¡Las fotografías de nuestro viaje!

The Long Trail

A fire tower we so fondly remembered from the AT

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A view from the top of a ski area

The Heady Topper was really worth all the hype!

A moment to soak it all in

Maple syrup farm

Drying ourselves out atop a fire tower

Climbing to the top of Jay Peak

The tree cut at the Canadian border

Long Trail Ale's to celebrate the completion of the Long Trail!

A few days visit to Surry, NH to spend some time with our very sweet friends, Red Lobster & LJ - a couple who met on the AT & are now happily married

Pacific Crest Trail, cont'd

Marmot!

Soaking up the sun

A very safe crossing?

Glacier Peak

You can see the PCT zigzagging down the side of the mountain

Reunited with Sweet Tooth & Pants Off Dance Off who were also out, completing the rest of their thru-hike from last year

The trail took us next to some giant pine & cedars

Touching a glacier

Dinner & breakfast we packed out from Stehekin Bakery - we had already shoved a few of these down our gullets...but there always seemed to be room for more!

North Cascades National Park

A lovely campsite just north of Rainy Pass

The first threat of snow at 7,000 ft turned out to just be cold, windy & frosty

Avalanche damage

Staying toasty

35 miles to go to the border!

Took my hat off & my hair was stuck that way

Enjoying our views on our final day of hiking on the U.S. portion of the PCT

The border!

Tree cut at the border on the other side of the country - twice in one summer was pretty special

Oh Canada!

So we've completed the Pacific Crest Trail!  We hit the border on September 2nd, slept at the campsite just after the border & then hiked the remaining 8 miles into Manning Provincial Park the following morning (& made it in time for a very delicious but very expensive breakfast at the restaurant)!  We have a finish photo, as well as other pictures but we have no capability to post it right now.

We had a lovely drive across the top of the U.S. via Highway 2, which began in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We decided to stop & spend a day at Glacier National Park which was PHENOMENAL, as all who know who have been there.  Absolutely beautiful & also, where the top of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) travels through.  Western Montana, Idaho & Washington were all quite beautiful.

Ironically, Highway 2 led us right to Steven's Pass, where we were to begin our hike.  So we began mid-afternoon on August 23rd at Steven's Pass, 180 miles from the border.  22 of these miles were being repeated because we'd gotten that far when we got snowed out last fall.  We had a great time seeing these 22 miles in the warmth with the sun shining down upon us.  The views were spectacular - we had no idea when we were passing through last year because we were in clouds the entire time.  We found that we returned to the trail with fresh eyes & a fresh spirit so our surroundings seemed brand new all over again.  We were so happy to be back on the PCT, it felt so good.  The Long Trail whipped us into shape & made the terrain of the PCT seem so simple, so easy, we felt like we were floating down the trail most of the time.  We were able to recall certain parts of the trail when we had passed through first in rain and then in snow.  It's amazing how different the trail can look passing through in different weather.

The Appalachian Trail has a section near the end called the "100-mile wilderness" but the 100-mile section between Steven's Pass & Stehekin felt like more of a wilderness than I've probably ever felt.  There are no road crossings, the only sign of outside civilization is the occasional jet flying overhead & other hikers you pass along the way.  It's unreal how remote & wild parts of this section felt.  We didn't realize there were places in the U.S. in the lower 48 that could feel that remote.  It was beautiful.  The weather was great except for one afternoon of lightning, thunder & hail.  But this time we not only had umbrellas - we had Chrome Domes by GoLite, which is probably our favorite piece of equipment we own now.  It is lightweight, strong & made of plastic so it's not as attractive to lightning.

We met other hikers who we'd somehow never met but who were also completing their unfinished thru-hike from last year, for similar reasons as us.  We were thrilled when we ran into Sweet Tooth & Pants Off Dance Off because we knew them from last year & it brought back some familiarity, made it feel for a second like we never even left.  They were finishing up the same stretch as us.

Stehekin, our one & only resupply stop was amazing.  It's a small village along Lake Chelan just east of the trail & North Cascades National Park, which the trail crosses into as we head north.  Very friendly to hikers, they let us camp there for free, had a small store, a restaurant, a Post Office, an AMAZING bakery (as anyone would tell you who's been there), a farm stand & a beautiful view any direction you turn.  It is a very special place indeed & I hope we'll return again someday & it'll have to be either by ferry, water plane or foot again because those are the only ways in!

The day we left Stehekin, the on & off again rain began.  But first I should mention on our shuttle ride back up to the trail, Keith spotted 2 young black bears (the mom was there, too but we didn't see her).  We had also just seen a deer and then when we got back on trail, we saw a small rattlesnake crossing the trail.  That was the major extent of the wildlife we saw on trail, almost entirely in one day.  The weather stayed pretty misty/rainy/cool for the remainder of our PCT trip.  We made it to Rainy Pass & sure enough, it was raining but we met a guy giving trunk-magic out of the trunk of his car, which was very exciting.  We were surprised at how busy the parking lot was here but we were reminded it was Labor Day weekend.  We hiked up toward Cutthroat Pass from there & on our way met 2 people out for the weekend & they seemed interested in hearing about our adventure but we found a campsite in a very beautiful spot so we stopped because we were very much done for the day & they hiked on up to camp on the pass.  In the morning, when we passed they invited us up for a cup of hot coffee & we said YES!  It had been a wet & chilly night so a cup of hot coffee sounded fabulous as we waited for the sun to pop through the clouds.  They were interested in hearing about trail life & they told us they lived in Bellingham, WA & that if we found ourselves looking for a ride and a place to stay after we finish the trail to call them up & they would help us if they could.  We thanked them & went on our way, smiling at the kindness & good energy you receive from people out on the trail.

We hiked up & down, through passes & down into valleys, taking off layers & then putting them back on because the weather was ever-changing & never predictable.  We knew we were getting toward the end & our emotions were mixed as it got closer & closer.  We imagined what it would have been like to be hiking through this in snow as some of our trail friends from last year did after some of the snow melted & the sun eventually came out, almost 2 weeks after we got snowed out.  We've seen pictures, but man this would've been so beautiful in the snow.

Eventually, we made our way to the monument at the border & at first, I felt myself tearing up but that didn't last long because it was just so dang cool.  It looked different than I'd imagined even though I've seen so many pictures of the exact spot.  It felt different because we were just finishing up an 11-day trip instead of a 5-1/2 month thru-hike, like we'd imagined.  But in some ways it felt as if we'd never even left.  It was a great spot, with great energy & at first we spent our time there shared with a few others & then eventually hiked on .2 mile to our campsite.  But later that night we hiked back & had some time there to ourselves to truly soak it in.  It felt good, it felt right.

We had such an enjoyable last night with Jay, Cindy & Whit from Alaska & Professor, sitting around a campfire in the rain, talking & celebrating & soaking up our last night in the woods...for now.

When we made it to Manning Park the next morning, we spent a few hours hitchhiking before eventually getting picked up & then dropped off just north of the Canadian border so we could walk across on foot.  First we stood in line with the cars, waiting patiently for what looked to be at least an hour's wait to get through but then a woman crawled out of her car & yelled over to us that we could just walk right up there & go in through a building - thank goodness for her!

We called the couple from Bellingham - Donna & Bryan - & they gladly came & picked us up & hosted us at their house for a few days as we let our bodies heal & our minds grasp the transition back into life in society.  They took us sailing & introduced us to the world of travelling via sailboat which we find very exciting, they took us to some amazing bookstores, fed us good food & inspired & reminded us at how good & generous people can be.  They eventually even drove us back up to our car at Steven's Pass, bringing 2 of their children along for the ride.  And....they had a cat.  :)

Now we are in Portland, visiting friends & scoping out the city...and the city is great.  Big, but great.  Marijke & Scott (Luna & Werewolf, we met on the PCT) & Kevin & Kanako (Red Oak & Buttercup, we met on the AT) are housemates & are hosting us & putting up with us as we ask them a million questions about life in Portland.  We were able to go out to the coast for a day & wow.......it was beautifully beautiful.  We were able to spend yesterday evening with our good friend Art (Beans, we met on the AT) & his girlfriend Susan, who just got back from backpacking for 6 days in The Enchantments in WA.  Good people here.  :)

But tomorrow, we leave.  We will probably head toward Yellowstone National Park & then toward Colorado to see what we can find there.

But our PCT adventure is over now.  Finally.  And it feels good and it feels right.  Really, we are glad it turned out the way it did.  Fresh eyes, fresh spirit, fresh mind.  What's next?  Who knows.

Mishigama

Car is fixed...at least the immediate stuff is.  Hoping it will hold it together enough to get us through the rest of the way.  We've made our way back to Michigan, stopped for a swim, visited some family, are refueling ourselves at my lovely mom's house with good sleep, good food & catching up on the happenings around here.  Will head up to da U.P. tonight to spend the night with Keith's sister & brother-in-law & then will make our way across the top of the U.S. through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, & then eventually to Steven's Pass, Washington where we will hop on the PCT & again - hike toward Canada!!!

Old friends helping us along...

We are currently under the kind & generous hospitality of Red Lobster & LJ and their dog, Rosie who live tucked down in the woods near Surry, NH.  We met Red Lobster & LJ on the AT in 2010 on ours as well as their thru-hike, when no one yet knew these two would fall in love & soon be married!  When they heard we were heading to the Long Trail, they offered us a place to spend a few days so we could catch up & reminisce on the good 'ol days while taking some respite from traveling around.  They picked us up two days ago after a hitch landed us somewhat nearby & they will deliver us back to our car tomorrow afternoon.

 We completed the Long Trail on Tuesday, August 12th, the last of a 5-day stretch of really beautiful weather.  We landed at the border pretty early in the morning & soaked up the sun at the monument, celebrated with Long Trail Ales we had carried out & enjoyed the view into Canada.  What a trail it was.  So full of surprises.  Some days were full of the most technical trail we've ever hiked, others were a breeze & pleasantly delightful & easy trail.  At times we were questioning them even calling this a hiking trail because it was more like bouldering/rock scrambling/mountaineering.  Almost all days were muddy & slippery.  We fell more times on this trail than probably the AT & PCT combined.  There were times where we literally would laugh out loud at the trail just ahead of us because it didn't seem possible that that would be where we were headed!  But the adventures & obstacles along the way made the trail so rewarding.  Reaching the top of some of these peaks felt so dang good.  Climbing up Camel's Hump via the northbound Long Trail was one of my all-time favorite summits of a mountain.  We hiked through thunder & lightning storms, over cloud-covered bald mountains, through moose-poop covered trail & almost had our shoes sucked right off our feet by the muddy muddy trail numerous times.  We met some interesting folks as always.  We didn't see any moose surprisingly, but plenty signs of them.  But we did see a red fox, a snowshoe hare, an owl, peregrine falcons, plenty of red efts, salamanders, toads, frogs, snakes, slugs & many other assorted birds, bugs & other livings things.  We heard coyotes howling & yipping in the distance a few nights, hermit thrushes singing to us almost non-stop as we hiked as well as eastern wood pee-wees (my favorite), & an un-manned & unfriendly dog who may or may not have belonged to a person.

So anyway, we've finished & had a total of 23 days on trail.  There was a few mile hike out of the northern terminus, first on trail, then dirt roads with little to no traffic so we hiked into North Troy, very small town just under the border of Canada.  We were hoping for a meal but a general store was all there was so we grabbed chips, cold drinks & Ben & Jerry's ice cream to fill our stomachs up a bit.  Hitching was slow but eventually a woman picked us up & dropped us off at the next town, right in front of the general store.  Then a man from the Netherlands picked us up & brought us to the next general store, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, near the small town of Lowell.  This is where we sat for at least 3 hours, with no one wanting to pick us up.  We tried & tried with no success & soon enough another hiker - Beowulf - showed up who had also made his way down hitching after just completing the Long Trail.  Oddly, we'd never met him on trail because he had always been behind us but as the trail community works, we quickly became friends & chatted on about our hikes.  Neither of us were having any luck hitching, though, so eventually he took off walking down the highway while we stayed behind, hoping our luck would pick up.  We began scoping around for a place where we could stick our tent overnight if we needed to as storm clouds began rolling in.  Eventually, we got picked up and generously, they stopped to pick up our new friend, Beowulf, as well.  They dropped us off at another general store & very quickly after Beowulf got us a hitch.  We decided to stick together from there on because it seemed to be working & Beowulf had a car parked at a trailhead not too far ahead.  So then we were dropped off at a random corner where the first car picked us up & took us a bit farther.  And it took one more hitch to get us up to Beowulf's car.  We still had about 30 miles of hitching to go to get into Burlington & Beowulf decided he'd take us the whole way, which was amazing.  Upon arrival, we decided to have dinner together before Beowulf headed on his way.  He eventually dropped us off right at the door of the people's house we were headed to- Prophet whom we met on the PCT last year!

Quick note:  Prophet contacted us & invited us to visit after hearing we were on the LT from another pair of PCT friends - Hermes & Lotus - who had coincidentally saw our sign-in in a logbook while they were hiking up Camel's Hump a few days after we'd summitted the same mountain.  They were in the area on vacation & contacted us asking if we were indeed thru-hiking the Long Trail.  It was great hearing from them & we are very grateful that they hooked us up with Prophet so we had someone we knew in Burlington!

We decided to stop into Burlington because we were intrigued by the fact that it is the largest city in Vermont with a population of only 40,000.  We heard a lot of good things about the town - it's right on Lake Champlain, it has the University of Vermont, it has a lot of things we might be interested in, so we decided we should check it out while we were in the area.  So we arrived at Prophet's pretty late in the evening but he & his girlfriend, Kate were very kind & generous hosts as well.  We were greeted with good food & drink, a shower, laundry, a cozy place to sleep & were able to catch up on life post-PCT.  The last time we had seen Prophet on trail on the PCT was in Mammoth Lakes, CA and coincidentally we had met Kate, his girlfriend there as well.  Prophet helped us find a bus that would take us part of the way across Vermont, gave us a tour of the city & then dropped us off downtown so we could be on our way.  But first we partook in a Maple Mocha Creemie as suggested by Kate & it was indeed delicious!

 The bus took us as far as Montpelier, the state capital & it was pouring rain outside so we were feeling not so optimistic about hitching the remaining 80 or so miles down to meet Red Lobster & LJ in lower VT, where they could pick us up.  But this is where we were wrong.  This is where Natania picked us up - a recent implant from California & she was able to take us the entire way!  She was full of good conversation & we shared intrigue & interest into each others lives & she was the least-scary person you can imagine.  It was the hitch of dreams.  A good ending to an adventure of hitching madness over the previous 2 days.

So here we are, spending a comfortable few days in the home of Red Lobster & LJ.  They both had to work today so Unicroc & I climbed up the mountain out their backyard which has no particular trail up it, which made for an adventurous & quite an enjoyable experience.  Red Lobster took us into Keene, NH yesterday, a quaint town where we ate a very yummy lunch & where interestingly they filmed the movie Jumanji (RIP Robin Williams).  And tomorrow, we will see the small village of Surry & eventually head on our way.

The state of our car is still in question, but we think we plan to fix it as best we can & continue on our way.  We are probably even more so now than ever drawn to finish the PCT & hope to be able to visit some very special people out there as well.  Next stop:  Michigan!

200 Miles along the Long Trail

Much has happened, many trail days have passed, our Long Trail experience is almost over.  We have 5 days left on trail before we reach Canada but before we could get there, we swung west out of Smuggler's Notch, into the small village of Jeffersonville, VT for a complete day of rest.  The trail has beat us up.  It has been surprisingly difficult & challenging but a very memorable experience for us thus far.  We have been able to reconnect to our natural roots & have immensely enjoyed the high alpine forest along the tops of the Vermont mountains.  The smells, sights & sounds we have seen over the past 17 days have been seriously soaked up & have revived our spirits.

On our drive to Massachusetts, where we were going to begin the Long Trail, we decided to drive "blue highways" meaning no interstates.  The drive was a bit longer than we'd anticipated but amazingly pleasant compared to interstate driving.  We felt more connected to the places we were driving through - these roads would take us right through downtowns & kept our driving speed lower so it felt a lot less stressful than many other road trips we've taken.  In New York, we saw a sign that said we were crossing the North Country Trail so we pulled over & stretched our legs on the trail for a few minutes.  Cool to see the North Country Trail elsewhere because we lived close to it & have done hiking on it throughout Michigan.  Anyway, we got back in our car & it didn't take long for us to realize that our car was a lot louder than it had been a few minutes earlier.  We stopped at a gas station & Keith looked under our car & realized that our muffler & resonator pipe were both falling apart, due to all the rust.  Long story short, we took it in early the next morning to a muffler shop & they raised up our car to get a good look & found a number of problems to add to our list (leaks of different sorts) as well as the muffler & they were looking for upwards of $600 just to fix the muffler stuff.  We thanked them for their help & drove on our way in silence.  We were hoping this car would take us across the country in the next coming weeks & we planned to do so on a limited budget so it seemed we were in a bit of a dilemma.  Luckily, the muffler falling apart doesn't threaten the drivability of the car, it just makes our drive a lot louder so we hooked a metal hanger in there & we ultimately decided to continue to Massachusetts, park our car & begin our hike on the LT.  That would give us 3 weeks (ish) to figure out what we're going to do next.

So here we are.  That's where it stands right now.  We are optimistic & hopeful & will keep ourselves open & hope that we can still continue on our journey, one way or another.  And we still have 5 days to think about it.

Once we hit the Canadian border, we plan to hitchhike our way back to our car.  First, we hope to make it to Burlington, VT because it sounds quite appealing to us.  Largest city in VT & it only has 40,000 people in it.  We have fallen in love with parts of Vermont & everyone who lives here has great things to say about it.  So we think it has moved up to 3rd on our list of potential places to live...eventually...maybe...

For now, we have 5 trail days left & we hope to make the most of 'em.

Much love.

Our Very Roundabout Journey West

Our very roundabout journey west will begin Sunday, July 20th.  A week later than planned.

Keith's dad had to have emergency bypass surgery a few days before we were scheduled to leave originally.  It was out of the blue, a shock, quite a scare for all of us.  Keith & I were glad we were still here & that we were able to be with him & Keith's family during the process.  Our schedule was flexible enough to stick around an extra week so we could help out where we were could.  And we're glad to report that Bruce is doing well & seems to get stronger every day.  His strength is and always will be an inspiration to us.

And once again we are reminded that we are grateful for our health & able-bodies.  Why wait to do the things you crave to do?  When will there be a better time than right now?  Yes we will miss our families, but we soak up those moments, too.  We try to soak them all up.

We had decided shortly after our PCT journey came to a close 160 miles short last fall that we would be coming back as soon as we were able & ready & this time, we'd do our best to make sure there was little to no chance of snow.  So we decided to shoot for August.  I'm not totally sure how we decided that our journey west would begin by going east, but that's how our brains work.  We throw ideas out there, play with them a little bit & find a plan that makes us both happy.

So first, we head to Vermont.  The Long Trail - 273 miles will take us from the southern border of Vermont to almost the northern border, not quite meeting Canada.  Almost 100 miles of The Long Trail are also the Appalachian Trail, so we'll be revisiting old, familiar territory.  We had put The Long Trail on our list of things to do shortly after finishing the AT & this summer opened itself up to it, so we said why not?  We loved Vermont the last time we passed through & we look forward to delving a little deeper into the state & we've heard the northern half of this trail will kick our butt even more than the southern half did the last time we passed through.  Our experience with Vermont was that it was green & wet, the mountains were beautiful, the trees & land felt somewhat similar to what we were used to in Michigan, the towns were quirky & quaint & friendly & in a small town called Pittsfield, we were even able to work in exchange for a place to sleep by putting in a few hours on an organic farm, and then we worked at the general store in exchange for a few meals.  What treatment!  We hope to reconnect with a few trail friends from the AT as well while we are in Vermont!

After we complete our adventure along The Long Trail in Vermont, we will then head west & make our way toward Washington state.  Our next goal is to jump back on the PCT at Steven's Pass, where we had to get off trail last September.  We hope to swing through a few places on the drive, purchase a National Park's Pass & leave ourselves open to any experiences that pop up along the way.  But we are hopeful to finish the PCT no later than the first or second week of September because just after that is when the weather went awry last season.

We are greatly looking forward to seeing the final miles of the PCT & to hiking those few final miles into Canada.  We hope to experience Vancouver & then make our way back to where our car.  Then, we make our way to Portland.  Visit the many friends we now have who live there, spend a few days scoping out the city as a potential place to live.  Then, we were invited to join one of our old AT friends on a short backpacking trip in Washington.  Then, we head to Colorado to perhaps visit some family & then to visit Manitou Springs, our other potential place to live.  Then, some stops to visit family in Iowa, Illinois & Michigan before we head up to the upper lower peninsula to spend a final peaceful few days revisiting some of our favorite places & friends made while working with SEEDS.  The grand finale of this adventure will be Keith's youngest sister, Bria's wedding at Sleeping Bear Dunes the first weekend of October.  A beautiful place to spend with beautiful people before we kiss the midwest goodbye, squeeze our families one last time, pack up our car full of all of our belongings & head to one of two places to live:  either Portland, OR or Manitou Springs, CO.

And so it begins...