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Day 1 Starting our hike at the Adirondack Loj at Heart Lake. Cloudy skies but the rain seems to be stopping. @toesalad and I are as happy as we look to be out in the woods together again.

I've heard great reports from @reneetougas and @toesalad about the hiking by Saint Donat, QC. On a spontaneous trip to see them I got in on a weekend Mont Sourire hike with them and @celine. About minus 3C - spectacular weather and beauty.

Such a treat for @hammerhead @reneetougas @toesalad and I - with appreciation for being cleaned up, sitting on chairs and not on a sit-pad on a log or a rock. Two opposite dining scenarios - yet both of them can call our name. Cool :)

Day 54 - Marion, Virginia

0 miles

Tenacious Bling got sick last night.

After getting back from supper @toesalad and I went for a long walk to talk about my pent-up frustrations with losing my routines around writing and blogging, my frustrations with hiking in general. This was more hard conversations, that carried over from earlier in the day as we hiked to Mt Rogers Visitors Center.

We came back to the motel at midnight with a few things resolved, at least for now, and shortly after we arrived, Tenacious Bling came over to the room (she had been sleeping in Nana & Papa's room) with complaints of not feeling well.

She puked and dry heaved from 12:30 till 4:30. It was exhausting for all of us. I felt so bad for her. We all managed to sleep from 4:30 to 7:30am. And @toesalad helped calm Tenacious Bling down as she was very distraught and anxious in her discomfort.

Even before Tenacious Bling got sick last night we had decided to take a zero today in Marion to help relieve the post-Damascus stress and fatigue.

@toesalad and Tenacious Bling spent the day sleeping in the darkened motel room. I shopped for the day's food, did internet work, paid bills.

Otter spent the day with Papa and my dad helped us with our mail drop and supplies. I tried to take it easy while also managing laundry and tending to sick and recovering family members.

We're all going to bed early tonight to get as rested as possible before we get back on the trail tomorrow.

Back to backcountry! First ski of the season and first time using my alpine touring gear for touring and not just regular downhill skiing in 2 years! Oh it feels so good to be skinning up and skiing down through the woods. Photo credit: @toesalad

After camping one night at embarras I did some driving in #reservefauniquelaverendrye and found other campsites for future canoe camping trips.

It is my hope to return here next summer for a week-long canoe camping trip with @toesalad. There is so much water to explore.

Ile Bizard. First ski of season with @toesalad. Taking advantage of a couple hours on the West Island while the kids are singing with their choir at a mall. I love singing but I’d rather ski than be at a mall, especially on this sunny December day.

With @hammerhead - hiking a familiar trail - 18K circumambulating the yellow and blue loops of Wilderness Bluff, Nova Scotia -our weekend training-for-Vermont trek. For more info and invitation to join us there, check out @toesalad here https://outsideways.com/articles/outsideways-long-trail/

Parc de la Gorge - Coaticook, QC. Walking from the suspension bridge eventually led us to the river where we could cool off our toes. About 34C plus humidex factor- thankfully much of this walk had a canopy cover! Enjoyed the views with @reneetougas, @toesalad , @celine @brienne.

@toesalad is a guitar player and doesn’t like losing his finger strength or dexterity with long absences in playing, never mind he actually enjoys playing.

Canoeing, more-so than backpacking, allows Damien to pack a mini practice guitar. It even has its own dry bag! Have guitar will travel.

Our last hiking day for this section of The Long Trail :( I guess it is time but I will miss it- the friendship on the trail, the effort to reach vistas and peaks, whatever we are carrying is what we have so all we need! Thanks @hammerhead @reneetougas @toesalad!!

We made it out of the city! @toesalad and I were gifted a two day getaway in the Bigelow mountains of Maine when our friends let us borrow their cabin this weekend. We’re sticking with cross-country skiing for this short trip (we left our backcountry skis and skins at home).

Reached Sunshine Shelter before 2:00 - we decided to claim sleeping spots and @hammerhead @reneetougas @toesalad walked to nearby road and hitched into Rochester for coffee and goodies. Came home with treats and reports of friendly drivers. I fetched water, made tea and ‘chilled’ by myself until joined by another hiker.

My gear for our trip and my 5 day food bag. I’ll be also carrying a pot&stove, or the tent (and maybe a few other items @toesalad currently has in his packing bin). But other than that I’m packed! Gear mended, gear purchased, gear cleaned, checklist completed... ready to go.

Our new shoes arrived in our mail drop here. For the first 46 days of our adventure we've been wearing Sole Runners and we've had a lot of success with those soft-soled boots. With the weather warming up we're switching to our summer shoes.

http://toesalad.com/articles/our-footwear-strategy-appalachian-trail/

Day 42 - river campsite to Watauga Lake

6.3 miles

Today was not as planned.

We started out this morning with plans to hike a 15 mile day to Vandeventer Shelter.

But after summiting the deceptively named Pond Flats (it's 1,600 ft up and then down) and stopping for quick swim break at Watauga Lake @toesalad 's foot was in quite a bit of pain. The steady hiking since his wasp/yellow jacket sting back at Campbell Hollow Rd has aggravated his foot, causing significant swelling. It is painful for him to walk.

So we've decided to take a break while we still have easy access to road crossings, rides, accommodations and hostels.

While we the kids were swimming we called for a shuttle and found accommodations for the night. We were picked up at the lake and in a couple minutes of driving we were back to Dennis Cove Road, the same road we crossed last night where the trail magic was, and rented a private cabin at Black Bear Resort.

We're at Black Bear Resort now and I have been icing (ice!) and wrapping @toesalad's foot. While he rests the kids and I are relaxing. Enjoying lots of processed, high calorie foods from the store and watching movies.

I am delightfully surprised to find myself in a cabin tonight.

The hike was beautiful today, the azaleas are aflame orange and yellow on the trail (pink on the domesticated varieties here at Black Bear Resort). We saw a turtle and a snake and the kids got to go swimming.

Today is Mother's Day and I thought yesterday's trail magic and river site campsite were my gifts but this cabin and break from the trail is an amazing gift, though unfortunate for @toesalad

All packed up and ready to roll. I still love my Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack, circa 2013. It saw me through the Appalachian Trail and is still going strong, though I probably don't need all the volume of this pack as @toesalad and I continue to streamline our gear for 2 instead of 5.

 Starting the portage feeling rather jaunty. I also carried paddles and the guitar.

I didn’t last longer than 150 metres with these 2 bags. By the end of the portage @toesalad was carrying both these bags, they were approx. 18-20 lbs each, plus the canoe.

I ended the portage with the duffle bag, paddles and guitar.

Partners. A quick selfie while @toesalad strains snowmelt through a cloth to remove big chunks of detritus. The snow looks so clean when you scoop it but has a lot of plant particles in it. Let’s hope it’s mostly plant material!

After straining we’ll boil for tea or cooking or we’ll filter for our water bladders.

@toesalad texting our kids from the summit of Mount Colden. This was the first cell reception we had since we arrived at the park the day before.

This was the first time we've left the kids home alone and I was anxious to check in and see how they were doing. (They were fine.)