Happy 11th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 11th Re-Birthday to Me! 

Eleven years ago today, I said goodbye to my old life and began living anew. I stopped mindlessly swallowing what society had been spoon-feeding to me. I quit my job and began living intentionally.

Rafting the Lower Salmon: A Photo Journal

So this is essentially how the text thread went...

Patrick: Want to float the Salmon River next week?

Sarah: F#@k yeah!

And so it was that exactly one week later, I woke in the wee hours of the morn and drove 4 hours to meet Patrick at his home on the east side of the mountains. We piled our gear into his truck and drove with the raft in tow for another 6.5 hours to The Potato State. The next morning we began our 5-day, 72-mile float along the Lower Salmon River. 

I hereby present to you a Photo Journal of our rafting trip down the Lower Salmon River. Enjoy!

The Lower Salmon River.
[Image: oregonriver.com.]

I have lived a good life with lots of adventure. And while I've done a multi-day trip on my packraft with a bicycle aboard, never have I done a multi-day float trip on a raft-raft. Suffice it to say that I was a wee bit excited for our grand floating adventure.

Hiking Near Baker: A Photo Journal

I've spent so much time exploring elsewhere and so little time exploring my own backyard. I'm working on changing that. Thirteen years ago I climbed Mt Baker, but I'd never hiked any of its nearby trails...until last week.

Shrouded Mt Shuskan, from Huntoon Point.

Bikerafting the Skagit River: A Photo Journal

For three days in early July, Alan and I bikerafted the Skagit River from Copper Creek to Pressentin Creek. At the end of our float, we cycled back to our starting point. In total, the trip was 31 road miles and way more river miles.

We rafted the Skagit River between Copper and Pressentin Creeks,
and then biked back along Highway 20 to return to whence we started.

Twas a nice, easy float close to home. Along the way we enjoyed the scenery and each other's company. Here is a photo journal of our trip:

Biking in Alaska - Plan C: A Photo Journal

For two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June I traveled to Alaska for a bike trip.

Alan's Fargo and my ECR.

Plan A (to bikepack the Kenai Peninsula) was foiled by lingering snow, so we schemed up a Plan B (bike from the Matanuska Glacier to McCarthy, then cycle to Valdez to catch a ferry to Whittier, then pedal from there back to Anchorage). An unseasonable winter storm ended the biking portion of our trip early, so we made the best of our remaining time with Plan C (staying at a friend's cabin in Willow — thank you, Victor!).