Category: Backpacking stories

  • Backpacking: Day 1

    On our first day in the woods, we set out, about 8AM, shiny and fresh with full packs and glad hearts. (Okay, you know right now that this isn’t going to end well…) We drove to the parking lot and donned our packs after a quick trip to the outhouse for a luxurious last-minute sit-down…

  • Backpacking: Day 2

    Day two dawned bright and lovely. Newcomb Lake was still and flat and the surrounding mountains were so perfectly reflected that had you taken a picture (which we did) it would be impossible to discern which were the real mountains and which the reflected. We ate our respective breakfasts. Len likes sweet in the morning…

  • Backpacking: Day 3

    Day three was the day were supposed to exit the woods, sweaty but exultant, and appropriately “beat up”–as per our expressed wish, told to the gentleman at the start of our trek. Be careful what you…well, you know. Our 5:30 AM wake-up call came in the form of a monster thunderstorm. Fortunately we were safe…

  • Backpacking: Day 4

    I think I’ve put off writing about this day simply because in the grand scheme of the trip, it was fairly uneventful. It was the culmination of the trip, and yet there are no mighty struggles to recount, no hallucinations that I couldn’t escape, no extreme obstacles to overcome. Unless of course you count our…

  • Grand Canyon, The

    Our trip to the Grand Canyon was amazing. Backpacking in the canyon is a completely different experience from standing at the edge and snapping pictures. As grand as it is from the rim, you still can’t imagine the true vastness of the place until you have hiked down inside it…spent the night under an equally…