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  • Untaken Trails – Future Fortnights (two week thru hikes)

    Untaken Trails – Future Fortnights (two week thru hikes)

    Hey readers! If you haven’t been watching our Youtube videos, you may not know that we did go to Arizona, and while we did start out at our intended start point, like all good plans, they did not survive contact with the enemy. The full story of our adventure on the AZT will be coming soon to this space, don’t worry, if you really really don’t want to go watch our Youtube videos.

    This piece is coming from a look to the future. I (Oliver) am very future-motivated. I like to look ahead, plan, and dream about adventures to come. However, we have limitations right now, in this stage of our lives.

    Current Limitations

    1. Waiting for our kids to graduate. We have one finishing Grade 10 and two finishing Grade 9 right now, so we can’t just take off on a long thru-hike until they have graduated and are looking at their first steps into adulthood.
    2. Our day jobs. Currently Cheryl gets 4 weeks of holiday per year and I get five. It won’t be until 2028 that Cheryl gets her fifth week. We can take unpaid leave if we want, but more paid leave would be best. There is a possibility of circumstances arising for us to do something longer sooner, if either of us gets sent out of country for work, as we get compensating leave before and after. But that isn’t predictable.

    So with these limitations, and not wanting to spend more than 3 weeks in a go in this chapter of our lives, we have to dream of shorter trails: two week thru hikes, ones that we know we can’t get trail legs before finishing. That said, Here are some dream destinations we might get to do sooner:

    Dream Two(ish) Week Thru Hikes

    We would love to get back to Section C of the GDT for a two week thru hike sometime soon!
    Resting up at the crest of Tornado Saddle, GDT Section B
    • North Coast Trail. 59km or so along the north coast of Vancouver Island. Very similar to the West Coast Trail, but free and much less crowded.
    • The O Circuit of Torres del Paine in Patagonia. We watched a video and were both dazzled by the 136km trail, and South America has been on my personal bucket list for a while.
    • Tour du Mont Blanc. A great excuse to go to Europe, circumnavigating the tallest peak in France. Clocking in at 170km, it looks glorious.
    • We both want to go back to the Great Divide Trail, after having done Section C in 2021. The most flexible section would be Section B, (195km) because it requires no reservations. I hiked half of it – from Coleman to Cache Creek before having to get my hiking partner out to catch a flight. I’d love to finish it, and share it with Cheryl.

    So two of these two week thru hikes are “local” (in Canada) and two are international. That should take us through to 2028, when our calendars open up to longer opportunities. Honestly, we loved our time on the AZT and both want to come back and do the whole thing. We also both have an itch to do a big through hike. We have joked about one year she can do the Appalachian Trail while I do the Pacific Crest Trail… I don’t think any vlogging couples have ever simultaneously hiked two different trails and tried to edit their videos together!

    admin

    May 6, 2024
    Bucket List, Multi-Day Trails
    arizona trail, future, great divide trail, hiking, mont blanc, patagonia, vancouver island

  • VIDEO: YouTube Channel Introduction and Announcing Our Arizona Trail Hike

    We will be hiking sections of the Arizona Trail this year and are excited to share our videos with you. We’ve been busy going through our gear to make sure we have everything we need and purchasing anything that needs replacing. We’re looking forward to hiking someplace warm and hopefully dry.

    Cheryl

    February 25, 2024
    2024, Arizona Trail, Videos
    arizona trail, hiking, video

  • Top 5 Bucket List Thru Hikes, 2024

    Top 5 Bucket List Thru Hikes, 2024

    With our upcoming trip on the Arizona Trail on our minds, we thought we would do a new Bucket List post – this time with both our perspectives. We will go through the list one place at a time, volunteering ours then commenting on the other.

    Oliver’s #5: I would have put the Te Araoa on here until we watched the Hiking America videos of their thru. There were some beautiful days, but a lot more road walking than I thought, and also quite a bit of swampy stuff. I’m still traumatized by our Gros Morne Traverse thru-hike I guess! Now, I’d probably say the Colorado Trail. There’s a posting in Colorado Springs I may be eligible for in 5 years or so… (Swamps can be fun. – Cheryl)

    Cheryl’s #5: The Florida Trail. While the road walks aren’t appealing to me, I like to celebrate when I complete hard things. The Florida Trail could involve a lot walking through swampy water (Hey, gators!), but it also has a lot of warm weather and plants that I would enjoy experiencing along the way. (Swampy… – Oliver)
    Oliver’s #4: I’d probably put the Appalachian Trail here on the list. I am not as excited about it as some other trails, but there are parts of it I would love to see. Honestly, the busyness of the trail is probably the biggest turnoff for me, but I’d still give it a go if Cheryl wanted to do it. It wouldn’t be a hard sell. (See #2. – Cheryl)

    Cheryl’s #4: Ozark Highlands Trail. Who wouldn’t want to spend time in the Ozark mountains? I have visited Arkansas and thought the area is beautiful. I wouldn’t mind spending some time hiking through it. (Or the Ouachita Trail? I wouldn’t object to either! – Oliver)
    Oliver’s #3: The Arizona Trail. I’m really excited about our section hike in March. But despite the fact that I am very happy with the section we are doing, I REALLY want to see the Grand Canyon too! This isn’t the year for it though. (We will have to go back to do the Grand Canyon. – Cheryl)

    Cheryl’s #3: The Wonderland Trail. It is a shorter thru-hike at 93 miles (150k) and one that needs to be done at a time of the year when there is not a lot of snow, but it checks the boxes for a manageable time commitment and beautiful mountain views. If we were to do this trail, we would need to win the “permit lottery” to camp in the backcountry. (For a short trail this would be lovely – Oliver)
    Oliver’s #2: the Great Divide Trail. I’ve already hiked almost 2 sections of it, and I just love it. But I want to finish it, thru-hike it. It is without a doubt the best trail of its kind in Canada – 600 miles of Canadian Rockies, cutting right through the world famous Jasper and Banff, and those aren’t even the best parts! (So many trails. So little time. – Cheryl)

    Cheryl’s #2: Appalachian Trail. Oliver has talked many times about the tree tunnels and lack of views on this trail, but the idea of really getting connected with the trail community and building a “tramily” really appeals to me. When discussing thru-hiking, this feels like a must do. (It’s my #4, so I’m in! – Oliver)
    Oliver’s #1: The Pacific Crest Trail. Ever since encountering the movie, “Wild” it’s been on my mind, taking up space. I want to do it before I die, 100%. The clock is ticking though, and I know my body hasn’t been broken yet like many friends’ have, but it is wearing. I was talking to my boss’s boss last year and she said if I want to do it, do it – take unpaid leave if necessary, don’t wait until it’s too late. So I am hoping this may happen in the next few years as our kids graduate and move out.

    Cheryl’s #1: We agree! Pacific Crest Trail would be my #1. It is an opportunity to connect with other hikers while getting to experience the vast mountain views. There are also enough towns along the way for resupplies and showers. The time needed to complete this hike would be a challenge though, so it must wait.
    Oliver’s Honourable Mention: Since two of the Triple Crowns is on the list, I might as well add “why not the Continental Divide Trail?” It’s not NOT on the list… I think if we did the AT and the PCT, there would be a big draw to finish the Triple Crown… but it’s the longest of the three, it’s got the most road walking, and if we do the AZT and Colorado Trails, we will have already seen much of what it has to offer. So it would just be “to get the Triple Crown”.

    Cheryl’s Honourable Mention: Te Araoa. It would be amazing to travel to New Zealand and thru hike, but the amount of money it would take to fly all the way there would be costly. Also, if we were to go to New Zealand, we are going to want to do more than just explore a trail, so there would be a lot of time and money involved in seeing as much as we can of what New Zealand has to offer. Also, I don’t want to do that much road walking. To me, a hike should be in the trees and not on paved roads.

    admin

    January 10, 2024
    2024, Bucket List, Outdoors, Trails
    appalachian trail, arizona trail, bucket list, colorado trail, continental divide trail, dreams, florida trail, great divide trail, ouachita trail, ozark highlands trail, pacific crest trail, te araoa, thru-hikes, wishes, wonderland trail

  • The Next Adventure: Section Hiking the Arizona Trail!

    The Next Adventure: Section Hiking the Arizona Trail!

    After our go at the Gros Morne Traverses, we found ourselves a little worn out of rugged, wild, barely-there trails. Especially when said routes cross bogs and other such fun things. We began to talk about our next adventure, and how our current locale has a very long winter (even for Canada). Wouldn’t it be nice to get in an early season hike, before the snow melts? Not on snowshoes! Sorry, I have done a little winter camping, enough to know that ultralight and winter don’t mix well – at least not in Canada!

    A unique quality to the military life is the end of fiscal year. At that point our annual leave rolls over to a new year, and all of a sudden we have more. Some people have attempted to “save” their annuals from one year until the end of fiscal, so they can add them to leave days borrowed from the next year to create a mega-trip. It worked out for us to do that this year! So with a big chunk of time available, we began to look for a “fair weather” destination.

    We looked at the Pinhoti Trail, the first few hundred miles on the Appalachian Trail, the Florida Trail, Ozark Highlands, the Lone Star, and even the PCT up to San Jacinto. (There were more shorter trails too). But none of them sat quite right. I liked the idea of a desert hike over a forest hike where the leaves haven’t come out yet. So we looked again at the beginnings of the PCT and I also threw out a question on the Arizona Trail subreddit: what’s the best stretch of passages to do if you only have a couple weeks?

    The answer was “Vail to Superior”. So we watched some videos. And some more. And it started growing on my hiking partner. Over Christmas break we pulled the trigger on some flights and now we are set! We will be on trail over Easter, enjoying the sunny days of Arizona! This will be our longest trip yet – our previous longest trip was 11 days of hiking on the Great Divide Trail. This one we will be on trail 16-18 days (I built in some flex into our plan, depending on how we are handling the altitude and such). The plan is to cover over 186 miles. Given the choice between this or a standard all-inclusive in Mexico like many friends and family like to do, we much prefer this plan!

    But here’s the best part: previously we snapped a lot of pictures, but we never really did video. This time, we have invested in a little videography equipment, and my wonderful partner will get to put to use her long dormant cinematography skills (she used to have a vlog on YouTube a dozen years ago). So keep watch for video once we get on trail!

    admin

    January 7, 2024
    2024, Arizona Trail, Multi-Day Trails, Outdoors, Trails
    arizona trail, hiking, spring

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