Tuesday, March 30, 2021

4001: A Hiking Odyssey

January of 2012 we headed out for our first road trip in our “new” 1996 Ford 150 with a vintage 1970 Chinook slide-in camper on its bed.  We had both always wanted to go on a road trip, although we hadn’t really defined what a road trip was.  Our plan was to stop and camp when we found places we liked, stay as long as we wanted, and hike, cycle, and dance along the way.

Little did we know what the future really held for us.

Nine and a quarter years later, on March 25, 2021, we put on our backpacks and headed out on a another hike.....a very special one.

Because on this hike we achieved 4,000 miles hiking together, and ended the hike at 4001 miles. 

We have joyously celebrated every one of those 4,000 miles!  We have enjoyed them all.  We have seen so much.  Sometimes we sit and reflect on all of what we have seen, and become overwhelmed with it all. 

Here we are at the exact spot of 4000 miles.  We are in Peralta Canyon, Arizona.  

We celebrated with wine.  A toast to our 9+ year journey:


 


 
We took a couple of "ussies" (plural of selfies).
 
We also celebrated with a kiss.  
 

We have hiked in every state west of the Mississippi, plus in all of the southern states to the tip of the Florida Keys, and in Alaska.  We have seen this incredible country in ways we could not have ever imagined 9+ years ago.

Here are photos of us at 1000, 2000, and 3000 miles:

 1000:  Big Bend National Park, Texas:

 
2000:  Sheephole Wilderness, California:
 

 3000:  Bears Ears National Monument, Utah:


and 4000:  Peralta Canyon, Arizona:

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