Wow. This is so completely overdue. Originally, my plan was to post an update not long after I made my move back across the country from Vermont to Arizona. As things go, life happened, and in the events of "life happening" my trusty little chromebook died a horrible death. (translation: living out of your vehicle has its hazards, and when you're not careful you smash the screens of semi-important bits of technology) The world has been overwhelming, and part of me felt silly writing a blog about random adventures and running and living out of my vehicle. Alas, here I am. Leaving many details to the wayside, and doing my best to catch things up, just a bit.
So, in the words of Indigo Montoya: "Let me explain, no. There is no time. Let me sum up."
I left Vermont in mid-October to begin my trek back to the Southwest. I planned my route with the intention of sleeping at either National or local parks and getting out for a run in each of them. Some runs were more interesting than others, but all were very welcome, usually after 10 or more hours of driving. In the hope of just getting this out there, and moving on to the next adventure, this is going to be mostly pictures, and fewer words. (imagine that, me attempting modified loquacity!!)
Part One: The final couple months in Vermont. I spent my last summer as the co-director of
Camp Outright, and couldn't be happier to have had the privilege to help create an awesome, welcoming, entertaining and growth-inspiring space for Queer and questioning youth. It was truly an honor. Best pic I have of that experience is Ernie (my Honda Element that is also my home) full to the brim with the mascots of the pond: Magical siblings Rufus the unicorn and Paisley the Pegasus.
Two days after wrapping things up with Camp Outright, I headed for the hills and worked for the
Green Mountain Club as their summit caretaker for Mt. Abraham. It was a blast. A mixture of minor trail maintenance, counting hikers on the weekends, informing folks about the Long Trail, the Mt. Abe summit and surrounding areas, and the most glamorous part of the job: dealing with people's shit! (I'm speaking literally here.) There were four privies in my jurisdiction, I usually made a day out of it with a solid 14ish mile out and back to maintain all 4 in one go. This job was incredible. The through hikers were fun to meet. The shock of day hikers at my response to the "what do you do question" was wholly entertaining. Many thanks to the GMC for all the work they do and for giving me the chance to be a part of it all. I'm sorry I can't make it back for the upcoming season, but maybe next year!!
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| That one time I hung out with a moose on the summit |
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| Just another day at the office, really |
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| The moose can stay on the trail...why is it so hard for humans? |
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| A great view from the gap |
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| The glamorous parts |
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| This is the trail, Vermont style |
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| The infamous plane crash from Mt. Abe. Miraculously, all 3; pilot and passengers, walked away from this 1973 crash |
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| My home sweet home |
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| signs of the times |
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| The Battell Shelter toilet, my personal privy of choice |
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| Home sweet home getting ready to be wrapped up and packed out |
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Home all packed up and hiked out, ready to be cleaned and passed
on to next season's caretaker |
With Vermont in the rearview, here are the extremely brief re-caps of some of the great spaces I saw and ran in whilst making my way to Arizona.
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| The Beta-Beta version of Ernie's living space |
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| My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...but this is not a Jet Plane |
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Day two, missed pictures of New York's Allegheny State Park.
Here's Kentucky's Mammoth Caves National Park |
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| I'm a sucker for interpretive signs |
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| The Green River in Kentucky |
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| Spreading out into my spacious tent for the night |
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| Day three, Petit John State Park, Arkansas |
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| Had a blast running around this park, lots of great trails |
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| It's my trail!! HA! |
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This was an extremely short stay north of Santa Rosa,NM.
UItimateley ended up spending the night north of Santa Fe in the Santa Fe National Forest |
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| Woke up to this. It was lovely. |
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| Always know where you are, plan ahead, one of the major tenets of Leave No Trace!! |
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| Decisions, decisions. |
Many thanks to the parks that provided me with places to stay and adventures to seek. And thanks to my old pal Jen for making the time to hang out in Santa Fe. It was awesome to catch up, and I can't believe so much time had passed since we'd actually last hung out!
