Adventuring with Mel and John

Peak obsession and everything in between

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Single season winter 48 – Moriah

Friday, December 30, 2022 Moriah is one of my favorite mountains in New Hampshire, especially when going over Surprise. I like it because it’s tricky: you think the next knob is the summit, but it turns out you still have 1.1 miles to go and at least two more knobs to go up and over…

Single season winter 48

Up until a couple days ago, before the official start of winter, John and I have been ticking away at “tracing” – hiking every mile of the white-mountain trail system. Honestly, that hasn’t been too sexy, so I haven’t bothered with writing about it. Now John and I taking a break from hiking more obscure…

A wedding

After my divorce I told myself that I would never remarry. Eleven years later, I’ve tied the knot again. The biggest difference is me. When my ex and I were first engaged and married, my prefrontal cortex was not fully developed. I knew before he even moved to Texas to be with me that it…

Glacier National Park 5

Fish Creek Campground – Apgar – Lake McDonald Wednesday, August 11, 2021 My alarm went off at 6 a.m., but I was so cold and not interested in leaving the warm cocoon of our quilt that I promptly silenced it. We didn’t end up leaving the tent until 8:30. One option for the day that…

Glacier National Park 4

Logan Pass, Highline Trail & the Garden Wall Tuesday, August 10, 2021 When we were planning our trip to Glacier National Park we learned that some people who wanted to drive Going to the Sun Road but did not have a reservation to have access would go through the entrances before they were staffed. This…

Glacier National Park 3

Mt. Brown Lookout Monday, August 9, 2021 I awoke to my phone’s alarm and promptly silenced it and closed my eyes again. Once we finally got up, it didn’t take long to get ready, and we started our day with a trip to West Glacier for groceries and a breakfast sandwich. As soon as we…

Glacier National Park 2

Many Glacier Campground to Fish Creek Campground via Going to the Sun Road Sunday, August 8, 2021 We were so glad that we had slept in the car because it was raining heavily when we awoke. We didn’t start moving until about 10 a.m. The rain paused, and we contemplated hiking to Grinnell Glacier, but…

Glacier National Park 1

Swiftcurrent Pass and Lookout We arrived at the Many Glacier Campground late in the afternoon on Friday, August 6, 2021 after a full day of driving. A ranger stopped each vehicle at the entrance to the campground to go over bear-safety instructions. They were around; I wouldn’t be going anywhere without my bear spray. We…

Baldpate Mountain

NE 100 Highest #95 Friday, August 12, 2022 #100 of 100! We chose Baldpate Mountain to be our final mountain of the New England Hundred Highest list. We lucked out with a beautiful day. I wore my hiking pants and a light jacket to start; very different than the hot and humid weather we had…

Boundary Peak

NE 100 Highest #83 Thursday, August 11, 2022 There was some confusion in how to get to this mountain (much like getting to Snow Cupsuptic yesterday – seems to be a theme with the mountains in the area!). Google Maps had us go up Route 27 in Maine and cross the border into Canada at…

Whitecap & Kennebago Divide

NE 100 Highest #82 and #96 Wednesday, August 10, 2022 Continuing our glorious day, we drove down more dirt roads from Cupsuptic Snow to as far as we could make it for Whitecap and Kennebago Divide. Luckily this trailhead was not too far from Snow, and we would definitely recommend doing both of these hikes…

Snow Mountain – Cupsuptic

NE 100 Highest #94 Wednesday, August 10, 2022 This was the start of a less-than-enjoyable day. The first issue was getting there. We were driving from Gorham, NH, and using the All Trails location for the trailhead (45.176520, -70.844560). Google Maps told us to take Wilson Mills Road off of Route 16 before Rangeley. It…

Arrow Slide & the Hancocks

August 6, 2022 We have hiked the Hancocks many times while working on the GRID and had always noticed the large rockslide on the left of Hancock Loop. After talking about it for years, today was the day we were finally going to climb Arrow Slide. We met our friends Dave, Erik and Jenni at…

North Cascades National Park 2

Hikes: River Loop — Pyramid Lake — Thunder Knob Perhaps it was because we were in an actual room and not a tent, but John slept in while I listened to podcasts and read in bed. Soon we were up and at ’em. Our first stop was for ice, and a nice man asked us…

North Cascades National Park 3

Hidden Lake We woke up from our site in Newhalem Campground (see North Cascades 2) before our alarms and were packed and out of there by 6:02 AM. By the time we got coffee and Gatorade in Marblemount and drove up the ridiculously horrible Hidden Lake Road, it was 7:54 AM when we hit the…

North Cascades National Park 1

Sahale Glacier After an emotional morning of saying goodbye to Aspen at the airport, John and I spent a couple hours at the Museum of Pop Culture (see Seattle) before heading north to find a campsite in the Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It had rained in the area earlier in the day, and when we arrived…

Olympic National Park 4

Hurricane Ridge Aspen, John and I woke up at 4:20AM, so we could drive from the Sol Duc Campground (see Olympic National Park 3) to where there was cell coverage by 5:25AM, so we could check Aspen into his Southwest Airline flight for the next day. What a hassle! But it worked; he was able…

Olympic National Park 3

Sol Duc Sol Duc – Day 1 We had a leisurely morning packing up at the Mora Campground (see Olympic National Park 1 and 2). We got ice, gas and coffee in Forks (Vampire-Danger level was still high), then it was off to the Sol-Duc area of Olympic National Park. There were informative signs at…

Olympic National Park 2

Hoh Rainforest Despite hitting snooze on the alarm and not getting out of the campground at 7AM, like originally planned, we each were able to get a parking spot in the Hoh Rainforest. The five of us first took a peek in the visitors’ center before heading out for the Hall of the Mosses .8-mile…

Olympic National Park 1

Coastal Region Our adventure in the coastal region of Olympic National Park started at Mora Campground. John, Aspen and I awoke and ran the two miles to Rialto Beach. Our first views of the rock formations in the water were through fog. We spent awhile on the beach climbing drift logs of enormous trees; so…

Seattle

From its location on the water, to the view of Mt. Rainier on a clear day, to the cultural activities and progressiveness, I fell in love with Seattle. If it wasn’t for the climate in the winter, I would move there in a second. We rented a condominium right on 1st Avenue in the Belltown…

Rainier National Park 3

July 23, 2021 We broke down camp early and drove to the Sunrise (northeast) area of Rainier National Park. Along with the Paradise, this is another popular area and parking was a concern; we arrived early enough that it wasn’t an issue for us. When we started we were the only ones on Sunrise Rim…

Rainier National Park 2

July 21, 2021 It was a breath-taking drive from the Paradise area of Rainier National Park to the Ohanapecosh Campground. We pulled off at a scenic point, and two women, Sara and Mindy, from Seattle commented on our Yeti. We talked with them for at least 30 minutes and had a lot in common. We…

Rainier National Park 1

July 19, 2021 After a busy day of hiking up Mount St. Helens as much as we could without having a permit (note-to-self: get a permit!!) and then lots of driving, we finally arrived at Rainier National Park and found our spot at the Cougar Rock Campground, our home for the next two nights. John’s…

Book

The Good, The Bad, and The Backstory A Unique Story that Presents a Timeline of Events in the Day of the Life of Five Middle-School Students. -Boys Town Press Melissa’s goal is to help youth develop skills in empathy and perspective-taking through fictional writing. 5-Star Reviews 1/11/2022 As a school counselor, I struggle to find…

Nelson Rocks

April 11, 2019—West Virginia Nelson Rocks is a rock formation owned and operated by NROCKS Outdoor Adventures. John and I chose to do the Via Ferrata adventure; neither of us had done anything like this before. For the nerds out there: (1) Via Ferrata is Italian for “iron path.” They were created in the Dolomites…

Katahdin

July 4, 2019 This would at once be one of the best and one of the worst hikes of my life up to this point for one simple reason: no-see-ums, a family of flies that gets right in your face and can literally make you want to jump off the mountain. John and I stayed…

Six Husbands & Sphinx

July 16, 2022 To finish the #Terrifying25 list, John and I decided to backpack into the Great Gulf Wilderness to camp, ascend Six Husbands trail, summit Mt. Jefferson, and descend the Sphinx trail. The designated site we chose was about three miles into the Great Gulf Wilderness. I was very happy to drop my pack…

Middle Teton

Saturday, July 10, 2021 I woke John up at 6:15 AM with, “What are you doing? We’re supposed to be hiking!” We quickly got ready and drove to the Lupine Meadows trail head. We were both nervous: this was the hardest and highest peak that we’ve ever hiked/climbed in our lives. The first mile was…

Vermont 4

Thursday, July 7, 2022: Jay Peak and Big Jay. We did indeed leave before anyone else was up and hit the road for Jay Peak and Big Jay, our final Vermont 100 Highest mountains. We drove through beautiful rolling hills of farmland. I can appreciate it without ever wanting to live here, which was different…

Vermont 3

Tuesday, July 5, 2022: First full day in Burlington. John and I ran four miles on the Island Line Trail starting at Waterfront Park, then combined our runners’ high with caffeine at #KruCoffeeCollective; John got a (so-so) nitro cold brew and I got a (meh) latte made with soy milk (only because they didn’t have…

Vermont 2

Sunday, July 3, 2022: Mt. Equinox. It was the perfect summer day for this challenging hike. I led the way in my typical style: non-stop. There wasn’t many people on this particular path to the summit, but we passed all we came upon. It was a steep and steady hike to the top; even though…

Vermont 1

John took a week off from work so we could finish the 100 Highest mountains that we needed in Vermont. We spent three nights at Emerald Lake State Park located near Dorset. It’s a mixed bag when spending more than a night in one place: I love stringing up the lights in the tent, which…

About Us

I’m Mel, and nothing makes me happier than going on adventures, visiting new places and being active. I’m also pretty nerdy and love to learn things. When I’m old and grey I want to be known as the cool older woman with lots of stories about interesting experiences. I’m John and my ideal day is…

Thursday. July 13, 2017

Gettysburg National Military Park — Harpers Ferry — Shenandoah National Park At the Gettysburg Visitors’ Center we started with a film that depicted the three days of fighting at Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863). I had tears in my eyes just imagining the enormity of what was going on at that time. Then we walked through…

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Philadelphia, PA to Codorus State Park After a New York-style bagel with cream cheese, John and I walked around Rittenhouse Square (a public park with random statutes: frog, lion, lady revealing a breast), saw the Liberty Bell and took a tour of Independence Hall. Lunch was at the Reading Terminal; John got gumbo and jambalaya,…

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

New Hampshire to Philadelphia, PA After a 9 AM appointment and visit with Aspen, John and I hit the road. Our first stop was the Chesterfield Gorge in western New Hampshire. This wayside park conserves a rocky gorge with waterfalls along the Wilde Brook. We walked the .7 trail to stretch our legs before continuing…

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