“Go outside. The worst that can happen is a bear kills you.” – I saw this on a bumper sticker on an RV when we were driving from Montana to Wyoming, and it cracked me up. Plenty of time outside on this trip. No bear sightings. Check. For those counting,…
Hiking
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Donkeys, Elk, and Moose…with a side of Sarah McLachlan in ColoRADo
When Sarah McLachlan announced the tour for the 30th anniversary of her album, Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, I knew that I was going, as that was the soundtrack to my college years. The only question was where? We originally considered going to one of the shows in Seattle, WA and exploring…
Arapahoe Basin
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Colorado Multi-sport
When it’s time to escape the summer heat in Texas, we often flee to Colorado since it’s an easy, non-stop flight for us from Austin. With the long weekend for Memorial Day, we did just that. We flew into Denver on Wednesday night (delayed, of course). When we arrived at…
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Zion, Take Two
We made our first trip to Springdale, Utah last March to run the Zion Half Marathon and visit Zion National Park, completing our circuit of the Mighty 5 in Utah. However, both of us were coming back from injury at the time so Kurt wasn’t able to run the race…
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TMB Day 6: Les Contamines ->Bionnassay ->Les Houches ->Chamonix
No bus transfer to the trailhead for us this morning! Instead, we started with a mile hike on the road outside of Les Contamines and rejoined the trail in La Chapelle. The climbing began from there through the trees. Once we reached the junction at Le Chosal though, our guide…
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TMB Day 5: Les Chapieux ->Bonhomme pass ->Les Contamines
Our day began with a private bus transfer to Les Chapieux, the starting point for today’s hike. Then, as usual, the climbing began right away. We had a long, steep ascent towards the Col Du Bonhomme mountain pass. Our guide allowed us to proceed ahead at our own pace, if…
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TMB Day 4: Courmayeur ->Seigne pass ->La Ville des Glaciers
At this point, we’ve got the daily routine down: Eat breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the starting point of our day’s hike, climb up a mountain, eat a picnic lunch on said mountain, go down the mountain (and, try to stay upright). Rinse and repeat. That’s not to say…
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TMB Day 3: Champex-lac->La Fouly->Col Ferret->Arnouva->Courmayeur
Au revoir, Switzerland! Ciao, Italy! After breakfast, we had a private bus transfer to a small village in the Val Ferret, the starting point for today’s hike. Our guide, who has led multiple tours around Mont Blanc this summer, chose an alternative trail to ascend on our way to the first…
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TMB Day 2: Argentiere->the Forclaz pass->Bovine->Champex-lac
Bonjour, Switzerland! After breakfast, we had a 20-minute private bus transfer across the border to Forclaz, which was the starting point for today’s hike. Just like yesterday our hike began with a climb. The scenery was dramatically different though. We ascended through forests of pine and larch to the sounds…
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TMB Day 1: Chamonix->La Flegere->Lac Blanc->Argentiere
The real deal started today! We said goodbye to our bags in the morning at the hotel in Chamonix – some would remain there in long-term storage until we return on Saturday afternoon and some would be transferred and waiting for us at our hotel for the night in Le…