What It Was Like Participating in USA's First Ever Highlander Adventure

If you're like me, or rather how I was, you’d never heard of Highlander Adventure before, but after a little bit of reading and seeing an affiliation with an organization as reputable and established as Spartan Race, your interest is piqued.

When first hearing about the Highlander Adventure, my partner and I had very little to work with to make our decision. We knew that this adventure series had its roots in Europe, that there were 3 adventure distance options available, that they were affiliated with Spartan Race (I’d previously associated as part of the cult Spartan family, myself), and that unlike our backpacking trip experiences of having to carry food for the entire trip, that we'd only have to carry a day or twos worth of food at a time as food was distributed at checkpoints. On top of that, the experience touted evening offerings of yoga, music and entertainment at the campsites.

“Why not?” We'd decided early on, and registered several months prior for the 5 day 60 mile adventure, the longest of the 3 options. We’d already been on a few backpacking trips and also had a handful more planned for the summer leading up to the first USA Highlander, so we felt we’d be prepared and if anything, it might feel like a little break, like backpacking lite at the end of a fully scheduled season.

As far as nutrition goes, Donnie was a little skeptical about the food that would be provided for us. There were even some participants that chose to pack in their own meals so there would be no surprises. Our first day of meals were provided at check-ins the day before our journey began, with the rest of our days of food dispersed to us at checkpoints and two evenings of hot prepared meals. Personally, my philosophy about fitness and hiking is that I like to eat because I like to hike, and I like to hike because I like to eat. I'm grateful to say that every step of the way I felt more than adequately fed. Some of us were even returning snacks back that we found we wouldn't need to lighten our packs load. I got to try out Expedition Meals for the first time and found them to be filling and full of flavor. I discovered a new and fitting on- the-go meal for hiking and everyday life out of Fillo's Walking Tamales. I am, and I'm sure many others are, eternally grateful for HopWater's and GT Kombucha's sponsorships as a cold fizzy beverage at each checkpoint was something akin to an island oasis after a day on foot in the sun. On two of the nights, we enjoyed a hot catered dinner; one of which was a flavorful salad, pasta and breadsticks night, fitting for the night before our longest day of mileage, and the other was a most fulfilling taco bar, complete with chips and guac.

In regards to the course, I had honestly expected it to be fairly easy compared to our preceeding summer excursions in the Eastern Sierras, but it definitely put us to work. An event like this is at the mercy of the forest service, so it took a few iterations before they were able to agree on a final course. For the 60(ish) mile adventure, our mileages each day were ~10, 13, 17.6, 16, and 8.4 ( with an option for an additional mountain summit adding 10mi ). When all was said and done, Donnie and I clocked in nearly 76mi, the greatest amount of miles we've ever consecutively hiked, beating out our High Sierra Trail mileage.

When it came to the evening programming, it was well curated with options like yoga offerings, an inspirational talk by mental health advocate Jesse Cody @hikethegoodhike, live acoustic music, a screening of the feature documentary Highline, and an eye-opening presentation by Benny Braden of ResponsibleStewardship.org.

To be clear, Highlander Adventure is not a race. Although they're affiliated with Spartan, they make it perfectly clear that it isn't a race. That isn't to say, though, that some people coming from the Spartan culture wouldn't have a competitive mentality. We very much understood it to be “not a race,” however my partner and I do have competitive tendencies for ourselves; we like to challenge ourselves, keep and maybe even develop a quicker pace and see how quickly we can outdo ourselves. If there's anything I might've changed after the fact, I probably would've intentionally slowed down to get to chat and interact with more people. As it is, we met some amazing outdoor lovers and like-minded spirits; it was nice having the community around in the evenings at each campsite. It’s funny to experience in real time what a small world it is because I met, for real met, Instagram friends and friends of friends, some of which I didn't even know were coming and others I didn't realize I was already connected with until the end of the week. I personally feel like I missed out on getting to know even more amazing people, some of which I only got to know by face, if at all. Everyone has a story, and the kind of people that choose to take on the feat of an extended camping trip on foot, home-for-the-week strapped to their back and all, make up a community of people rich with personalities and stories.

If after reading all this you find yourself even more interested in participating in a Highlander Adventure, I'd love for you to enjoy my DISCOUNT code: CHER-HL10 for 10% off any U.S.A. Highlander in 2023.

Registration is live NOW for Big Bear Lake - May 24-28, 2023!

If you're a hiker looking to transition into backpacking, this is your sign🤠

If you're a backpacker looking to build on your mileage, this is your sign🎒

If you're a backpacker craving more community, this is the place📍

If you're in search of more adventure, the time is Now😉

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thoughtfull Thursday: What Manifestation Feels Like

“Preface: thoughtfull Thursdays are sometimes, though not necessarily always, thoughful, however are moreso referred to as such because they are FULL of THOUGHTS.
p.s. if you’re reading this, could you hit the like button so I know that someone is?”

This may sound like the simplest thing in the world to some, and even if you’re thinking “why should I bother reading this,” I still think you should. For me, the reason I’m writing this is because if I were wondering what manifestation felt like, I’d likely Google search “What does manifestation feel like?” And in fact, I did once have that pondering, but it was before the time of even thinking to consult your own personal technological information slave (Google, Siri, Alexa). In fact. I haven’t searched that query, I’ll admit, but if I had, I’m sure I would’ve wanted to find something (and we all remember the days when our searches led us to dead ends, or perhaps only those millennial and older ) .

Anyhow, I’ll get to the point now. I just had a moment of experience that I feel best describes the sensation of manifestation and I wanted to share it with anyone who might not know exactly, or even in any minor semblance, what manifestation feels like.

Just this morning, I was getting my life together like I always do at least once or twice or 55 times a week, organizing things in my room, folding clothing, and putting away laundry in their respective home spaces. I felt a piece of paper in the back pocket of a pair of jeans that I was rolling up and felt into the pocket, expecting maybe a parking ticket voucher or something of the like. As I reached into my pocket, I found my social security card. I know, I absolutely know that you’re thinking that’s not something you’d want to lose. I agree, especially having clearly misplaced mine. What might be more troubling than the prospect of having lost such an article of importance, is that it’s probably been about a year since I’d last seen it. It’s how funny how these little things work, though. I remember having thought just recently, maybe a week, maybe a few weeks, maybe a couple months ago, “I know my social security card is here somewhere, it’ll pop up eventually.” I made maybe one relaxed effort to find it, but didn’t stress too much about it like I might’ve scoured for anything else with more of an urgent necessity. After that, I guess you could say it was on the back-burner amidst all the other things I have on my mind that call to be attended to more immediately. And then, some time and literally no effort later, here is my social security card, back in my secured possession. I feel very strongly that you’ve likely experienced something like this at least once in your life. This feeling of relief and joy that washes over you is nearly magical, so it sometimes seems. I once read someone’s description of love to be something along the lines of,” it feels like everything I ever lost come back to me.”
I can’t argue with a person feeling that way about love. And I add to it that manifesting feels that way also. Whether or not you actually lost an item or idea, a feeling or sensation from your experience of life, there is an incomparable feeling that occurs when you get or get back something you desired that you all but let go of.

Whether or not you believe it’s a scientific coincidence or a manifestational, and still scientific, occurrence, it’s the feeling that we’re focusing on, the sensation of seemingly calling to something with your mind, letting the matter go with ease, and experiencing the appearance of said item.

As some metaphysicists would say, that was the “set it and forget it” method of manifestation.
Have a clear and unwavering image in your mind of what it is you want or are hoping for, with full belief of it.
Let that idea, that desire, that want go and forget about it, or at least cease attachment or dwelling about it.
Watch it manifest.

For anyone completely new to or in disbelief of manifestational occurrences, I dare you to just try it.
Now of course, it can work to your advantage or your disadvantage, as I’m sure many of us can believe and know has happened to use; thinking something you don’t want, watching it come to life. You imagined it, after all? And then right there it was.
I know it sounds too easy to be true, because it sounds easier that it is.
One of three mistakes might happen when you’re manifesting: You either don’t believe it can actually happen, whether literally or figuratively, or you think so hard of what you don’t want that THAT is what in fact ends up happening. Or, potentially the worst of them all, you continue to spend so much time thinking about or wanting something that you inadvertently push it away. More on that another time.

Try these simple steps out and even if you don’t experience manifesting up front, you might at least become more clear in your mind about what it is you truly want or where in your life you could stand to place more belief.

-Cher Nicolas RYT-200, Reiki Master Practitioner, observer of life