Road Trip and Hiking

I found myself in Seattle, trapped by the SeaFair Festivities! I-90 Bridge CLOSED. So with the Blue Angels shrieking overhead, I stayed close to home and hiked for 4 miles on the Longfellow Creek Trail . I took a different route (for me) and parked my car at the High Point Library and followed the trail down past the West Seattle Golf Course and Greg Davis Park to the Dragonfly Pavilion and then returned to my car.

Then it was off to meet with Ryan on the PCT in Ashland, OR. On the drive south, I stopped first in Olympia, WA and did 2 miles (and found a couple of letterboxes) at Priest Point Park.

Next stop was Eugene, OR and the Ridgeline Trail (more letterboxes and 2 more miles)

finally, I finished the day in Cottage Grove, OR and did 2 miles on the Row River trail --a Rail to Trail, I just LOVE those! nice and flat :-)

Don't forget to check out Ryan's blog of his PCT adventures

www.anotherlongwalk.com



as well as the webpage on the WTA website for our hike-a-thon stats

We have raised $455 for Washington Trails and I currently have 19 miles hiked!


WTA Hike-a-thon

Amanda's Fundraising Page

I hope to hike at least 40 miles on my own at home, on my layovers at work and while joining Ryan on the PCT. If you don’t want to donate via credit card on the website, checks can be made out to WTA (Washington Trails Association) and sent to me at the address below. Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Amanda Arkebauer, PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Hike-a-thon begins...the first 6 miles

Well, I started off hiking 2 miles per day for the WTA Hike-a-thon!

I met with some friends in Davis, CA and hiked two miles on the UC-Davis Arboretum trail. Then I spent the next day with my sister in Folsom, CA and hiked 2 miles on the American River Trail.

Next, I met with Ryan on the PCT near Yreka, CA and I hiked 2 miles on the Yreka Greenway trail while he caught up with his blogging on the internet.

I hope to hike a couple of miles on the PCT with Ryan when I drop him off. Don't forget to check out his blog

http://www.anotherlongwalk.com

and

http://www.amandafromseattle.com

as well as a webpage on the WTA website


http://www.wta.org/hikeathon

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=1098&PID=149244

I hope to hike at least 40 miles on my own at home, on my layovers at work and while joining Ryan on the PCT. If you don’t want to donate via credit card on the website, checks can be made out to WTA and sent to me at the address below. Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Amanda Arkebauer, PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Trail Magic!

Flew out to meet Ryan on the trail this week. I flew into Sacramento and I just love these artsy columns in their baggage claim area. Ryan's birthday was this week, so I totally embarrassed him by greeting him with balloons and a birthday cake. But of course he did enjoy the cake and the other PCT hikers enjoyed it also.

As a birthday treat, Ryan got to "slackpack" for the days that I came to visit. This means that I would drop him off at the trailhead and he would hike with only a day pack. Then I would pick him up at another trail head later in the day and take him back to a motel with soft beds and hot showers!
A pretty sweet deal for a thru-hiker. Ryan would still put in a 10-12 hour day of hiking and while he was doing that, I did some touristy things in the area, visiting local ghost towns and happening upon a summer festival in the town of Graeagle, CA.
I would also do trail magic for some other hikers on the PCT while waiting for Ryan to show up at the trailheads. I made sure that I had a cooler of cold sodas and lots of candy bars and fresh fruit.

Ryan was also able to catch up on his own blogging. We always have to get a room with wifi. The other plus of "slackpacking" is that Ryan gets to eat real food and doesn't have to whip up his trail food on his homemade soda can stove. We had dinner at the Polka Dot last night. You know you are in California when the local Burger stand has fried green beans as an option. And they have avocado as a choice to put on your burger.

Don't forget to check out Ryan's blog detailing his hiking adventures,

http://www.anotherlongwalk.com

And remember that we will be raising money for the Washington Trails Association with hike-a-thon in August. Be sure to check us out on the WTA website

http://www.wta.org/hikeathon

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=1098&PID=149244

I hope to hike at least 40 miles on my own at home, on my layovers at work and while joining Ryan on the PCT. If you don’t want to donate via credit card on the website, checks can be made out to WTA and sent to me at the address below. Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Amanda Arkebauer, PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Hike-a-thon 2010 the countdown begins!!

It's that time of year again. Only 23 days away, starting August 1st, I will be taking to the trails to raise money for the WTA. First of all, thanks to everyone who supported me last year for the Washington Trails Association hike-a-thon. I raised over $1500 for Washington Trails!

This year, Ryan is hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and he will be hiking hundreds of miles across Oregon and Washington during the month of August. I will be providing support as his “Trail Angel” so I wasn’t sure how much time I would have for actual hiking this summer. We decided to participate in hike-a-thon as a team this year with Ryan cranking out the majority of the mileage. Our Team name is Thru-Hiker and Trail Angel.

In fact, WTA trail crews will be out on the Pacific Crest Trail starting this July to repair parts of the PCT damaged from the 2009 Lemah Fire north of Snoqualmie Pass. The PCT is closed in this area and there are reroutes and detours via Forest Service Roads and other trails. This is just another reminder that the trails require constant maintenance and repair for our enjoyment.

Washington Trails Association is the state's most active group serving the hiking community. The WTA recruits over 2,000 volunteers annually to help repair and maintain our trails, they advocate on behalf of hikers for trail funding and protection, and they publish informative resources both in print and online that help hikers get out on trail more often.

We are seeking pledges for hike-a-thon. You can pledge a flat donation or an amount per mile. All donations are tax deductible. And every little bit helps! Last year I had pledges as low as 10 cents per mile or a flat $3. It all adds up. *For a contribution of $40 or more, sponsors are eligible for Washington Trails Association membership.

We have blogs on the internet detailing our hiking adventures,

http://www.anotherlongwalk.com and

http://www.amandafromseattle.com

as well as a webpage on the WTA website

http://www.wta.org/hikeathon

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=1098&PID=149244

I hope to hike at least 40 miles on my own at home, on my layovers at work and while joining Ryan on the PCT. If you don’t want to donate via credit card on the website, checks can be made out to WTA and sent to me at the address below. Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Amanda Arkebauer, PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Loving Life on the Range

While Ryan is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) this summer, I am going to come out and visit him along the trail in California, Oregon and Washington. He is hiking from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border, over 2,500 miles and he will be away from home for about 6 months.



He has a blog devoted to his adventures along the trail:

http://www.anotherlongwalk.com/

This month, I got to meet with Ryan at Warners Springs, CA.




http://www.warnersprings.com/





There is a resort there and not much else, but what a resort! You don't need anything else.


About an hour and a half drive outside of San Diego in rolling hills, the resort was once a stagecoach stop between New Mexico and Los Angeles. Because of the hot springs here, there have been settlements at this spot for hundreds of years. Kit Carson even lived here for a while.



Now there is a Spa, horseback riding, golf, tennis, hiking, cycling and sky sailing. We had our own cabana on the property and it had a fireplace! Especially nice when those temperatures drop at night here in the desert.

The cantina was super cute with these wonderful murals on the walls of cowboys and dance hall girls. One corner had an image from the folk song, The Preacher and the Bear!

The pools are fed with water from the hot springs. The "Hot" pool was around 104 degrees and the "cool" pool was 87 degrees. There is a bit of that sulfury rotten eggs smell, but the water feels so delightful, you can overlook that.




The first day I was here, I dropped Ryan off for a bit of hiking. We call it "slack-packing". This is when he hikes the trail with only a day pack and doesn't carry his fully loaded PCT pack. He hiked about 10 miles on this day, while I went to the Spa and generally enjoyed myself around the resort!


The next day, Ryan took a "zero day". A zero day is a day when a thru-hiker takes a break and doesn't hike at all. Zero miles are logged on a zero day. But what Ryan lost in hiking miles, he made up in air miles. We decided to go on a Glider Ride!

http://www.skysailing.com/



It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky and we had a terrific time in the air. Well, I had a terrific time. Ryan enjoyed the view, but the turbulence of riding the thermals was a bit much for his stomach. He started throwing up about 5 minutes into the flight and he didn't get any relief until his feet were back on the ground. What a trooper! Instead of going down early (we had already paid for a full flight), he stuck it out and we stayed in the air the full amount of time to enjoy the view of the PCT from the air!!

Ryan's appetite was better that evening. After a dip in the pools fed by hot springs water, we had a wonderful dinner at the lodge. I wish every time I came out to meet Ryan on the PCT, we could have adventures like these!