A Visit from Hickory

Here's a picture of me, Hickory and my mom Friday night (9-12) camping on the Ice Age Trail. So many laughs were had while sharing stories from the hike... and a few Newcastles... which we were just fine carrying in and out of the woods!! :)



A quick recap -- when my mom and I hiked into Indiana on "Our Hike" across America on the American Discovery Trail in 2006, we met Hickory. He heard about us walking through his area from his wife, who was working at the local radio station at the time. Our story of walking from Ohio into Indiana is one of my very favorite stories from the hike... I'll have to get into that more some other time!

So Hickory got a ride out looking for us, and when he found us, he got dropped off and hiked with us that whole day. We immediately found that our sense of humor was similar... lots of pootin', tootin' and pooin' talk with many laughs to follow. :) As we parted ways that day, Hickory said, "I'll be seeing you ladies again! Maybe the mountains..." We thought, "Sure... we'll see!"

Well, when we started getting closer to Denver, Hickory called and said he was flying out to meet us near Georgetown, CO!! He had 2 weeks. We were very excited to have some company, and honestly, a bit of a distraction after a very mentally challenging Kansas and E. CO (although we LOVED it!!). We looked forward to hooking back up with him. Hickory has also section-hiked the Appalachian Trail, so we knew that there were going to be tons of fun stories for us all to share.

This is another fun story to share... so many stories from when Hickory hiked with us those 2 weeks! It was hard to say good-bye to him, but he was a great person to have. It was perfect timing for both mom and I. I was always pushing to stay on schedule, and mom was having a hard time acclimating. Hickory got me to relax somehow. I think one day he said something like, "Look around. You're in the Rocky Mountains. Slow down a little and enjoy it." I thought about that for a little bit and decided he was right. We did what we could each day, but tried not to rush (although I think I still did from time to time - hard habit to break!). He also helped my mom. When we hiked up steep mountain trails, he taught her to just go very slow and steady, even if it was nearly a crawl. And when she got really frustrated and tired, to cuss out as many cuss words as she could tie together in one sentence. And so my mom would hike up mountains shouting swearwords as she went that nobody could hear because we were in the middle of nowhere in the mountains! How wonderful a feeling that was!! And we all made it through the Rockies with smiles.

Hickory's Visit to Wisconsin
I picked up Hickory from the Appleton Airport on Tuesday. He was hoping to hook up with another hiking buddy and camp for a few days, but it wasn't able to work out for him. So while I worked through Thursday, he walked the streets of Oshkosh and checked the place out. I felt bad, wishing I could've taken some extra vacation time to attempt at keeping him entertained! But he didn't seem to have much of a problem keeping himself busy. He met up with his friend one day -- Little Engine -- a friend of his from the AT. It was super cool that he was able to visit with her and her family for a little bit.

On Thursday night we went to Oblio's with some of my friends from work. Oblio's is our usual meeting place for Friday night Happy Hour. Since Hickory and I had plans to head to Phillips to hook up with my mom and dad for the weekend, we had to make Thursday a Friday... :)

Friday morning we got up and were very lazy getting going, but eventually got packed up and hit the road towards Phillips. I don't think I've ever thrown my backpack together so quickly! I was still recovering from the fundraiser weekend before, so I didn't really have a lot of time to work out the details of Hickory's visit like I wished I would have. So I forgot my hiking boots! Just another thing to work around, I guess...

We got to my parent's house in Phillips where mom was anxiously waiting on the porch for us to arrive. Hickory and mom had a welcome hug, and we started to pack our stuff up for a short backpacking trek on the Ice Age Trail. We drove into town and introduced Hickory to my dad and had lunch... well, appetizers and a beer... close enough, right!? Then we head towards our trailhead. We hiked in kind of late. It was JUST getting dark when we arrived at our primitive campsite for the night. We set up tents, got out some Newcastle beers we carried in with us, started a fire, and began the reminiscing and stupid-talk.

Snippets of conversations Friday night at camp:
"Poopmud" -- a term we created related to "going" in the woods after digging a cathole with a trowel. We thought it was genius and extremely funny! Every time anyone mentioned it, we all busted a gut.

"Kangabar" -- mom's attempt at saying "candy bar" after a couple of drinks. I still laugh when I say it to myself.

"Bears don't like mustard." -- What was said when we realized we didn't hang the mustard with the rest of the food. I think this phrase is said every backpacking trip by someone... after the food is hung, you realize you forgot to put something in there... you just say, "Bears don't like [insert item here]." And that makes it safe. :)

"Red for Sasquatch" -- My mom went on a Sasquatch scouting trip last year... she's not a Bigfoot hunter, but was invited to camp in the woods and night hike with headlamps and decided it would be an unforgettable experience... and it sounds like it was! They didn't see Bigfoot, though... Anyway, they night hiked with red headlamps because Sasquatch runs away from the white light or something. So whenever she turned on her headlamp, the first setting was a red light, and she repeatedly said, "Red for Sasquatch," and we'd all crack up.

"Weeree" -- It means "reread" when words just aren't coming out right.

"Yuki un ai" -- I have no idea what this means. Mom said it to me after we crawled in the tent. I think we were so distracted laughing at the phrase after she said it, that she forgot what she meant to say. Hmm, is it Japanese for something??

"Crap your pants, change later." -- A phrase to replace, "Don't worry, be happy" in hiker terms. Just a note -- none of us had to worry about that... at least not that I know of!! :)

"Cereal?" -- When we got into the woods, I looked at my mom and said, "I'm having a moment. Gimme a hug -- it's so good to be in the woods with you again." She looked up at me and said in a very serious tone, "cereal?" Meaning to say, "Serious?" or "For real?" It was a special moment, and this made it just that more special. We had so many of these moments on the hike when we said something and it came out wrong. I'm a little jealous that I didn't have really any that stuck out this weekend... :( Oh well, she had some really good ones that made up my lack of new terms.


Saturday:
Saturday we hiked the IAT to the Modeaux Recreation Area, which is a little lodge on the Mondeaux Flowage. The weather was really nice for hiking. I think it was in the mid-60's, maybe the very low 70's... breezy, not a lot of bugs. We found plums and enjoyed the terrain. There were bear hunters everywhere, too. At one point we came out on a road crossing and there were probably 15 trucks parked up and down the road! But the hunters were very friendly talking to.

A few hours in, I had already turned my ankles a couple of times and slipped in a few spots -- remember that I forgot my hiking boots? Well I was trying to hike in my OLD worn out running shoes. I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if it would be any better barefoot?" I had always wanted to try it, so I did. I took my shoes off and hiked the last 2 hours barefoot. It was okay except for where there were sharp, little pebbles. Other than that, I really enjoyed it... I plan to try that again!

We got to the lodge where we waited for my dad to pick us up and bring us back to the other car. We ate, had a couple of drinks, relaxed for a few hours, I had ice cream (of course!) and we headed back to Phillips. Once there, we visited with Grandma and some family that was in town to help her and my Aunt Rita move. Then we went out. We stopped at Lost Vega's and visited for a long time.

Sunday morning we got up and sadly said good-byes again. Hickory and I head back to Oshkosh. He hung out until I brought him to the airport again on Wednesday morning. He was on his way to Vermont to hike the Long Trail for 3 weeks and meet up with some friends from that area.

Story of the weekend

Mom's morning dig - caught in the act!

So mom was off doing her "morning business" as she does, and Hickory and I sat around camp drinking coffee discussing all the dogs barking off in the distance... all the bear hunters... then we heard a dog barking that seemed kinda close. I always think, "wonder if he's chasing a bear," after the last IAT hike I was on when a bear was being chased right by our camp by a bunch of dogs. Then I laughed and said to Hickory, "Wouldn't it be funny it that dog found my mom and ran up to her as she was poo'ing and started sniffing around?"

Maybe 5 minutes later, mom comes walking back into camp with rosy cheeks, a huge grin and while giggling, she says, "You're never going to guess what happened!"

Yes. It did. As she was cleaning herself up, shirt hanging in a tree branch, a dog comes over and starts sniffing around her. Then she turns around and sees a hunter standing there!! All she could muster up to say was, "We're camping..." The hunter replied calmly, "Sorry," turned around and walked away!!!

Poor mom... she ends up in some of the most compromising situations!! These couple of days were like an 8-1/2-month ADT hike all wrapped up in one small package... only I didn't have an apple to chuck...

4th Annual "Our Hike" for Bone Marrow Disease

The Fundraiser, September 6, 2008

Well, all in all, it was a really fun day. Each year we seem to get more figured out, and everything seems to run just a little smoother. We had about 20 registered hikers, and at the end (Lost Vega's Resort) we had a lot more people join us for the dinner, music and raffles. We raised $1,000 that will be sent to the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation! Mom and I fell a little behind on the advertising this year, so we were happy with that amount, considering we had a smaller crowd. We are already excited for next year and planning on ways to spread the word even more. We hope to make these numbers grow each year. So please mark your calendars and join us next year for the 5th Annual "Our Hike" for Bone Marrow Disease Saturday, September 12, 2009! Since it'll be the 5th Annual hike, we're hoping to make it a special one!!

How about a recap and some stories from the day?

We started with a new route this year that I think we will continue to use on future hikes. On previous years, we trekked for 12.5-miles on a paved road with about 5 stops along the way. This was fun, but made for a very long day and got a little overwhelming by the end of the night. This year we shortened everything up and we thought it was much more enjoyable.

We started at The Corner Connection where the hikers registered. Each paid registrant received an "Our Hike" logo'd sportpack and bandana donated by 4imprint, a bottle of water, a frisbee, and some informational brochures about the AA&MDSIF and bone marrow diseases. Each paid registrant's name was also entered in a drawing for a really nice travel backpack full of goodies like a hydration pack, mess kit, snacks, tent lantern, hiking socks and a Swiss Army knife.

(Picture above, L-R: Patty, Kelly and Robin. Kelly was the winner of the backpack raffle)

We all filled up on a ham sandwich and potato chip lunch special, and head out at about 1:00pm. The first section of the walk was about 1/2-mile country road walk. From there we turned onto the brand-new section of ATV trail that went into the woods. The trail wasn't quite as done as we were hoping, but it was bulldozed well enough for us to walk easily. There was one small section of the trail that crossed a boggy creek, so Adam helped my dad build a bridge the night before. On Saturday morning my dad drove out and placed the plank bridge across the river so we would be able to cross without trudging through mud up to our thighs! It worked out perfectly. Next year there will be an ATV bridge already built across the river for us to cross over.

The day's weather treated us nicely! The skies were blue with puffy clouds, and it was warm enough to walk in shorts, but cool enough to keep us comfortable. We were all talking, so we didn't see many deer or wildlife, but we DID come across a porcupine that was playing dead hoping we'd leave him be... which we gladly did! We were able to snap a few pictures, though. Poor little porkie was probably scared out of his mind. So we didn't get too close, but got our pictures and hiked on.

After the new ATV trail ran out, we hooked up with the haywagon, which was driven by my uncle Kenny and dad. We hiked another short section of ATV trail, then walked on wide, gravel roads for a couple of miles. From there we turned onto Hwy W, which is another short section of paved road, but this brought us right up to the driveway of Lost Vega's Resort where we were finishing off the day with the fun raffles, dinner and music. The loop was right around 7 miles, and it took us about 3 hours to complete. It was a great distance to get some exercise, enjoy the fresh air and northwoods and have a good chance to get in on some great conversation with each other.

Once at Lost Vega's Resort, we did some car shuttling, then sat down for drinks to rehydrate ourselves. Then the food came out! Alvin and Sheila put on a spaghetti dinner for $7/plate, and we all gorged ourselves in wonderful pasta deliciousness!! After our bellies were full, Adam got set up behind the DJ equipment and started some music -- shortly after that, we starting selling paddles to raffle off the awesome baskets that my Aunt Karen put together and donated (she does every year!).

The night went on, baskets were raffled off, music was played, fun was had! A few of us even drained out the last few ounces of energy we had and walked back to my parent's house 2 miles down the road! It was a great night!

Story of the Night

Oh, how the raffle paddles flew around!

See Will pointing at Ken and laughing? That's because Ken won a meat basket... he's a vegetarian!! :)

I don't know if I have this story 100% accurate, as I was running around most the night, but from what I've heard go back and forth, this is basically how this story went:

Ken was eyeing up a print that was being raffled off (one of my original monoprints). He wanted to win it really badly -- so badly that he was saving most of his money for that particular raffle. When it finally came time to raffle off the print, he bought a chunk of the raffle paddles up, hoping he'd be the lucky winner. The winner had a choice between a print or a backpack full of chocolate.

Who won? My grandma. Ken thought for sure that his chances were done -- of course grandma was going to choose the print! And she did at first... but then went back and took the backpack instead! There is a side-story to this, too. Of course we all wondered why grandma chose the backpack over the print... through the Price County AMVETS Post 50 Ladies' Auxiliary, which she is a member of, was a drive to donate backpacks to local children to help them with back-to-school supplies, so when she remembered the drive, she quickly went back and took the backpack and later donated it to the program. She even had a picture taken with the backpack and was featured in the local newspaper for her donation! I'm so proud to have such a sweet, giving grandma!! :)

We all giggled because now Ken had another shot at the print! We went right into the next raffle. Ken again bought a big chunk of paddles. Who won? My best friend, Tami (we were practically sisters growing up)! She took the print, too. Ken was bummed. He was pouting, even! I felt so bad for him... I told him I'd make him a print of his own, but he really wanted this particular one...

A short time later, John, another friend of ours came by with the print! Ken looked shocked and asked how John got it. Apparently he bought it from Tami! She already had one that I made specifically for her, and she knew I'd make her another one if she asked -- so she thought it would be nice to give it up to someone else... and now she was left with a few more bucks for raffles.

I don't know how the next part all went down exactly, but the next raffle was winner's choice of a lotion basket, a lap quilt and a bucket of meat. John was eyeing up the meat earlier and bought a bunch of paddles hoping to win it. Ken was still pouting about losing out on the print, and I don't know if John felt bad or what happened, but he gave Ken ONE of his paddles.

Who won? Ken! With one paddle! I remember standing in front of the 3 baskets and Ken staring at them having NO idea which to choose. A girly lotion basket, a pretty lap quilt, or a bucket of meat (he's a vegetarian!). All of a sudden this look of pure genius came over his face and he snatched up the bucket of meat and held onto it good and tight. I looked at Ken and said, "Ken!! What?? You're taking the meat!? You're a vegetarian!!" He turned around and later walked back with a huge smile on his face, proudly and happily holding onto the print. He traded John for it -- so everybody walked away happy winners. John had his bucket of meat and Ken had the print.

What a scrambling turn of events. These paddle raffles are always fun. Once the baskets and prizes are won, it's always fun to see how people trade and bargain with each other. We almost always have some sort of story to share!

Just a few more pictures to enjoy...

Bushwhacking towards the river crossing

Hikers walking the gravel road sporting the donated "Our Hike" sportpacks from 4imprint!

"Caution: Hikers Ahead" signs posted on the gravel road to warn any traffic

THANK YOU Aunt Lee and Karen (baskets and raffle help), Lost Vega's Resort, The Corner Connection, Bottom Dollar (frisbees), 4imprint (bandanas and sportpacks), Adam (Mr. DJ/Emcee), Dad (bridge and haywagon putter togetherer), Uncle Kenny (haywagon driver), Tommy (use of and helping to get the haywagon ready), Rasmussen Service Center (4-wheeler Ranger to pull the haywagon) and the participants (wouldn't be possible without your support!!) We raised $1,000 for bone marrow disease! Every little bit helps in the fight for a universal cure!

A record mileage dayhike

A personal best! A record-mileage dayhike!

Question and answer for the day: What's worse than hiking through swarms and swarms of relentless mosquitoes? Forgetting your mosquito repellent...

I put up a challenge for myself. I don't know if I'm crazy, or what the deal is, but every once in a while, I think I just like to test myself to see where I'm at physically. I completed the Frozen Otter, the 1/2 distance trek of 32 miles in 12 hours, in January 2008. This was the farthest I've "hiked" in one day, ever. It was a really cool moment when I finished. That race took a lot. I was actually talking to myself for the last few hours of that trek, just to make it to the finish. But I made it in about 11 hours and 57 minutes -- JUST under the 12 hours, so I made it as a "finisher." I was thrilled!

Since it was a holiday 3-day weekend, I figured it would be a perfect time to see if I could beat my "record" of 32 miles -- I'd have 2 whole days to recover! I had much better conditions this weekend than I did on the Frozen Otter... which is mostly at night, in the freezing cold winter weather. So I was feeling confident that I could do it. The Northern Unit of Kettle Moraine offers some brutal trails, too. They are very challenging. There are a lot of short, steep hills with a lot of rocks and roots to work around. In the back of my head, I wanted to make 50 miles, but I knew that would be pretty difficult...

I set my 3 goals, as I usually do.
Goal 1 was to complete 32 miles, from the northern trailhead (Hwy P) to the southern trailhead (Hwy H)
Goal 2 was to go farther than 32 -- anything over that would be a personal best.
Goal 3 was to make it back to Butler Lake, which would be 48 miles. I even thought about pushing for 50 if I made it 48... but I had to wait and see if I could make it THAT far.

Adam and I woke up at about 2AM Saturday morning, and he made me a great high-calorie breakfast. We got going at about 3AM, drove to the Butler Lake parking lot, where I hid a bag with some lunch goodies for when I got there. Then we drove to the southern end of the trail, the Hwy H trailhead, and I dropped a gallon of water. There was a blue truck in the parking lot at the Hwy H trailhead that looked a whole lot like Randall's truck (a fellow hiking buddy). I thought it would be pretty cool to run into him at some point... Adam and I took off from there and finally arrived at the top of the trail, the Hwy P trailhead, at about 5:50AM. Adam gave me a big "good-luck" hug, and I was off.

The first 16 miles went great. I was feeling amazing. I even did quite a bit of trail-running -- I wanted to try to add a little running into my day, anyway... but when the mosquitoes came out, I didn't have much of a choice but to run -- I FORGOT my stinkin' repellent. I quickly found that if I ran, most of them weren't able to bite as much as I ran, so whenever I reached a thick swarm (which was often), I started to jog down the trail. I wore my trail running shoes, and my backpack only had only about 15-20 pounds in it. I felt light on my feet, and nothing was hurting yet. I still tried to conserve some energy, as I knew it was going to be a long day. Starting at 6AM, I was planning on going until about dark, which would be about 8 or 8:30PM.

I reached Butler Lake, which is half-way to the Southern trailhead, in 4 hours and 20 minutes. That was 16 miles! I took a half-hour break there (in the hot sun because the skeets were unfortunately too thick in the shade), took my shoes off, washed my feet off using the water pump, changed my socks, ate some lunch, stretched out really well, and head out again.

I really started cramping up in the next 7 miles. My knees were starting to give me some trouble, and I feared suffering from the famous, "peg-leg." I decided to take it a little easy, and just truck ahead at a nice, steady hiking pace. I sort of zoned out, and started paying special attention to everything I was feeling. I knew I was getting enough water, but I was still feeling what seemed like "symptoms" of something. I just took a drink of water, and immediately had cotton-mouth. My stomach was feeling slightly nauseous, my legs were stiffening and cramping up, and then I realized I wasn't sweating at all. It's was 2:30 in the afternoon, one of the hottest points of the day, and it was probably in the 80's. I then looked down at the trail and up ahead of me and noticed that my eyes weren't refocusing as quickly as they should be, and I was starting to feel a little light-headed. I knew this was not good at all, so I stopped. I took my backpack off, and remembered packing some electrolyte tabs the night before. It was a last-minute thought that I think may have saved me. I took them out and read the packaging -- I'd never taken them before. All the symptoms I was having seemed to fit in with not having enough electrolyte replacement. I was drinking gatorade, but found out that it wasn't doing the trick. I took 3 of the tablets, drank some more water, and continued on. I couldn't believe the difference! About 15 minutes later, I was feeling good again. My legs didn't feel as stiff, and I felt more energetic. This was a great learning experience for me... the importance of electrolyte replacement. It worked better than popping pain-killers!!

I made it to the entrance to Mauthe Lake campground and took another long rest. I ate some salty treats (pretzels and almond mix), took my shoes off and stretched a bunch. The next 9 miles to the southern end of the trail went by faster than I'd expected. And guess who I ran into? As I stopped to talk to a another backpacker as she was heading north, I looked down the trail, and over a hill came a guy in a red, yellow and black kilt. Sure enough... there was Randall!! It was SO cool to run into him. It really gave me a boost. We chatted for a few minutes, then we all continued on our way.

I reached the end, and my first goal of 32 miles -- and I did it in 10-1/2 hours. It was about 4:30PM. I called Adam and asked him to meet me 8 miles later at 8:30PM. I was going for 40. In an earlier phone call, Adam said something like, "I sure hope you can make 40 miles, but if you can't it's okay..." So when I hit the 32, I wasn't feeling too awful, and I knew my body could take a little more. I had already stopped doing any trail running after the 24-mile mark, so my pace was slowing, but I was still feeling strong enough to push on. I took a half-hour break and got moving again about 5:00. I knew I had plenty of time, so I took it easy on the last stretch.

I reached Hwy S, the 40-mile mark early, so I called Adam and found out he was about 1/2 hour away. I told him to pick me up at the entrance to Mauthe Lake Campground instead. It was 1 mile away, and was a better place for me to rest. Beside that, the mosquitoes were mentally defeating me (seriously bad, too), and I couldn't stand to stay in one place for any amount of time, so going on seemed a better option, no matter how much I hurt.

When I say the mosquitoes were defeating me, I'm not exaggerating. They got so bad, I actually had tears in my eyes from frustration. I would wipe off 10 from my forearm, and as my hand was finishing brushing my arm, there'd be 10 more in the same area. I don't know that I've ever dealt with skeeters as relentless and crazy as these. At one point, I seriously wanted to stop, whip my hiking poles around in the air, and cuss every cuss word I knew at them, but I knew that wouldn't stop them, and would only sap some precious energy. So I just sadly pushed on. When I finally broke, I threw my backpack off, and in the heat, zipped on my pant legs, put on my mosquito head-net, and put on my jacket -- it's all I had with me that had long sleeves. I immediately started sweating, but it was holding off some of the bites. It wasn't long before they realized the only exposed skin they could get at was my hands. They were biting so bad that my hands were swelling. Then they started biting the tops of my shoulders through my jacket, and parts of my ears where they touched the netting of my head net. I felt like I was in some horror movie! This ended up being the most challenging part of the day!! And here I thought it would be sore feet...

I finally reached 41 miles, Mauthe Lake campground, at 8:00PM. As I came to the trailhead, I saw Randall! He walked from Shelter #2, where he and some friends were staying for the night, to the campground to get some water. He and his friend congratulated me on my 41 miles (they must think I'm a nutjob...), and we said our "see-ya-laters." Adam pulled up shortly later and picked me up. He brought along a warm container of Spaghettio's (yum!), peanut butter cups, vitamin/electrolyte water, cookies and some other goodies. He even got me a cute card to congratulate me... it was really sweet of him. I was seriously thinking of quitting at 32 miles at one point, and he really helped push me on. And so I beat my personal best... I hiked 41 miles in one hiking day... 14 hours. Maybe next year I can make 50... :)

I weighed myself before and after, purely out of curiosity... I wasn't sure what this would do to my weight. I actually was hoping for no loss in weight, because I think that would mean I kept hydrated well, and my calorie intake was fairly even with my calories out... I started that morning at 154.2 pounds, and when I got home I weighed 155.0. So I gained .8 pounds. I'll have to do a little research and see what that means, exactly. I hope I did this in the healthiest way possible... there's always so much more to learn, and so many ways to improve.

So I came out of this with pride, being able to beat my record... I didn't accomplish goal #3, but that's okay... gotta save something for next time, right!? And... I came out of this with the ability to eat a Snickers bar guilt-free. What can be better than that?? :)

Skydiving again!

Skydiving. August 23, 2008

This is a video of MY MOM skydiving!!!

Well, another successful skydive!! It was mom's first time (her video is above), and I think she enjoyed it! I know she enjoyed it! When we hit the ground, she jumped up and down just like everyone does after their jump... we were trying to figure out why we all do that... maybe it's because we have so much adrenaline running through us... in addition to being so glad we're on the ground. :)

I honestly thought she'd be so much more nervous, but she wasn't! She was completely calm and collected. Dad was there to watch us crazies jump out of the plane... I think I might have seen a little more nervousness in his eyes than us jumpers... after all, both of his "girls" were going up into a plane... we put my poor Pappy through so much with our crazy adventures. Adam came just before we jumped, too. It was nice to have my two favorite guys there to greet me on the ground. :)

The jump was amazing, once again. Only 3 of us jumped this time... I think everyone else just chickened out! Mom and I went up first, then Jake went up. It turned out to be a perfect day. Thunderstorms were forcasted, but we ended up with blue skies! Mom jumped with Paul, and I jumped with Brad. Both are fun characters, and really make for a fun jump. Paul got mom on video, which you've probably already watched above. I didn't get video this time, so I asked Brad if we could do some flips out of the plane. He seemed excited when I asked... so when we exited the plane, we took a few back flips off of the platform. It was really cool! I thought I'd feel it in my tummy or something, but I didn't. I just remember seeing sky, then ground, then sky, then ground, then sky, then ground... then freefall straight down again. Then there was a little tug, and the chute opened. As we were floating down, I could see where our apartment was below... I couldn't see the actual apartment complex, but I was able to follow the road to exactly where it was... I remember thinking, "Hi kitties!" Okay, yeah... I'm a dork!

Then I looked over and saw mom floating down. Our chutes got so close I was able to yell "Hey, Mom!" to her and she could hear me! It was really neat! Brad and I made a bunch of fun turns with the chute, and then took a pretty smooth upright landing... no butt-slide!

Exiting the plane for the back flips was a little different. I had to place both feet on the platform, then grab the wing and hang on, then sort of shuffle my feet to about 6" from the edge. I had 80mph winds pushing at me, and I scrunched down into a low squat, then Brad asked me (I think twice) if I was ready... when I yelled, "Ready!" we pushed off. Amazing.

All I can say is, if you get the chance, make the jump. It's so much fun!!

And hey, mom... I'm proud of you!!!! :)

What's comin' up - part 2 of 2

Skydiving!

Fundraiser!

A visit from Hickory!

Dragon Boat Races!

1/2 Marathon!

Skydiving

This weekend I'm going skydiving for the 2nd time! My mom is going, too! I can't wait - I'm really starting to get pumped up about it again. It's such an amazing rush free falling so fast and then being jolted by a parachute and floating peacefully over the landscape below... then turning the chute so you whip around quickly one way, then the next... I really can't wait until Saturday! We're praying that the weather holds out for us. To see my last skydiving trip, check out my blog entry for that day -- there's a video up you can watch, too -- I had them record it! I'll certainly be writing about my 2nd go around with jumping out of an airplane!

Fundraiser
Our Annual "Our Hike for Bone Marrow Disease" is being held on September 6th. 4imprint donated some sweet sport packs that we'll be giving away (thanks 4imprint for your amazing support, once again!!). Click this link for all the info. Registration is at the Corner Connection, then we'll be taking a 7-mile hike through the woods on a new section of ATV trail, then ending with a hay wagon-ride to Lost Vega's where we'll enjoy dinner, music, raffles, drinks and fun! It's all a continuation from the hike across America my mom and I took in 2006 to raise funds and awareness for Aplastic Anemia. We work with the wonderful folks at the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation (AA&MDSIF), so all profits from the fundraiser go there to help support patients, their families and researchers directly. It's a great cause, so if you get the chance, stop out for the event. If you can't make it, go to http://www.ourhike.com/ and consider making a donation towards the "Our Hike" efforts! We never stop accepting donations, of course! And thank you in advance for your support... :)

A Visit from Hickory!

Hickory is a friend mom and I met on the ADT. He hiked with us through a large portion of the Rockies in Colorado. We met him in Indiana when we hiked through there, and he said as we parted ways that day, "I'll be seeing you ladies again..." We thought, "Sure... that would be nice... but we'll see..." Sure enough! Hickory called and said he was flying out and hitching to meet up with us. And he did! It was a fun-filled couple of weeks cussing as many cuss words we could think of up steep mountain sides, laughing at silly toots and poots, crossing storm-ridden mountain ridges, and just having a good 'ol time! So he'll be with us the weekend of September 13, and I'm working on some plans that will involve backpacking, hopefully. If not backpacking, at least a little camping, kayaking or chilling around a campfire with beer and steaks. I can't wait to see him. He's a really cool guy, and lots of fun! He's got a very easy, contagious laugh, too, so I might be peeing my pants a few times if we have too much fun!

...we'll have to get some pickled eggs and cowboy coffee...

Dragon Boat Races
On September 20th I'm rowing in the Dragon Boat Festival with the 4imprint team again. This event was such a blast last year that I looked forward to it all year. And it's coming up again! I can't wait. Last year our steersman fell over on our first run and we still came back to win 1st in our division, so we hope to do even better this year. We almost t-boned the boat next to us when he fell last year!! Here's a picture of us coming in 1st on our 2nd race last year... notice the other 3 boats are so far behind they're not even in the picture!! Yeah... I'm bragging like a big-shot because our 4imprint team ROCKS!! I sure hope we do as well or better this year... especially after talking so tough! :)

1/2 Marathon!
I ran the Oshkosh Half Marathon (blog entry) in April, and with a goal of just wanting to finish, I pulled numbers that were way more than what I expected. I ran the entire 13 miles, which was a first, and I did in 2 hours and 2 minutes. I was thrilled! But those 2 minutes over two hours inspired me to try again -- and try to do it in under 2 hours. So I'm thinking about trying to accomplish that new goal in the Fox Cities Half Marathon! I honestly don't feel any more prepared for this one yet, so I really don't know if I can do it. But I'm thinking about trying for it!!

So this is what's comping up for the rest of August and September. I'll be posting about these later, so keep an eye out! Should be some good stories... :)

What's been up - part 1 of 2

Most of my excitement happens on weekends. During the past couple of weeks I've been very busy at work, and this makes me happy. I'd always rather be busy than looking for something to do. So in between being busy at work, I've been trying to squeeze in workouts and runs as much as I can. I try to do something every day -- either a cardio class at the YMCA, a 30-minute run... whatever I can to keep my endurance up. This doesn't always work, though. Some days just get away from me and before I know it, it's dark and time for bed. But I always try to plan so I can get something in. Even if it's only walking to work in the morning.

On Thursdays I play on a co-ed softball team, and I'm terrible at the game. I'd like to be better, but as the season goes on, I seem to get worse and worse. I always start out good, then over think it, and end up sucking at it! But I still have fun... I hope to get at least a little better each year. This Thursday is our last game of the season, so it'll actually be nice to have Thursday evenings open again for a while. I have a couple weeks off of school (I've been taking one class a semester towards my Web Design & Development degree), but normally I'd have one night of class and some homework worked into my week, too. So there's the boring, but busy recap on my last few work-weeks. I pretty much fill up almost every minute. When I have spare time in the evenings, Adam and I usually sit on the couch and watch Robot Chicken, or this week -- the Olympics, of course! We've spent too many nights watching until midnight... and I wonder why I'm up to 2 full cups of coffee in the morning! :)

Since my last blog about my 45-mile hike on the IAT, I've had some full weekends of fun stuff. On August 3rd, Adam and I were confirmed at the Trinity Lutheran church here in Oshkosh. It's nice that we found a church that we both like with a very friendly pastor. We're both looking forward to going to church together on a regular basis. I always feel so good after mass, and being reminded of what I need to do to work on being a good Christian and an overall good person. It's really a great way to start each week. I've had a lot on my calendar lately, so I've had to miss a couple of weeks, but we're now working hard to make church a top priority. We plan to join the choir, too, and that's going to start up soon. I'm looking forward to getting singing lessons from Adam! It feels so good to have this back in our lives together. :)

The weekend of August 9th was Adam's mom's 2nd Annual "Festibelle," which is a get-together of the family for a full weekend of relaxing, eating and fun back in Phillips. Adam's mom gets us all together at her house -- G'ma (her mom), me and Adam, Melissa and Autumn (Adam's sister and daughter), and Jessica, Jake and Dean (Adam's youngest sister, husband, and son). Saturday we went to the Marquip picnic after a breakfast of donuts and coffee. While there we ate some yummy food, watched Autumn and Dean on the pony rides, visited with Adam's dad and Dorrie, and then Melissa and I rode on the Mechanical Bull. I stayed on for over 8 seconds, but I really think that they start it out pretty slow... so I'll have to try a real bull someday to see if I can really hold on!

Saturday we mostly hung out in the back yard while the kids played in the pool, we ate more delicious food, watched some Olympics and played some cards in the evening. We got pizza from the neighboring bar/bowling lanes and pretty much went to bed. Sunday we woke up and had breakfast, and Adam and I got packed up and head out of town. All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend!

Adam and I spent last weekend in the Milwaukee area. My parents came and stayed with us in Oshkosh Friday night. Adam was at class in Green Bay, so I took my parents to the Outlet Mall and then we saw the new Batman movie, which was really fun.

Saturday morning we met my brother Scott, sister-in-law Erica and Gracie (their daughter) near the highway and headed to the Milwaukee County Zoo where we spent most of the day. It was a beautiful sunny day out, too. Adam had never been there, so it was cool to be there to share in his first Zoo experience. I think my favorite part was watching him cautiously walk through the bird house, although he didn't make his general fear of birds very obvious. He held up surprisingly well... I don't think he saw the one big bird that swooped down just over our heads, though... had he seen that guy, my story may have been a little different. ;)

After the Zoo, we all head out to the hotel we were staying at that night, took a nap and head to my cousin Eddie and Stacy's wedding. It was great to see all the family, and it was really nice to have all 7 of us together in the same place (mom, dad, me, Adam, brother, sis-in-law and niece), which hasn't happened in quite a while... everybody seemed to get along so well, and it just felt nice to have everyone together. I've especially missed my brother, so I was really enjoying his goofiness throughout the weekend. I mostly enjoyed him giving me dancing lessons on how to do the "Ice Auger," the "Lawnmower," and the "Weed Wacker" dances. He's a pro! I should video him sometime and post it... It's really funny!

Then on Sunday, Adam and I met friends Jamie and Eric for the Renaissance Fair in Bristol, WI. They've been there before, but it was my and Adam's first time. It was a blast! What a cool place. If you like to people watch, which I certainly do... that's a great place to go. We ate some really good food, checked out the unique shops and watched a couple of good shows -- I enjoyed the jousting show the most!!

It's amazing how tiring walking around a Zoo and the Renaissance Fair can be. Two days in a row! By Sunday evening I was beat. I went to bed early, and now it's onto the next week, and the next weekends plans... which brings me to Part 2 of 2 -- "What's comin' up"

Aggressive Ice Age Trail Backpacking

Oh, did that feel good! 45 miles in 3 days on some pretty tough trails in the Chequamegon National Forest -- along the Ice Age Trail here in Wisconsin... my feet haven't hurt like this since the ADT in 2006! It was a happy ache, and brought back some fond memories. I think my feet were having flashbacks, thinking, "Here we go again! We don't know when she'll stop!" :)

There were 4 of us to start: Me, Pam, Ken (he organized the trip), and Dave.

Day 1

Day one was a Friday. Pam and I got done with work early and did some grocery shopping for the weekend. We went shopping while hungry, as anyone knows is always a bad idea -- especially when backpacking. The more food, the heavier the pack. After getting A LOT of groceries, we head up to Ken's house where he and Dave were just about ready to go. We filled our water bladders in Ken's sink and head out. Ken was driving his car, and Dave was riding along, and Pam was driving her car with me riding along. As we went, I sat in the back seat and organized our food. We ended up leaving quite a lot back just because there was too much weight!

We got to where we would come out of the woods on Monday and dropped off Ken's car. Our maps indicated a Parking area, which did not exist, so we ended up parking in a grassy patch off of a dirt road about 1 mile from the trailhead. There was a National Forest post, so we figured that would be fine. We all piled our packs and ourselves into Pam's car and head towards the start trailhead. When we arrived, there was a parking lot, and it was getting dark. We got our packs and head out. One of my trekking poles finally gave in and as I was turning to adjust it, it stripped and wouldn't tighten. So at the trailhead as we head out, I picked up a dead stick as my 2nd pole. It was conveniently about the same height and weight as my trekking pole, so that was nice.

We head into the woods with our headlamps lighting our way on the trail. We looked around for a spot to camp right away -- we just wanted to get a little ways in to set up camp so we could get a nice early start in the morning. We found a nice cushiony spot under some pine trees and set the tents up. We shared the one beer I carried in, which was still nice and cold, hung our food bags in trees (I climbed a pine tree to hang our food, which was a lot of fun!), then we crawled in our tents and went to sleep. Pam and I shared my Hubba Hubba, and we were in a great spot. It was so comfy sleeping on a soft layer of pine needles.

Day 2

It was Saturday, and we were planning on camping at Jerry Lake -- about a 15-mile hike. The first 6 miles were a little rough. We had some difficult trails to follow, with some very challenging navigating. Ken did a great job leading us through some very tall grass -- at times it was chest level with bogs and dead logs underneath. It was hard to walk steady-footed on that kind of terrain. It didn't take long to realize that Dave was falling a little behind and seemed to be having a hard time making his way along the trail. Ken, Pam and I stopped at a tricky intersection where the trail went in from a logging road and waited for Dave to come over the hill. We waited and waited, and no Dave. Ken walked up the trail to where we last saw him, and still no Dave. Then I went up with the intention of taking a side trail he may have taken by mistake. Finally I saw him come up over the hill. He said he got lost from following a blaze that was on a knocked-over tree. We were a little worried as we were waiting, hoping he hadn't fallen and gotten hurt or something, so we were thankful to see him. We continued on.

We came to a road and decided to take the next 1-mile section of trail to the next Forest Road where we'd stop to take our boots off and have some lunch. We payed a lot of attention to the blazes on the trees and the trail to be sure there weren't any tricky spots, and trucked on. We were getting hungry and anxious to let our feet breathe. Dave was falling a little behind again, so we just all payed special attention to be sure he'd be able to follow the trail okay. The three of us came out on the road a short time later, took off our boots, ate, and waited for Dave. 15 minutes passed, then 30, then 45, then 1 hour. We knew it shouldn't take that long to get through that section, and we knew it was very well blazed, so we were really getting worried. After a couple trips down the trail, shouting for him, we didn't see him. Finally, one last pass down the trail, Ken and I saw him coming up a small hill. He looked completely worn and sweaty. He had taken a wrong turn somewhere again, was out of water, and looked really tired. When we got out to the road, we assessed our situation. Having a car on each end of the trail, we would never make the 45 miles at this pace, and there was no place to bail out. So we all came to an agreement that Dave road-walk 4 miles to a campground. He agreed. I think we all felt bad that he was having a hard time, and looking back at the situation, even Dave realized that was probably the best choice at that time. Pam, Ken and I had all been hiking a few times this summer already, and it had been 10 years since Dave's last backpacking trip. We all figured this trip was a little too much for his first time back. He gave a good effort, though, and I give him a lot of credit for taking the road to that campground. I imagine that had to be a hard decision to give in to.

We had time to make up. We still had at least 8 or 9 miles to go, and it was already past 2:00 pm. If we were to make it to camp before dark, we would really have to cruise. And we did. We hauled it pretty good and made it to Jerry Lake by 7pm. The trails were tough with quite a lot of deadfall and tricky footing. But it was fun and challenging. It was hot, humid and there were an awful lot of mosquitoes, but I suppose this all comes with living in the woods for a few days, and the rest of it always makes up for the little annoyances. I enjoyed getting as sweaty as I was -- I really felt like I was hiking hard and getting a good workout.

We got to camp, rested for a bit, set up tents, filtered water from a very cloudy Jerry Lake (I had to clean my water filter about 4 times as we pumped water), ate some dinner and went to bed. I do have to share the story of our dinner Saturday night. I made this sort of promise to myself that I would try something new to eat on each camping/backpacking trip I take so I'm not always eating Ramen and oatmeal. I decided we should try something fresh the first night. We packed in English muffins, tomatoes, an avocado, some marinated mozzarella cheese, basil, salt and pepper, fresh parmesan and a tiny cheese grater. Yeah, it weighed a lot! But it was good! We could've done without the mozza cheese, though. The parmesan had great flavor, and in my opinion, the mozza was a waste of weight. But they were still delicious! Pam had some fresh green-leaf lettuce, too, so we wrapped the whole english muffin with all the toppings in a lettuce leaf so it was easier to eat. The fresh food was a real treat.

Day 3

Saturday night was a gorgeous night, so Ken slept with his rain fly off, so he was under a layer of mesh in his hammock tent hanging between two trees. Sunday morning at 6am we all groggily woke up to the sound of bear-hunting dogs barking like crazy way off in the distance. Then they sounded closer and closer until we realized that they were maybe running down the trail that went right past our camp. I remember that bear dogs generally don't bark unless they're chasing something. Then they chase the bear until it climbs a tree where the hunters can get a shot at it. And sure enough, they went running right by our tents -- just on the other side of the trail through some heavy brush. Ken said he could see through the mesh in his tent. First the bushes parted and rustled as something ran through -- it was large and NOT barking. Then about 12 barking dogs came through. So it's exciting that we had a bear run past our camp! We were seeing an awful lot of bear scat on the trail -- the berries gave it away... But as the joke goes, there were no bells in it, so we figured we were safe. :)

We got up after all that commotion, ate breakfast -- OH!! Breakfast Sunday morning was AWESOME! One of the top 2 best breakfast I've ever had hiking (next to my mom putting gumdrops in our 'snotty' porridge while hiking the ADT)! Saturday as we hiked through some tall grass, we came upon a LOT of ripe raspberries. There were so many of them that we decided we'd start collecting them in a ziplock baggie. I had about 3/4 cup of them after the day was done, so we added them to our morning oatmeal. I was a little bummed that we brought maple & brown sugar oatmeal until I mixed them in and tried it. It tasted just like some sort of raspberry torte. It was so delicious. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it!! After breakfast we packed up and head out again.

The weather sure was treating us well. We had blue skies, and no rain. There was a chance of t-storms on Sunday, and it got a little cloudy and questionable for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but it never did rain. It sure did get humid, though! We came across a 2nd group of campers on a lobe trail that we decided to take. This group was called New Vision Wilderness from the Milwaukee area. They take inner-city kids out into the woods for counseling and confidence-building exercises -- and they do some beautiful trail work! We came across several nicely built bridges with a plaque stating their group name and the signature of the kids that helped build them. What a cool group of people! It was great to meet them in person and be able to thank them for the work they do -- it sure makes our hike that much more enjoyable having nice trails to hike on! :)

The lobe trail we took, which was about a 4-mile loop off of the ice age trail brought us a patch of wild blueberries, which we had to stop for. We collected about 1/2 cup for Monday morning's oatmeal, and we ate a few as we picked them. They were SO yummy!! We were so glad for the blueberries on that trail because the mosquitoes were probably the worst swarm I'd been in! We hiked 18 miles on Sunday, and camped by a "glorified swamp," as Ken appropriately called it. Ken sat down and about 2 seconds later had a deer tick on him. So we started being careful to look for them little guys. They're so tiny they look like a speck of dirt at first glance. We started a fire right away to ward off the mosquitoes. I think it worked a little bit, but at one point we all stopped talking and listened. It was one of the strangest, eeriest sounds I've heard in the woods -- it was the sound of SWARMS of mosquitoes in the treetops, and it was so loud (for buzzing mosquitoes), that it was literally echoing through the woods. Very, very strange.

We set up camp, got some water and started dinner. Pam was trying her new Jetboil, and she was going to make our tortellini. I told her to use my large Jetboil pan so it would fit better and be easier to cook, but failed to let her know that there were two lids that had to be removed. The bottom of the pan had a plastic cover, and when placed on the powerful Jetboil flame, quickly melts... as we found out! Ahh, but accidents happen, and these things can be replaced... :) After letting that cool and peeling some melty black plastic off our pan holder, we were back in business, and it wasn't long when Pam had some yummy torellini ready to chow. It was really good, too.

After dinner we passed around the plastic bottle of Peppermint Schnapps that I carried in. It was just enough that I didn't feel buzzed, but just good and relaxed. We all shared that until it was gone. Pam and I then brushed our teeth and head into the woods to hang our food. Ken said he had a really fun time listening to us trying to find the right tree. We pretty much circled him, giggling as we tried to hit a couple of branches that were out of our reach. Finally we found one that worked, and just before we headed back, Pam felt something bite her inner thigh. She reached in and pulled out a spider! She shreiked and threw it in the grass, and we both were laughing about that... it was quite the scene! Hee-hee... I was just glad the spider was in her pants and not mine. I probably would've reacted the same!

Day 4

Monday morning we woke up and had bluberries in our oatmeal. It wasn't quite as good as the raspberries, but still very tasty. We came across some more beatiful trail. There were a lot of ferns that were huge. Some were almost chest-high! They made for a very green forest floor, and fun walking.

A little ways into Monday's hike (our last day on the trail), Ken's right knee started to give him trouble. We had quite the long day ahead of us, so he took some ibuprofin and we hiked on. We came to a place on the map that read, "Hemlock Esker." It was a part in the trail that went directly north-south for at least 1/2 mile. We wondered what this "Esker" was. When we got to it, we saw that it was a very tall ridge that dropped off on both sides, and Ken started to remember from a geology class that an "esker" might be where two glaciers butted up against one another, creative a clump of land in between, this ridge we were walking along... the "Esker." We all 3 quickly fell in love with the "esker" (come on, it's a fun word to say!!). Since it's higher up, you get a wonderful breeze, which was more than welcome since we were all sweaty and hot from the humidity we were hiking in, and there were very little mosquitoes... probably from the breeze. Also, once on top of the esker, the trail flattened out nicely, and left us with some very nice scenery below on both sides, with blue sky above us.

Just looked up the definition of an esker: "A long ridge of gravel and other stratified drift which formed in a tunnel at the base of a melting glacier" (from this link). So it sounds like it was actually made from a tunnel in the glacier that carried a sort of river from the glacier melting. And as it flowed through this tunnel, left this "ridge" of sediment. Way cool stuff.

Later in the day, Ken's knee situation worsened, and there was growing concern that he might not make it to the trailhead. There was a lodge on our map a little ways up, so we made a plan. We'd stop and rest for a couple of hours, and depending on how his knee felt after that, he would decide if he could hike on, or if just Pam and I went and came back to the lodge to pick him up. We came to the lodge, and boy, oh boy -- a backpacker's oasis!!! They had cold CANS of soda, deep-fried deliciousness, and and ice cream cone the size of my head (which I ate entirely and endured a wonderful tummy ache afterward). I can never turn down an opportunity for ice cream on the trail. Gotta keep up my trail name from the ADT -- "Milkshake" -- it may not have been a milkshake, but had all the same effects of one, which ultimately gave me the trail name. Yes, admittedly, I was in the bathroom about 5 minutes after finishing it. :)

Ken rubbed some Biofreeze on his knee, took some more ibuprofin and rested. By the time we ate, used the flushy toilets, and drank a cold, bubbly can of soda, he was feeling better and decided to tough it out. We had 6 more miles to go, and we did it. We came out to the road at about 6:30 - 6:45. He's a tough guy. From the way he was walking and how he explained the pain, it sure sounded a lot like the "peg-leg" my friend Sarah and I suffered on the first 32-mile "Frozen Otter" adventure race we did. It's not like a muscle pain you can just stretch out and push through. It's different. I guess all knee-pain sufferers know all to well what I'm talking about!

So we were off the trail and at the car a short road walk later, and let me tell you, the excitement continued! As I mentioned earlier, Dave road-walked to a campground on Saturday, and we were going to pick him up on Monday. We thought about him often on the hike those next few days. We were all a little worried about his making it to the CG okay, and if he was actually feeling alright... we all had some nightmarish scenerios playing around in our head... what if he was severely dehydrated... what if this, what if that... when we got to Ken's car, there was a note on the seat. We all figured it was a note from Dave saying that he called for a ride and went home (that's probably what I would've done, anyway.) When Ken opened the note, there was a business card for the Sheriff's dept. stapled to it, and the note only asked Ken to call at his earliest convenience. We all sort of panicked. "Oh, no. Did something happen to Dave?" Ken's phone didn't get very good reception, so I turned mine on, and I hate pretty good coverage, so he called with my phone. Come to find out, since we weren't in a designated parking lot, some local folks noticed his car there for a couple of days and called it into the police in conern that it might be abandoned or something. So Ken explained our situation, and we were all quickly relieved that that's all it was about. Ken did later have to clear the situation up with his family -- the police apparently called some of his family inquiring his whereabouts and the location of his car, and sent some into a sort of panic... but I believe that was all cleared up.

We got in and drove to the campground, hoping to find Dave there, well-rested. We pulled in and there he was sitting up against a tree waiting for us. Whew. What an exciting weekend! We got Dave loaded in, drove to Pam's car where we started the hike, separated our gear and head out.

Pam and I got back to Oshkosh about midnight. We were all a stinky, sweaty, smelly mess, so the first thing I did was jumped in the shower when I got home. If felt good to get 3 days' layers of deet, dirt, and sweat off, as well as the caked dirt under my fingernails... and the stinkies out. I crawled into bed and don't even remember my head hitting the pillow.

We did 46 miles, total. 15 miles on Saturday, 18 miles on Sunday, and 13 miles on Monday. My feet hurt, but that was about all I suffered from the weekend. And I welcomed that pain. It felt good to know that I backpacked that far in 3 days, got some great exercise, and a clean, healthy hike in the fresh air. I'm a happy girl, and this one's gonna stick with me for a while. I needed a good, aggressive hike like that. I also found that Ken's hiking style is very much like mine. We hike the same pace, and seem to like to set up and take down camp in a similar fashion. I might be a little slower than him... he's got this super-cool hammock tent that just folds down so quickly... I'm thinking about trying one out! So, ahhhhh... that was a long entry...

OH, ESKERS ROCK!