Backpacking Grand Canyon National Park

July 3, 2018.Reading time 26 minutes.

After Greg and I took 10 and 13 year breaks, respectively, from the grandest canyon on the planet, we went to bask in her presence again, “before it gets too hot”. Joke’s on us, it started snowing outside of Flagstaff and by the time we got to the South Rim it was 30°. The […]

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How Much Would It Cost NOT To Work This Summer?

May 26, 2018.Reading time 20 minutes.

I’m nearing the end of my contract- only five weeks left! As always, when we’re facing the end we have to decide whether I’m going to extend, or if I’m going to find another nursing contract elsewhere, or if we’re going to take a few months off to do what we really love, which […]

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Hiking Maunakea

March 16, 2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

We had real trouble finding information on hiking Hawaii’s tallest mountain- Maunakea (it’s all one word now) 13,796 ft- both online and in person once we were on the Big Island. We heard/read a lot of things – you can’t hike it in winter, there’s camping at the base, there’s a hut available to […]

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Big Island on a Budget

February 26, 2018.Reading time 14 minutes.

Hawai’i is notoriously expensive but there are lots of ways to keep your trip reasonable, not limited to sleeping in your rental car, eating nothing but pb&js, and showering at public beach parks. PSYCH! Okay, we dabbled in those things. Greg and I just spent an awesome, like ready to move there, 8 days/8 […]

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Isle Royale National Park

February 13, 2018.Reading time 23 minutes.

Far, far away, in the northwest corner of Lake Superior, lies a little-known paradise known as Isle Royale National Park. Isle Royale is the largest island in the largest lake in the world and one of our most favorite places. It’s home to birch and maple, warblers and loons, and moose and wolves, which […]

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Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail

January 18, 2018.Reading time 35 minutes.

Greg and I love heavy pack, set up camp, snuggle all night in a cold tent backpacking, but having a roof over our heads in the backcountry is an unbelievable luxury. After we hiked the Laugavegur and Tour du Mont Blanc trails in 2016, I started researching other hut hikes around the world. And by […]

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Greenland

November 11, 2017.Reading time 16 minutes.

When we were in Iceland last summer I saw ads for Air Iceland Connect with service to multiple destinations in Greenland and I thought “Boy, that sure sounds like a good time.” Then after we had such a great time on our Laugavegur and Tour du Mont Blanc hikes I started searching for other long-distance hut […]

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Tour du Mont Blanc

October 17, 2017.Reading time 13 minutes.

G.Hammer and I were married August 10, 2013, and spent our honeymoon backpacking through Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, then climbing Montana’s highest mountain, Granite Peak. We agreed then we should be in the backcountry for all our anniversaries, too. In 2014 we were backpacking in Glacier National Park and Greg surprised me by packing in his […]

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Laugavegur Trail, Iceland

September 1, 2017.Reading time 42 minutes.

I don’t know when I first heard about Iceland’s most popular hiking trail, but it had been on my travel wish list for some time. It’s just under 51 miles long, and the FI (Ferðafélag Íslands, or the Iceland Touring Foundation) maintains five huts conveniently located within 7-9 miles of each other along the way. There […]

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Lizard Head Loop: Valentine Lake to Big Sandy Trailhead

April 16, 2016.Reading time 9 minutes.

Be sure to check out Parts One and Two first! Day 5: Valentine Lake to Hooker Valley, 6.0 miles We seemed to have hit the jackpot with weather in the Winds. We met several groups of hikers who told us this was the best time to be there, just after school started and before […]

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