GETTING BACK TO THE OUTDOORS
My name is Joel Trost and I am one of the founders of Topophi. Growing up I had always been a pretty adventurous kid, involved in every sport, boy scouts, and would jump the fences that enclosed the military standard housing I was raised in. When I went to college the adventures stopped as I was inducted into the daily grind of studying and soon after leaving to work.
That was changed when I was introduced to Joseph Knox, one of our cofounders via Stephen Bishtawi, another one of our cofounders. We met on my first backpacking trip since my childhood. We traveled up to Lake Tahoe Basin in January for a three night stint where we scaled Freel Peak in freezing temperatures. It was seriously cold, we’d wake up and have to thaw out our boots by the fire in order to slide our feet into them.
At this point you’re probably asking yourself, “what does this have to do with Topophi?”
Why is finding information on Forests so difficult?
Since Tahoe we have been going into the backcountry on a pretty regular basis. In January 2015 we, Stephen, Joseph, Joanna Khachikian, our fourth cofounder, and myself, planned another trip up to Los Padres National Forest to the San Rafael Wilderness. We are well prepped people we had the maps, we planned out our route, the campsites we’d spend the night at, and the all important meals.
In final preparation for the trip I called the local ranger station to find if there were any closures or tips for navigating San Rafael and it took 5 phone calls, leaving a message, and getting a call back before finding out the road we wanted to start from was closed.
After giving it some thought, it wasn’t just how hard it was to find information about closures and area specific information, it was the entire process of planning. Its hard to find the permits or even if there are any permits necessary. Where those permits apply, the regulations, can you have fires, and what the heck are you allowed to do here anyway.
Lets make finding information on Forests, Parks, and Wildernesses as easy as finding your local restaurant.
We want to fix the accessibility of information problem. We are a group of people that love the outdoors and believe that making it easy for travelers to inform themselves about the forests, the rules, how to contact the local rangers, and discover new adventures.
Topophi is going to start with the rangers, permits, and regulations. If you want to go backpacking in this San Bernadino National Forest, or visit the geysers of Yellowstone, Topophi will have all the information you need. We are also going to keep posting to this blog so you can learn some sweet backcountry recipes or hear some of our experiences.
We would love to hear from you, your experiences, thoughts, or maybe you just want to chat. Please send us an email at [email protected] telling us what you think or drop us a line on Facebook.
https://www.topophi.com/Â
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
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