Summer 2019

Pemi Loop in the White mountains

August 30+31 2019

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Thru Hike

In the summer of 2019, we hiked Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan. Pictured Rocks is filled gorgeous vistas of turquoise water along Lake Superior. We, along with my Dad and Odile, hiked Pictured Rocks over the course of 5 days and 4 nights.

Exploring Minneapolis before driving to Munising to prepare for our hike.

Cheers on our 9th wedding anniversary the night before the hike

Long Trail Thru Hike 2019

For the second summer in a row, we completed the 270 mile thru hike from Massachusetts to the Canadian border. We hiked the first 200 miles of the trail in late June and early July before choosing to leave until later in the summer when the biting bugs would be more manageable. We finished the trail in early August.

This is what I wrote of the LT in 2019:

Why do we love this trail so much, this rugged 270 mile trail that gains and loses elevation by the hour, a trail that will pull your feet right out from under you, will make you swallow your fear as you contemplate the daunting drop you about to cross over, will make your legs ache and your feet muddy. But we do love the Long Trail. Maybe it’s because this is the trail that first made us feel like competent backpackers, or the tough yet warm friends we’ve met along the trail. It’s thinking, “I cannot possibly climb another mountain today,” and then doing it, proving we are stronger than we thought. It’s the wild beauty, the ancient woodsy smells, the comfort of the green cocoon, the community. No one who hikes this trail does so without grit, and no one leaves this trail without a stronger resilience and many joyous memories that will last until the next time we venture onto the Long Trail.

Cotswold Way Hike, England

July 2019

When we decided to take a short break from the Long Trail in the beginning of July of this summer, we considered our options for how to spend our time. Originally, we planned to travel to Utah to hike Zion National Park. When Bud suggested we trail internationally to to do a 100 mile hike in rural southern England, I thought it was completed unrealistic. I had never even heard of the Cotswolds. Weeks later, we were landing in Heathrow Airport with packs on our backs, excited for our spontaneous adventure. The Cotswold Way was probably the easiest backpacking trip we have done physically, with its gentle rolling hills, farmland. Our light packs were filled with only a few provisions, since we spent each night in one quaint village town after another, chatting with the friendly locals, meeting their dogs, and enjoying a pint and a bag of crisps at the local pub.

After completing the hike in Bath, we spent a few hot days in London, sightseeing and enjoying the delicious food, before returning to New England to spend some time with family before hopping right back on to the Long Trail in Vermont.

Our first Cream Tea in Chipping Campden, England the day before starting our Cotswold Way hike