I had first met the amazing couple behind Natural Restorations a while back. Blaine and I were hiking along the Salt River and they were cleaning it up. Blaine and I offered to help them while they worked tirelessly. For some reason, this area is always pretty trashed. We have since become friends with Justin and Nicole, running into them at Arizona Trail Days last year and talking online. When we find dump sites, we let them know, etc. They are passionate about the environment and they deeply care about the world around them. They really dedicate themselves to Arizona, in particular, the Arizona Trail. Anyway, I am rambling.

We were excited to go to a clean up at the Salt River a few weekends ago and see Justin and Nicole again!  We were joined by our friends Adrienne, Erik and their cutie pie.  
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Everyone worked so hard to clean up the river and help clean up the massive amounts of trash. The river looked really different than it typically does. I am in this area a lot and the landscape does look drastically different due to a flash flood that occurred recently. That flood also did wash up a lot of excess debris that needed to be cleaned up. 

Blaine was super cute and he is very into Leave No Trace. I love taking him to clean ups. I am a big believer in teaching children to be stewards of our land. 

Look at this beautiful group picture! What an amazing turn out! Please consider donating to Natural Restorations so they can continue to host clean-ups and continue to do such good things. Also, follow them on Instagram!

Last week myself and two other thru hikers (Dylan [ trail name: Lucky] and Bryce) were interviewed to discuss the big upcoming event on the Arizona Trail. The Arizona Trail Association is celebrating their 25th Anniversary and just like last year, hikers are getting excited and doing their part to sign up for sections for Arizona Trail In A Day. If you don’t know what that event is, I would be more than happy to tell you... if you don’t want to know, I am going to tell you anyway. AZT In A Day is where we all strive to get all 800 beautiful and diverse miles of the AZT hiked in one day! It is the perfect way to sample sections and decide if you want to dive in.  If you are truly bold, you commit and thru hike one day!

Anyway, back to the interview... so, I met the other  hikers, they were super nice. They are taking off on AZT In A Day! Super epic, I promised I would bring them food on the trail and since I am a woman of my word, I totally will. I hope they pick a beautiful section for me to deliver to! After we we chatted for a bit, I did my part and it was all over. The crew was super nice.My favorite part was having my sister there. She is always there for me and I am such a hyper person and she is always so calm! If you have been pondering checking out the AZT, please consider checking signing up for AZT In a Day! It would be super exciting hitting 100% this year! You can sign up on the Arizona Trail Website!