This summer when we were hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail in the hot June sun, we came across two trail angels waiting at a spot in the road where the trail crossed Skyline Drive, the road that runs the length of Shenandoah National Park. .

A lady was sitting on the tailgate of her black pick-up truck. In front of her were four chairs set up, the kind you bring to a soccer game or a fireworks show. The lady’s father was sitting in one of the chairs, and in front of him was a large cooler filled with cold drinks of all kinds: sodas, sparkling water, gatorade, iced tea. 

Help yourself to a drink, the lady encouraged us as we came out of the woods and onto the road.

Have a seat if you want.

Another hiker had arrived before us and was sitting in one of the chairs having a drinking a soda. When you’ve only been sitting on the ground for days, weeks or even months if you’re backpacking the whole 2000 miles of the Appalachian Trail, a chair is a luxury.

As we gulped down cold drinks, the lady offered us ziplock bags of homemade salted caramel brownies. She had another bag filled with fruit. Decadent treats after we’d been gnawing on energy bars for days.

The lady’s father told us he used to hike these trails all the time. But now he can’t hike them anymore, so his daughter helps him come back as a trail angel, and he gets to feel close to the trail again, to experience the energy and the joy of hikers passing through. And to offer a little respite. 

Kandace and I have encountered the magic of many trail angels along our various hikes.

On the Ouachita Trail in December, we came across jugs of water left in places where the water is scarce.

We’ve passed folks who were in the middle of weed-eating a trail or cleaning up a trail shelter. We’ve seen fallen logs that were cut into pieces and moved out of the way, and we’ve found cans of beer left for the taking.

And sometimes we have been visited by our own personal trail angels.

And after several days of hiking through icy rivers, we enjoyed a visit from my sweet friends Carol and Connie. They hiked towards us from a trailhead one day to meet us for lunch, and we were overjoyed to see them.

They had gotten up super early to drive up to where we were, and they had packed an elaborate trail picnic that the four of us enjoyed together. Carol pulled out real dishes, silverware and cloth napkins from her backpack. Into the bowls, she scooped generous portions of a gorgeous Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. We had pieces of cheese and sandwiches. Then Connie pulled out a wrapped present for me, a balm for my blistered feet! They also had homemade cookies and little bottles of whiskey for us to take with us.

It’s been months since that picnic lunch now, but I can still remember how good that food tasted, how we laughed as we ate and how we tried to stay seated for as long as possible in the little sliver of sun that was almost keeping us warm.

But soon we were cold enough that we needed to get moving again. After we packed everything up, Carol and Connie walked the miles back with us to their car before we said goodbye and they drove all the way back to Little Rock, leaving us with the leftovers and the gift of their sweet presence. 

My dad also joined us on the Ouachita Trail, providing trail support by driving on old logging roads to find us. He fixed us dinner (shrimp and grits) and made hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. He drove our packs around to the next stop so we could hike without them. We easily covered twice the miles we could have if we had been wearing them.

Some days Dad even met us for lunch or with a thermos of hot coffee to warm us up and help us keep going. After each of these encounters, Kandace and I walked faster, lighter and with a bit more spring in our step. 

It’s an understatement to say that our personal trail angels lifted my spirits and helped me keep going.

It would be more accurate to say that the folks who provided these kindnesses actually walked many of my steps for me by their generosity, often arriving at times I felt I could barely carry on.

A couple of days before we met Carol and Connie, I had badly twisted my ankle and was struggling through the miles with a bandana tied around it. I had been moving slow for two days, but Kandace and I got up and started walking before dark the morning that we knew they were coming. We walked faster because we were anticipating spotting them at any moment.

(I felt a similar way when I walked the Coast to Coast with Diane on the day I knew that Taido and the kids were joining us.)

Stripped of most of the comforts we normally enjoy in life and pushed to the physical limits of enduring the cold or the heat of the day, it’s amazing how coming across a few gallons of water left by someone can seem like such a treasure. It can make you believe in the goodness of humans, and give you hope for hours of walking. 

I have always said I love to eat when I am camping or backpacking because everything tastes so much better outside. When your dad hands you a hot cup of coffee on a 29 degree morning, you’ve never tasted coffee so good. Ditto for hot scrambled eggs. 

It’s why I love spending time in the woods, with only what I can carry. It reminds me in the most tangible way possible of how little I truly need. 

Something to eat, water to drink. A bit of shelter from the rain. 

When I receive something from a trail angel that I haven’t had to carry on my back, I am profoundly grateful.

Cold water in the hot sun and a hot drink on a cold day are precious treasures in the backcountry.

May cookies always taste as good as they do when they’ve been brought to you by a friend in the middle of a long hike. 

The post Trail Angels appeared first on Alison Chino.

A little over two years ago,

(before the pandemic was even a whisper)

Taido and I drove to Pennsylvania to attend the wedding of a dear friend.

On the way there, we took a slight detour to take in the sights of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

It was early April so the trees were still bare, but spring was blowing in.

We rolled the windows down to feel the mountain air.

We made several stops in the park.

We walked through the visitor center where the history of the park

and of white supremacy

was on display.

(Even our national parks were segregated, y’all.)

We stopped at the overlooks.

We watched mist roll over the hills.

We paused when we found streaks of blue sky.

We didn’t have a lot of extra time,

but we stopped for a short hike.

Stretching our legs in the woods,

we covered 2-3 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

The trail runs all the way through the park for 100 miles.

We walked over mossy rocks

and peeked at the views through the naked trees.

Patches of snow were hiding in high places.

The last dregs of winter hanging on.

Our short hike was over far too quickly,

so as we drove out of the park we started to

dream about

coming back one day.

Wouldn’t it be fun to hike the whole stretch of the park?

To wander the trail for 100 miles over several days?

Maybe with friends?

Or our kids?

Or both?

To set up camp in this forest.

To stay for more than a few hours.

We drove on to the wedding,

a sweet celebration and a reunion with friends from Germany.

Our time in the Shenandoah turned to memory,

but a seed had been planted.

Next week, we are loading up our car with tents and backpacks and trail mix and raincoats.

We’re driving across the country to meet up with friends

(including the ones that got married).

And we’re hitting the Appalachian Trail.

We’re all vaccinated and ready to breathe that mountain air again.

Shenandoah National Park, here we come.

The post Snapshots of Shenandoah National Park appeared first on Alison Chino.

Simon got out of school for a two-week spring break on March 6th.

Our plan was to head to Arkansas, soak up time with friends and family for a couple of weeks before Taido would fly down and join us.

Then Taido was going to drive home with Simon and I was going to go backpacking in the Arkansas Ozarks with my dad before heading back to Illinois to pack up and go to Italy.

The only part of the original plan that happened was the part where Simon and I drove to Arkansas.

It’s funny how plans change.

In making the trip from Rock Island to North Little Rock, we drove from winter into spring.

I started telling Simon to look out the window as soon as we crossed the Arkansas border, as it seemed like the redbuds appeared out of nowhere along the highway. Bright little spurts of purple branches welcomed us back to the south.

At home, we had a few precious days of walking our favorite trails and meeting up with friends.

We did a long walk from the Big Dam Bridge out to Two Rivers Park.

I met up with friends for coffee, drinks and walks.

But it wasn’t long before things started to change.

In just a few days, my trip to Italy was cancelled and all the schools and restaurants were closed. Taido went to help Ben and Mary Polly move out of their college housing instead of coming down to Arkansas.

I chatted on the phone to friends instead of meeting up for coffee.

Illinois put a shelter-in-place order in effect, and so Simon and I made plans to head back home.

But before I left town, I made a quick trip with my dad to the Ozark Mountains.

We left early Friday morning and drove gorgeous, winding hills to a trailhead on the Ozark Highland Trail.

The trees were still pretty bare, but you could spot serviceberry trees blooming like snowflakes suspended in the air throughout the forest.

Up close, the flowers had shades of pink.

We hiked over beds of moss up to a couple of campsites and the last remains of an old homestead.

On our way up, we spotted these rocks that reminded Daddy of a pulpit.

Ever the preacher, he tried it out.

We reached the top in time for lunch and were delighted to find a picnic table at the campsite. We enjoyed imagining how it had gotten up there.

The temperatures were dropping as we hiked back down and it started to rain a little after we reached the car. We drove to Castle Bluff, where Daddy was draining the water and shutting things down because the spring camps had all been cancelled.

Since he was working in the main building, he built a fire in this old stove.

If I had an logbook of all the time I have spent sitting in front of this stove, it would serve as a record of some of the happiest moments of my life. Daddy and I sat here a while talking and just being warm in front of it before we headed off to the lodge for dinner and to check in on the latest news from home.

Daddy made Tuna Mac for dinner, which is mac n’ cheese, cream of mushroom soup and a can of tuna mixed together. (I have since made this meal for my boys while home in quarantine and they devoured every bite.)

I woke up to familiar views over the valley and sounds of Daddy making coffee. I bundled up and sat on the porch for a while, reading and writing. (And recording this meditation.)

Soon the sun started to come out and we packed up and got ready to go see a few waterfalls before heading home.

We walked down to the waterfall that is on the Castle Bluff property first.

Spring is the best time of year for waterfalls in the Arkansas Ozarks, but we’ve had an exceptional amount of rain this year so the water was really running.

And the hills seemed especially green.

We stopped and hiked both the King’s Bluff and Pedestal Rocks loops.

Again, with the trees still bare, you could see for miles.

It was the first blue sky we had seen in over a week, so we soaked up the sun as we walked.

The serviceberry blooms seemed to stretch upward toward the sun.

And the little flowers on the trail seemed brighter.

Daddy and I both took loads of photos of rocks. The formations on this trail are just amazing.

It’s hard to do them justice in a photo.

I kept turning around and looking back at places we hiked over to see how far the cliffs fell below.

There are parts of the trail where you can get down below the rocks and explore the caves and caverns.

We had our picnic lunch in the sun and tromped through a few more caves.

I loved every minute of it.

After more than a week of constant cancellations, I had the feeling that this day was going to be my last time out freely adventuring for a while.

So I was reluctant to see this day come to an end.

I wanted to stay hidden underneath the rocks and along the waterfalls.

I even texted Taido that day and suggested we hold our quarantine in the hills of Arkansas.

In the days and weeks since Daddy and I hiked these trails, it has seemed like the world has grown smaller and smaller.

We are closed in on one another.

And when we gaze out, we see the whole wide world closed in just like us.

We are closed in together,

all of us wondering what will happen next.

Daddy and I made one more stop on the way home at Falling Water.

As soon as we got out of the car, the sound of rushing water drowned out any other noise.

In that moment, there was only that water, constantly crashing over the rocks, flowing downward, finding the lowest place.

A picture of grace.

A picture of God.

And a picture for me to carry with me into many quiet days.

Though it was shorter than what I had planned when I was first heading down to Arkansas, I am grateful for these moments with Daddy.

As I drove back home to Illinois, with my sad Simon riding shotgun, I carried in my heart the days of being in Arkansas. The friends I saw and the ones I missed. What was lost and what was gained.

The gifts were many.

And so shall they always be.

Come what may, friends. Come what may.

And one day I’ll be walking back home in Arkansas again.

For now, I’ll be holding these sweet memories in my heart. They are keeping me as warm as the fire in that old camp stove.

The post Snapshots of Arkansas: Walking in My Home State appeared first on Alison Chino.

Happy Monday, friends! We only managed to get 2 of 4 kiddos out for walk 2 of 48. We headed to an already familiar (and favorite) nearby set of hiking trails, Bennachie. It certainly looks different in winter, but still beautiful!

I do love seeing all the other walks shared in the Facebook group and on Instagram! We’ve even had a few new walkers hop in on the fun. It’s not too late. You can join in anytime and walk with us.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the walk. Did you get out this weekend?

The sun seemed like it was trying to break through the clouds all day, and we got a little bit of glorious glow at the very end of our hike. We were ridiculously happy to see it. The sun makes us giddy!

Details if you go: We parked at the Bennachie Visitor Center and did the hike up Mither Tap. This is our third trip to Bennachie and we’ve managed to park at a different trailhead every time.

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Family Hiking in the Lake District

While we were in the Lake District, we did five different walks together as a family. All of our walks were fairly “lightweight” compared to what many of the other hillwalkers we met were doing, but we were happy with doing shorter walks and taking breaks from the rainy weather in between.

All of these walks are very handy to Buttermere Village, where we we stayed at the Buttermere YHA. The first four are loop hikes that are right around four miles. On both Friday and Saturday, we did one walk in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then we did one more even shorter walk on Sunday morning before driving back home to Aberdeen.

Loweswater was our first hike on Friday morning. It was raining when we woke up, but it cleared off a little bit so we did not get too wet on this walk around Loweswater. This lake is a little further from Buttermere, so we drove our van over there to walk around the lake. The walks around the lakes in the Lake District were the kids’ favorites because they are always flat. Also it is very easy to map your progress when you can see the lake you are walking around the whole time. Simon loved knowing when we were halfway around on our lake walks.

Loweswater was also the least muddy (or boggy in British speak) of all the lake walks we came across. We found all the trails in the Lake District to be very well maintained, but this one was particularly so. On one side of the lake, you have to walk for a short distance on the road, but for the most part, the trail wanders right alongside the lake.

After lunch we stumbled on this hike that we think is called Steeple and Haycock, but all along we thought we were on the Rannerdale Knotts, so we were a bit confused. Both have trailheads on the road to Buttermere Village.

On this walk, two ridges run parallel along a deep glen that is cut by a river. We climbed one of the ridges and walked along a path that got steeper and steeper. It started to rain on us a bit and the wind was very fierce, so we decided to descend to the river and walk back through the valley.

I read later that you can make a loop back to the trailhead by continuing to follow the ridge and then the path cuts across and brings you back along the opposite one. We were glad to walk in the middle, which gave us a little break from the wind.

Of course, we met loads of sheep and found about fifty spots I would love to come back to on a sunny day and sit. Little patches of green right by the running water were calling my name.

However, the rain started to fall much harder towards the end and so we were sloshing through the grass back to the car as quickly as possible.

Thankfully we did not have far to go before we were back at the hostel, taking off our wet things and making soup for dinner.

The next morning we headed right back out into the falling rain, this time just a slight drizzle, and walked around the lake that was just outside our door, Buttermere.

The whole time we were in the Lake District, I marveled at the bright green grass and moss.

The autumn is a wonderful time to be in this area, especially if you don’t mind the rain. The colors made it worth our while to get a little wet.

Somewhere near this little brook, we stopped for a snack so that we could get in one more hike before a late lunch back at the hostel. The rain stopped for long enough for us to decide to stay out longer.

From Buttermere, it is easy to make your way over to Crummock Water, which is a much larger lake. Across the road from Crummock Water is the Rannerdale Knotts walk we were searching for the previous day.

You can ascend the ridge from Crummock Water and walk right along the top of the ridge all the way back to Buttermere Village.

Going up is a little bit steep but not treacherous. In the drizzle though, these rocks are a little bit slippery, so we were careful as we made our way to the top.

Once you reach the pile of rocks that is the highest point, the ridge opens up and is a wide grassy path the rest of the way down. The kids all took off running along the top of it.

I kept stopping to gasp at the views below. You can see both Buttermere and Crummock Water from the top, as well as the little Buttermere Village where you can stop to warm up with tea. Even though we were wet and cold when we finally got down to the village, the boys all chose ice cream over tea. They could not resist! Mary Polly and I had tea and scones though, and we took our time sipping it in the cozy cafe.

After our walk, it was back to the drying room with our clothes and boots. Everything was dry when we put it all back on the next morning to leave. We left the Lake District as great storms were blowing in all over England, so we were happy to be headed north.

Before leaving, we made one last quick hike to these falls, getting soaked in the process! We cut this last walk short, so we will have to come back and do it again. I will welcome the opportunity to return to this beautiful country! It will be fun to see it at another time of year and compare the colors.

Want to keep up with all of our travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to the Chino House by email.

The post Hiking in England: Family Hiking in the Lake District appeared first on Alison Chino.

2 families, 4 days, 3 nights, 15 miles, 3,000 feet of elevation gain.

I had a revelation along the way last week in the mountains. Well, several actually, but the first one was this.

I really love backpacking.

Seriously.

Taido goes backpacking a lot. Three of our kids have been with him at least once.

But I had not strapped on a pack and headed into the woods for more than a long day hike in (ready for this?) 17 years.

What?

How is it that I have gone that long not doing something I love so much?

I’ve done a lot of family camping. In pop ups. In tents. Near the cars. And the bathrooms.

But backpacking is a different animal, y’all.

Backpacking is camping in its purest form.

Stripped down. Bare necessities.

Bring only what you can carry.

Friends, for me? That ain’t much. I think I weighed in at around 35 pounds.

Fortunately for my friend, Rhonda and I, we have husbands and sons who can heft closer to 75 pounds.

I’m unashamed that we had to rely on these men for our food and shelter.

In fact, nothing can take away from how proud I am of us for hiking all the way from Aspen to Crested Butte. Not even the fact that we ran into two different couples who were doing the same hike in one day that took us four. When the first couple ran (literally, y’all, RUNNING) past me on the trail and someone in our group informed us that they had left from the same place we had left from three days ago, at 8 am that morning, I said to Rhonda,

I am not letting that cheapen this experience for me one little bit.

Just think of all we’ve seen.

We’ve fallen asleep to the sound of rushing rivers,

With the stars as our canopy and the moon as our evening light.

We’ve gazed at flowers that only a handful of other people in the world will see this summer.

We’ve taken time to stop and wonder at the colors, the variety and the sheer multitude of wildflowers. 

We have carefully crossed rivers and snow fields, giving thanks for the ropes and strong hands that guided us and our children along.

We’ve sat around a campfire and eaten meals from tin bowls that tasted better than food at any restaurant because everyone knows food tastes better when you’re outside and when you’re hungry from your journey.

We’ve been humbled by our loads and received mercy from our families.  As mothers, we experienced a role reversal on the trail with our children whom we have long served. And it was good for us.  And for them.

And so much more.  The gifts are countless.  Even my greatest moments of shame on the trail have been rendered gifts to me as I reflect on our time there.

I saw what I went to see in Colorado.

I experienced the mountains in a new way.

And that experience is more precious to me than the fact that we made it from Point A to Point B.

I have so much more to share about being in the mountains, but today I am just giving thanks for the journey.  Where in your life have you seen how the journey or the experience is even more precious than the destination?

The post Along The Way appeared first on Alison Chino.

On Taido’s birthday we did what was maybe the most beautiful hike I’ve ever seen.

We hiked through Larch Valley up to Sentinel Pass which leaves from Moraine Lake.

Moraine Lake is very near Lake Louise and is similar in that a trail runs along one side of it while the other side is steep rocks rising from the lake.  Lots of more strenuous hikes leave the meandering trails that run along both lakes, but one could probably be happy walking along the lake for a long time as both lakes are exceptionally beautiful.

However, there are lots of other people with whom you must share those flatter trails, so the best way to get alone in a hurry is to take one of the trails that lead steeply up from the lake.

The hike up to Larch Valley starts with a series of hefty switchbacks from which you get peekaboo views of Moraine Lake as you get higher and higher.

The incline seems to go on forever, but once you follow the path into the snow dusted woods and start to see these magical trees, you forget how your legs are hurting and reach for your camera.

I probably have 300 pictures just of these trees.

Yellow Christmas trees.

Furry yellow pipe cleaner trees.

I have never seen a pine tree that does not stay green.

Larch trees are native to the mountains in Canada and I don’t know if I’ve ever before seen one since I haven’t been to the mountains in the fall.

But now that I’ve seen them, and the yellow Aspens too,

I can’t recommend autumn in the mountains highly enough.

The weather is perfect for hiking.

The snow has not yet taken over.

And the colors!

We said over and over that this was the most perfect day for a big birthday.

Above tree line, Sentinel Pass dips between these two peaks. 

Most of us made it to a lake just at the base of this pass.

You can see where the trail zigzags up the pass on the other side of the lake.

It was so cold and windy right here that I turned around and went back down, but Ben stayed with Taido and his sister to climb to the top. The rest of the photos are Taido’s from the pass.

We took our time getting down and they managed to catch us after getting up to the pass.

Back down at the lake, we got coffee and hot tea at the lodge to top off our perfect day.

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Yesterday we drove up to Lake Louise, arguably one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

A path runs along one side of the lake.  Towards the end you can look back at the famous Chateau at Lake Louise.  My grandmother stayed there many years ago and I remember her talking about how beautiful it was.

From the edge of the lake, we took the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail up into the mountains.  We were excited to find the Tea House that was built for hikers in 1927.

The trail leading up away from the lake was very steep.  Lots of climbing.

From the trail, there were several points you could look back and see Lake Louise.  I stopped lots to take pictures in front of me towards the glaciers and behind me of Lake Louise getting farther and farther away.

The yellow trees continue to amaze! Waves of them high on the mountains.

High above the lake, the trail meanders through fields of boulders and along cliffs.

The trail went along a ridge below the glaciers.  We think we counted six as we were hiking this ridge.

Just before we got to the tea house, we reached snow.

We were so excited about reaching this adorable tea house.

We had the best lentil vegetable soup ever to warm up our tummies.  Plus a rich chocolate cake, apple pie, coffee and of course, tea.  Wonderful rewards for a hefty hike.  Everyone was delighted.

We bounced back down the mountain with full bellies.

This picture is from just below the tea house before we hiked back down.

Back down at the lake, we spotted a bear (small black blurry spot in the picture above).  He was across the lake from us, so we stood and watched him for a while as he climbed up the hill away from the lake.

All in all it’s about seven miles round trip to the tea house from the trailhead.  We were plenty tired when we finished.

And a little chilled from the damp air.  We finished the day with more coffee in the Chateau.

Cold, cloudy days will forever remind me of our summer of camping in the Pacific Northwest and how I drank coffee or tea all day long.  You are always trying to warm up those chilled bones.  The kids are motoring through a huge warehouse box of hot chocolate.

But it is well worth the chilled noses and toes to get to see this part of the world.

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So when I was going through backpacking pictures from Ben’s trip to Colorado, I realized that I have all these pictures of Cole’s trip in 2006.  Since that pre-dates this blog, I decided to go ahead and post them this week.  That way one day when my kids are looking for pictures of themselves, they will be able to find all of their backpacking trips.  I may not be able to bring the same fairness to the baby book situation, but at least these milestone trips will be recorded.

Cole was 9 when he rolled out in vans with this group of seniors.  I might have been a little preoccupied with a new baby, so I was more than happy to send my big, brave nine year old off to the mountains with Taido.

Really many things about that summer are kind of a blur.  But looking at these pictures reminds me that God provided abundantly for us the year Simon was born.  Each of our bigger kids received all kinds of extra love and attention from people in our family and community.  Not a day went by without someone calling and picking up at least one of them to share in someone’s fun.

The other thing that is crazy about looking at these pictures is how much life this group of folks has lived in the almost five years since they went on this journey together.

They started their time in Colorado with a trip to the Sand Dunes, a favorite stop.

Everyone loves to play in the sand!

They all climbed to the highest point of the dunes.

Here are my three guys on top.

Oh, did you not recognize Taido?  That’s because he let some high school guys shave his head at youth group one night in June.

I can’t even remember why.

Once they reached the top of the sand dunes,

they all took off running, jumping and boarding down.

So great.

After a day at the Dunes,

the group headed to the base of the collegiate peaks, preparing for the ascent of Mt Antero.

This picture really dates this trip, because it was taken before we threw all these foam pads away and replaced them with thermarests!

Huge improvement!

This trek to Mt Antero was my first fourteener as well.  I climbed in when I was fifteen.  And I’ve climbed it several more times since then, so all of these images are fond, familiar spots to me.

This part of the world is just take-your-breathe-away beautiful.

On the day of the peak climb, once you get above tree line, you have to hike forever on a jeep trail full of switchbacks.  I have been down this trail in a truck before and I can safely say that I will always prefer to walk than ride this particular road.

At the top of the switchbacks, the trail turns in to a ridge.  While not unsafe, parts of it are a little scary.  I remember climbing a lot of it on all fours.

This sweet couple left their 8 month old baby to climb with these students they had faithfully mentored.  Now, just five years later they are looking at possibly being the parents of six children by the end of 2011.

I wonder if from this view of the top of the world, they could have imagined all that God would do in and through them in the next several years.

This group still holds all kinds of potential.

I hope that each person in this picture can look back at this time in Colorado as a place they ascended a mountain, knew God’s power and presence and carried it home with them in their hearts.

I know that God is with each one of them still.  Writing their stories.

The post Cole’s First Big Climb: Mt Antero, Colorado appeared first on Alison Chino.

Remember all those different blog posts about our trip to Colorado last summer?

I guess I got a little burned out on mountain pictures, because I neglected to put these up from Ben’s inaugural backpacking trip.

My dad, Taido and Bobby take the graduating seniors backpacking every summer before they head off to college.

They climb a big mountain and spend a week away from the world, telling their stories to one another.

Cole and Mary Polly have both gotten to tag along on one of these grand adventures, so last summer was Ben’s turn.

Ben’s trip was different from Cole and Mary Polly’s in that one has the option of reaching the base camp of Windom Peak by train.

I’ve never been on this train before, but it looks amazing.

Here’s the group of seniors, all clean and fresh on their first day.

Ben carried a daypack similar to the one both Cole and Mary Polly carried on these trips, with Taido carrying the rest of his load.

I always worry a little about the kids when they are gone in the mountains with the men.  I have no idea how they are holding up or if they are whining for their mama.

But everyone said Ben did great.

He made a new best friend that he hung pretty close to throughout the week.

Meet Blake.

Love these pictures of Ben.  He’s looking rough at this point in the week.

Also, I had to include this picture of Daddy doctoring a blister with moleskin, because it is something he has done about one million times on these trips.  Always prepared.

It’s always considered a major trip accomplishment for the whole group to make the summit!  Exciting!

Taido and his partner in crime, Bobby.

Taido only had one taker for Extra Summit Day: the day when you get up while it is still dark and climb ANOTHER mountain.

Blake was game.  Here he is on top of Mt. Eolus.

I know Ben will treasure the memory of this week in the mountains with his dad and some other pretty special guys for many years.

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