In just fourteen days, we’re heading out on the trail in Maine! The freeze dryer is still humming along! We’re in the final stages of getting everything ready, especially since I’ll be in Chicago for work next week. I was bummed to hear that the cherry orchid didn’t produce any cherries this past year because of the freeze. We ended…
Category: backpacking
Gear Preview: New Smartwool Intraknit All-Season Leggings for the 100-Mile Wilderness
Hey friends! With our big 100-Mile Wilderness + Katahdin hike starting July 5 (my birthday 🎂), I’ve been fine-tuning my clothing system. I’m a huge fan of Smartwool — I basically live in it every day — so when I saw the new Women’s Intraknit All-Season Base Layer Bottoms in lavender, I hit “buy” pretty quickly. I’ll be honest: the…
Adventures in Hiking: Lessons Learned on the Rock Castle Gorge Trail
Where does the time go? I have been traveling quite a bit for work recently and have not had time to write about our adventures. And boy howdy have we had a few of them. On Memorial Day weekend, we went to carb day at the Indy 500 (Friday) and attended the race that Sunday. It was a great race…
Foothills Trail Journey: Tackling Ticks and Camping Challenges
This past weekend, we backpacked 21 miles on the Foothills Trail and made a loop using the Chattooga trail to make a loop. This area is COVERED in Lone Star ticks. We pilled over 50 ticks off of us and Ghost. After washing our shirts, there was still one alive and kicking, too. You have to use boiling water to…
Easter Weekend Camping: Gear, Food, and Scenic Trails
We took off work a little early from work on Friday so that we could get to the trailhead and get to a campsite. We needed to get back early Saturday so that we could celebrate Easter with Sean. It’s been hard fitting in backpacking around our work schedule, that’s for sure. I want to make sure that I’m in…
Backpacking Adventures at Hungry Mother State Park
Yesterday, we traveled up to Hungry Mother State Park in Virginia to get 6 miles of backpacking in. With 107 days until Maine, we need to get more miles under our belt. We had originally planned to backpack 17 miles on the Foothills Trail this weekend, but Sean had to go out of town, so we are dog sitting our…
Journey to Mile 0 of the Appalachian Trail
One hundred and nineteen days until Maine. One day shy of 4 months isn’t as far away as it seems. We are working on getting some more backpacking miles under our belt before time slips away. The best way to build endurance is by getting out there and doing it. Lugging the pack up challenging inclines prepares the mind and…
Exploring Bald River Falls Gorge and Scenic Trails
We had an AMAZING weekend. While things did not go according to plan, we still got a great backpacking adventure into the weekend. The campsite we were originally going to be staying at ended up being closed. It happens sometimes. We get there and the bar is down, blocking the entrance. We had originally planned on staying at Holly Flats…
Hiking the 100 Mile Wilderness and Summiting Katahdin: Preparing for the Challenge
Happy Sunday! I am in a small town in Tennessee this morning. I stopped here last night as I make my way to Missouri for work this week to help roll out a new client. Flying on an airline is not my thing. After the last crazy flights to and from Oregon, I decided that anything that is 13 hours…
173 Days to Monson!
Happy Wednesday! Only 173 days until we hit the trail in Monson, Maine! Less than 6 months to go. Woo! It seems so close, but yet so far away. It takes a lot of planning to get to day one on the trail, so we are deep into planning mode right now. We are working out the details of each…
My Little Red Bike 