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U.S. National Parks

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ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Terra, a 30-something runner, writer and wanderer on a life-long quest to visit all 400+ U.S. National Park sites. Based in Richmond, Virginia, with two fluffy wolves and one cheap cat.

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terragoes

Cannot believe it took me weeks to get in my first

Cannot believe it took me weeks to get in my first scamper of 2020. I’m not sure what took me so long, other than, you know, life stuff, but I’m glad I finally found the time to scamper, even if it was just a small scamper.
#nationalparks #scamper #explore #waterfallwednesday #outside #optoutside #exploreva #nps #nationalparksgeek #shenandoahnationalpark

Ran my 7th Frostbite 15k this morning, scored an e

Ran my 7th Frostbite 15k this morning, scored an eight second PR, wanted to die for the last mile and left a chunk of my heart on the course. This race continues to me one of my absolute favorites because it’s hilly & hard, the weather is a gamble, I always see friends & it’s a classic Richmond run. Cheers to a new year of running!

#run #runrva #runtostaywarm #richmond #runnergirl #frostbite #womenwhorun #runnersofinstagram

Color coordinating, green goddesses. 💚

Color coordinating, green goddesses. 💚

...In the tent that night, I’d imagined night cr

...In the tent that night, I’d imagined night creatures creeping past my tent, thought I heard the crunch of paws on sand, the breeze of heavy wings passing overhead. And that’s when I stopped being scared, when I realized I was just anther desert creature, just another feral animal trying to make myself at home in a pricker-filled paradise.
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New post at terragoes.com on my love for @mojnnps.
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#nps #nationalpark #parks #mojave #nature #feral #wildwoman #ca #california #exploreca #visitca #wild #mojavenationalpreserve #rocks #woman #hiker #nationalparkgeeks

Annual feminist book club holiday revelry. Hashtag

Annual feminist book club holiday revelry. Hashtag blessed to be part of this group of incredible & beautiful womenfolk.

Yesterday I really needed to go outside, I needed

Yesterday I really needed to go outside, I needed to be alone, needed a long drive & a long walk, so I drove two hours to Old Rag, hiked & scrambled my way to the top. Then, because it was a little bit busy up there, I heaved myself up on top of the tallest rock, pulled out a beer, put my headphones on to block the noise of other people and sat for a bit. I didn’t even bring my camera, wasn’t interested in photographing any of it, I took less than 10 photos with my phone the whole day. I just wanted to be, just wanted to get a little bit wild, to let go and get out into and out of my head. I took the scramble back down too, to save myself a few miles. I bashed my elbows, my knees, scraped my hand on the rocks enough times I had blood dripping from my fingers, but this was exactly, perfectly the thing that I needed, to move my body over obstacles, to challenge myself, to be in the forest, to go alone.

Three years ago today I stood in a cotton field in

Three years ago today I stood in a cotton field in Loop, Texas, after saying goodbye to my grandmother for the last time. I’d flown around the world to come to her funeral, all the from Kuwait, just to be there, to say goodbye, to pass photos of her back and forth between my family members, to stand in the fields she worked as a girl. Some days it feels like she hasn’t been gone all that long, some days I don’t understand how it’s been so long and every day I miss her, every day I wish I could see her again. #Feels #Grandma #Cotton #Texas

Today’s the day I murdered a goal. It’s the da

Today’s the day I murdered a goal. It’s the day I ran my fastest half marathon, the day I set a 1:41:29 PR at the Richmond Half Marathon. Six years ago, at this same race, I broke two hours for the first time. It was a wild & tumultuous time in my life & training for that race helped me survive. I never thought I’d get much faster than that, never thought I’d be capable of running that fast for that long. I used to fail at running, used to hate it. I’ve never been more proud or impressed by what my body is capable of accomplishing.

#runrva #halfmarathon #run #runnergirl #rva #richmond #pr #success #fitspo #training #exercise #fitness #strongissexy #strongisbeautiful

Cheers and happy Veterans Day to all my fellow vet

Cheers and happy Veterans Day to all my fellow veterans out there! What a glorious and sometimes ridiculous adventure this thing is. ||||| 📸 Kosovo, Sept. 2007

#veteransday #veteran #army #military #soldier

Every time I go on a a big scamper, I come back ha

Every time I go on a a big scamper, I come back haunted by some beautiful place. Last year it was Death Valley. This year it’s Capitol Reef. Last night, I looked up at the Richmond city skies and thought about my last night in Utah, the night I spent at Capitol Reef. I miss it, the way bits of the Milky Way just spread out across the sky, the sound of the water, the orchard leaves, the deer, the desert. I don’t know when I’ll get back, but the more I go, the more I know: the desert owns my heart.

#capitolreefnationalpark #capitolreef #nationalpark #nps #nationalparks #utah #explore #fruta #wanderlust #travel #exploreamerica #thegreatoutdoors #rei1440project #nature #brownhair #desert #wildwoman

Happy birthday to this perfect creature! Thank you

Happy birthday to this perfect creature! Thank you for teaching me about lipstick & bringing @areuthe1 to me & @rachaelgking. Thank you for always having the best advice and the best eyelashes, for loving the snacks I make you & for your constant support. You’re the bees knees, an incredible person and friend, and I love you, lady! Happy fucking birthday! ♥️ (THIS 👏 FRIEND 👏 IS 👏 GOOD)

#bff #friends #scamperbuddy #womenwhowander

(Two weeks ago) long-haired hippy witch encountere

(Two weeks ago) long-haired hippy witch encountered the mighty Colorado River in Nevada & a view so lovely she threw her paws in the air in delight and probably, definitely cursed a little too, because fuck, you’re pretty, America.

#nps #nationalparks #seeamerica #nevada #wanderlust #exploreamerica #lakemead #colorado #river #trail #hippy #witch #hiking #hike #womenwhohike #scamper #landscape #pretty #wildwoman

Happiest of birthdays to this muskrat princess dee

Happiest of birthdays to this muskrat princess deer friend of mine. I hope you scamper well this year, with and without me; that you get to complete lots of puzzles that don’t make you say too many fuck words; that the dog is good, or at least good adjacent; that you grow and blossom the way you always do; that you throat-punch your goals right into the achieved category and that you keep being a generally delightful deer friend. Love you, boo boo! 🦌♥️🌲 #scamper #humpbackrock #hikeva #virginia #womenwhohike #bff #bestbitch #publiclands

This wasn’t supposed to be my 100th @nationalpar

This wasn’t supposed to be my 100th @nationalparkservice unit, but I’m glad it was. Here, at Golden Spike National Historic Site, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads came together to form our nation’s first transcontinental railroad. It was a wild feat, one that was completed early and that had started in the midst of the American Civil War. I did everything here, watched the movie, wandered the exhibits, completed the Junior Ranger handbook & earned my badge, visited replicas of the trains in their winter home and drove the auto tour that followed the old train tracks. It was the perfect place to end a perfect adventure. —————————————————
#nps #rei1440project #nationalparks #train #unionpacific #centralpacific #railways #transcontinental

The last big park of my adventure, Capitol Reef Na

The last big park of my adventure, Capitol Reef National Park, was a delight. It’s far less crowded than Zion or Bryce, absolutely breathtaking and sleeping here was the most peaceful sleep of my entire trip. I went to an evening ranger program, learned about the geologic history of the place & curled up in a blanket at my campsite and stared at the Milky Way. The vibe of this place is one I’ve been chasing, where my cell phone loses signal, where everyone says good morning when you pass on the trail, where the view made me bark in disbelief.

#nps #rei1440project #nationalpark #wanderlust #utah #wanderlust #nationalparkgeek #exploreamerica #travel #roadtrip #capitolreefnationalpark #capitolreef #mountains #desert #canyon #reef

Long-haired hippy witch either enters Bryce Canyon

Long-haired hippy witch takes in the magnificence

Long-haired hippy witch takes in the magnificence of Zion Canyon & stops cursing about how pretty it is just as a pack of children joins her at the summit. ——————————————————————— #nps #nationalparks #nationalpark #znp #zionnp #zion #utah #observationpoint #exploreamerica #womenwhohike #usa #hike #scamper #hikinggirl #hikingadventures #usparksandmonuments

Long-haired hippy witch cackles with wild abandon

Long-haired hippy witch cackles with wild abandon and delight in the Narrows, even though she doesn’t know how to swim and almost died once in a hot tub. || I turned down four offers for a stranger to take my photo before finally relenting to a dude who then made me cackle while taking approximately 876 pictures of me posing and also walking back toward him to get my phone back. Days before this, a witch in LA told me I’m bad at flirting & so ten minutes after this exchange in the Narrows I was like, oh, maybe that was flirting, but who can say, I don’t know how that shit works, even LA-based witches and the tarot know that. ————————————————————-
#zion #np #znp #utah #nationalparks #rei #nps #wanderlust #narrows #exploreutah #adventure #hike #solotravel #exploreamerica #usparks #nationalpark #virginriver

Clinging to a cable with this view at your back &

Clinging to a cable with this view at your back & 1,000 foot drop-offs on either side of you is an A++ way to wake up in the morning. Sure, coffee is great, but so is adrenaline.
————————————————— #zion #utah #exploreut #nps #nationalpark #america #wild #zionnp #thegreatoutdoors #nationalparkgeek #climb #hike #wanderlust #travel #womenwhohike #usparksandmonuments #nationalparks

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