Dave and I have enjoyed a great visit with my family here in Yakima, WA. We are now heading to Seattle to meet up with Kris and Leslie for a final gear check and to make our way to the ferry terminal in Bellingham by Friday morning.

Yesterday we headed up to Mt. Rainier National Park for the day, a family favorite.

Dave and I are in Yakima, Washington visiting my family. We’re staying with my brother and sister-in-law and having fun with my nephews and niece.

Saturday we built up the boat on the lawn out back, and Mason (in front) and Kurtis (behind) tested it out to make sure everything fit right.

Yesterday we took the boat up to Bumping Lake, about an hour from Yakima, to check out the boat and get some paddling in. Dave and I had a nice paddle on our own to loosen up.

Then we swam out in our dry suits so I could get a fell for what 49 degree water is like when you’re fully protected. It was cool, but not cold, and my confidence was boosted.

Then Dave and I swamped the boat a couple of times, turned it back over and got ourselves in. We don’t have pictures of that, but it worked well. Then Dave took out my nephews and niece for a paddle across the lake. They each did a great job paddling and had a lot of fun out there. Mason went first, then Kurtis and Makayla.

We’ve got another day of visiting here, and then we head to Seattle on Wednesday to meet up with Kris and Leslie. We get on the ferry to Sitka on Friday morning!

I noticed a jump in visitors and looked to see where they were coming from in Google Analytics. It seems the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is ten years old this year, and it is the feature on Adventure Cycling Association’s front page. We are listed with two other bloggers under “Civilian Style Adventure” – go check it out at Adventure Cycling Association.

Of course I read back through my Great Divide pages and realized I needed to update some thoughts on Riding the Great Divide.

I hope this site encourages more people to ride the Divide. Not only is it a fun and beautiful bike tour, but I think it’s important for us to see our wild places and consider what it might mean to save them or lose them. This is a perfect way to see 2,500 miles of our public land as it stands right now.

The last bits of food have almost been filled in and we are packing food to start the first three weeks into dry bags: one big one for dinner, one big one for breakfast, two bear canisters plus a small dry bag for lunch.

Dave packs one of his home-made bear canisters.

Dinner, Lunch, and breakfast for the first three weeks.

Food for the first re-supply box. It’s over 100 pounds.

Three weeks of food, camping, cooking, clothing and other gear must fit in this in addition to our two bodies.

The boat is a Feathercraft K2 Expedition folding sea kayak. It’s just under 20 feet in length and is quite stable. All that’s left to put into dry bags and get ready for stuffing into the boat is the repair bag and a few odds and ends. We’re getting there!

We will be paddling and camping for six weeks with Kris and Leslie. We’ve decided that each couple will cook breakfast and dinner for all every other day. Cooking for four doesn’t take much more effort than cooking for two, so each couple gets a day off every other day. We’ll take care of our own lunches and snacks for each day since we’ll be eating while paddling.

We also plan to mail ourselves a re-supply box that we’ll pick up half way through the trip in Port Alexander, the only town on Baranof Island besides Sitka. So, we are planning to start with three weeks of food and pick up a box with the next three weeks’ segment. If we’re cooking every-other-day, then we figured on 11 breakfasts and 11 dinners for each segment.

Amounts are based on what Dave ate on a previous paddling trip in Alaska. We figured I’d eat about 2/3 to 3/4 what he ate. We double checked this by figuring out the total calories using the food calculator on FitDay. We doubled this amount, and the total is what we’ll cook for the four of us. All amounts are figured in scoops, meaning a level 1/3 cup spoonful of the indispensable MSR Folding Spoon. It serves to measure, stir and serve all our meals. We dehydrated a variety of sauces like Thai curries, Indian masala, several kinds of salsas, etc., which we’ll choose from for dinners.

Segment One – Breakfasts

Oatmeal (6 days)
Calories: ~3,700 total

• 10 scoops oats
• 1 scoop brown sugar
• 2 scoops mixed salted nuts
• 2 scoops dried berries/cherries/raisins
• 1 scoop chocolate chips

Pancakes (5 days)
Calories: ~4,265

• 10 scoops multi-grain mix
• 3 scoops oats
• 2 scoops mixed salted nuts
• 2 scoops dried berries/cherries/raisins
• 2 scoops syrup for topping
• 1.5 oz. olive oil for frying

Segment One – Dinners

Lentils & Rice (4 days)
Calories: ~3,750

• 8 scoops rice
• 5 scoops lentils, mixed green & red
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 dried sauce
• 1 oz. olive oil

Couscous & Fish (1 day)
Calories: ~2,800 + fish

• 9 scoops couscous
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce
• 1.5 oz. olive oil
• Fresh fish

Couscous & Falafel (1 day
Calories: ~3,500

• 9 scoops couscous
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce
• 5 scoops falafel mix
• 1.5 oz. olive oil

Quesadillas (2 days)
Calories: ~3,700

• 8 oz. cheese
• 10 whole wheat tortillas
• 5 scoops dehydrated black beans
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce (salsa)
• 1.5 oz. olive oil

Quinoa & Fish (2 days)
Calories: ~2,800 + fish

• 9 scoops quinoa
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce
• 1.5 oz. olive oil
• Fresh catch of the day

Quinoa & Falafel (1 day)
Calories: ~ 3,600

• 9 scoops quinoa
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce
• 5 scoops falafel mix
• 1.5 oz. oil

Segment Two Breakfasts
Same as segment one.

Segment Two Dinners
Same as segment one, except for the quesadilla meals because we won’t be able to send ourselves cheese and tortillas and there is no store in Port Alexander.

Black Beans & Rice (2 days)
Calories: ~3,500

• 8 scoops rice
• 5 scoops black beans
• 3 scoops dried mixed vegetables
• 1 sauce
• 1 oz. olive oil

Last weekend Dave and I enjoyed a trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado with his group of friends from the Boulder area. This is Dave’s close-knit group of friends from college, complete with better (looking) halves and kiddos and pooches, and we had hilarious fun cooking and sharing meals and laughing and talking late into the night. Saturday we drove up to Strawberry Hot Springs for a good long soak in the developed, but still very natural feeling, hot springs. The frigid river ran right by so we could cool off in snow-melt whenever we needed a system shock. Several of us enjoyed a few. It was really fun, and the kids thought it was pretty neat too. Thanks to Alex for the photos…

Matt prepares to pour cold river water on Barb’s head.

Poor Barb, that water is FREEZING!

That’s us! Left to right: Molly holding Gavin, Jesse holding Isabelle, Me (Michelle), Jason in the back, Barb with the bucket hat and freezing melon, Matt the Meany, and Dave. Alex took the picture because she’s the only one who remembered to bring a camera.

Sunday morning Molly and Matt ran the Steamboat Half Marathon, and Jason, Jesse and I ran the 10k. It was a beautiful day and I think we all had fun runs. Later, Matt, Barb, Dave and I played disc golf up at the ski area before we drove back to Golden.

Today Dave went climbing with the guys and their fifth college friend Griff, and soon everyone will meet for dinner in Boulder.

Since we got back from SE Asia two and a half weeks ago Dave and I have been hard at work planning for our sea kayak trip in Alaska. We’ve been sorting through gear, making lists of things we need, shopping in Boulder and the surrounding area to fill in holes in our gear stash, making orders on the internet for other gear and clothing, making food lists and menus and then shopping for food, quantifying food and then making more lists and shopping. All the while Dave has been going through the dry bags, camping and other kayak gear and making repairs and conditioning things to start this trip fresh.

Trip Outline

• On Friday, June 27 – We’ll start our trip in Bellingham, Washington with our friends Kris and Leslie, where we’ll get on a ferry of the Alaska Marine Highway System on the Inside Passage / Southeast Alaska route. Three days later we’ll arrive in Sitka, Alaska.
• July 2 – Starting from Sitka, the current plan is to paddle around Baranof Island as well as possibly Kruzof and Catherine Islands. We have six weeks to leisurely paddle and explore many of the fjords and bays.
• August 10 – the four of us will arrive back in Sitka.
• August 12 – Stick and Leslie will leave for home, and Dave and I will then paddle up to enjoy Glacier Bay National Park for about three weeks.
• Wherever we decide to end our trip, Dave and I will hop on another ferry and make our way back to Bellingham.

Kris, better known as Stick, is Dave’s best friend from high school. Stick, Leslie, Dave and I shared a long weekend kayaking and camping on the Colorado River (Black Canyon area) last year in January, one of the coldest weekends of the winter. That was so much fun we decided to plan this trip to Alaska together. They have a good run-down of the trip details, time line, and their preparations on their website.

Where is Baranof Island and Glacier Bay?

These three days are going to be fun, as we camp on the deck of the ship, watch the glorious scenery go by, and play the first of many games of travel Scrabble with Stick and Leslie.

Now, I must get back to packing…