Jon and I spent nine days peak bagging 13 peaks in the Adirondacks for our 2006 vacation. We started our hikes beginning September 17 with Tabletop/Phelps and ended with Big Slide on September 25. Our slogan was ‘Thirteen Peaks in Eight Days.’ We had so many great adventures. I ed one of my favorites during our backpack segment: Gray, Marcy and Skylight.

Many of the guys engaged in random acts of napping. It was a perfect area for napping, with the warm sun warming our shirtless bodies, on this relatively cool mountain afternoon.

Blowouts and meltdowns and bears ... oh my. Our "Yosemite: the other side of the rainbow" backpack July 4th weekend was one incredible journey. Okay, it's a far cry from the Wizard of Oz, but you've got to admit if any two places earned rainbow ends, it would be the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.

Tonight, as I was laying in the tub pregnant with Epsom salts, I closed my eyes as my sore muscles began to relax. I tried to think of nothing in order to simply concentrate on my breathing...The images, as if in a photo album, depicted an awesome weekend.

Yes yes yes!!!!! Ray Bean, Dave Nowell, Scott Davison, Jon Normand and I went on the perfect three-day backpack trip over the Fourth of July weekend. The backpack we did was "moderate-strenuous" and it was beautiful!!! While the crowds focused on the 4,000 footers of the White Mountains, the only people we ran into were a few Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hikers.

What do you get when you combine thirteen fun, hot guys, Memorial Day weekend, and Southern California's last free river? One wet and wild weekend. With unbeatable weather, refreshing swimming holes, and a relaxing conversational hiking pace, it certainly was the club med of Perfect Pace trips.

Adam Bridges is tearing through Damascus, Va. After weeks of hiking the Appalachian Trail and 10 days without seeing a town, he's back on the grid. He has just devoured a large pizza topped with broccoli, pepperoni and hunks of ricotta cheese, sharing it with his hiking partner, Plunger.

The rain did not deter the eleven faithful GayOutdoors hikers to hike up to Madison Springs Hut at 4,800 feet for an overnight. We were to use the hut as a base to hike up Mt. Madison on Saturday and Mt. Adams on Sunday. While the forecast predicted 100 per cent rain, we had already paid the $87 to spend the night at the Hut and we were hoping for better weather on Sunday. After most of us spent a pleasant night at the Mad River Lodge Friday night we drove to the Appalachia Parking Lot in New Hampshire and arrived at 10:00AM.

(5/8/06) The Agua Tibia trip was incredible. The pizzazz-filled cast made it one of the most amazing Perfect Pace trips ever. ...

(4/5/06) It's so nice to discover a backpacking destination a little over half an hour from my house. Noble Canyon offered quite a variety in ...

I was concerned that the cold I caught during the week would force me to back out running this trip. Friday night Tom, Mark, Andrew and Colin joined me for an overnight at the Mad River Lodge. Tom left early so he could hike up Carter Dome with John. Apparently an isolated snowstorm dumped over one foot of snow in certain areas up north.

The guys knew it was going to be a tough hike going into it. The weather predictions of a cold front coming through with rain and freezing temperatures swung the needle on the tough gauge a few more notches.

(1/31/06) Friday afternoon, Andy, Jeremy, and I loaded our packs with the water and food cache, and headed off to Twin tanks to store our cache, find a campsite and do some exploring.

(11/21/05) At one point I began to wonder whether or not the group would enjoy this backpack or find it completely boring. I knew most of the folks in Perfect Pace were avid mountain scenery buffs and that this remote desert trail was not well traveled. I loved this trail when I did it solo last year, but I'm a desert rat and of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To my relief, everybody loved it I mean really loved it... It was one fun backpack trip.