In our year-long quest to fulfill the “365 Hiker’s Challenge”—hiking 365 miles in 12 months—my wife and I look for hiking trails near our home. Within an hour’s drive is ideal. Most of our hikes are along the nearby Rock River Trail or Hennepin Canal Trail—we access both just a…
Several days ago—before the sub-zero deep freeze enveloped our area!—my wife and I wanted to add a few miles to our annual hiking total. At the beginning of the year, we signed up for the Hikers 365 Challenge with the goal of hiking 365 miles in 365 days. We began…
The stereotypical Thanksgiving celebration in America involves people—a lot of people. That’s why Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel season of the year—even more so than Christmas! So the vintage scene includes a large table overflowing with food with people seated all around. Through the years, many of our Thanksgiving…
I live in river country. A few blocks from our house flows the Rock River, coming down from the north and emptying into the Mississippi River about 40 miles away. My wife and I frequently walk a path that looks over the Rock. If we head the other direction, the…
When life hands you a bunch of lemons, make lemonade!” So goes the old adage. In the last several installments of the Pastor’s Page (if you missed them, begin here), I shared the experience of our (my sister and I) foiled attempt to hike Vermont’s Long Trail—that 273-mile journey up…
[If you missed previous installments, begin here, or get the background to today’s post here.] What turned out to be our last full day’s hike on the Long Trail began ominously. The torrential rains from the night before died down, but a light rain persisted. With daylight came a clearer…
Due to the unexpected pole incident (read about it here, if you missed it), my sister and I found ourselves at the Green Mountain House a couple of days earlier than our initial reservation. The host graciously made room for us. The Green Mountain House Hostel is a way station…
After yesterday’s disappointment—following the wrong trail, losing ground and precious time—we left the Congdon shelter hopeful that we could make up for it all on our third day on the Long Trail. For the second day in a row, the sun brightened our mood and the forecast looked promising. We…
Aside from a swollen left hand, Day 2 dawned with an air of hopefulness. My sister and I were about 10 miles into our planned 273-mile adventure on Vermont’s Long Trail—the footpath in the wilderness. The previous two Pastor’s Page installments cover the months of preparation up to the actual…
After years of dreaming, months of planning, miles of driving, and an almost 4-mile climb up the Pine Cobble Trail, I finally stood in front of the iconic “Welcome to the Vermont Long Trail” sign. (If you missed last week’s beginning of this adventure, you can read it here: The…
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