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.

The Pull of the Trail

Some days the pull from the Trail - any ole' Trail - is tremendous. Almost irresistible. Yesterday was one such day for me. I haven't been out on a long-distance hike since my trek of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2005. Two years ago yesterday I hiked out of the town of Bishop with Badmoon, Phantom, Whoop and Chowda...well actually we first had to hitch to Independence, a mere 42 miles away (That's a pic of Badmoon, me and Whoop working on getting a ride.) Then we had to get another ride 15 miles up into the Sierras. Then we walked another few miles on the Kearsarge Trail before we stopped for the night. The next day we continued on thru Kearsarge Pass, hiking another 6 miles to finally make it back to the PCT on July 4th.


If you are like the majority of people, you are probably wondering WHY. How could walking with a loaded backpack mile after mile, day after day, month after month be fun? How could sleeping on the ground for 6 months be good for your body? How could being ravenously hungry all the time feel good? Why would anyone subject themselves to being so cold and wet that your fingers won't even work well enough to unzip you rain jacket when you finally do get to town? And imagine opting to go to the restaurant cold, wet and smelly BEFORE taking a hot shower and putting on dry clothes. OK, so that wasn't one of my brightest moves. But I had been so cold and wet for so long that I hadn't really eaten much in 24 hours AND I had walked about 25 miles.

I'm not crazy. I have a great life off Trail. But if I could be doing anything at all right this moment, I would be hiking. I would have everything I could possibly need on my back and Badmoon would be right there with me. It's not just about playing every day, or feeling like we are are vacation everyday. It's not just about accomplishing something so rewarding. It's not just about feeling amazingly healthy, strong and fit. For me the pull is in the expansion of my world; the expansion of my spirit. Long-distance hiking is about a deeper kind of freedom and connection...a deeper connection to self, to other people, to the earth, to the Universe. A freedom from my inner voice talking about all the "shoulds" in life. Long-distance hiking shifts my perspective and fills me completely full of love and peace. I am happiest when I am hiking.

I know there is more to life than hiking, but some days it takes a lot of will and common sense to really believe.

Want to experience the connection and freedom found on a long-distance hike?

Join Hikeu Adventure Guides as we end-to-end the Long Trail in Vermont this September. I challenge you to come away from that experience feeling like the same person that left.

Beware...long-distance hiking will shift your perspective and rock your world!

Doing What We Love at Hikeu

Today I was reminded of a very simple mantra that I have repeated to myself and others many times in the past...Do What You Love.

Why? Because when we are doing what we love we are in the flow of well-being and when we are in that flow, there are no limits. I have seen this truth manifest into a reality more times than I can possibly remember.

Why was I reminded of this mantra today? Because I finally decided to face the fact that the computer I bought for well over $2000 more than 5 years ago is a dinosaur. On her last leg. Could crash and burn at any point in time. I feel like my life is in this computer, yet she is hanging onto life by a mere thread. I have repeatedly ignored her pleas for help...my virtual memory is too low, I don't have enough room on my hard drive, if you put one more picture in me I think I will explode!

I ignored her because the very thought of figuring out WHICH computer to buy and then having to figure out HOW to move to a new computer gave me the willies. So I finally did what I could have done months ago. I asked for help. Not from just any computer geek, but from Benson Hodgson from IBEAM. Benson loves what he does, so as a result he had an amazing effect on me. As soon as I digested everything Benson had to offer, I felt just fine. There are computing options, but none of them feel overwhelming anymore. Moving to a new computer will be a breeze with Benson's help and worrying about losing all my important stuff will be a thing of the past.

Live what you love...and if you have computer questions, just take the easy trail and call Benson at IBEAM.

Here at Hikeu Adventure Guides we are living what we love too. We love to hike and backpack. Heck, we even love to think about hiking and backpacking! We love to plan a hike from start to finish. We plan the big stuff and we take care of all the details so our customers can just relax and enjoy the beautiful backcountry of Vermont.

Get away from it all in Vermont this summer with Hikeu Adventure Guides. You won't be disappointed!

Life and Long-Distance Hiking

Recently, as I was considering why I love to backpack so much, it occurred to me that my long-distance hiking trips have been an amazing platform for discovery. Through long-distance hiking, I have become a lover of the journey; a journey-ist. Not to say I have no interest in my destination, but I have come to realize that the destination is never what really brings me the greatest joy. The destination merely gives me the opportunity to experience joy along the way. The trail I choose to walk fills me with the joy I seek. The destination simply signals the beginning of another journey. And so it is for life.

Milestones in our life mark nothing more than the realization that another milestone lies ahead of us. Joy in life is created by how we choose to travel from one milestone to the next; from one destination to the next. This path or that one? Which path is filled with more joy for me?

That is always the question I ask when making choices in life. I believe in letting go of preconceived notions about the way life is supposed to be lived and embracing the joy that can be found in the unconventional. I believe that true connection to my joy can be forged only in the absence of a desire for accumulations. Action out of a desire to experience joy feels so much better than action out of a desire for things. I believe that simpler is better, that feeling good feels good, and that life is best when I align myself with the natural rhythm of the planet. Which path is filled with more joy for me?

If I were a destination-ist, the day to day tedium of walking every single day on a long-distance hike would be torture. In life, the parallel would be in living life every day hoping that as soon as I … graduate, find a great partner, make more money, get a promotion, then I will be joyous. What long-distance hiking has shown me time and time again is that there is fleeting joy in the destination.

When we can find our joy in the pleasure of the journey… to graduation day, to a great partner, to making more money or to getting that promotion, then we are living the life we deserve to live. Then we are living a life full of joy instead of a life of joyous moments. When we find joy in the journey, life flows from us and through us and everything is possible.

Hikeu Adventure Guides provides fully guided day hiking and backpacking trips throughout Vermont. Want to explore your journey-ist? A guided end-to-end trek of the Long Trail is being planned for September.