Well, friends, I promised to report back from the trail, and what a report it is! We hiked the entire Canebrake Trail, met up with the Foothills Trail, and stopped there for lunch. The rain that was supposed to start as a drizzle at 3 pm showed up at 1 pm instead and turned into a pretty heavy rain. We…
Tag: hiking
Heavy Hearts, Light Packs
Happy Saturday, friends! I’m sitting in a hotel room with my coffee, my pack is by the door. I made final adjustments to my pack in the room last night. Marty’s is still in the car. I’m itching to hit the trail. Before we head out, I want to look back on the week, because it was a full one.…
Katahdin is No Joke, Y’all
Last week, a man died on Katahdin. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Gut wrenching, especially since he successfully hiked the 2,196 miles of the trail from Springer Mountain to Baxter Peak on Katahdin. He died on the way down, not too far from the summit of Mama K. His name was Bert Goris. He was a…
Training for Yukon Canoe Adventure
Marty and I have a new line on the map. A friend asked if we would be interested and we jumped at the opportunity. We have decided that we ARE going to do this- with or without a group. Researched showed us that many couples do this together (some with their dogs). We won’t be bringing Ghost on this trip.…
The Backpacking Chair That Earned Its Keep (and the One That Weighs Almost Nothing)
Somewhere along the 100-Mile Wilderness, my chair broke. Marty wasn’t even sure he wanted to bring a chair when we were doing our final gear shakedowns. He already owned an REI Flexlite that tipped the scales at 1 lb 11 oz. Once I tried it on trail, though, the decision was easy. He ordered a second one so we could…
A 58th Birthday Trek through Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness as Snacky Turtle & Daddy Longlegs
Katahdin got its own story earlier. This is the 100 Mile Wilderness — 100 miles of bog bridges, river fords, wild blueberries, and deer flies that bite through wool socks. We started NOBO on July 5th, my 58th birthday, with 10 days of food on our backs. By the time we were on day 3, Marty had his trail name–…
When the City Tap Needs a Trail Filter during a Boil Advisory
Last week Winston-Salem broke a couple of water mains and we all got that text: boil advisory. City crews did their thing and fixed the main fast, but I realized my backup was already sitting in our backpacks. Our home RO system? It needs pressure to work, and when mains break, pressure drops. It just quits working. Our Grayl Geopresses?…
Summiting Katahdin: A Journey to the Top
We finally made it to the summit of Katahdin on Monday, July 13th around 1:30 pm. It took us 6 hours to summit! It felt really good to make it to the top! I’ll try to write about the 100 Mile Wilderness in another post. It was a beautiful hike. The biting flies were crazy……… hence the neck gaiter over…
Ready, Set, Go! Essential Gear for a 10-Day Backpacking Trip in Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness
I hope you all have a very happy Independence Day Weekend! We head to Maine tomorrow after work. I returned from Chicago late Saturday and we spent the day after church on Sunday getting our backpacks packed. Mine comes in at 35.5 pounds total. If you subtract the food weight and the weight of 3L of water, my base weight…
Done Prepping for the 100 Mile Wilderness on the AT in Maine
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…
