Nevada and Utah.

After finishing our JMT hike a few days early, we thought we were in good shape for the next hike on our itinerary. We were heading for the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop near Aspen, Colorado. It's a four day hike that is reputed to be one of the best hikes in Colorado, and that's saying a lot. There are four passes over 12,400', so given the elevation and our now anticipated start date of October 1st, we knew we'd be pushing the season a bit.

John Muir Trail

After a day off to recover from our Half Dome hike, we were ready to tackle the longest hike of our US trip. The John Muir Trail (JMT) in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, is considered by many to be the premier long distance hike in North America. It runs about 218 miles from Yosemite Valley south to King's Canyon National Park and Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental US. Dogs aren't allowed on US National Park trails, so we planned to spend 11 days doing the section of the JMT that runs between Yosemite NP and King's Canyon National Park - about 100 miles including the access and exit trails. That was the plan.

Half Dome

I think it's fair to say that government agencies and departments generally like to play it safe. Liability is a dirty word, and "risk management" can often rule the day. After hiking - and surviving - Half Dome, I'm happy to say that Yosemite National Park is the exception to the rule. As Cyd and I stood at the bottom of the cables on Half Dome, I couldn't help but say, "I can't f***ing believe they let people do this!"

On to Yosemite

After seeing the redwoods on the coast, we headed east into the mountains of northern California. We'd had cooler weather with a few clouds on both the Oregon and California coasts, but that all changed as we moved inland. It was 37 Celsius by the time we'd driven an hour and for the next 10 days, we got a taste of what most Californians had been experiencing for about 3 years straight. Sunshine, hot temperatures, and the constant threat of forest fires.

Whitehorse to California

Camping has always meant canoe or backpacking trips for us - even car camping with our tent felt like a guilty luxury. We briefly considered just using the tent on the US part of our trip, but in the end decided that sleeping in a tent for  2 1/2 months on the road with the dogs wasn't a good option. Actually, I briefly considered tent camping, and Cyd quickly decided that wasn't an option.

Paddling the Hart River

In between working on the house and getting packed and ready to leave our home in Whitehorse for 9 months, we managed to fit in an 18 day canoe trip on the Hart River in the northern Yukon. For non-Yukoners, this involves a 4 hour drive north from Whitehorse to Mayo, then a 30 minute float plane trip north into Elliot Lake. The trip down the Hart to Canyon Creek on the Peel River is about 300 kms (mostly north), where a float plane takes you back to Mayo. By the time the float plane picks you up at Canyon Creek, you're not too far from the Arctic Circle.

Canoes are strapped on for the flight to Elliot Lake.

Rafting and hiking with Kate and Jordan

"The Nozzle" is the first drop on the Tutshi River. The river narrows between large rocks as it drops about 6 feet down. The nozzle isn't quite wide enough for a raft to fit through.

As we scouted from shore our guide explained that we would have to hit the chute on the exact right line and then lean hard right as we rode up onto the rock on the right side of the nozzle. Failure would almost certainly result in the raft flipping. My niece Kate took it all in and announced, "I think I'm going to poop myself."