We are:
Annie
Sky PilotGrowing up in NH gave me opportunities to follow my family up mountains, stay in huts, and run around in my own personal wilderness. I hated the act of hiking, yet my favorite thing was still being above treeline and the feeling I got when ascending into the krumholz. It wasn’t until college that I discovered all the joy that had been present in the act of walking all along. I developed a sense of pace, confidence, and competence in the outdoors that led to endless opportunity. I have been teaching urban high school math for the past four years, and I am embracing this break to return to a slower daily rhythm.
Joffrey
Beast ModeBorn in California, raised in Arctic Norway, stuck in the hot-and-humid Mid-Atlantic for too long, it’s time to get out and into the mountains! My parents, and particularly my mother instilled a love and appreciation for the outdoors. Time in the north of Norway kindled my love for mountains, and snow, and taught my feet to dance on rock, ice, and snow. I live by the motto: Coffee first, then beer.
I couldn’t be happier for the two of you! I wish you both safe travels and wonderful adventures. Hopefully Mary Ann and I can catch up with you somewhere along the way, assuming you are ever back in cell service or have access to email. Miss you both. Enjoy this extraordinary world while you can!
You guys!
I am so freaking proud of y’all for taking this trip. Every time I read these updates I get butterflies for ya and just want to let you know.
<3
Hi, Annie and Joffrey! We met momentarily on the Boucher Trail in Grand Canyon and you did me a great favor finding my lost map, slogging it out of Grand Canyon and stopping on your journey to mail it to me! I got it! It arrived the day before Thanksgiving. Thank you! I can say you are joyful and wonderful people. I’m so glad you took a moment out of your hike to talk to me and my friends. I have been blessed by that conversation. I am looking forward to reading your entire blog; and am awaiting your post on Grand Canyon. I am never disappointed when I talk to people on the trail in GC. So, I am not stalking you, but am eager to learn more about you and your adventures if you see me following you around on social media. 🙂 We had a great night at Yuma Point, very windy and very cold. It was 24 degrees Wednesday morning when we woke up and we’d had snow flurries in the night. That’s quite traumatic for Valley of the Sun natives like me. But I survived! And what a sight Yuma Point is! I will plan to go back.
Happy Trials to you and have an amazing last month of your trip!
Cathy