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…

We’ve been back in the U.S. just over a week and are finally getting over our jet lag. We’re in Golden, Colorado staying in Dave’s parents’ second home here. They were here to meet us when we flew in, along with Dave’s grandma. They left on Sunday after a really nice visit, and now we are going about the business of preparing for our Alaska sea kayaking trip!

But before we get too caught up in that (details of the trip will be coming soon) I wanted to post about the top questions I’ve been asked since we got back:

How was your shoulder?

I am happy to say the shoulder performed really well on the bike. During the first three weeks or so it would be a little achy at the end of the day, and once in a while it would give a sharp nip of pain if I stood up to pedal hard or something like that. It adapted to the demands quickly, and for the rest of the trip it was very comfortable cycling, even on longer days. Things that still bother my shoulder are sleeping on that side (my right, my favorite side to sleep on) and carrying heavy bags (part of traveling). It still looks gnarley, so wearing camisole tops or my swimsuit makes me really have good posture. That’s because if I concentrate on using just the right muscles and push my shoulder back and down a bit then it doesn’t look as whacked. If I push my shoulder down and then back, it doesn’t work. Funny stuff.

Did you see any rice or food shortages?

Wow, I guess that must have been all over the news, because I’ve been asked this a lot. We never really saw any shortages, though we’re pretty sure some cooks were stretching food a bit more than usual based on the taste and the way things looked. Food prices were certainly high and getting higher throughout Southeast Asia, though some countries seem to suffer more than others. On average, food takes up about 65% of the family budget in SE Asia, so the global food crisis is hitting these people hard. We heard most about it in Cambodia, the poorest nation in Southeast Asia. One young woman who worked in a small restaurant told us she works for ten dollars a month plus food (they use American dollars there as much, if not more, than their own currency). The best part of the deal was the food. She rode her scooter into town from the village because she couldn’t afford not to have this job.

Any weird food experiences?

How about embryonic eggs – a half-developed chicken inside an otherwise normal looking egg? We didn’t realize that’s what it was, and we couldn’t bring ourselves to eat it (it stunk!) Or how about watching people set bags of bread on the ground outside the restaurant, with the baguettes touching the ground? Seeing your food chopped up on the floor of the restaurant? Seeing jungle critters in bottles of Lao whiskey, or dog being cooked up on an open fire? No, we did not try either. The point is, the further we went north, the weirder the options became and the more we had to ignore food handling practices. We only got sick from the food once, three months into the trip, but it was bad enough to make up for time. We were glad to have our antibiotics! Ultimately, we not only survived, but we ate pretty well. Tourism is growing, and we were able to buy enough bread, crackers, peanut butter, fruit, nuts and things like that to survive when we couldn’t bear the food choices. Sticking to the coast through most of the trip also helped us. It would probably be even easier for meat eaters.

What did you miss most?

Pizza. Wild open spaces with no one staring. Clean bathrooms. Being able to call my best friend just to chat. Dry air.

What was your favorite part?

Meeting people with so much joy in their smiles. Frenetic, screaming, smiling kids waving and shouting hello. Camping in the jungle-covered mountains while crossing Malaysia. Diving! Pulau Tioman’s laid back beach atmosphere and swimming over the coral in the bay. Thai food. Bicycling the mountains in Laos: 25 kilometer descents! Meeting other travelers over dinner at the Laughing Gecko guest house. Cycling, talking, laughing with Dave.

Have questions of your own? Post a comment and ask away…

Yesterday we made piles and checked off lists, today we pack everything in panniers to see how it all fits!

We printed out our packing list to go through our piles of stuff yesterday and have come up with several changes I’ll need to post. We have a bit more in the repair bag, a couple more spares of things like foldable tires, and our clothes have changed quite a bit.

We also have ONE bag dedicated to the first aid kit, which contains several kinds of antibiotics and antimalarials in addition to the basics. I spent a lot of time with my travel doctor back in Flagstaff and got prescriptions and directions for self-treating all kinds of things, then filled the prescriptions through Walgreen’s mail-order pharmacy while I still had rockin health insurance. I paid a couple hundred dollars in co-pays for a couple thousand dollars worth of prescriptions that we’ll take to SE Asia as well as Africa in the fall. (The anti-malarial Malarone is new and by far the best in terms of side effects but costs a LOT of money, and my rosacea treatment cream for my face is absurd.) Dave compared everything to his Wilderness First Responder knowledge and books and has The Plan for all things medical.

Once we’re done packing today I’ll update the SE Asia Packing List, since there are folks already finding the page through Google. I want this site to be a useful resource in addition to a fun read.

We leave Denver on Monday night at 9:00 PM!

It’s not like we’ve been sitting on our arses doing nothing these past few weeks. But here in the last few days we find ourselves with growing to-do lists. Eek! But we’re getting after it like the two organized and efficient planners we are.

Between yesterday and today, notable checked-off items include:

• Securing lodging in Singapore for four nights – we’re looking forward to seeing the city and meeting friends of Dave’s parents and a colleague of Dave’s.
• Finalizing travel insurance – you would not believe the amount of fine print I’ve read in the last three days. I take that back, if you’re one of my close friends you are not at all surprised. What I’ve come up with is World Nomads travel insurance, which offers the best coverage for the kind of travel we do (bike touring, with some time to be spent hiking, snorkeling, and SCUBA diving) without any add-ons and at the best price by a good bit. We both feel really good about this coverage, and I’m sure Dave’s mom will sleep at least a couple hours a night as a result.
• I’ve set up my cell plan with Verizon so we can use the phone in SE Asia.
• We took pictures that I am sizing & printing out on photo paper for all our visas we’ll need. Much cheaper than paying for passport photos at AAA or elsewhere.
• Dave has completely finished all the work on both of our bikes. It’s a LOT of work, including replacing all the cables, swapping tires, replacing some of the cogs and rings, new brakes for him, new Selle An-Atomica saddles for both of us (see Dave’s saddle review and my saddle thoughts for an explanation), new rims for me, and much more. Basically, he reconditioned both bikes from top to bottom. The bikes are now ready to be boxed up and checked as luggage.
• There’s more, much more, but now I must get back to the list…

Four days to go!

Dave and I spent a week in La Crosse, Wisconsin to spend time with his family there. We stayed with his parents, Rich and Jan, in their condo on the La Crosse River. Dave’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew drove up from Golden as well, and we all had fun playing Scrabble, ping pong, sledding, and snow shoeing. Jan cooked up a feast complete with about 50 kinds of cookies for us to chow on for the week. We all drove to Madison from La Crosse on Christmas day to visit with extended family on Rich’s side, wonderful people that I was glad to get to know a bit, and they made me feel extremely welcome. Then Dave and I stayed a couple of nights with Kris and Leslie, the couple with whom we’ll be paddling around Baranof Island in the summer. All in all it was a great week.

Now we’re talking about the last few details of our upcoming SE Asia trip: deciding on bedding, whether the cook kit is necessary, sun protection for our face & neck while wearing a helmet. Most other details are set, and the bikes only need a wee bit of tinkering since Dave has already done most of the work.

We only have two weeks of winter left, then we’ll be in the sauna of Singapore and the beaches of Malaysia soon enough.

We fly out of Denver on January 14th, and will arrive in Singapore a day and a half later. For some reason the tickets had to be paper, and I have them right here beside me. How exciting! In a month we’ll be on our way to hot and humid beaches and jungles.

Right now I’m watching it snow, the tiny flakes blowing down on a good eight inches already there. I’ve seen three vehicles from the neighborhood drive by with skis on top. I guess everyone wants to skip Friday at work for the powder.

I’ve never been on a vacation where I escaped the cold winter to a warm beach. Will I like the sound of waves from inside our tent at night? I think I will. I sure hope we can camp on the beach as we make our way North.

It’s going to feel amazing to be back on the bike every day. It’s such a natural routine to get up, move your body, eat, move your body, then stop and rest each evening.