Hello Stranger by Maddy

1 week ago | hellostranger.substack.com | Maddy Marquardt

I’ve been logged off lately — between work and the weather getting nice, I’ve been spending most of my time outside of work reading, writing with a pen and paper and typing it up later, going for long walks or short runs, propagating my plants, and out on the water paddling! It feels like summer has really actually started and come next weekend I’ll be in full summer swing! I’ll be going part-time in my job at Paddling Magazine, making more time for some classic Midwest travel and focusing on...

2 weeks ago | hellostranger.substack.com | Maddy Marquardt

My feet hit the pavement but all I can hear is the creak and grind of bones. My running shorts — old, last worn three years ago — cut into my sides. There’s a knot under my ribcage and I imagine my shoes wearing down against the pavement. I used to feel strong doing this, I remind myself. Now, my hair whips around my shoulders and catches in my mouth, too long to be practical. I look down and I hate the way my legs move, awkward and coltish, pale and slow.

2 weeks ago | hellostranger.substack.com | Maddy Marquardt

We reached 90 degrees up on Lake Superior this week and it’s safe to say Midwest summer is HERE! Here are ten Midwest summer adventure ideas to add to your summer bucket list: The Pictured Rocks are probably best known as a sea kayaking destination, but personally I think it’s one of the best places to hike on Lake Superior! Here, you can find waterfalls that pour directly into Superior, perfect coves to swim in, and some of the coolest shoreline hiking views to be found on the Lake! READ: A...

3 weeks ago | hellostranger.substack.com | Maddy Marquardt

There is nothing that beats the feeling of getting to the car after backpacking. Except maybe the first bite of a burger at a bar two towns over. After backpacking theNeedles District of Canyonlands,Sarah and I spent a few days exploring Moab. Here are my scattered and arbitrary thoughts from a few days bumming around the desert:There is something absolutely magic about water hikes in the desert. Red rock all around you, and then you get to put your feet in an ice-cold mountain run off? Unreal.

1 month ago | hellostranger.substack.com | Maddy Marquardt

I met Sarah in the Grand Canyon last year when I taped her feet for blisters. Two two of us backpacking the Havasu Falls Trail, Sarah, Aubree and I all met on Instagram planning the hike together. Permit-wise it shook out that Sarah and her partner hiked in the day before Aubree and I. When we all finally met at the bottom of the canyon we chatted for about ten minutes, then Sarah and her partner hiked out. I spent another day in the Canyon with Aubree, hanging around the Havasu Falls Trail.