Backpacking Adventures

Details, Itinerary, & Packing Advice Machu Picchu, the final destination of the Salkantay Trek This may surprise some of you, but Mitch and I are terrible at planning trips. In November of 2024, Mitch and I decided to plan a trip over the holidays to celebrate his 30th birthday. Our primary objective was the O Trek in Patagonia, but, as we quickly discovered, we missed the permit window.... by several months. As two relatively last-minute planners who are content to show up s

Now What? On September 8th, 2025, I walked into Canada. 5 months earlier, I'd been in Mexico. My own two feet got me all the way across the country along the Continental Divide Trail. In 2024, I'd attempted the same feat, but I had to leave the trail early when I got a severe stress fracture in my left femoral neck. For several months, I wasn't even allowed to walk from the couch to the bathroom and back without crutches. Building back up to walking, hiking, and backpacking w

A Must-Do Overnight Hike in Colorado Nestled at the base of Humboldt Peak, a prominent 14er (a mountain whose distinct peak surpasses 14,000 feet in altitude) in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Colorado, lies a less notable but equally (if not more) beautiful feature: Upper South Colony Lake. The standard route to the summit of Humboldt Peak takes you to a junction approximately a tenth of a mile from the lake's access point. The 14er is definitely the main attrac