“Once again we were unleashed upon the world. No broken leg this time. That’s the beauty of seasonal work, the job ends and you are set free. The feeling is probably more exciting when you have a mobile home to live in, because then your new place of residence can be the legendary American road. This time we weren’t going to work a job for the next six months.

We took to the road on the first morning of our new lives and drove up highway 15, away from Vegas. We drove across the Moapa Indian Reservation. We had no more trailer to live in, it was gone. How sad, it was a great trailer, a wonderful memory.

“Are you ready for the country?” I asked her. Scattered clouds floated along above the gorgeous Moapa desert, casting purple shadows on the beige and blue land.

“Maggie, this might be the best day of my life.” I told her. We drove across the desert to embark upon our quest. We could see then how everything lay ahead of us. This was the very beginning of the greatest journey of our lives to date, and first we’d go to Utah. A place we held in memory above all other places, to us, the most beautiful place. Now we were to see it with fresh eyes and a newfound appreciation for the desert.”

 

We drove the scenic routes all the way to Moab retracing my journey with Lars. I was able to show Maggie everything she had missed when she had her broken leg. We took a rafting trip with Lars and Laurel and then headed for a week of exploring in New Mexico. I had to cut that story out, so this chapter takes you to Iowa where we spent two weeks at Maggie’s home. There we planned for the Pacific Crest Trail. At the bottom of this page I’ll include the list of gear I took for the hike.

This gear was not state of the art, nor was it brand new. We bought many new things for this trip, but we also used alot of the same old stuff we had been using for years. This is all I had and all I needed. I didn’t carry a tent, Maggie had the MSR Hubba Hubba Two person tent and I’d recommend it highly. Instead I would carry most of the food and water. Our system worked great for us.

3lbs                       Kelty Redwing Backpack

11¼oz                   Metal cook pot, pot holder, spoon, pocket knife

1lb ¾oz                 Sleeping pad

2lbs 9oz                Sleeping bag

1lb 1½oz               Gortex insulated Northface rain jacket

3lbs 2oz                Clothes- tank top, long sleeve smartwool shirt, polyester baggy sweatshirt, flimsy shorts, leggings, gortex wind pants, socks two pairs, gloves, backpack rain cover, mosquito headnet, dry bags

7oz                         Hat and emergency bivvy

1lb 2¼oz               Katadyn water filter

5oz                         Medical kit

8oz                         Tarp

4oz                         String

12oz                       Sunglasses

3oz                         Map cover, maps, plastic bags

7oz                         Duct tape wrapped to a pen, small leatherman, headlamp, waterproof matches, needle and thread, small tube of crazy glue

5oz                         Backpacking towel, compass, emergency magnesium strip

1lb 11oz                Notebook and sandals

4oz                         Toothbrush and paste

7oz                         Cell phone and charger

Total: 18lbs 18oz

It never felt that light…