RED

We had the good fortune to coordinate time with two of our brothers!  First my brother Mike at Roger's Pass. Mike before we tortured him on the uphill My brother Mike has been a long time skier.  Ever since he was a little kid, he chased snow.  He skied every chance he got and he is good!  A natural athlete with tremendous grit, Mike can do anything.  This year he decided to give back country skiing a go.  Normally one would progress along a path of trying this out on a small scale - maybe rent gear, maybe make sure you know how everything works, maybe start out on a small hill, and so on. Not Mike.  He agreed to a couple days in Roger's Pass with Greg and I as a "first time out".  One might call us irresponsible for taking him there. Anyone else, we would have said no. But Mike.....we knew he could do it.  And so, one cold February morning, Mike donned the back country ski gear that he rented the day before, and we headed to the mountains of...

Here we are, at it again, going wherever the snow and weather takes us. This time feeling like van veterans. View from our window as we drove into British Columbia Some key takeaways from last year: Pack less clothes, 2 of everything is enough except underwear Everyone wants to talk about van batteries Tea with honey is a must on backcountry ski days Drying gear in a small space is an art and a skill You can make a turkey dinner on one burner If you want to get away from people, just keep driving north We left Lyme, NH on New Year's Eve. What better way (for us) to spend New Year's Eve; no champagne, no big parties, no ball dropping.  We just had the wide open road in front of us and some good pod casting, snacking, and truck stopping.  Forty three hours later we were in British Columbia, our treasured winter paradise.  We started in the town of Nelson, where we spent a few days getting back into the groove again.   After this, we had the good fortune of staying...

After leaving British Columbia in early March, we headed for the desert southwest.  It was still snowing in BC and hard to pull ourselves away, but the desert was calling and we were ready to go.   The southwestern US is truly one of the greatest places on earth.  There is an abundance of canyons, rivers, mountains, wildlife, starry nights, national parks, friendly people and wide open spaces.  We went from one protected space to another and we were stunned by the beauty and remoteness the entire time.  If you have not been, put it on your list.  It is not to be missed.  While in the desert, we mountain biked, canyoneered, hiked, paddled and soaked in the warmth.  Again we were so fortunate to have great friends join us for a variety of adventures.  Thank you to all who made this so fun! A special shout out to Tom and Ashley who provided list after list of great places to recreate and some of the necessary gear to do so.  Below are ...