The Best of 2015 (so far)

Whenever we talk to people about our travels, their top questions always include, "what is your favorite place that you've visited?" or "what has your favorite part been?"  Those are two very, very difficult questions to answer.  We do so many activities in so many different places and they all have so much value to us, it really is impossible to choose a favorite.  However, I have attempted to create a short list of a handful of experiences that have really stood out to me this year.  I tried to make this list a top 10, but that wasn't working out super well.  I've lumped a few things together that happened in the same time frame or region to try to keep it shorter, but brevity isn't really a strong suit of my writing anyway!  Here are some of my (Laura's) top moments of 2015 (so far, up until the end of August) in no particular order.  (Side note: I just went through to grab pictures for all these and came up with like 20 million other favorite moments.  I don't know why I even bothered trying.  But still, here are some of my favorites.  Really everything we've done has been FABULOUS and one of our favorite parts of road tripping is seeing all our friends and family along the way.  I love you all!)

1. Snowshoeing to the Bradley Hut in Lake Tahoe, CA

This was special because it was within the first few days of hitting the road and happened completely by chance

2. Eating cookies from Laggan's Bakery and hiking the Bow River Loop trail in Lake Louise, AB, Canada

This is a gorgeous trail (not actually the one pictured, but similar) along the river.  The chocolate chip cookies were some of the best I've had anywhere.  And I eat a lot of cookies.

3. Skateskiing in Teton Canyon and skiing Mary's Nipple on the Idaho side of the Tetons with Kaybe.

Our first long and pretty successful skate.  Kaybe gave us a ton of pointers and Titan kept up the whole way.

This was the closest thing we got to a powder day all season.  The pow was probably a week old but it was still SO GOOD compared to everything else we skied this winter.

4. Flyfishing and climbing in Gallatin Canyon, MT

We both ALMOST caught a fish.  Just the act of casting and hanging out on the river was awesome.

We got to do a bunch of fun climbing, including Spare Rib, a route I would highly recommend.

5. Sleeping in the Flagg Point Fire Lookout near Mt. Hood, OR

A really unique and fun experience.

6. Hiking the Beckler Peak Trail near Steven's Pass in WA with Kristen and Connor

This day was downright magical.  I don't know if I've ever been in a better mood after a hike.

7. Backpacking the 170 mile Tahoe Rim Trail in CA and NV

Two weeks of hiking every day.  Gorgeous views and an overall rewarding experience.

8. Eating nachos and climbing in Gold Bar with Aaron and with Bela

Aaron cooked us up the biggest platter of nachos that has probably ever existed.  The next day we climbed some really stellar lines and had the weather cooperate perfectly for us.

We got really lucky by meeting Bela.  He showed us around all over Gold Bar, Skykomish and Leavenworth.  We kept bumping into him and having awesome days climbing together.

9. Night canoeing shenanigans and phosphorescence viewing with Clancy and Hans

This picture is from day time and a kayak, but the nighttime canoeing was a bit rowdy to bring cameras along.  Phosphorescence is one of the coolest natural phenomenons I've ever seen.

10. Stand up paddleboarding on the White River with Brian and Sean

First time SUPing on a river and first ever SUP for the dogs.  They did great and once again proved they are the best dogs ever.  The river was a gorgeous color and the day was perfect.

11. Touching our first glacier, the Coleman Glacier

Glaciers are SO COOL.  This was the first one we got to see up close and the first one we got to touch.  A crazy mist blew in after awhile and just blanketed the whole glacier so you couldn't even see it anymore.

12. Meeting the love of my life on the side of the road

I don't think this one needs explanation.  For the full story, check out the upcoming post "Roadside Attraction"

13. Climbing the Tooth in WA

Easy climbing, great company, awesome summit views.  Followed by milkshakes.

14. Driving the Alaska Highway

An adventure that's been in the making for years finally became a reality.

15. Biking the Denali Highway from Cantwell, AK to Paxon and back

One of the best adventures ever.

Driving the Alaska Highway

Our journey north in words and pictures

It seems natural for anyone with an adventurous spirit to want to visit Alaska.  It's the final frontier, a wild place, full of beautiful landscapes but not of people.  Chelsea and I have been talking about going to Alaska for years, and we finally decided that 2015 was the time to make it happen.  Of course, we decided we should drive.  That way we could see how far north we could find a Tim Horton's in Canada.  We had many resources to help us plan the journey- books, magazines, pamphlets, the Milepost Highway Log, but somehow failed to do any research or planning (typical).  We crossed the border with surprising ease, only forfeiting one apple in the process, and then said, "now what?"  I sheepishly asked Chelsea, "sooo, uh, which road is actually the Alaska highway?"  A quick look in one of our books told us that the Alaska highway doesn't officially start until Dawson Creek, BC, some 700 miles away.  With that piece of useful information, we pointed north and set off on our adventure.

Day 1: Bellingham, WA to somewhere between Quesnel and Prince George, BC
410 miles

Highlights: The first day of our drive was extremely hot.  Silas doesn't have A/C.  We were a little sad and realized that we were driving through the desert section of BC that everyone suggested we go around.  Oops.  We enjoyed jumping in a lake on the side of the road and finishing the drive in our bikinis.  

Too hot.

Day 2: to 125 miles past Dawson Creek, BC
440 miles

Highlights: The temperature was much better on our second day!  We picked up a French couple who is hitchhiking their way through North and South America.  We enjoyed spending the day driving with them, eating their fresh picked blueberries, and camping together on the side of the road.  It rained a bit and we were treated to a lovely sunset!

Day 3: to Smith Falls, BC
365 miles
Highlights: We passed Julien and Lisa several times in their new ride and ended up having lunch with them and their driver of the day on the side of the road.  We stopped at a small outpost for the "best cinnamon bun in the galactic universe" and got two buns.  Then we went on a breathtaking (both because of the scenery and the extremely steep terrain) hike above Summit Lake.  We saw a bald eagle, a herd of bison, and two black bears.  We slept at a lovely waterfall.

Day 4: to Atlin Lake, BC 

365 miles

Highlights: We crossed back and forth into Yukon territory and got to visit the Signpost Forest.  There was a good forecast for the Northern Lights, so we headed south off the highway to find a campsite along Atlin Lake.  We found a gorgeous spot and back our tires up right to the lakeshore.  We woke up at 2:00 AM to try to see the lights, but it had clouded over and we were out of luck.

Day 5: to Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory 

350 miles
Highlights: We started the day with an invigorating dip into the lake.  Brrrrr!  We had a really nice leisurely stop in Whitehorse, the capitol of the Yukon.  We walked around the Yukon River, had a snack, and continued on our way to just outside of Beaver Creek.  It stayed light out until about 11 PM for our last night in the Yukon.

Day 6: to Delta Junction, Alaska
230 miles
Highlights: A very quick drive got us to the border!  Alaska!  We had the easiest border crossing in our history and motored along into the GIANT state of Alaska.  We went all the way to Delta Junction to officially complete the Alaska Highway.  We did it!

     

Alta | Snowbird

Alta and Snowbird were the next resorts on our Mountain Collective pass.  We arrived in Salt Lake to find no snow on the ground and stories about how dry it had been.  Nevertheless, we also heard that the coverage was still good on the mountain, which was good enough for us!  We drove way up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta to find it rather cold.  We had acclimated to skiing in 45 degree weather and kind of forgot how to handle temperatures in the teens.  Unfortunately, our boots slept under the bed in the van and were pretty frozen when we went to put them on.  The frozenness of our feet made it's way up our bodies until we were pretty popsicley and sad by the end of the second run.  We went into a lodge and warmed our boots under the hand dryer, which helped for a run or two, but then it was back to being cold.  We went back to the van to regroup.  I put on as many layers at possible, warmed my feet in my down booties, and had a hot chocolate.  After that, we felt rejuvenated and skiied the rest of the day.  The groomers were really awesome, and the coverage was really good, despite not having received snow in a while.  It was interesting skiing at a resort with only skiers- no snowboarders allowed.  Alta is a stellar mountain and I am excited to go back sometime to get some of that Utah powder (again, about a week after we left they got EPICALLY dumped on.  Dangit!).

Next up was Snowbird, just down the canyon from Alta.  It was back to 45 degree weather on our day there.  We checked out most of the mountain and had a good time exploring.  Alta and Snowbird are both really cool mountains and I'm glad they got a bunch of snow after we left, because I'm sure the rest of the season there will be stellar!

Salt Lake City

After skiing Apsen, we head to Moab and then Indian Creek, which I touched on in the post, Diversions.  After that it was time to head to Salt Lake!  We were really excited to meet up with my friend Drew, who I hadn't seen in years.  Drew and I grew up in the same town and went to highschool together.  We were snowboarding (I used to be a snowboarder!) and climbing buddies before we went our seperate ways to college.  Drew is a super positive, high-energy person and I was excited to see what he was up to in Salt Lake.  Fortunately, our timing was just right, because Drew had just been offered a new job and learned that he would be moving to New York at the end of the week!  I was glad we got the chance to catch up and meet his wonderful girlfriend, Emily before the big move.  Salt Lake is home to many other wonderful things that we wanted to check out as well (including skiing, next post!).

One of those things is Goal Zero, the company that makes the solar panels that we have on top of the van and the generator that we have inside the van that powers our lights and fan, and charges our computer, phones, cameras, etc.  I had emailed Goal Zero before we arrived in Salt Lake to see if we could have a tour of their HQ, and to my delight they said yes!  We met James and Ryan in the foyer of the building, which included a slide and a climbing wall (awesome).  They showed us all around the building and explained where everything happens.  They even hooked us up with one of their new proudcts, the Flip 10, and a bunch of stickers!  Thanks again guys!

Another company we loved that is located in SLC is PROBAR.  We basically live off of PROBARs (we started the trip with a stock of 10 boxes).  They are delicious and nutritious and made with real food and nothing else.  We made the fine folks at PROBAR a valentine out of woven together wrappers from our bars, and headed out to see them.  Unfortunately, we went to their old office first and it was just about the time when they were going to close for the weekend.  We raced over to their new office, and after disappointingly pulling on locked doors, a smiling face appeared and let us in!  We gave them our valentine and they hooked us up with a bunch of bars!  If you haven't tried their bars, I highly recommend you do.  You can find them at REI and a bunch of other spots.  We really like their new snack bars, Bite.  

One last company that has a warehouse in SLC is the company I was working for before this trip, Backroads.  Aaron at Backrods was nice enough to hook us up with a bike box for Drew to ship his bike to NY in, and he also showed up around the warehouse.  So many bikes!  

Before leaving SLC, we met up with our good friends, the Checketts.  As a kid, the Checketts lived next door and we all played together and had the best time running around in the street, jumping on the trampoline, and exploring in the creek and the nearby park.  Their home is so full of love and positive energy, so it was wonderful to stop by and have a delicious waffle breakfast and catch up a bit.  

In addition to all the running around, we went on some really cool hikes with Titan and Star.  We misinterpreted a trail sign and ended up doing a 10 mile hike after a full day of skiing, which was kind of exhuasting, and we also did some fun night hiking, and went on a cool trial system above the city.  Salt Lake is a great place and definitely somewhere I would consider living for a while.  Thanks for the good times!