May 29th
Calf Mtn Shelter(865.5)-Pinefield Hut(891.7) Virginia
26.2mi+.4mi side trail=26.6mi

Elevation chart courtesy of Guthook’s AT Hiker app. He has apps for many trails including the PCT and CDT.



Well, the rain did return on and off last night and seemed to stop after midnight. Another four hikers arrived as it got late so they were in the shelter when I woke up. The rain had stopped, but there was a light misty fog in the air that stuck around all day. It was in the 50s and 60s, but also quite humid so all the leaves stayed wet. It seemed like it was raining a bit much of the the day because it would drip off the leaves as a breeze blew. One hiker was up early like me and we ended up walking out together at 6:45am. Her name was Kickapoo and she was really enjoyable and perky. We had fun and hiked the first three hours of the morning together. She cracked me up with the positivity on this rainy day, which was her second day in a row in rain. She even said to someone, “this wet weather won’t dampen our spirits!” Here’s the pose I got in the rain when I asked if I could take her picture, ha!



We split up just after 10am when she stopped for a break. I hiked on my own into the afternoon and saw many day hikers or trail runners. The trail crossed Skyline Drive, the main road through the park, countless times along with parking lots and campgrounds.



I was able to wear shorts and my short sleeves while using the umbrella most of the day as the drops off the leaves were like actual rain.



I stopped at picnic area for lunch and the tables were dry enough to sit. As soon as I sat down, a tick from the table jumped on me. That’s tick number two. My shorts are treated with permethrin so I don’t know how it works, but when I stood up, the tick fell right off. I hope that’s the result of the permethrin!



I got chilled quickly once I stopped hiking and it was a quick lunch. I was cold and wet enough that I just wasn’t hungry. Plus, the hiking today was more of a nice stroll on mostly level trail, so I just wasn’t expending as much energy. It’s supposed to be easy miles through Shenandoah and now I understand why. Even in the rain, it was relaxing.



Kickapoo caught up with me the last hour or two of the day and we hiked to the shelter together. The temperature had dropped and the rain came down steadily the rest of the day on and off. Here is Kickapoo in all her positivity dancing in the rain at a parking lot. I just can’t imagine how cheerful she must be on a nice day!



The hiking was so easy that we were shocked to have finished 26.6mi by 5pm without even trying to go fast. When we got to the shelter, the Kallin family was there that Kickapoo adores that is doing the whole trail with a 7yr old, 9yr old, and a dog. They were great and I recommend checking out their blog. The kids are actually doing high mileage too! They have done days in the 20s and tomorrow will do the same mileage as me with a 20.8mi day. Another hiker named North Star was there too.

When the rain died down, Kickapoo and I set up our tents and put on our warmer clothes. I was quite chilled and laid in my sleeping bag a bit to warm up. It’s not that cold, but my joints ache from being chilled. I’ve never enjoyed getting wet as I get cold so easily. This was one of those rainy days I imagined whenever I thought of the AT and I’m glad it took 43 days before I got one. It wasn’t bad and I’m excited to say the tent and my gear is dry, but my clothes, shoes, and backpack are pretty wet. I would welcome some sunshine tomorrow to warm up and dry everything out. Check out the viewpoints in the fog today, ha!




As I write this, Kickapoo is singing me the song, We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel. Before the hike, she wrote random things in pages of her journal to surprise and entertain herself and the lyrics to that song was today’s surprise. She is on a tight schedule to meet her boyfriend in about a week and he will finish the trail with her. She will probably push to a further shelter than me tomorrow as I’m on a more relaxed schedule to meet people, but the Kallins plan to camp at the same shelter as me tomorrow, so I’ll see more of them. Coyote along with two other guys I overlapped with before Waynesboro also arrived tonight and plan to do the same shelter as all of us tomorrow.
**As an update, two months after I finished the trail, this article was posted on Yahoo that was written by Kickapoo and it was very powerful to read…the words she quotes from Robert Frost at the end are the same ones she will belt out hiking with me and with young Robin Hood when will recite a Frost poem in a few days…

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Walking With Wired
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Winter Break In San Diego!😎
What a great trip! With so much sun and great weather, it felt more like spring break than winter break. San Diego has definitely won us over. Here is a compilation of some of the many things we did. 
-Coastal walking 🌴🌊
-Biking around the bays🚴🏻‍♀️
-Revisiting the Pacific Crest Trail💕
-Exploring the city 🌇
-Sea World 🐬🦦🦭🎢
-Beautiful sunsets 🌅
-Puzzling:)🧩

#sandiego #winterbreak
Thanks for all the bday wishes! Since my birthday falls on a Monday this year, it was a great excuse to take an extra day off and make it a 3 day weekend🥳. I indulged in puzzling and pasta (artisan jumbo raviolis) over a great fall weekend. Today was a fun day of going to local places for bday freebies. Almost $100 worth of treats and there are more I can get throughout the month! Here’s the list for anyone looking for bday treats. 
*The hand-made artisan raviolis came from Foglia in Beaverton. 
-Dutch Bros
-Einstein Bagels
-Starbucks
-Jersey Mikes
-Baskin Robbins
-Baja Fresh
-Noodles & Co
-Pips (donuts)
-Old Spaghetti Factory
-Cheesecake Factory
-Dennys
The week got away from me and I meant to post this last weekend. Better late than never! Three weekends in a row spent in the Gorge. It’s been a great fall so far and we feel lucky to have all this nearby for quick excursions. Hiking in the gorge, camping at Ainsworth SP, checking out the “fruit loop” in Hood River, and a visit and some trail work at Nesika Lodge with the Trails Club of Oregon.🍁💛🍂🧡
#columbiarivergorge
We finished up our July trip with some days at Olympic National Park. The original plan included a backpacking trip to the Seven Lakes Basin, but we had to cancel it due to a foul weather front that moved through the days of our permit. Someday we will do that one. Once the skies cleared, we spent the remaining time we had exploring the Hurricane Ridge area. I’m a big fan of mountains, ridge walks, and clouds, so it was a good finale to this summer’s travels:)

Included in the photos is our campsite at Heart O’ the Hills Campground and the puzzles we completed over the last few weeks (many of them waiting out that weather the last few days🧩). #hurricaneridge #olympicnationalpark
We moved over to the east side of Mt. Rainier and explored the Sunrise area for a handful of days. Still many grand views of Mt. Rainier, but with even more wildflowers on this side. I even got to visit an old friend;) Feeling fortunate that the weather has continued to be clear, good temps, and minimal bugs. Summer break continues! #mtrainiernationalpark
Back in the PNW and taking a couple weeks to explore and relax at Mt Rainier Nat’l Park. Our first week was spent in the Paradise area of the park with impressive views of the south side of Mt Rainier. The weather was so ideal (and somehow no bugs!) that we easily spent half the day getting some much needed R&R at camp (especially hammocking and puzzling) before heading out for afternoon hiking. It’s great to have this area just a few hours from home. #mtrainiernationalpark
For the last leg of our Northeast Coast trip, we spent a few days camping at Blackwoods Campground in Acadia National Park. We did many of the recommendations for first time visitors to Acadia: popovers at Jordan Pond, hiked the Bubbles, rode bikes along a carriage road, toured around Bar Harbor and stopped for a whoopie pie, walked the popular ocean path, and went up to Cadillac Mountain at sunset.  Overall, a successful trip to the opposite coast. We look forward to finishing up the rest of summer break in the PNW!  #acadianationalpark
Next stop on our northeast coast trip, Cliff Island off the coast of Maine. We got a taste the island life from our amazing hosts Abby, Matt, Joan, and Scott: our own lobster boil, fireworks on the beach, a bit of sea kayaking, biking around the island, exploring the tide pools, puzzling, and collecting sea glass. The best part was reconnecting with Little Lottie who I cared for and bonded with in Portland during the first year of her life. It was great to see the world Lottie lives in now💕🦞🌊🐚🦀
Kicked off our summer break with an east coast trip this year. First up, a couple days in Boston. Great to see friends Andrea and @jdavischi85 again! We were happy to get our legs warmed up for summer hikes with walking and biking around Boston. Even got in some candlestick bowling and my first evah lobstah roll. A great start to our northeast part of the summer:)
Aunt Erin’s Portland Adventures, Days 7&8: Coast Camping Cont’d
The last two days of the visit were more camping along the coast. They were filled with all the things I’d hoped for the boys to experience. They made friends and played with the other kids at camp, feely rode bikes around the loop, played in the hammock, played soccer and frisbee on the beach, ate s’mores, ran over dunes, explored a low tide (Hug Point and Haystack Rock), had a foggy coastal day and a blue bird day, and slept in the trailer making it their little cabin. They really loved the trailer and it was super cute to see then use it so well. They had a great time and hopefully a memorable trip overall of all the things I love to share living in the PNW💚💙.
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