Lizard Head Loop: Cirque of the Towers to Valentine Lake

Be sure to check out Part One first! Day 3: Day hike to Texas Pass and around Lonesome Lake, 5.72 miles We awoke our third day to brilliant blue skies. Seriously, we could not have paid for better weather. We made pancakes and bacon and drank our coffee and Earl Grey in the sun. We […]

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Lizard Head Loop: Big Sandy to Cirque of the Towers

My mother spent her formidable years in Wyoming, between Riverton and Dubois. If you’ve ever been to that part of the state you know how utterly gorgeous it is- rivers and buttes and peaks and grizzlies. Mom’s parents had a cabin built on the east side of the Wind River Range, with a picture window […]

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Backpacking for Beginners: Food and Water

  Typically when Greg and I hike he carries all the gear and I carry all the food. I’m just a girl and I’ve got a bad shoulder so I can’t load up like that mule can. For this particular trip into the Winds we packed for ten days. Whatever length of trip we go […]

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Backpacking for Beginners: Tent, Sleeping Bags, and Packs

  Greg and I love backpacking. We are at our marital best when we’re on the trail (not always, sometimes we hike too far for too long or my shoulder hurts or we try and rush or I spill the eggs at breakfast or don’t help set up the tent in the rain because I’d […]

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Teton Crest Trail: North Fork Cascade out Paintbrush Canyon

Be sure to check out Death Canyon to Alaska Basin and Teton Creek to North Fork first!   Day 5: North Fork Cascade group site to String Lake Outlet trailhead, 12.3 miles, hot, cold, windy, rainy. Alarm went off at 5:00a again but no one could quite manage it. Rough morning for everyone and our […]

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Teton Crest Trail: Teton Creek to North Fork Cascade

Be sure to check out Death Canyon to Alaska Basin first!   Day 3: Teton Creek to Sunset Lake, 2.5 miles, warm and intermittent rain all day. Slept in until 7:45a, and a slow morning. I made my favorite trail meal- bacon and pancakes. We pack in pre-cooked bacon, complete pancake mix, a bit of coconut […]

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Teton Crest Trail: Death Canyon to Alaska Basin

Once upon a time, eight best friends went for a walk in the mountains. This is their story. Which I know to be true because I kept a hiking journal. And I backtraced it.   Scene: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Characters: Greg, Jamie, Ryan, Jamie (another Jamie), Sky, Jordan, Merik, and Blake   Prologue: […]

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High Points: Vermont

Stowe, Vermont is a quaint little village nestled between the Green and Worcester Mountains and home to the state’s highest point- Mt. Mansfield at 4,393 ft. We drove straight from the base of Mt. Washington to Stowe and it rained on us the entire way. Although Mansfield is a relatively short hike of 4.71 mi […]

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High Points: New Hampshire

Mountains are like baseball games- there are obscure stats surrounding them for pretty much anything you could imagine: Highest peak west of the Pyrenees and east of the Rockies. Highest point north of the 43rd parallel and below tree line. Highest granitic summit north of the equator and south of Tulsa. But New Hampshire’s Mount Washington […]

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High Points: Maine

Although only a state park, Maine’s Baxter has as many, if not more, regulations as a national park. In fact, there’s an ongoing debate to turn it into one, though it’s heavily opposed by many Mainers, and Greg and I agree with them. We love our national parks for the scenery, but they are overwhelmingly […]

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