LINKS TO BLOG STUFF
MILEAGE SUMMARY
Total Miles: 2,642.2
Trail Miles: 2,523.8
Off-Trail Miles: 118.4
Miles per Day (MPD): 18.2
MPD excluding 0-days: 20.0
MPD excluding 0-days and Nero-days: 24.5
Longest Day: 34.2
STATISTICS
Total nights: 145
Nights indoors: 19 (13%)
Nights in the tent: 112 (77%)
Nights under the stars: 14 (10%) AKA cowboy camping.
Nights with campfire: 17 (12%) I wish we had more, but fire bans became quite common.
Rainy Days: 6 (4%)
Snowy Days: 0 (0%)
GEAR STATISTICS
Fuel Canisters Used: 6
Pairs of Shoes Destroyed: 3.5
Pack's Base Weight in the Desert: 16..7 lbs
Pack's Base Weight in the Sierras: 16.8 lbs (+bear canister, -umbrella, +gloves, +beanie, GoPro upgrade)
Pack’s Base Weight for the rest: 16.9 lbs (-bear canister, +more clothes)
Since the end of the PCT we have been busy. We spent a few days in Vancouver with Moose and Midge and their pals, then a few days in Seattle with an awesome trail angel family. We spent one day exploring downtown Seattle and another checking out the outlying neighborhood of Redmond. After completing the Wonderland Trail in 2016, my hiking buddies and I had some beers at the famous Pikes Place Market and had such a great time that I suggested we do it again. When you wind up in Seattle after hiking a long trail it is just the hip thing to do. This is where I set up the timelapse featured above. On October 4th we finally returned to our hometown of Baltimore and Sea Lion went back to work just three days later. She worked for almost two months while I bummed around and it felt like a weird purgatory living in our parents basements. After the AT, I went back to my old job and moved into a new place and resumed life. Not this time. This time we had plans to move out West. We landed jobs at Vail Resorts and had to wait several weeks for the winter season to begin. The time arrived and we took a road trip to Colorado where we have settled in the town of Avon. We are loving it! I am a ski instructor and get to play on one of the best mountains on the planet, we have met tons of great people, and are already feeling the pull of this location. Numerous locals have shared their story with us and they have all been the same: “Well I moved out here for one winter season and then I never left. That was 25 years ago. The winter brings folks to Vail Valley but the summers keep them here.”
So I will be switching the blog back to having a homepage with links to the AT Blog, PCT Blog, random posts of photos (like from the road trip out here) and I have began working on a new blog section to outline my trip to New Zealand. Stay tuned!