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After spending my 50th birthday in the place most sacred to me, high in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, I returned home one last time before running for the border, this time for a couple important reasons: Celebrating my birthday with my parents who were there the day I came into existence a half century earlier…

Back to the trail on Thursday August 24th, albeit not really a day off trail as I wrapped up walking back to Santiam Pass Oregon the previous afternoon. But, since I had to do some laundry, re-load food, and then drive the 3+ hours from Bend, it wasn’t an early start. We were back at…

After enjoying a couple days in Cascade Locks and the annual celebration of all things PCT at Trail Days, we bid goodbye to Whitney going home with my parents (and her first HS Cross Country practice the very next day!) and then Ashley and I joined an Italian thru hiking couple with a generous trail…

Well, this was EPIC. So many changes to so many plans, iterations, one after another. Both daughters were supposed to join for various segments and originally this was centered around the John Muir Trail on our hard-to-obtain JMT permit July 9 to 30. But all-recorded-time snow in the Sierras killed that plan. Isabella had a…

Amazingly, after all the schedule disruptions, it’s been over a month since I’ve tacked a section of trail solo. For some family reasons, I needed to stay close to home, but did have a 5 day stretch to do a section of trail, walking back towards my ‘home’ crossing at Snoqualmie Pass, just 30 miles…

Returning to Washington again after some family obligations called us home, we planned to spend the balance of July getting at least 100 miles in the southern half of our home state. Since we had planned to be hiking during mid July with 14 year old Whitney, we planned to do a gear and fitness…

Ashley and I woke in our palatial campsite by the shores of beautiful Lake of the Woods, and wandered down to the shore where we had watched the sunset behind Mt. McLoughlin. That 9,500 cinder cone just looked like so much fun so we set a goal to scramble to the summit, from this point…

After another break back home, it was time for my THIRD drive south during this WalkAbout and second consecutive stay in Ashland, Oregon. A month ago I got to enjoy a brief overnight say with my parents on the way south to rejoin the trail at mile 1320 in Chester California. This time, it was…

A number of people during this journey and the planning leading up to it expressed interest in visiting me along the trail. Perhaps for a meal, a short hike when I cross a highway, or maybe even joining for a section. Since everyone is living busy lives, anyone who was able to visit would simply…

The last two weeks has been another two centuries of PCT adventure. It feels like it was 1846 when I left home to drive back to the trail with my parents. Probably a year that was on my mind as my audio book of the week was ‘The Indifferent Stars Above’, a tale of the…