With so many arches to choose from within Arches National Park, Delicate Arch tops many people's list, including mine! I was so excited to find out you could hike to it. And with such a short hike, this made it very doable in a short amount of time.

"Hiking eases my mind and allows me to take in the beauty."

Start at the Long Lake Trailhead and follow signs to Lake Isabelle. The parking lot only holds about 30 vehicles. Come early to avoid crowds. If you can't find parking, you can park at the Brainard Lake Recreation area, but this adds 2 miles to your total trip.

The trail passes Long Lake. The trail follows along South Saint Vrain Creek. When crossing Jean Lunning Trail make sure to follow signs for Lake Isabelle and Pawnee pass.

"On this trip my mom reminded me that at any age you can surprise yourself, challenge yourself and even laugh at yourself."
- BOLD & FIT (Jen)

I honestly don't think my mom knows how truly wonderful I think she is. She worked her ass off to give me the life that she thought would provide me with the most happiness. She stressed the importance of honesty, kindness and a strong work ethic. She gave me independence at an early age and because of that I never wanted to let her down. And even though I've gone down a very different path than what she had imagined for me, she respects my decisions and knows that I'm happy.

I went on a backpacking trip and I cried in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.

Yes, that’s right. I cried. 1 mile in. We hadn’t even hit the halfway mark.

You see, this was only my second backpacking trip. My first was amazingly fun and pretty easy-going. So I had high hopes that this trip was going to be just as good.

“Every step felt like torture.”
— BOLD & FIT (Jen)

I did it! I strapped on my boots, put on my pack and headed to the mountains. This was my first backpacking trip and I'm thrilled that everything went as smoothly as it did.

Last week I packed up my tiny San Francisco apartment of 9 years and drove away to a new city. I have never taken a multi-day road trip before so my anxiety levels were through the roof. Couple that with the fact that I have never moved out of the Bay Area, this made for a very difficult time for me.  If you follow me on Instagram you'll that I was super emotional: happy one minute and crying the next. But this is something I know I wanted and needed so I dug deep and found the courage to leave.

Here's my dirty little secret...