Hikeu to Participate in the All Sports, Recreation and Fitness Expo

This weekend Hikeu Adventure Guides will have a table at the All Sports, Recreation and Fitness Expo. If you have been curious about how we do what we do, this is your chance to come on out and talk to us in person. We will also have information about two different non-profit organizations that are near and dear to our hearts...The Green Mountain Club and Leave No Trace.

Hikeu are corporate sponsors for both of these organizations. You can help the GMC and save yourself some money. With your Green Mountain Club membership, you receive a 10% discount on all Hikeu trips.

Hikeu takes the Leave No Trace ethics so seriously that we sent Happy off to a training to become a Leave No Trace Master Educator. If you have any questions about how to do the right thing in the woods, whether you are in the frontcountry at a local city park or in the backcountry of a designated wilderness, stop on by and discuss it with Happy.

Be sure to stop by and see the good folks at VOGA and Eddie's Energy Bars too!

Click this link to access a $2 off discount coupon for the Expo!!

Hikeu will "Peak for Pam"...Will YOU?

With the forecast of SNOW :) this weekend in Vermont, the core hiking season is quickly coming to a close. The truth is, here at Hikeu we never stop hiking all year long, but as winter approaches we have more time to turn our attention to other important matters.

This weekend we will be heading up our recently adopted Hell Brook Trail for two very important reasons.
1) We will be adding our POSITIVE ENERGY to some 50+ other groups hiking, biking and playing outside this weekend in support of Pam Paradee. Pam has cancer and will soon be undergoing a bone marrow transplant. We all know how positive energy can positively impact an event, so read on and SIGN-UP! In the first segment of the Peak for Pam Challenge friends, family and supporters like us who have never had the honor of meeting Pam and her family are signing up to do a hike this coming weekend.
2) An important aspect of trail maintenance is clearing the trail in the fall to prepare it for spring rain and run-off. It is suppose to rain on Saturday, so what a perfect time to be sure all the water is flowing just where it is suppose to flow on Hell Brook Trail.

We have loads of other great initiatives and projects happening too, so check back in soon and check it out!

The Best Kept Secret on Mount Mansfield

I'm guessing there were as many people on Mount Mansfield Sunday as there were on Church Street in Burlington.

OK, so maybe not Church Street, but surely Bank Street.

The Hikeu Adventure Guides have been considering adoption of the Hell Brook trail on Mount Mansfield. This adoption program is run by the Green Mountain Club and is a very important part of their mission to "protect and maintain the Long Trail system". What does it mean to adopt a trail? Well, we will be responsible for maintaining and improving that particular trail.

We had never actually hiked the entire Hell Brook trail before. There was that failed attempt in 2003, but we turned back when a friend of ours had had enough of Hell Brook! So before committing to something as important as adoption, we decided to take a stroll up Mansfield on the only ascent trail rated as "extremely difficult" by the GMC.
The hike up Hell Brook was indeed extremely difficult and not to be taken lightly. Pretty much straight up most of the way, with lots of lose rocks, exposed roots, water running down the trail...but absolutely beautiful. Now your probably thinking how on earth could this trail be the best kept secret on Mount Mansfield? Well it's not. The secret on Mount Mansfield is the Adam's Apple, which is just a short 0.1 mile jog off the Hell Brook trail.

As you can see, this mini-summit is exposed and offers spectacular 270 degree views. What happens in the other 90 degrees? Well, that is where we could see the steady line of people either climbing up to the summit of Mansfield on the Long Trail, climbing down off the summit or milling about the summit.
We sat on our own private summit, ate lunch, watched 3 hawks spiral high on the thermals and dive back down, took a nice long siesta and marveled at all the people "over there". Sure, a few people passed by as we enjoyed our rock, but the contrast between the peace and serenity of the Adam's Apple and the fair-like atmosphere on the Mansfield summit was amazing; no one calling out on their cell phone to report their amazing where abouts, no dogs on the loose trampling the fragile alpine vegetation.

After such a wonderful experience, we decided to go ahead and adopt Hell Brook. Hopefully someone hasn't already grabbed it!

By the way, if your looking for more Vermont Long Trail secrets to enhance your hiking and backpacking experience be sure to contact Hikeu. We pride ourselves on creating the perfect itinerary and trip for your perfect Vermont outing.
Fall is the perfect time to get out and hike in the Green Mountains. Cool air, warm sunshine and NO Bugs! If your looking for the perfect day away from the office, consider a "team-building" hike with Hikeu. Just like playing hooky, but you return to the office the next day ready to tackle that project head-on!

GoodSearch...Internet searching to support YOUR favorite non-profit

Want to make a difference by doing what you probably do all the time? I was just turned onto an Internet search engine that donates money to the charity or non-profit of my choice, each and every time I perform an Internet search. GoodSearch will now donate 1 cent to the Green Mountain Club whenever I perform an Internet search. GoodSearch has been around and in the news since late 2005.

OK, so 1 penny isn't a ton of money. On a big day I maybe perform 10 searches, but it all adds up! Internet searching was a $6Billion dollar business in 2005. The good folks at GoodSearch donate 50% of their ad revenue to the charities and non-profits that matter the most to YOU. Imagine if they managed to capture just 25% of all search business and then donated 50% of that amount. We are talking about millions of dollars up for grabs. Imagine the good that money could do?

They make it really easy to use too. Add GoodSearch to your toolbar and your chosen charity will be clearly visible.

Get in on this wonderful way to support your favorite charity or non-profit today!!

Hikeu Organizes Very Successful Clean-up of the Lamoille River

Sunday was a great day here in Fairfax, Vermont. We would normally spend a day like this on the Trail, doing what we love. But instead we worked along side a dozen other Fairfax residents cleaning up the Lamoille River in the area of our local Park and Bike Path. The river is quite wide in town, around 75 yards I would guess, and we swept about a half mile of the river in all.

I got the idea to clean the river a few weeks back after wading that section of the river with our dogs and seeing all the junk. I knew something needed to be done and decided then to lead the charge.

I had never organized anything like this before, but everything fell together perfectly. The weather was perfect, the crew was ambitious and not afraid to get wet. Fairfax resident David Shea from All Metals Recycling donated a metal recycling dumpster. Gary Stewart brought a tractor and chains to haul the heavy stuff out of the river.

In addition to all the metal, we retrieved 32 tires! These will be recycled as well.

Some of the more interesting items retrieved were big, old antique milk jugs, milking buckets, tire rims with wooden spokes, a solid iron tire rim from a very old truck and one old bike that looked to be from the 50's. More modern stuff included a lawn mower, shopping cart, and several bikes.

I feel great about getting the river cleaned up and can only imagine how much lighter it must feel with all that old junk removed and on its way to becoming something of value once again.

Eddie' Energy Bars Powering Maine Hikers

Yesterday I loaded up these hikers with Eddie's Energy Bars and bid them farewell for a week. My sister Boo (the only woman in the pic) and her friend David (far left) are boy scout backpacking badge leaders. The rest of the gang (15-17 year olds) are all boy scouts, but this was just a trip for fun. These boys got their backpacking merit badges last year, but they had such a great time in the process that they all decided to come over to Vermont to hike 75 miles of the Long Trail.
Hikeu Adventure Guides doesn't normally provide shuttle service, but we made this exception for my sis. We much prefer providing the best guided hiking and backpacking trip in Vermont!
This group didn't need our guide services, but maybe you do. If you have been wondering how on earth to get out there for a few days, a week or a month but don't have a clue how to begin, contact Hikeu and let us be your guide into the backcountry of Vermont!

A Dog's Life!

Vermont is a beautiful place anytime of the year, but summer...ahh, the warm days and cool nights. The flowers and birds and summer night sounds. And you have never seen green until you visit Verd mont (the name given to the state back in the summer of 1761) My friends in Ireland may say their country rivals Vermont in greenery, and they may be right, but you can't get a guided Hikeu hike in Ireland...not yet at least :)

This is how my elderly Golden Retriever Cassandra likes to stay cool in the summer. Her pool is her latest obsession. I fill it with fresh cool water every warm day, throw in a couple of rocks for her to "hunt" and she is a happy, happy girl. Her daughter, Maggie gets quickly bored with about anything, so after a couple of dips she is off to whine at the door to come back in. But not Cass, when she gets tired she just lies down and enjoys the coolness of the water.

She will be my role model for when I get old.

If I headed up Camel's Hump with her today she would go as far as she could and then lie down. She wouldn't be sad or disappointed in her performance. She would just be happy she got to go hiking with Mom.
There is no destination for Cassi, only the joy of the journey.

The last time Cass was on Camel's Hump she had to be carried out the last 1/2 mile because her back end was cramping. Do you think for one minute she felt bad about herself? Nope. She was perched atop Reid's shoulders smiling (I swear she was) and feeling quite loved and cared for.
There is no pride for Cassi, only the peace love will always provide.

I wanna grow old just like my girl Cassi.