Journal Entries

Family trail run number two happened this morning at Garden of the Gods, a short 15 minute drive from where we are staying this week.

@brienne learns her first Colorado flora lesson the hard way: don't pet the spikey plants.

After supper we went for a short hike in Palmer Park, a beautiful, rocky trial system with nice views overlooking Colorado Springs.

After a marathon 14+ hour day of driving, we arrived at our first destination: Colorado Springs. We are staying with our good friend Mountain Light, whom we met on our Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2014.

This morning we started our day with breakfast burritos at Garden of the Gods. A great way to kick-off our week in Colorado!

This morning, despite waking up at 4am, 5am, and 6am, I slept through my 7am wake-up time to go for our second run. A rest day it will be then. I guess this is a good opportunity to talk about coffee then.

Pictured above is our current travel coffee setup. Last year we acquired the GSI espresso maker while in Montana. This year we bought a handheld ceramic burr grinder. I actually use the espresso maker every day at home too, I like it that much.

When backpacking, we go ultra simple and ultra light and pack Starbucks Via.

With 10 or so hours of driving ahead of us today, @brienne, @mypictograph and I decided to start our morning with a run. So far both have indicated interest in joining me for regular runs during our travels as a way to explore the places we will be visiting along the way. Let's see how long that teenage enthusiasm holds :-)

And we're off... a few hours later than our original ambition (OK, maybe 6 hours later) but we have decided to be chill from day one. @brienne still can't believe that we jumped in the car not to return for nine weeks. She is worried about missing friends and being homesick. Lets make this a trip she won't forget!