Inside Our ☀️ Summer Mode☀️

This month, Mind & Mountain - AKA Raine and me - are moving into what we affectionately call ☀️Summer Mode ☀️, which has become part of our annual work cycle over the last few years. 

We love it! And we wanted to share how Summer Mode came to be and why it works well for us inside of Mind & Mountain business vision. This way of working aligns with the values that we want our small business to uphold, and helps us show up for ourselves and the business throughout the year. 

Since starting Mind & Mountain, I’ve tried to create a business that is as far removed from hustle culture as possible - while also recognizing and pushing back against the systems that often fuel it: diet culture, white supremacy, and ableism.

Those influences can be so common, especially inside businesses in the fitness, outdoor recreation, and mental health spaces. It can be hard to see and name these influences, but the fact is that they are the water we’re all swimming in. So if w...

Four Wins From The Ice

Some trips are fun. Some are restorative. And every once in a while, a trip lines up in a way that feels almost instructional - like it’s quietly teaching you something about timing, safety, strength, and belonging.

Our short, spontaneous winter trip to Cordova ended up being one of those experiences. On the surface, it was about skating on a glacier lake among icebergs (already pretty magical). But underneath that, there were four very clear “wins” that stood out - four places where things went right in a way that felt meaningful, nourishing, and transferable to everyday life.

So, as a means of making a trip report, I want to use those four wins to structure this write-up and share about this magical experience that Luc and I were so lucky and grateful to have. 

Cordova is a little town of 2500 people on Prince William Sound in Alaska. The only ways to get there are by plane or boat - we took a quick flight over from Anchorage over the Christmas holiday beca...

I’m back with Part Two of my Brooks Range 2025 summer trip! If you missed it, you can catch Part One right here. 

Nothing Like Training in Action 

When I think back on this summer’s trip, one of the things I’m struck by is how much the first half of the journey set me up perfectly for what came next. With a foundation of prep work – through Summer Strong, weightlifting with Allison Tenny’s Alpha program, and as much spring hiking as I could squeeze in (we had an early spring melt and good hiking earlier than usual) – I had set myself up for success. Last summer, I was sick most of the season with walking pneumonia and lost a lot of fitness & lung capacity, so I had been motivated to get as much as possible back this season! Luckily, it seemed to be working. 

The structure of the trip itself helped, too. In the first half of the trip, we used a basecamp at the airstrip to allow us to do an initial short hiking loop, only three days with light packs. Then we returned to the airstrip a...

Adventure, Nerves, and Nature on the Globetrotters Podcast 

I recently joined Jonathan Otero on the Globetrotters Podcast for a heartfelt conversation about outdoor adventure, nervous system resilience, and what it really means to belong in nature. From learning to backcountry ski as an adult (with plenty of crashes along the way) to three-week wilderness trips in the Arctic, we talked about the joy, struggle, and lessons the outdoors offers.

We dug into how strength isn’t just about muscles, but about nervous system capacity and emotional resilience. Jonathan and I also explored the culture of outdoor recreation—everything from “bro vibes” and gatekeeping to finding more inclusive, compassionate ways of adventuring together. And of course, we swapped stories about Alaska, grizzly encounters, and why I keep returning to the Brooks Range year after year.

Topics We Covered:

• (1:30) Growing up in Alaska and finding my way into outdoor culture

• (5:14) What “mindful interval trai

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This trip wasn’t supposed to go the way it did, but that’s part of what made it so good.

Long-time readers will know that my partner Luc and I make a point to take a backcountry trip together every summer. This summer was a little bit different – scheduling conflicts and important events kept Luc from being able to attend what would have been the window for the first part of a trip, so I decided that instead of not going or going solo, I’d ask a couple of girlfriends to join me for the first half. Then Luc and our friend Pat would fly in later to meet me for the second half.  

That singular decision ended up setting the theme of what this trip would be full of – flexibility, creative problem solving, and trusting the process.

Plans changing like the weather 

This year, as always, we were trying to thread the needle between the last of the snow and the hatching of the bugs. It’s the sweet spot we always try and hit – but it can also be a pretty big gamble. This year, the wild card f...

Have you ever been curious about how your menstrual cycle affects your training?

Have you ever tried to sync your workouts with your period?

Let’s talk about it! The relationship between periods and fitness as well as the general impact of the different phases of our period have been receiving some much-deserved attention on social media lately. People who menstruate know firsthand just how much hormonal cycles can affect how we feel. So it makes tons of sense that periods also affect how we exercise!

This blog is an exploration of the topics that my upcoming course, Train with Your Cycle, will cover in depth. We’ll be diving into the nuances of all the cycles: nervous system, menstrual, moon, creative, seasonal, grief, etc with the goal of learning how to understand and support the nuances of your particular cycles. 

Different phases of our menstrual cycles can yield dramatically different outcomes and feelings depending on what our body is feeling naturally prepared to handle.

T...

The Brooks Range is Full of Magic 

Something really special about summer in Alaska is the short but magical window when we can access some of the most wild, remote places. One of the most special? The Brooks Range. Located within the Arctic Circle, I can’t help but keep coming back to these mountains.

This trip consisted of myself, Luc, and our good friend Will. The three of us hiked and packrafted our way around the Delong Mountains, surrounded by wildlife, sweeping vistas, and endless sunlight

How We Planned Our Brooks Range Trip

Planning to spend time in this extra-wild area takes a lot of effort. The Brooks Range does not have any roads or developed trails. A successful trip in this wild place requires hiring a bush plan to take you to a remote landing strip and doing lots of research to find good routes nearby.

Lining up the timing also feels like threading a needle. We try to go late enough so that the snow has had time to melt away for easier walking, but early enough tha...

Three Strategies for Peeing Outside for People with Vulvas

For beginner outdoor adventurers, peeing outside can be intimidating! For people with penises, the method is usually pretty simple. But if you have a vulva, you might be looking for a little more guidance. Everybody pees, and we want to help break down any anxiety you might have about answering nature’s call. The good news is hygienic and comfortable peeing outside is easy with just a few pro tips and some experimentation! 

We came up for the idea for this blog after having a couple different casual conversations with friends last summer who had wildly different approaches to peeing outside! Different preferences are part of the game, so we asked three folks to share their preferred method for taking care of business. Each person has a different strategy, including simple and low-budget solutions. Below are some tips for success as well as pointers for when and why one option might work better than the others.

If one or more...

Making the most of summer by slowing down, bringing your buds, and finding joy.

This is a guest blog by Mind & Mountain friend & team member Vanessa Chavarriaga. Vanessa is a Colombian, mountain athlete, environmental sociologist & outdoor advocate.

When the white blanket of winter creeps away, summer comes in full force with a perfect concoction of colors, smells, and feelings. The oversaturated greens of spring create colors that you’ve never seen before. The sweet smells of pine sap, dust and sunshine create a cocktail for your nose. The hot sun on your skin warms every cell in your body. When the heat becomes overwhelming, a cold dip in a lake soothes your burning skin, mixing fire and ice and waking you up with a jolt of energy. 

Summer is a time for endless options.

The long days make it possible to have 5 days in one. But with these endless possibilities often comes the sense of overwhelm, fatigue, and pressure. Here are some tips that have helped me make the most out of ...

Returning From the Wilderness Can Be a Big Adjustment

Sometimes, the hardest part of wilderness trips or vacations isn’t the challenge of hiking or long plane rides, it’s getting back home and adjusting back to regular life afterwards. 

Each summer, I take at least one long trip into the Alaskan wilderness. After about three weeks in nature, coming back home to the city often feels jarring. For many years, I struggled with reintegration from the wilderness back to my regular life. The first few days always felt awkward, sometimes even frustrating. More recently I’ve been noticing this after other intense experiences, like a week of nervous system training. Can you relate?

Whether you’ve been on a long wilderness trip, a retreat, or a vacation, it’s totally normal to feel a mix of emotions in the first few days of your return back home. It’s also totally normal not to feel able to jump right back into your routine at full speed.

This transitional time is called reintegration, and fo...