red and purple sleeping bag. My gear doesn’t have to be butt-ugly to be functional.
After a few months of my solo treks into the mountains, I finally felt comfortable enough to invite my friends along. I had spoken to them about the mysterious mountains full of clarity and beauty, but I didn’t know how to share my experience with them while social distancing. Turns out, it’s a lot easier than I thought. Hiking is pretty social distancing friendly! We’ve since made it a weekly routine - one which is evolving as much as our friendship. Brook, Gina, and I are experiencing a new kind of friendship - one in which hugs cannot be exchanged and food cannot be shared. We are wearing masks and frantically sanitizing our hands. We can either complain about our situation or create something new out of it. In the process of understanding how to be around each other safely, we’ve created Mountainhaus.
We will be making videos and sharing photo essays of all our Mountainhaus expeditions - from our grueling treks into the bone dry mountains to the backpacking trips we hope to accomplish in the coming months. We will be backyard camping and backcountry camping and car camping and glamping. We’ll do short hikes and long hikes and maybe even thru-hikes. We’ll make quite a few mistakes and we certainly will learn from those mistakes - and we’ll share them all. We are hiker girls - not pros or athletes or mountaineers. Just girls who want to hang out in nature during a pandemic.
We hope you learn a thing or two!