Outside Magazine Online recently released a list of the Best Hikes in each State. We were made aware of it through Besthike.com as many people were…they were in turn clued on by the Adventure Blog, which we also follow. https://www.outsideonline.com/2393036/50-best-hikes-us We have bashed Outside Magazine in the past, and this is exactly the type of thing — a try to […]
Bucket List Hikes Landing Pages
Expanded Site Pages for our BucketList For a long time, we have wanted to create some reference pages for the various BucketList hikes we want to do. Our goal is to do as many of these hikes as we can over the next ten years — and then replace them with an all new bucket of BucketList hikes. In the […]
The Education of Mr. Fitz Roy
The Life and Training of a Hiking Dog Some updates from the life and training of a hiking dog… Sylvia and Brian continue to work molding expedition sled dog/surf dog Fitz Roy into a companion suitable for hiking. Fitz is intelligent, energetic and eager to please. But he is also very excitable (that’s the sled dog in him) and sometimes […]
Patagonia (or Bust): Staying Safe
Surviving Patagonia: Staying Safe Means Staying Warm and Dry Once the logistical challenges of hiking in Patagonia are settled (which remains very far from being the case for Brian and Sylvia) one must turn to the actual physical challenges of the hike itself. Fortunately, altitude will not be one of these. On all three of our Peru expeditions, at least […]
Patagonia (Or Bust): Getting There
Getting Ready for Patagonia, the Hard to Get to Place (Featured image Cerro Fitz Roy by Martin St-Amant – Wikipedia – CC-BY-SA-3.0) The departure time for our Patagonia Trip is approaching. Last year we embarked on the Tour Du Mont Blanc in mid July. Knowing we would likely face severe logistical challenges we booked everything well in advance…most of the […]
The Evolution of a Hiking Dog!
Our Time with Fitz Roy: We’re So Glad to be Adopted by a Great Dog! Few things have proven more satisfying to us than the adventure of dog ownership. When Sylvia and Brian married in 2009, Brian committed on paper to a dog. But that commitment stayed on paper for nearly a decade. Many valid concerns and objections were raised, […]
Can I Hike Mount St. Helens?
*Brian completed the Monitor Ridge Route Hike of Mount St. Helens in 2007…it was his second solo Bucketlist hike. Conditions on the mountain today may not be exactly as described here, and the permit system has changed. Check with the National Forest Service website before attempting this hike.* **This is NOT a hike that we would recommend to novice hikers. […]
A Sea of Clouds: Hiking Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens via the Monitor Ridge Route: Part Two Almost nothing about the hike up Mount St, Helens is easy. Even reaching the trailhead involved some serious driving. The Monitor Ridge hike leaves Climbers Bivouac, which is located on forest service roads some ten miles outside of the tiny town of Cougar. But it’s a good hour from the […]
Uneasy Ground: Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens by the Monitor Ridge Route On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens changed forever. That day the top quite literally below right off of the mountain. The explosion was measured in the megatons (the same yardstick commonly used for nuclear weapons.) Combined with powerful flood waves of ash, mud and debris, the catastrophic blast resulted in the […]
Thinking of Doing Something Big This Year?
Visit Our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Resources! Thinking of attempting something BIG this year that will change the way you look at the world (and yourself?) Consider the Tour du Mont Blanc. A very strenuous but incredibly spectacular loop hike out of the French town of Chamonix through the Alps, over a hundred miles in length, passing through three […]