26

April

0

Pacific Crest Trail Update: San Jacinto, The Rock Slide and a Well Earned Zero

San Jacinto:  After taking a zero day (zero miles hiked) on day 9 outside of Warner Springs, we headed out again with a couple of friends who joined us on trail for a few miles. The next day we took a short break off trail to eat an awesome meal at Paradise Valley Cafe (a must eat) then headed back out and up that afternoon. It was tough to get going again after a bunch of food but we forged on steadily, hoping for good weather up on San Jacinto. To get out of the heavy wind and to get water we headed off trail 1 mile. I’m not a fan of extra trail miles but when water is needed, […]

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Category: Adventure

07

April

0

The Pre-Hike Yo-Yo

Also Published on The Trek Yo-Yo Taming As we pulled out of our driveway in Northern Washington, I suddenly started sobbing. The gut-wrenching kind of sob that makes you blow a lot of snot on your hand. We just finished our gorgeous new home that we’ve been fully consumed with working on for two years—about a week ago—and now I am abandoning it for several months to walk north and sleep in the dirt. Sometimes timing is an odd bitch.  Before rolling out of town we stopped in at our attorneys office to, sign our Will. More sobering timing. Finally hopping on Highway 5 to head south, I turned to my husband Chris, to declare the current reality check so […]

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Category: Adventure

27

September

0

John Muir Trail Thru-Hike Recap

For 18 days we backpacked from a parking lot in Yosemite Valley to Whitney Portal—a total of 223 miles—211 of these were on the John Muir Trail. Obtaining this difficult-to-get permit which starts at Happy Isles in the Valley, and finishes at the top of Mt. Whitney at 14,505 ft (4421m), is considered a win of “The Golden Ticket”, as thousands apply for this particular route each year. I had fast-packed most of the trail prior, but my 4 companions had not, nor had they backpacked in the wilderness for more than a few days at a time. At an age range of 56 to 60 years, we were all first-timers at doing the whole trail in one fell swoop. […]

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Category: Adventure

06

March

0

Yangki’s Mom

I’m sitting with Yangki Tshering‘s mother who is 74 but who looks as though life on a farm has worn her a bit more than her years. Yet, stooped over with a stiff back, she still works the farm. Simple yet quite content as she touches each of her prayer beads doing her Om Mani Padmi Hum’s on each, and still with a sharp sense of humor. After I took her photo I showed it to her on my phone. She replied that though she can usually eat a lot of rice, gesturing wide with her arms, after looking at her photo she will not be able to eat any rice this evening! Gotta love it.

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Category: Bhutan

06

March

0

Punakha Dzong

Tomorrow we are hosting the 5th annual Bhutan International Marathon and Half Marathon, the start line of the events are way up the river valley in remote Bhutan, and the finish line is at this Dzong. At the confluence of two rivers, this is my favorite view of the Punakha Dzong. You can see on the far right in the distance, a high and long suspension bridge that the runners get to experience during the race. Viewing one of these unique, historical Dzongs is reason alone to visit Bhutan. Each inch of the fortress is custom built, carved and painted. They are architectural art pieces placed in auspicious locations across the country. This is my 10th time in Bhutan and […]

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Category: Bhutan

06

March

0

Bhutan International Marathon and Half Marathon 2018

5th annual Bhutan international marathon and half marathon was, once again, wildly successful. With 419 total runners and 335 of those international participants, we have cemented ourselves as a top international destination marathon. I am a proud ‘mother of the marathon’ today.  

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Category: Bhutan