It was the Milford track, and the connection with Jeanne’s hometown of Milford Connecticut, that really sparked this whole trip. No, we’re not going to create a list of all the “Milford” locations in the world, but this was really peaked our interest – Milford, trekking, vacation – a trifecta of enjoyment! The Milford Track is one of the premier great walks of New Zealand. It is a 4 day, 53km journey through the Fiordland National Park on the south

This began our fifth full day in New Zealand. We’d had three solid days of trekking, on the Ben Lomond, Roy’s Peak, and Routeburn tracks, each with some fairly significant mileage and elevation gain, followed by a full “zero” day, where we enjoyed some local vineyards and a touristy visit to Arrowtown. We were looking for a bit easier day – not quite a “zero”, but something without the bigger elevation and mileage numbers.  Lake Alta sounded like a perfect

This was a very special year – with a birthday which is divisible by 10. The birthday request? Be out of the country, somewhere far away on the day. So, in typical fashion, that started the planning wheels spinning. Planning actually started a year in advance. Our love for the outdoors and hiking made New Zealand a real draw – not to mention things like their Great Walks, the Milford Track, and the big bonus of it being early summer

Recently, we had the opportunity to travel to Colorado Springs – a friend was getting married.  We couldn’t make the wedding date, so we decided to visit separately, and tack on a few days of hiking – weather permitting and all. There are those who might argue that hiking the 14ers is the pinnacle of hiking (Dad joke!) here in the states – whether you believe that or not,  we don’t want to debate – we had two glorious days of

It all started with a conversation with some Brits while we were on our first multi-day trek in Alpiglen, Switzerland in 2012.  They talked about the GR10 as a long distance hiking trail between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast paralleling the Pyrenean/Spanish border in France. What’s a GR?   France is virtually blanketed with long distance hiking trails – Grande Randonnée – with the GR10 stretching from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, covering a distance of roughly 540 miles and typically taking 50+days to traverse. Fast forward six years…

We’d planned to be on the trail on the day after arriving in France. Always a bit risky in the event our backpacks got lost in transit – but we arrived in Paris as did our backpacks, and transferred to our Paris-Pau flight without incident. Arriving in Pau, we were easily able to get on the P20 bus to take us into downtown Pau – location of Hotel D’Adour, the hotel we were using to bookend our hiking. Only a few days

Our first real day of section hiking the GR10,  was a fairly big day.  The Cicerone guide we’d been using as the basis for the trip had listed the section as Etsaut to Gabas – a 14-15 mile, 5,000 feet of elevation gain, monster of a hike.  Daunting on any day, more so because we’d be with full packs. Fortunately, we discovered and were able to secure beds at the Refuge D’Ayous – a mountain hut staffed by (what seemed

We’re really not backpackers/campers. Our multi-day/over night adventures include some aspect of mountain huts/refuges. In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, you can find us at one of the Appalachian Mountain Club huts. In the Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia, it was the a refugio, such as Refugio Grey, and in the Jungfrau region of the Swiss Alps, the Berghaus’ were the overnight accommodations (see our blog on the Jungfrau).  Staying at the Refuge D’Ayous hut would be yet another “hut

The Gabas to Gourette section of the GR10 probably falls into the category of “what were we thinking!”. On paper, it was big, over 13 miles, with an elevation gain of 5300 feet, and an elevation loss of 4600 feet. A mile up, a mile down!  Book time was 8-9 hours, but the GR10 signs were saying nearly 10 hours. We’d already learned to respect the signs. Reflecting back, this hike was Epic all around.  Besides the numbers, it had

We’d finished up our GR10 section hiking in the village of Gourette – a ski resort nestled in the Pyrenees about 30 miles south of Pau, which was our starting and ending point for our GR10 adventure. In the high season, one can catch a bus from Gourette to Pau, but this was the shoulder season, the bus for Pau leaves from Laruns – a nearby town.  We’d planned to walk from Gourette to Laruns for the bus, but after