I plan to write more about our overall impressions and feelings about the Te Araroa, as well as some tips for people considering it, but for now, it’s just the facts. Anyone who knows me knows I keep track of as many trail statistics as I can! So here you go, the Te Araroa in…
It is done. We have walked the entire length of New Zealand from Cape Reigna to Bluff. (If you would like to start from the beginning, click here.) Thank you to EVERYONE who supported us, whether in the form of encouraging words or housing/feeding us … and of course our awesome gear sponsors! We could…
We had hoped to get this up in Wellington as we finished the North Island, but better late than never! As we said in previous posts, we consider ourselves lucky when it comes to gear. We’ve met a lot of hikers on the TA who are unhappy with their gear (mostly because they want to…
We are still in Waitomo (btw pronounced Why-Toe-Mo meaning water hole). Yesterday we did our tour of the glowworm caves, but we wanted more. And, we wanted to see them “New Zealand” style (read, dangerous). So we signed up for a blackwater rafting trip! We can remember watching something (Amazing Race?) sometime in 2007 or…
I’ve said this before. I don’t know how long J & I can ride this wave of working together in different areas of the outdoor industry, but some of our smarter friends said if we really wanted to keep it up, we needed to brand ourselves. So we are doing that. Step by step. Step…
After 11 nights–some very cold and snowy nights I might add–of sleeping in a tent, we are wrapping up our mini (1850 miles) road trip with a few overdue showers and electricity (other than our solar power device). It’s good practice for the next 4 months, I suppose. Our return trip from the Grand Canyon…
J & I are now “master educators” for Leave No Trace (LNT). We spent 5 days with 7 other like-minded students and 2 instructors. Most of our course was in the backcountry of the Grand Canyon, practicing what we preached. J & I hadn’t been to the GC since we lived in Phoenix (2004), so…
Hello from the Grand Canyon, where J and I are becoming “master educators” for Leave No Trace. Yes, it is as cool as it sounds. Because we can’t do things the simple way, J & I decided that we needed to make the most of our road trip to the Grand Canyon for our Leave…
It is no secret that J & I are gear heads. We couldn’t tell you who is running for the next election, but we could tell you what the latest innovation is when it comes to sleeping bags, tents, clothing etc. Over the years, we have definitely upgraded our gear and lightened our load. We…
Tramp [verb]: to walk long and far, hike, march or trudge. to wander about as a vagabond. to walk for sport or recreation To some (okay, most), backpacking means schlepping everything you need on your back just so you can get to a campsite where you’ll sleep on the ground and be eaten alive by…
First thing first. Happy birthday J!!!! Today he turns 38. This means, it’s just 2 years until he hits the big 4-0! However, he still acts 18 or so. Anyone agree with me? But, I love that he doesn’t act his age. My shout-out via blog serves as my bday card to him. J &…
We may be leaving Oregon in a week, but we will be back. We have to be back. We have some major unfinished business in the Mt. Hood Wilderness of Oregon. Back in May, J tried to climb the 11,240 foot summit of Mt. Hood and was turned back due to weather. And, as he…
FYI, this is a guest blog post by hubby, so please excuse all typos, poor spelling and incorrect grammar. In my wife’s last blog she called me a “Mountain Man.” I am not quite sure I have earned that title yet, but I am striving at it and I totally rocked out this past 6-day,…
The good news is J is doing well on his Shuksan expedition. He was actually able to call me from base camp! It’s cold up there, but he is getting some good practice on mountaineering skills. They should be attempting their summit Thursday night into Friday morning, so keep those good vibes coming. The bad…
J left this morning for another harrowing adventure … he is taking a 6-day expedition skills seminar with RMI guides and other crazy adrenaline junkies on Mt. Shuksan in North Cascades National Park of Washington (less than 25 miles from Canada!). The program is meant to practice those fun mountaineering skills–like crevasse rescue (think being…
Back in May, we did a little scouting on the hardly used Chico Trail down in Joseph Creek Canyon in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest and created a loop trip that had all the makings of the perfect backpacking trip–no crowds, views, wildflowers, wildlife, good water source and challenging terrain. That trip was a little…
We haven’t been able to take a backpacking trip in awhile since we’ve been so busy, but I realized I never posted a recap from our last one in mid-July! So a few things about Aneroid Lake. 1) It is glorious. My favorite so far. 2) The sign at the trailhead said 6 miles to…
We ventured back into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and Eagle Cap Wilderness again and this time, we weren’t stopped by snow. We’ve had some really warm temps these past few weeks and got a good ranger report, so into the wild we went. This time, our destination was Ice Lake. The trailhead starts at 4,600…
I am not going on a blog hiatus. I promise. Between hosting a wedding at RR and major satellite Internet problemas, I am just going with the plain old excuse of being busy. But I’m back with the latest edition of what we’ve been up to. Get excited now. Last week (which feels like forever…
On Monday, we squeezed away from RR for a half day and took out ‘yaks out for a spin around Wallowa Lake. It ended up being about 7 miles of paddling in 3 hours or so. Wallowa Lake is literally where a major road ends. Sitting at just over 4,300 feet, the lake was created…