The Cool Bloggers Walking Club: October 2026

Hello and happy Monday! This week, before I get to my normal recap of last month, I thought I would do an update on my progress for the CBWC, and will be posting my normal recap later this week instead. As you may know, every April and October, Elisabeth invites us to join her in walking (or moving) at least 10 minutes every day of the month. She also kindly compiles and summarizes everyone's walks each week! Since 2024, I have happily participated in all of the October versions, but am hit and miss on April! You can find my posts about them here: October 2024, April 2025, October 2025.

This year I was happy that my JMT hike coincided with the challenge, as I knew that this meant the first half of the month would be easy to complete. However, I will admit that on some of the other days, especially the rainy, windy or cold ones, it was sometimes hard to get motivated. Of course, as always, I am happy once I go, but the getting out can sometimes be a challenge! Let's see where these walks took me! 

Week 1 & 2: October 1 - 14

For the first couple of weeks of the month, I was hiking the JMT in the Sierra Nevada, and annoying Donatello by taking about 1.78 million photos per day. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but seriously, I think all in all I took about 4,000 photos over the 13 days we were on trail. That's over 300 per day! What will I do with all of them? Well, I will probably make you look at them from time to time... here are 9 of the 4,000. 

Week 3: October 15-21

For the next week, I was still in the Sierra Nevada, but at a bit lower elevation. I went to my parents' house, said hi (and bye) to Cristof, packed up my stuff, and got ready to get on the road again. My daily walk or run was generally in my "regular" loop near their house. A couple of the walks even involved Broski (not pictured), and on one walk, Broski and I saw a naked man (not pictured, story to be told in next post)! I also found lots of happy faces! Don't laugh at the beer photo; I did walk to the grocery store to buy it! 

Week 4: October 22-28

I spent some time with the girls (K, A & L), walked the dog a few times, and then headed to the UK, where I had some excellent walks through towns, near the ocean and along the river paths. First stop, Belfast. Lots of history here, plus I went to the Giants Causeway, which I guess is in Game of Thrones. I have never seen GOT, but the causeway reminded me a lot of the Devil's Postpile in California! 

Bonus pics: Devil's Postpile vs Giant's Causeway

Devil's Postpile

Giant's Causeway

Week 5 (short but sweet!): October 29-31

I took a ship (and no, it was not a submarine, nor was it yellow) across the water to Liverpool, where I found four tall lads! Also, little did I know but there were two important matches on while I was there! Both Liverpool FC and Everton advanced to the quarter finals of the Carabao cup, so the city was packed with fans in both blue and red! Luckily I bought my lodging about three months ago! There was plenty to walk around and see though, plus I went running along the riverfront. 

All in all, it was another successful walking month! Here are some final stats. 

Total steps: 677,164
Average per day: 21,844
Day with < 10 minutes of movement: 0 🥳
# of runs: 4
Dog walks: 3
Days walked with friends: 15/31
Places walked: CA (multiple), MA (airport), Northern Ireland, England

Where did you walk in October? Did this year's rambles bring you to any new places ? 

National Parks (E1): 2026 I

Without actually meaning to, in 2026, I visited seven new national parks! I definitely have a plan to go to all of them eventually, but I didn't really expect to go to more than one new one this year. However, between the TBE and a couple of out of the way destinations, I ended up collecting quite a few! I also ended up going to four again that I had been to before! 

All in all, if my count is right, I have now been to 26 of 63 parks. I will likely do some reviews and provide more details about all of them, but I will start with the freshest, aka the new ones I went to this year. After that, I will talk about the ones that I went to in 2026 that I have been before, and then I will carry on with the ones that I went to in the past. 

I will be frank; some of the new ones I went to I barely scratched the surface. As in, I saw one tiny section of a very large area, so cannot judge beyond that slice at this point. I will also admit that it does depend on what time of year you visit. Lastly, I am partial to places that I can hike in or get deeper into, and not just jump in and out of a car when I visit. So all of these things will of course affect my scoring, and all scoring will be subjective. 

Before I start, let me tell you a little bit about some old dead white guys. The first park (to be discussed later) was established in 1872 by then president Ulysses S. Grant. Luckily, soon after that (1892), my mate Johnny, aka John Muir took a break from bounding around the woods with his notebook and loaf of bread, founded the Sierra club and then in 1903, took Teddy Roosevelt (TR) camping in Yosemite. Apparently TR liked sleeping on the ground so much**, that he decided to focus on conservation as one of his top priorities. 

They're dead Jim! 

TR went on to sign The Passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906, granting presidents executive authority to bypass slow congressional approvals to instantly protect public lands (yay!). He also went on to create 5 new national parks, 18 national monuments (including the Grand Canyon), 55 wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests. Bravo gentlemen, bravo!! History lesson over! Let's get into the parks! 

**I doubt they actually slept on the ground!

The parks I went to this year were: 

Glacier Bay (AK) - new

Glacier (MT) - new

Cuyahoga Valley (OH) - new

Indiana Dunes (IN) - new

Theodore Roosevelt (ND) - new

Yellowstone (WY) - new 

Badlands (SD) - new

Grand Canyon (AZ) - repeat

Bryce Canyon (UT) - repeat

Yosemite (CA) - repeat

Kings Canyon (CA) - repeat

                             

I am going to split the seven new park and four repeat park discussions into three posts in the order given above. This post will cover: 

Glacier Bay (AK) - new

Glacier (MT) - new

Cuyahoga Valley (OH) - new

For each, I will discuss the following (please note that some of this has been found on the internet and I cannot confirm it is 100% correct): 

PARK INFO:
Year Established: 

Location: 

Park size: 

Number of visitors per year:

Best time of year to visit:

Miles of hiking trails:

Longest single trail:

General popularity:

Fun fact:

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal):

Temperature when I was there:

Time spent in park: 

Busyness when I was there:

My hiking experience:

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to:

Number of entrances:

Do roads or park close in winter?

Can you spend the night in the park?

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty:

Other Notes:

Overall Score:

And then I will do a quick wrap up at the end! Let's get started! 

Glacier Bay National Park

Lamplugh Glacier

PARK INFO:
Year Established: 1980 (was a national monument before that, since 1925)

Location: Southeast Alaska, in the inside passage, just west of Juneau

Park size: 5,126 square miles (6th biggest; 5 of the 6 largest are in Alaska) 

Number of visitors per year: 740,000

Best time of year to visit: June - August

Miles of hiking trails: 15

Longest single trail: 10 miles

General popularity*: #29

Fun fact: 90% of people who visit this park never set foot on land. I am one of the 90%.

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): May; it was great. Cool but not cold, clear and sunny, no humidity or wind. 

Temperature when I was there: ~ 50 F

Time spent in park: 8 hours
Busyness when I was there: I was on a cruise ship, and there were a few others in the bay at the same time, but it did not feel crowded.

My hiking experience: N/A (did not get off the ship)

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: not easy, most people come by watercraft. No public transit. 

Number of entrances: 0 road entrances

Do roads or park close in winter? See above re roads, winter severely limits water access but no formal closure

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there are backcountry camps and a lodge available. 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 10/10 very beautiful, many glaciers, fjords, wildlife, water is very blue, sky was blue, it was gorgeous. 

Other Notes: We saw orcas, sea lions, dolphins

Overall Score: 8/10 due to limited accessibility and hiking options. I would like to go back in my own boat or kayak one day, or a flyover would be really cool. 

Glacier National Park

Highline trail

PARK INFO:

Year Established: 1910 (8th)

Location: Northwestern Montana, along the Canadian border

Park size: 1,583 square miles (10th biggest national park)

Number of visitors per year: 3.14 million

Best time of year to visit: July–early September

Miles of hiking trails: 746

Longest single trail: 18 miles — Gunsight Pass Trail

General popularity*: #10

Fun Fact: Glacier National Park has more than 700 miles of hiking trails but only about 50 miles of paved roads.

MY VISIT
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): August, can be quite busy, but in the mountains it is not too hot.

Temperature when I was there: 35 - 60 F

Time spent in park: 2 days, about 6-8 hours each day

Busyness when I was there: Slightly busy, but not as bad as expected

My hiking experience: Hiked Grinnell Glacier and Highline Loop day hikes. Both were great, and I would love to go back! (small note: to camp overnight you have to get a permit, but they do not issue many. We tried to get one and failed). Day hiking trails are busy. 

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: Can fly to Kalispell and drive, or take the Amtrak to the West or East Entrances. Parking is limited, and lots often fill by 7 am. There is a shuttle, but it also fills fast and is often unavailable/booked up. There is a lot of traffic on Going to the Sun Road, sometimes so much that you are stopped. 

Number of entrances: 4 - West, St. Mary, Many Glacier, Two Medicine (last three are all on the east side)

Do roads or park close in winter? Yes, major roads close, including Going To The Sun road, which is a main route through the park. 

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there is backcountry camping, but permits are very hard to get. There is also car camping and several lodges but reservations are difficult to get (FYI when I was there, I could have stayed in the lodge near Many Glacier for about $300. It must have been a recent cancellation though!) 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 10/10 Very beautiful. Sweeping mountain views, snow topped peaks, lakes, glaciers, and many animals, including bears, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and moose. You can see why it is number 10; I am guessing it would be even higher if it were more easily accessed. 

Other Notes: You can ride a bike on Going To The Sun road, both when the park/roads are open, AND for a few days after they open the road to cars, they let bikes go on without cars. Also, it was very smoky when I was there, which I believe is why it was not as busy. However, this also meant that we did not see many animals, and the scenery and mountains were not visible for much of the visit too! 

Overall Score: 9/10 due to difficulty of getting backcountry permits, and some traffic on GTTS road. Otherwise, very beautiful. I could also take one point off for smoke, but I have chosen not to. Note that often there are fires in the summer so there could be a chance of smoke. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Ledges Trail

PARK INFO:

Year Established: 2000 (was a national recreation area before that, since 1974)

Location: Northeastern Ohio, between Cleveland and Akron

Park size: 51.5 square miles

Number of visitors per year: 3.03 million

Best time of year to visit: May–October; October for fall foliage

Miles of hiking trails: 125+

Longest single trail: ~34 miles — Buckeye Trail segment within the park

General popularity*: #11

Fun fact: Cuyahoga Valley is one of the few national parks located next to a major metropolitan area, sitting between Cleveland and Akron.

MY VISIT:
Time of year I visited (and whether or not this is ideal): August. It was a little bit too hot and definitely too humid for me. 

Temperature when I was there: ~80s - 90s F

Time spent in park: 2-3 hours
Busyness when I was there: Not busy at all. 

My hiking experience: Ledges trail, which was very stunning. There are some very cool rock formations, and most of the trail is in the shade. The trail was nice, and not technical, and there were even some caves that were kind of cool (literally and figuratively)! 

IT IS ACCESSIBLE?

Ease of getting to: Very easy (see above re metro area), some public transit to park, can ride the historic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad within the park. 

Number of entrances: No formal entrance/gate (and no NP pass check!), many entry points. 

Do roads or park close in winter? No, the park and its trails and roads remain open for the most part. 

Can you spend the night in the park? Yes, there are many guesthouses both in and near the park, but interestingly no camping is allowed. 

MY NOTES/RANKING:
Beauty: 8/10 The part that I saw was very nice! However, the ground I covered was probably in about a 4 square mile area, so not even a tenth of the park. There are lots of trees and fun rocks!

Other Notes: There is a train, many cycling trails and kayaking as well, but I did not try any of them.  

Overall Score: 8 /10. Lowered due to lack of sweeping vistas and higher humidity, but increased due to some hiking options, ease of access and lack of hordes of people! I will definitely be back to do more research!

Overall thoughts: 

I think that the "popularity" is often more about accessibility, as in, how close it is to a metro area, do you need a pass to enter, are there many entrances etc. where the barrier to entry can lower the number. However, I am not in any way saying that places with a better popularity rating are not cool. 

The other thing is that what makes me like a park and what makes you like a park could be completely different. I saw many people at Indiana dunes enjoying time at the beach, whereas that is not really the reason that I am there. 

*Note on the popularity ranking: This is 2025 recreation-visit rank among the 63 U.S. national parks, based on NPS visitation statistics. #1 is the most visited and #63 is the least visited. It is not a subjective popularity rating, and it measures visits rather than unique visitors.

My ratings so far: 

Glacier 9/10

Glacier Bay 8/10

Cuyahoga Valley 8/10

Have you ever been to any of these and if so, what did you think? Do you disagree with any of my ratings? Do you want to try to guess which park out of all 63 is the most "popular" aka most visited? 

Stay tuned for part two! Also, don't worry Canada! I will also be talking more about the PPs I have visited!

The Mountains Are Calling

John Muir, of whom you will hear more about in my national parks post (coming soon!), once said, "the mountains are calling, and I must go." So I went. Luckily this also coincided with the CBWC, where we walk (or move) at least 10 minutes per day in October. Count me in! 

Muir quote - BC, Canada
(In every walk with nature one receives
far more than he takes)

At the end of September, I heeded his words and went to hike the John Muir Trail (JMT) with a friend, whom I shall call Donatello. The reason for this is that long distance hikers get a trail name, and my friend kept "turtling," aka bending over to take the weight of his pack off his hips and neck, so his pack was like a turtle shell, and when he did it we would say, "turtle power" like one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (remember them!?) 

Bear cannister, backpack ready to go, JMT sign at Lyell Canyon

The JMT is officially a 211 mile trail that goes from the Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which is the highest mountain in the continental US, at 14,505 feet. Once you are done, you have to get off the mountain, so really it is another 11 miles to the trailhead at Whitney Portal. 

Mt. Whitney - 1995

The JMT is mostly above 9,000 feet, and goes over 11 passes, the lowest being around 10,000 feet and the highest being over 13,000 feet. I have been to the summit of Whitney several times before, and have actually covered most of the 211 miles over the years in drips and drabs, but I was very excited to do it all in one go. However, we had a few issues right from the get go. 

It is hard to get a permit. This is the understatement of the year. Permits are issued by trailhead by a lottery system that you must apply for 168 days in advance. If you want to start at the official start (Happy Isles trailhead), only about 15-20 permits are issued per day. Because of this, we started at the Lyell Canyon (Tuolumne Meadows) trailhead instead, which is about 20 miles from the "real" start. Also, we had to do it late in the year, as summertime permits are highly sought after. 

Happy Isles trailhead - 2012

There are no towns on the trail. For the entire 211 mile trail, there are no towns, meaning there is no way to get food, meaning you have to get creative. Normally there are three seasonal near trail mountain resorts where you can send food to, but they all close down...guess when...at the end of September. This means that in order to get food after that, you have to get off trail. Did I mention that most of the trail is above 9,000 feet? So this means that to get off trail you have to go up and over a pass and back down to civilization which often means a long uphill climb and an even longer descent, and extra miles. 

Kearsarge Pass - extra miles!

Da Bears! As Mike Ditka says, there are bears. This means you have to carry all of your food in a bear cannister, which adds about 2-3 pounds to your pack, and is an odd shape, making it hard to fit a lot of food in it. Also, due to (see above) the fact that there are no towns, we ended up having to carry eight days of food for one section, meaning that you have to fit enough food to keep you going but you have limited space! Also the average calorie burn per day is about 3,000-4,000 calories, and on some days is closer to 4,500 calories. Due to size limitations, I carried about 3,000 calories worth of food per day. 

8 days worth of food

However, despite some of these challenges, we figured it out. It did mean a lot of logistics discussions, sending food to places, figuring out how to get off trail and into town to get our food, and coordinating rides, but it was doable, and completely worth it. 

Gratuitous Pika photo. You're welcome.

I won't bore you all with a day by day of the hiking trail, but I will go over some of the highlights, challenges, lessons learned along the way and a couple of interesting bonus hiking facts. 

Highlights: 

Fall colors, one day of snow, lack of people on trail, surprisingly good weather, swimming in the alpine lakes and creeks, spending time with my friend, quiet mornings, sunrises and sunsets, sleeping under the stars, seeing bighorn sheep (only 400 left in California), being home among the big rocks and trees. 

Some highlights

Cowboy camping (no tent)

Nighttime view

Challenges: 

Sore feet, a bit of nausea due to the elevation on the first and third day, rocky downhills, warm uphills with no shade. 

Getting snowed on!

Snow falling on firs

Lessons Learned: 

A lot of animals start hibernating or migrating in September (marmots, snakes, birds) so we did not see as many as expected. Tree squirrels never hibernate, some birds don't migrate at all (Stellar jay, some woodpeckers, some chickadees), there are only 400 bighorn in CA, the yellow leaved trees are aspens not birches, and much more! 

Quaking Aspens

Here all year!

Bighorn bachelors

Bonus Hiking Facts: 

I know you are all wondering, where do you go to the bathroom!? Well...there are no toilets. You must dig a six inch deep cathole in the dirt at least 100 feet away from any water, campsites or the trail, and bury your waste, but not the paper! You have to carry the paper (and any female supplies, which I also had to do) to a trash receptacle in town. In the Whitney zone, since it is more impacted, you actually have to carry your waste completely out of the backcountry. This sounds gross, but I know many of you are dog owners and you pick up their waste, or have had kids whose diapers need changing, so really it is not that different. 

In Montana some campsites have shovels. 
In the Sierra you have to carry your own trowel!

But what about showering? Did you really go eight days without a shower? The answer is yes. I swam three times, but you are not allowed to use soap in the streams or lakes so I just scrubbed my pits with water (but the water is COLD). I also either wash off my legs, feet and face in a stream in the evening or I use a dry wet wipe to scrub off any dirt before getting into bed. Sure I smell bad, but the good thing about being a JMT hiker is that the PCT hikers always smell worse than you do (they are on trail much longer). 

Dirty legs!

What about safety on trail, or animals at night? There is no cell service on trail, but I carry a satellite messenger that I can use to contact emergency services if needed. Donatello also carried one and we can communicate with each other if needed via our messengers. Regarding animals at night, for the most part they are just curious, and 99.99% of the time they run away from  you if you say hello to them (or I like to say, "go away doggie"). The only time this has not been true is when people have fed them (PS please DO NOT feed wild animals!) or they have gotten used to human food (PS please DO NOT leave food out in your campsite!) which is why we have to carry bear cannisters and I always hang my food when I am not in cannister areas. 

Trail rules

Unfortunately, Donatello had a family emergency and we had to get off trail early, but all in all, here are some of our stats! 

Total trail miles, including going off trail to get food: 180

Total days on trail: 13

Total cups of hot chocolate consumed: 12

Total power bars eaten: 25

Times went swimming: 3

Times snowed on: 1

Days over 70 degrees: 11

Nights below freezing: 0 (got lucky! Two very close at 33 degrees)

Audiobooks listened to: 2 (I spent a lot of time in silence actually)

Animal count: Marmot 0, Snake 1 (racer snake), Bear 0, Coyote 1 (heard many more), Pika 3, Squirrel many, Woodpecker 0 (heard but not seen), Deer 20, Chipmunk many (including one that ran right over my foot), Mouse 1, Bighorn Sheep 10 (?), and my favorite, the Cheeseburger bird (aka mountain or black capped chickadee) 1, We also saw and heard many Dark Eyed Junco, Stellar Jay, Clarks Nutcracker, Mallard and American Coot. 

Any questions? 

Have you ever been to the Sierra Nevada? Where is the weirdest place you have gone to the bathroom? Have you ever seen a bear? 

What I Learned, Looking Forward, Looking Back: September 2026

Happy Monday and happy end of September! I don't know about you, but I have really been enjoying the nice fall colors and the bit of crispness to the air! I've been taking daily walks, sometimes on my own, but usually with company, in the form of a four legged friend. Actually I think the theme of the month should be "four legged friends," as I spent time with no less than five dogs and six cats (not all at the same time) this month! The only place I did not spend time with pets was California, but that will be happening in October, so stay tuned! 

As always, I'd love to hear what you're up to! Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix! 

Where was I? Ohio, Montana, Oregon, California

What country related books or documentaries did I watch? 

Read: By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (found in a little free library, which was kismet, as I had just read On the Banks of Plum Creek during TBE with Birchie!) 

Watched: None (but I am in the US, so I am giving myself a pass)

Did I complete any other items on this year's looking forward list? 

✅New food <-- soy matcha latte. I thought I didn't like matcha but this one was okay. 

✅New beer <-- Steeplejack Brewery Fizzy Biscuits Hazy IPA (yum!) 

✅ New States  <-- none

✅ New National Parks  <-- none

✅ New thing <-- I shipped my bike! I flew back to CA but the logistics were complicated (no car big enough, plus I had other things to do before going to the place where the bike will be stored) so I just had it sent. I had already had it boxed due to taking it on the Amtrak, so it was not too much extra work. However, it is not cheap! But its better than figuring out how to get it where it needs to go in California. Convenience > Cost in this case! 

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1. What is the name of last month's chapter? 

January: Devouring the Sweet Potato

February: Back in the Groove

March: Serenity Before the Storm

April: Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

May: The Ring of Fire and Ice

June: On The Road Again

July: A River Rides Through It

August: That's What Friends Are For

September: Four Legged Friends

2. What did I learn last month? 

I learned that Travis, the son of the Nike founder Phil Knight (if you have not read Shoe Dog, do it now!) directed a movie called Wildwood which is about a girl whose baby brother gets kidnapped by a murder of crows (kind of Labyrinth-esc sounding to me) and she has to try to find and save him in a forest near Portland. So, currently (until October 30) there is an exhibit where there are 30 crow statues painted by different artists which can be found around the city. You can find the map here. 

This one is at the rose garden

3. What was the weather like? 

It was great for the most part, although there was a big storm when I was in Montana and some pretty heavy winds for a day in Oregon. All in all though, it was about 45-70 F (7-20 C), with no rain and nice fall colors and it was lovely. 

4. What event last month was my favorite?

I had a great time with Birchie, who came to visit me in Oregon. We went hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, tried some new beers, went to trivia night and of course went to Powells! It was fun to show her around some of my Portland favorites! 

5. What was the best thing read, listened to or watched last month? 

Book: Grey After Dark by Noelle W. Ihli - it was a thriller and was entertaining

Movie/Show: Traitors UK (Peacock) - Birchie and I finished Season II together. All I can say is, I would not be good at that show, as I cannot lie! These people are ruthless. 

Podcast: I am still plugging along at Headwaters, which is about Glacier NP and the area in general. This month I learned that the Empire Builder, which is the name of the Amtrak I took from MT to OR, got its name from James Hill, who was the founder of the Great Northern Railway. Because his rail network drove massive economic growth across the Upper Midwest and Northwest, people called him "The Empire Builder."  That episode can be found here. 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

I went with my MT friend to pick huckleberries as a storm was brewing and we went up a dirt road so we could get to a higher elevation. As we went up the road, the wind was picking up and we could see and hear trees falling in the forest. We hunted for berries then headed back down, and encountered a big fir tree across the road that we had come up. The funny thing is that we had just been discussing how we both carried a go kit in our car. We are both from a small mountain town and of course, grew up without cell service and had to learn to fend for ourselves. We were talking about how a lot of people nowadays don't know how to fix a flat tire, or often don't have emergency supplies in their car. Anyhow, we got to the downed tree and luckily my friend had a handsaw in her car, so we had to saw it to get it out of the road. We were happy that we practiced what we preached in the end, as we would have been stuck otherwise! 

Before, During & After

7. What am I looking forward to this month?

A long hike with a friend (and of course, this will count toward the CBWC!), getting some reading done, and seeing a few new places! 

A preview of where we will be hiking

Your turn! To copy/paste, highlight the text below and click CTRL-C, then put the cursor in the comment box and click CTRL-V.

SEPTEMBER:

1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?

2. What did you learn last month?

3. What was the weather like where you are?

4. What event last month was your favorite?

5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month? 

6. Tell us one funny recent story. 

OCTOBER: 

7. What are you looking forward to this month?

Bonus question! Do you know how to fix a flat tire? Do you carry an emergency kit in your car? Where will you be walking in October? 

People Are Strange

I am a bit peopled out. Since I finished my cycling journey from Mexico to Canada, I stayed with a friend in Montana, who is very social, then did a hiking trip with a friend where we we together in the car, the trail and the tent every day, then did TBE with Birchie where we were in the car or room every day plus our social calendar was quite full, then I was back with the friend in Montana, then headed back west to stay with yet another friend. Not that I am counting, but basically for 44 out of 48 days, I was with people. These people were wonderful and I had a great time visiting with them, but that is a lot of days for me to be around someone, aka not really have my own space. Also, I barely read (or listened to) any books! This sounds laughable to those who love being around people or those who don't read a lot, but seriously, I missed my daily audiobook session sometimes. I missed my routine, even though sometimes I don't even know what my routine is. 

To top it all off, I feel a bit of post adventure blues. Do you know what I am talking about? Where you have a big trip planned and you spend a lot of time thinking about it and planning it and then you do it and it is wonderful, but once you are done, you feel a bit strange? That is how I am feeling. For two months straight, my daily grind was to ride, sleep, put up a tent, take down a tent, find food, eat and look forward to my next meal. Then I got to the Canadian border and not only thought, "now what?" but also kind of felt a bit adrift. What was I supposed to do with my time? I had forgotten what a "normal" day was like before riding (BR). So I filled up the time with hikes, visits with friends, and TBE, which were all great, but I still was not really back in my routine. 

Now what?

So now I am in a place where I can make a routine, but my brain feels like a wet sponge, kind of sitting there a bit saturated and unable to soak up anything. Also, in one week, I will be starting another hiking trip and so the routine will be tweaked yet again. At least in this case, it will be back to the hike-food-shelter routine which I know, but it still feels a bit discombobulating at the moment, since I know that any routine I start in the next week will be sidelined soon. 

I know this will pass, and often as a full time traveler, it is necessary to slow down and stay in a place for a month, or to go back to a place where you have been before, as otherwise it can be a bit of information overload or decision fatigue, which is what I am in the middle of right now. I also need to figure out what I am doing for the next leg, which can be fun, but in the shape my brain is in right now, I don't really want to do it at the moment. I have ideas but I can't seem to execute. Of course I feel strange even bringing this up, as I know other people have kids and pets and homes and jobs to deal with and I am talking about planning my next bout of travel. But we all have things that make our brain go wonky, no matter what avenue of life we have taken! 

One thing I am considering is not sending out holiday cards this year. I have done it every year for probably the last 30+ years, and it feels weird to even say out loud that I may not to it. But my list has grown and grown, and I do hate taking people off, so it has not gotten any smaller. I make my own card, curated with photos, printed at home every year until I sold my house, I hand address them with love, and I take pride in it. However, at this very moment, I don't feel motivated to do it and I am starting to feel like the juice is not worth the squeeze. Is this just my sponge brain talking, or am I really not interested? I am not sure. I could just buy a card, or a post card, and send that instead, but after handmaking my card for so many years, to me that feels like I am not giving it my all or I am doing things halfway. 

I know that once I start my hike, and set up my next leg of travel (as in firm the location and buy the dang flight) and have a bit of time to dive into a routine, which will happen in November, I will feel better, but at the moment I am in the cave. 

Do you get peopled out? How do you deal with it? What makes your brain go into sponge mode? If you send holiday cards, have you ever skipped a year? 

The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE): The Whole Story

If you have not already heard about The Blogger Extraordinaire (TBE), welcome! TBE was a ~ 4,000 mile road trip across the Midwest and West that I did with Birchie in August. She did a fun wrap up last week and I thought I would do a similar one (but different!) So, buckle up and let's get started!

I love a good spreadsheet. I also like to have lots of possible plans, although I do not always do all of them. TBE started as a seed where Birchie wanted to do some Amtrak travel, I was going to be "close to her" and available, and with that, a tree began to grow. This tree was the TBE spreadsheet! On the spreadsheet were the Amtrak routes, some national parks, some capitals, and lots and lots of friends! Then we looked at the map to see what was even possible and went from there. Unfortunately, given some of the locations, an Amtrak trip would have meant getting off and on the train and/or renting a new car in several places. This led to Birchie suggesting that we just take Brad (her car) instead, and me volunteering to stay around for the entire trip, aka back to the starting point, before carrying on with my own plans. 

We then had several "meetings" where we video chatted and drank our respective beers while scheming to determine what would actually be possible vs what would be too much. Here is what we came up with: 

Too much? Maybe. 

The general plan was this: Four state capitals. Five national parks. As many friends as possible! Let's see how we got on, shall we? 

Day 1 - 4: Ohio. I flew to OH, and stayed there! Previously, I have been through the Cincinnati airport several times, but, since it actually is not in Ohio, but in neighboring Kentucky, plus I don't count airport layovers anyway, I did not count it on my "states visited" list until now! In Ohio, we went thrift store shopping so that I would not look like a complete bum, then went hiking in a new to me National Park, Cuyahoga Valley, strolled around Cleveland, met up with some friends, went on a boat, drank beer and took lots of photos of Cleveland signs!

Ohio

Day 5: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. Day one of road tripping! We got on the road, stopped at Indiana Dunes National Park, and ended up in Chicago, where we met up with Ernie for a Mediterranean dinner and lots of catching up. 

Lake Michigan

Day 6: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota. After a quick morning run around the hood, we drove from Chicago to Madison, where we met up with Engie and Sarah at the Marigold Kitchen for some yummy breakfast and even better conversation. We ended the day in Minneapolis where we annoy Phil and have a great time hanging with the boys and catching up with Lisa. 

I did not test these

Day 7: Minnesota, North Dakota. We had a nice morning walk around Lake Harriet before it is time to say goodbye! We head towards Bismarck, but have a nice stop in Fargo, which has a cute little downtown, and...no visible woodchippers! We ended the day in Bismarck with a ramen so hot it made me cry (in a good way)! Random fact: Bismarck and it's twin city, Mandan, are both in the same time zone, despite the fact that the majority of ND west of the Missouri river is in Mountain time. 

Lake Harriet

Day 8: North Dakota. After a nice run around our super cute neighborhood, we went and toured my first state capitol building for the year! It has a plain exterior, but the inside is art deco and it sets the tone nicely for our future capitol explorations. It is also the tallest inhabited building in the state. Once done, we headed to Richardton, where we met up with a friend I met on my repositioning cruise! He is excited to show us everything, and we went on a whirlwind tour of brunch, Theodore Roosevelt (TR) Presidential Library, TR National Park and Medora before heading to the Pitchfork Fondue, which is actually steak cooked on a pitchfork (in hot oil). Then we headed to the Medora musical, which is in a cool outdoor theater. 

I am not the first person to take this guy's photo

Day 9: North Dakota, Montana. We headed from Richardton to Billings with a stop at TRNP to take a quick hike around the Badlands. Fun fact: Billings is the biggest city in Montana, with ~ 120,000 people. 

TRNP hike

Day 10: Montana. I had a morning run in Billings, then we did a quick walk near the Yellowstone river, then we scooted to Helena, arriving early enough to take a hike on the hill near our Airbnb. After we got settled in, we headed to the Windbag Saloon for some burgers and beers. We finished the day off with trolley ride around town, and learned a lot about the Montana gold rush. 

Keep Helena weird!

Day 11: Montana. I did a quick trail run in the hills near our Airbnb, then we had homemade scones for breakfast. A tour of the capitol building topped off our Helena morning. Then we headed to Michelle's for some excellent cow education, four wheeler driving, dollhouse viewing, dinner and conversation! 

This bull don't take no $hit. 

Day 12: Montana, Wyoming. I learned how to play Connections (badly) then we "helped" Michelle's husband by driving his tractors around the ranch. I am sure he would like me to come back next year to help some more! Then we sadly said goodbye and headed towards Yellowstone, where we found a couple of steaming pools, a hike and some colorful holes to look at before settling at the Old Faithful Lodge. More burgers and beers are had, and I see an eruption before the night is over. 

My kind of place...

Day 13: Wyoming. The drive out of the park is a fun one, with lots of things to look at! We spotted the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, did a quick hike at the Natural Bridge and headed east. The drive was very scenic, even outside of the park, and we saw plenty of big rocks (my favorite). We made a quick pit stop for some kettle corn (and a free drink) in Cody, then we headed to Ten Sleep, where we had another burger and beer before walking back to our motel. 

The drive from Yellowstone to Cody (east)

Day 14: Wyoming, South Dakota. We left Ten Sleep and stopped in Buffalo, which ironically is the first place that Birchie and I met IRL (NY last time, WY this time). There is a nice creek path for our daily stroll, plus a picnic table in the shade for our daily picnic. We carried on to Hill City, where we met up with a friend of mine for dinner (the choices: big steak or small steak; cash only). We stayed in a lovely place, the Horse Creek Resort, where we decided to take a "rest day" and stay two nights. 

Good advice (found in Buffalo, WY)

Day 15: South Dakota. The HCR abuts the Black Hills national forest, and so I started the day with a walk through the woods. After that, it is back in the car, to Mt. Rushmore, the Needles Highway, and the Crazy Horse Monument, with a stop in Hill City for pizza. We got smart and got enough leftovers for dinner so we could just veg out after we got back. We get back, veg out, and decide to start watching Traitors UK, which I first saw about a year ago at my friends' house in Scotland, but never pursued more of before this. 

My happy place: porch, book, beer

Day 16: South Dakota. Sadly, we have to leave our relaxing abode, and so we headed to the capital of SD, Pierre, pronounced like peer. It's not a bad drive, but it is a little bit boring, except for the section where we went through Badlands National Park (if you are counting, this is NP #5!) We got to Pierre, checked into our hotel, and walked to a BBQ place nearby. We discover a riverwalk along the Missouri, which is quite pleasant. Random fact: Pierre is split into two time zones, with the river being the dividing line. We watch Traitors again; I fear we are hooked. 

Black Hills NF

Day 17: South Dakota, Nebraska. We did a self tour of the capitol before heading out and towards Nebraska. This drive seemed long, or I was tired, but I was really glad to get out of the car, and even happier that Lincoln was a happening town with a fun walkable old town and downtown area. We went for dinner, and I got BBQ again. I am beginning to see a trend here. (#beefitswhatsfordinner!) More Traitors. 

Downtown Pierre

Day 18: Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. I ran, we toured the capitol, we got back on the road. The tour was loud, the group was big, the building was echoey, and the tour ran loooooong. The guide had a lot of energy, and the class of '71 group keeps talking and asking questions. It was a beautiful building but I was happy to get back on the road. We drove until basically the halfway point to our endpoint, including all the way across Iowa, before stopping in Ottawa, IL. More Traitors ensues. 

Lincoln capitol garden

Day 19: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. I did a quick shakeout run among the corn fields in the rain before having breakfast and getting in the car. We stopped for a quick hike before leaving IL, and its clear that we are getting back into humid-land. The drive contained a lot of freeway, but it didn't seem too bad. We got some more rain along the way, but are back in Ohio in time to go grocery shopping, buy beer, and have a nice dinner before we head to bed. 

Humid IL hike

Day 20: Ohio. I took a run, we took one last group Doggo walk, we ate, and we finished binging the first season of Traitors. I mean, we can't leave things unfinished, right? Plus we are both tired and it is nice to just veg out and relax. Also laundry is a must! 

I wonder how hard it would be to ride this

Day 21: Ohio. I get on a plane and head west again, to get Cristof and head out to the next leg of my adventure. 

Goodbye, Ohio

Want more? Here is my quick and dirty August wrap up. Here are some interesting things we found out about each other. Here are Birchie's mid-trip updates: Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15! Also coming soon: Rate my trip posts!! 

When was the last time you did a road trip? Where did you go? How long was it?