Northern Vermont

Red and I are three days from the Canadian border. Two if the terrain wasn't what it is: strenuous, wet, rocky, muddy and steep. While climbing a particularly steep section of trail going up Mount Mansfield, I stopped to look at an expansive view. It was a rare sunny day. I secured myself from falling by sticking my fingertips in cracks in the rocks. "I could die right here." I said quietly to myself "I love this." I wasn't using hyperbole, like when someone says they are so happy they could just die. I meant, I need to watch my step.

Backpacking Advice

I've hiked roughly 2,700 miles since I bought my first backpack about five years ago. I feel like I can safely call myself an experienced backpacker. But like anything, no matter how much knowledge you accumulate there is more to learn and others that know more than you, so I'm always interested in hearing about new ideas and experiences. That being said, I still love the bad advice I get from non-experienced backpackers.

Last December I was sitting in a fast food chain stuffing my face with disgustingly delicious food when an odd looking woman stopped at my table.

"You hiking the Appalachian Trail?" she asked. I looked at the make-up covered wrinkles on her face and thin penciled-in lines where her eyebrows used to be. I smiled and said, "Yup."

"Isn't it cold up there this time of year?" she said.

"Yeah, it's cold," I said. "But not intolerable yet."

"You know what you can do to stay warm?" she said. I hoped for new ideas. Truth is, I was freezing my ass off up there. "Get one of them really big trash bags. They make them really big ones that come all the way up to here," she said while miming pulling the trash bag up to her chest.

"My husband and I go to DisneyWorld for three days every year," she said. "We sleep in our van in the parking lot. One night I got real cold, so he told me to get into the trash bag. It kept me warm all night."

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind," I said, preventing myself from pointing out that December in the Smoky Mountains is a bit colder than Orlando any time of year, not to mention the resulting condensation could be very dangerous.

Sometimes the advice isn't as bad, but still quite useless, like when Red and I were stopped on a sidewalk in a town by a man wearing a sweatsuit.

"You guys hiking the Long Trail?" he asked.

"Yeah," we said together.

"Watch out for Bigfoot," he said sincerely while running his fingers through his messy oily hair. "He's been spotted up there."

"Alright, alright," Red said. "We'll keep that in mind."

"Man, I'd love to catch that Bigfoot myself. You know how rich you'd be if you caught him?" he said. "And famous?"

"Oh man, yeah," Red said politely. "We'll keep our eyes out for him."

A couple days later, we were in another fast food chain. An elderly man wearing glasses with lenses like magnifying glasses stopped at our table on his way to the restroom.

"You guys hiking the Long Trail?" he asked. It was late in the day and we told him we were about to head back up there that night.

"You hike up there at night?" he asked concerned. His eyes grew even larger behind the magnifying lenses. He had a slacked worried look on his face. His mouth hung open. His cheeks drooped from his face like a basset hound's.

"You gotta be careful with all that wildlife up there at night. The forests are filled with dangerous nocturnal animals," he said. "...like otters."

"Otters, really?" we said.

"Yeah, they'll come at you," he said. "They bite."

I've been warned numerous times about bears coming into my camp. I've been told to watch out for wild boars charging down the trails. Nobody has ever warned me about the predatory nature of nocturnal river otters.

Occasionally I do get good advice and I love that, but honestly, I'm enjoying the bad advice much more. Keep it coming America.


An Unexpected Celebration

It rained for three straight days. For several miles, the trail turned into cascading streams and mud so thick that it frequently tried to pull the shoes off your feet. Two streams swelled into rivers and required fording with careful steps and getting our legs soaked in cold water. Needless to say, Red and I were ready for a town visit. At the road, a man named Bob stopped to give us a ride. He was going toward a town that was 35 minutes out of our way and in the wrong direction.

"Alright, let's do it," Red said without getting my opinion and picked up his pack. He turned to me and said, "It'll work out, man."

"Oh, I know it will. It always does," I said and grabbed my pack. When we have no expectations, and are easy to please, everything always works out.

Red and I just wanted to get out of the rain, dry our clothes, and get food, so asked to be dropped off at any cheap hotel or fast food place. We talked the entire 35 minutes and learned that Bob shared our love of the trail. He's a full-time financial advisor, but also a part-time forester and has built over 200 miles of state trails, mostly by himself.

When I told Bob I just officially finished my thru-hike of the AT, he got an excitement to his voice and told us we needed to celebrate. He dropped us off at a fancy lodge and handed us enough cash to cover the room and a steak dinner. I told him he didn't have to do that and almost turned it away, but I'm getting better at letting a stranger do a nice thing for me, because I know how it makes me feel when I can do a nice thing for a stranger.

And celebrate we did. We stuffed ourselves with steak, fresh veggies, wine, and dessert at the fantastic lodge resaurant. As I said before, everything always works out when I have no expectations, but I am still surprised every time. Thank you Bob!

Manchester Center VT

We made it to Manchester Center and Spruce Peak Cabin. Now the 50-mile section of the AT in the Green Mountains, that we were forced to skip after getting hurricaned, is complete!

Vermont in April

Still a little snow, but that's to be expected in Vermont in April. There is a sense of isolation right now. It's not like before on the AT when we'd meet other hikers everyday. The AT is never the same twice. I could hike it every year I think.

Beaver Dam

The effects of Tropical Storm Irene can still be seen on the trail. We've had to walk around searching for the trail a few times. There are a lot of trees down and a few wash outs. The section underwater, in the photo, was caused by a beaver dam, though.

I think Red and I are the first Long Trail hikers out here this year. The volunteers won't even be out for a few weeks to get the trail ready for the season. We got a few snowflakes yesterday too. I don't expect to see many other hikers out here. Potentially being one of the first to complete the Long Trail this year will make up for being one of the last to finish the AT last year.

Red at Congdon Shelter

After a few lazy months getting out of shape, and then doing a 15 mile day on the AT, I was happy to see our first shelter. It was more than being done for the day that made it a great sight to see. I realized just how much I missed the feel and smell of an AT shelter. I feel even more at home here than I do back home in Indiana. It was a cold night though. We hitched into Bennington, VT today where I picked up a $4 fleece jacket at Goodwill. It looks like it will warm up a bit soon.

The Long Trail

We made it to the southern terminus of the Long Trail in Vermont. This is the oldest long distance hiking trail in the United States and inspired the creation of the Appalachian Trail. Now we begin our hike north to the Canadian border. Only 273 miles to go.

Route 66 Day 18: The End of the Road

We reached the end of Route 66 at the Santa Monica Pier three weeks ago. We packed so much into this trip and I took way too many photos to keep it up-to-date. Getting to the end of Route 66, however, was only half our journey. The ride back home was just as memorable and filled with nine more national park visits.

I will post photos from those days when I'm back in civilization. I dropped Liv off back home in Kentucky and after spending a few days on the farm with her and Sixgun, I drove to New York City to pick up Red. 

Red and I are now headed to the southern terminus of Vermont's Long Trail. It is a 273-mile trail that spans from the borders of Massachusetts and Canada. This will also cover the section of the AT in Vermont that was closed during Hurricane Irene. I'll post our progress and stories along the way.

To Liv, thanks for quitting your job and sharing yet another great adventure with me. I hope there are more to come.

  

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 17: Joshua Tree National Park

As we were climbing up Ryan Mountain (named after some other, less important Ryan no doubt) Liv pointed to this rock from hundreds of feet above it and said, "I'm going to climb on top of that when we get down."

She beat me to the bottom and by the time I got down I forgot she said that. I waited by the car for a little while then walked around to look for her. I had no idea where she went and wondered if she took a wrong turn coming down. But then I heard a familiar whistle coming from the top of this giant rock. A whistle we used on the AT if we couldn't find each other. I whistled back, she whistled again, so I could hone in on where she was. I looked up and saw this. She's a woman of her word.

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Days 15 and 16: Slab City

We drove all evening to get to Slab City in Southern California. Slab City isn't on any maps. It's not actually a city either. It's a WWII Marine barracks that was abandoned and bulldozed by the government leaving a grid of concrete slabs. Today it's a free place to stay for any RVer, drifter, or refugee from society that doesn't mind living under a hot sun in the Colorado Desert.

All I knew is it was 3.5 miles from Niland, California. We knew this because Liv just read the copy of 'Into the Wild' in my car, the book about Chris McCandless, who spent some time in Slab City. While on the AT, Liv and I talked briefly about someday coming here to "live on the cheap under the sun", so this was a necessary stop for us.

With Liv asleep in the passenger seat, I sat in the car on the side of the road looking over our map and flipping through the 'Into the Wild' book to find more clues to where this place might be. A border patrol officer pulled over to see if we needed help. The idea of land that anyone is allowed to live on for free seems so unimaginable in the US, that when I told the cop I was looking for Slab City, I half expected him to say, "Get out of our town hippies... and get a job!". He gave us directions instead.

It was too dark to see much of Slab City on our first night. There are no streetlights, or electricity, or any other municipal services for that matter.  We found a spot to park under the starry sky and waited for morning to explore the area.

When the sun came up we pulled out of our spot to visit Salvation Mountain and take a drive to the Salton Sea, but apparently the most solid place to park a car in the desert is not on a series of tunnels left by some burrowing desert mammal. Our tires sank into the loose dirt and sand. We piled flat rocks under the tires to give us traction, but the more we tried to get out the more we sank until the bottom of the car was nearly resting on the ground.

There's a comradery with those that live at "The Slabs". Within minutes four people were there helping us out. I got the impression that a tight-knit community existed here who took care of each other. Driving through, you may just see a post-apocalyptic looking ramshackle of worn-out RVs, tents, trailers, or other pieced-together homemade dwellings, but there are good people here. People that have learned to live a happy life with only the bare necessities. And it's nice to know that if you need a place to stay, you can always go to Slabs. I may be back here some day.

After hiking to the Salton Sea, we took a walk to Salvation Mountain, a colorful art installation made of straw, telephone poles, adobe clay, car doors, and hundreds of gallons of multi-colored paint. A man named Leonard Knight transformed this small patch of drab brown landscape next to Slab City into a colorful eye-catching message of Love. I really hoped to meet Leonard, who can be seen in the movie 'Into the Wild', but in December he was placed in a long-term care facility for dementia. We roamed inside and on top of the massive art project, then found a place to car camp on solid ground for our second night.

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 14: Arizona's Scenic Byway

On day 14, we drove toward California along the Arizona section of the National Scenic Byway, also part of Route 66. This section makes me wonder if the Interstates were such a great idea.

We passed through the small town of Oatman and were surprised to see wild burros roaming freely downtown. Every store sells carrots or burro-chow, but we disappointed the one that stuck his face in a food-less car. Oatman is called the ghost town that wouldn't die, and I can't think of a better way to describe it. It had a sort of boom in population after two gold prospectors struck it rich there in 1915. After that, they kept the town afloat by catering to Route 66 travelers. The scenic road into town seems to be the only thing keeping it going today. This was one of the best stretches of road on Route 66, so far.

This was our last day in Arizona. That afternoon we crossed into the Mojave Desert and Southern California. 

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 13: Grand Canyon

When I told Liv to run out on that rock, so I could get a better photo, I was being sarcastic. But the girl loves a challenge. Next thing I know she was halfway out there. I could hear tourists murmuring about that crazy girl climbing on the rocks. I'm not sure if I was more impressed or nervous.

Our day started with a hike to Sunset Volcanic Crater and a visit to the ruins at Wupatki National Monument. Our visit to the Grand Canyon was cut short by an approaching blizzard. At the gate, we were told one to two feet of snow was on the way. We decided to get to lower elevation and warmer weather in Southern California.

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 12: Petrified Forest

On day 12 we went to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park, in Northeastern Arizona. Like every park we visited, the Petrified Forest ended up being better than we imagined. The best feature was the lack of crowds.

After viewing the Painted Desert from the rim and looking at numerous petroglyphs, we hiked alone from the top of Blue Mesa on a winding trail while looking for pieces of petrified wood scattered near the trail. This ended up being one of our favorite national park stops.

  

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 11: The Very Large Array

On day 11 we drove west of Socorro, New Mexico to see the Very Large Array radio astronomy observatory. If you know either of us, you know this was my choice and not Liv's.

Numerous discoveries about the universe have been made using these telescopes. Also the movie Contact was filmed here, one of my favorite movies. I'm a nerd. If you were unsure before, now you know. The truck pictured was coming toward us as we were trespassing to get better photos. The guy just nodded at me as he passed. I nodded back. I think there was a kind of nerdly understanding between us.

The night before, we drove up rough roads to a ghost town near the small town of Magdalena, NM. The bumpy road caused my exhaust pipe to break. We found a saloon across the street from the only mechanic in town, who was closed for the night. We spent the evening having drinks and playing pool, Liv beat me again of course. Afterwards we slept in the car and waited for the mechanic's garage to open. He didn't have time to fix it that morning, so I tied it up with some wire and continued to the VLA in a loud muffler-less car rumbling down the highway. We eventually found a mechanic in Socorro who fixed it for twenty-seven bucks. Now that I look back on it, I'm really glad that pipe broke. I have fond memories of our time in Magdalena. I'm learning that when things go wrong, it can be even better than when they go as planned.

  

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 10: White Sands

In the Southern New Mexico desert lies a 273-mile stretch of perfectly white gypsum sand dunes called White Sands National Monument.

We bought a sled and hiked to the tallest and steepest dune we could find. Occasionally, we heard explosions not too far off in the distance. Apparently, the White Sands Missile Range is still active. After an afternoon of sledding, laying in the sun, and tossing the football around, we got back on the road and headed north to rejoin Route 66.  

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 9: Carlsbad Caverns

On the ninth day we hiked over 750 feet underground into Carlsbad Caverns. This was the first of several national parks on our agenda.

As we descended into the cavern, Liv and I debated whether or not this would be a good place to wait out the eventual Zombie Apocalypse. I was obviously on the pro side, but Liv won the debate by pointing out that if we were being chased by zombies the last place she would want to go is some scary-ass dark hole in the ground. I had no counter-argument.

That being said, we loved Carlsbad Caverns. I've seen caves and caverns before, but what makes Carlsbad in itself worthy of the drive from Indiana is its immensity. The end of our hike down took us into the limestone chamber they call the "Big Room". Aptly named since it is the largest room in the cavern at 8.2 acres (or nearly 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high at the highest point.)

  

A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.   

Route 66 Day 8: Desert Road

A few miles from Carlsbad, we turned onto a quiet desert road to car camp for the night. I drove slowly over the rough dirt road next to a natural gas pipeline until we were high above the highway and, more or less, out of sight. It was a night of tossing a football on parched cactus-laden grounds, sitting on camp chairs with our heads turned to the stars while sipping cold beers from a cooler, and watching the sunset turn a desolate brown landscape into one filled with vivid colors.

Route 66 Day 8: Roswell

We entered New Mexico and decided to get off Route 66 for a couple days and drive south to Carlsbad Caverns. Roswell was on the way, so we stopped. I'm not sure why I wanted to see it, since I find no reasons to believe space aliens crashed there, but that doesn't keep the town from profiting on it. Even the local McDonalds has a big flying saucer sticking out the sides. I'm not sure what I expected, but I discovered that Roswell is a lot like other tourist attraction towns, only without an attraction.

Route 66 Day 7: Cadillac Ranch

The weather turned gloomy and rainy all day. The one highlight was spotting Cadillac Ranch, a row of 10 Cadillacs buried nose first in the ground just passed Amarillo, Texas on Route 66. The cars are coated in thick layers of spray paint from years of passers by contributing to the art project. Liv found a half empty can of yellow spray paint on the ground and tag a car with "Webos to Cali". Webos being the word we coined for Westbound 66ers.