Dream. Plan. Live.
This week we’re hanging around our home in the Midwest to hear about some of my favorite long weekend spots. We can’t always get away for a week out west so here’s some of my favorite wilderness areas, beach spots, and hidden gems, right here close to home.
The RRT crew travels all over the place. Between everyone here we’ve been to dozens of countries, touched every state and discovered our fair share of hidden gems along the way. Over the next several weeks we’ll be breaking down our favorite places we’ve found across the country when we get off the beaten path. Mostly these are my little treasures but luckily, I’ll have some help filling in the blanks from the rest of the RRT gang along the way. You won’t find any National Parks on this list, but you’ll find some of the most amazing car camping spots, kayaking destinations, backpacking trails and much more. This week we’re heading to the Northwest for some of my favorite mountains in the world, a desert you probably don’t know exists and some eye-popping peaks.
“In the mountaineering parlance of the Western US, a fourteener is a peak with an elevation of at least 14,000′. There are 96 fourteeners in the United States. Colorado has the most (53) of any state.” Two RRT’ers went to see how many they could peak bag in a week, this is their experience.
Many of the Buffalo River’s 135 miles are wide and gentle, but the upper portion of the river just below our launch point at Steel Creek contains technical rapids up to Class 2. With the river in flood stage and park rangers urging us to hold off on starting, we were faced with a choice. We could wait several days to start until water levels receded, throwing us off our itinerary, or we could face the flooded river.
As you could probably imagine we see our fair share of scouts preparing for trips at RRT. Currently with 4 Eagle Scouts on staff we’d like to think we are pretty good at it too. So with all of that scouting experience we were curious what stood out to them as their most epic trips and unforgettable moments. Here is Will and Joe’s top 5 trips that they would not have experienced without being a Boy Scout.
I first came across the Black Mountain Crest Trail a few years back with a simple Google search- “toughest hikes in America.” Seems like an odd Google search, but tough trails are where my bucket list starts. Everything I read about the Black Mountain Crest Trail in North Carolina deemed it one of the most rugged, difficult trails in the Eastern US. At only 12 miles long, its short length shouldn’t be overlooked as it packs in plenty of elevation gain, technical hiking, and difficulty into those few miles. The ridgeline traverse covers five of the ten highest peaks East of the Mississippi River, eight different six-thousand foot peaks, and a finish on Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain in the eastern US.
At the beginning of July, I had an opportunity to meet up with one my friends, Jangbu, in Seattle. He scooped me up from the airport and together we drove 12 hours to the Purcell Mountains in British Columbia. The target destination: Bugaboo Provincial Park to stomp around in pristine Canadian wilderness. Also, to climb some beautiful granite spires!
Mt. Marcy’s treeless and rocky peak rises above the surrounding peaks and a beautiful green valley. The highest point in New York is a challenging day hike, what proved to be a long 7.5 mile slog up the mountain. A cool, early morning start after an uncomfortable night of sleeping in the car had us on the summit by 11 AM.
It was easy to find the beauty of nature in Ashland. Outside of the sky and the wide plains, the culture of the Northern Cheyenne people created a sacredness and a sense of mystery around the plants and animals that surrounded our home. Suddenly the smell of sage and the sounds of dripping water were more than just sensations, but were a part of me.
Having done some winter mountaineering out west prior to this trip, I never thought much of it. How demanding could a mountain under half the elevation of Colorado’s highest peak be? Fairly demanding it turns out.
