Rachel Richards

"Better Livin" blog: betterlivin.ca/
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Bio: I am a 31-year old physical education student in Southern Alberta, Canada. 

Favorite Music: I pretty much only listen to my jams from the 90s & early 00's so C+C Music Factory is my go to music. I still listen to BSB, Spice Girls, No Doubt, Destiny's Child. Are you cringing now? Ha ha ha! 

Comfort Food: My grandmas stew recipe. There's nothing to it really, meat, veggies, parsley but it's my go to meal all winter long.

What Animal Would I Be And Why: I would want to be my dog Rocky Barkboa,.That black lab is spoiled rotten and so loved and cuddled and has a huge backyard to run around in. It would be a nice life to be my dog.

How I Wash Away Stress: Walk & wine. A walk or run; anything that gets me outside and moving my body always makes me feel better. And then I top it off with a large glass of red wine and ahhh...relaxed!

Favorite View In All My Travels: I don't think anything beats the view of Waterton Lakes from the top of Bears Hump; which is what makes it such an incredible hike. It's short and manageable for people of all ages and abilities and the view is absolutely stunning.

Cherished Childhood Memory: Definitely my summers on my grandparents farm. I took a liking to the farm at a very young age and I used to beg my parents to let me stay longer than our short family visits. I started spending two months every summer with my grandparents when I was about 6 and I have the most wonderful memories of being outdoors from morning until night. It was a hobby farm so it was small by farming standard but to a kid, 182 acres of land to roam wild is a vast wonderland and I grew up making forts, tramping through fields, and playing with animals.

Dream Retirement: I would love to live on an off the grid self sustaining farm in Hawaii somewhere. We would raise all our own food, generate our own power and collect our own water. 

Advice I Would Give To People Looking To Travel: Find adventures wherever you are. You don't have to circumvent the globe to find adventure; you just have to look around you. My second piece of advice is to take advice from Nike and "just do it". There are always a million reasons not to hit the road (bad weather, house has to be cleaned, errands, you should save your money, blah, blah, blah) but you just need to shut up all the voices in your head and go. I have never sat back and said "Man I wish I hadn't gone on that trip or hike or excursion. I should have stayed home" 

Trail Review: Blakiston Valley
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Hiking season is here at last and I’ve been collecting hiking buddies over the winter!

Over the weekend, a crew of us (including Ryan!) headed out to Waterton Lakes National Park for a group adventure.

Originally, we planned on going up Red Rock Canyon but the spring runoff had the stream so high we couldn’t walk along it, we would have had to swim.

Instead we headed to Blakiston Valley. We did a quick stop at Blakiston Falls and enjoyed the futuristic looking new observation decks.

For the full story click here.

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​Heads up: A reminder to stay safe on the mountain













According to mywaterton.ca, Mt. Galwey in Waterton Lake National Park is “the easiest difficult hike in Waterton Park.” 

I’m not an experienced scrambler and I found it easy but very precarious at the same time. It didn’t help that there was a bit of slippery, mushy snow at the top when the climbing is the most tough.

I’ll get to the scary accident at the end. Let me tell you a bit about the beginning first.
Read More!

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Salt Lake City Road Trip
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I fall more in love with the Salt Lake City area with every visit. What other city is 20 minutes away from the mountains but has all the amenities of a city? It’s amazing!

For part 1 click here.
For part 2 click here.
For part 3 click here.

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Girls Cross Country Ski Day in Waterton

​About a week before Christmas (or was it a week after?) I organized a girls cross-country ski trip to Waterton. 

I invited all my friends, despite that they didn’t all know each other, to join in on a day in Waterton, skiing to Cameron Lake and back.




For full article click here.

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Ice Skating On Waterton Lake

I always say misadventures make the most memorable adventures; and in the case of this past weekend, helped me find a new adventure.

For the full story click here.

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Oh, Christmas Tree 2016

It was the first weekend in December, which meant it was time to head to the mountains to cut down a Christmas Tree!

My siblings and I have such good memories of doing this as children with our parents in freezing Northern Alberta and it’s a tradition I’m trying to start with my family.
For full article click here.

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Trail Review: Goat Haunt

On Friday I snuck over the U.S. border.

There’s no wall yet! Ha ha ha.

Sorry, that’s my lame attempt at a little political humour.

But I did go hiking on the Goat Haunt trail that travels along Waterton Lakes, into the United States to an outpost called Goat Haunt. 

For the full article click here.

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Homework and Hiking Pt. 2 - Bertha Falls 


I’m a genius!

This homework and hiking idea is perfect and just what I needed!

I only wish I’ve been doing this all semester.



​For full article click here.

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Homework and Hiking- Bears Hump & Linnet Lake

I think I’ve figured out a way to balance life a bit!

​In class last week we spent some time discussing how we were feeling in the top four areas of wellness: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

I’m not a spiritual person but my prof told us that it didn’t have to fall into the church, praying, higher being category but it had to be what made us feel whole and at peace.

I realized for me that’s getting out into the mountains and spending time outdoors.

For full article click here.

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Fall Mountain Biking on the Wishbone Trail




All that hard work last week doing homework paid off because I was completely done it all by Saturday afternoon and was able to head to the mountains on Sunday with Rachelle with a carefree mind.

And as she was on her way to my place, I asked Rachelle if she wanted to bike the Wishbone Trail to Loon Lake.

For the full article click here.

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Hiking to Goat Lake, with a side of scrambling

There is nothing I love more than a day in the mountains!

Over the weekend I met up with a gal I used to coach to go hiking in Waterton.

We originally planned to go paddle boarding but it was so cold and overcast when we first pulled into town that we opted to head up to Red Rock Canyon parkway and do Goat Lake instead.

For the full article click here.

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Hiking the Carthew-Alderson Trail

On Labour Day, my friend Samara and I headed to Waterton despite the rain clouds to hike Carthew Alderson, a 20-km one-way hike that requires a shuttle to the start at Cameron Lake.


For the full article click here.

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Hiking to Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park

As my loyal readers know I am a Waterton fan.

That place has a magic to it that makes me instantly happy when I pull past the gates and there is so much of that little park I have yet to conquer, but now I have all of Glacier National Park too because that place is incredible!

For the full article click here.

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Girls Day Out! Paddleboarding and Canyon Exploring!

​Nothing makes you feel more young and carefree than a day with your girlfriends.

Fed up with work, bills, and life I arranged a girls day out in Waterton for my friends so we could pretend we were teenagers. 

For the full article click here.

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