Day 22: What a Beautiful View!

By: Olivia Box

We’ve got quite the collection of stories and photos for our faithful readers today! On this day, there are only two West Coast trips running, as many wrapped up yesterday. Never fear, we have plenty to report from California, the Northeast, down south in Texas, and across the pond in Europe. Today’s blog is hiking-heavy with four groups hiking in our beloved Maine and two in California! But of course we have Cape Cod and the Islands, Vermont to Montreal, America Coast to Coast, and Europe Coast to Coast to get our daily biking fix.

Skip to a Specific Trip: MCJ, CI, CRM, CSA, MCP, DEXA, DEXB, VM, CRLS, CMCA, CMCBECCA, ECCB, ACC1, ACC2

Maine Coast Junior (MCJA)

It’s biking time for MCJA! To the carriage roads they went, spending the morning in one of Acadia’s hidden gems. They’ve become true biking machines! After a refreshing swim, they spent the afternoon exploring Bar Harbor.

MCJA crushing the Carriage Roads!
How’s the Maine water?

Maine Coast Junior (MCJB)

MCJB did a full day hike in Acadia today, getting some views from Bubble Mountain (while of course, blowing bubbles). To continue the full Maine experience, they got some views of the ocean in the afternoon. It was a little bit of everything for MCJB today!

“The men pondering the watery depths. A meditation on the fragility of humanity and our mortality in the face of Poseidon’s wrath” -Will Vietze, blog caption extraordinaire
Girl Power
Bubbles on bubble rock!
The whole squad! On a bridge! On a hike!

Cape Cod & the Islands (CI)

Back to the boats! CI took the ferry from Nantucket and settled into Cape life in Brewster. They biked from the dock in Hyannis to Brewster, a shorter ride after their big challenge day yesterday. The rest of the trip will be spent on the Cape, biking to beaches, coastal villages, and likely eating some of the best ice cream on the Cape!

Cape Bound!
I imagine Leader Ben is out of the frame, preparing a delicious lunch for his students

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (CRM)

The crew woke up to the sounds of Leaders Gracie and Tim singing joyously. Why? Because it’s service day! They did trail work in the morning with Boulder Open Spaces, scraping logs and clearing Christmas trees. The rest of the afternoon was spent touring the city, and tonight they’ll share a final dinner together. Time flies!

Log scraping with Open Spaces
Look at those lumberjacks and lumberjills!
Love the cape!

Caribbean Service Adventure (CSA)

CSA had their first day of service at the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge, spending the morning working in the greenhouse. This afternoon, they had the opportunity to go snorkeling. What an introduction to the island!

Maine Coast Photo (MCP)

With a morning photo lesson from Apogee’s photographer, Gabe, MCP is off to a strong start! The rest of the day was spent at Pemaquid Point lighthouse. They spent their first afternoon with cameras in hand exploring a lighthouse and the ocean. Can’t wait to see them show off their pictures at their photo exhibition!

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXA)

DEXA moved off the water and drove further east, towards Acadia National Park. They had a great couple of days kayaking and are gearing up for exploration of Acadia in the next couple of days. Hikes and new ocean views, coming right up!

Thumbs up for kayaking!
How could we not post this?

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXB)

DEXB is gettin’ backcountry! For the next 2 days they are cruising along the Appalachian Trail (AT) as they head towards Baxter State Park. This is a special portion of the AT, as it looms beneath grand Mount Katahdin which this crew will get to explore shortly.

Cooking up a storm!
Squad’s ready to hike!

Vermont to Montréal (VM)

It’s a day off the bikes for VM, but it’s a packed day all the same! The crew did service this morning, cleaning up a beach with the Burlington department of Parks and Recreation. This afternoon, they spent time walking around the great city of Burlington, home to plenty of good ice cream (wink, wink). Tomorrow, they’ll continue their ride north to Canada.

Beach clean up with Burlington Parks and Rec
Constructing a community garden
After all the hard work. they were treated to Ben and Jerry’s (when in Vermont…)

Costa Rica Language & Service (CRLS)

Ah, Spanish By The River. CRLS spent the morning in the classroom perfecting their Spanish skills. This afternoon, they did some service in the local community.

Puedo ver que su Español esta mejorando!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCA)

What time is it? Trail time! CMCA spent the day hiking in Big Trees State Park, where we predict they will see some big trees. This hike is their “practice” hike before they embark for the upcoming backcountry portion in Yosemite. Not enough cell service for pictures today, but we’re looking forward to some Big Tree photos tomorrow!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCB)

CMCB is deep into the back country of Yosemite, soaking up all the best things the park has to offer: untouched wilderness, views of waterfalls, and of course more GIGANTIC trees. We’re counting down the days until we receive pictures from this crew!

Europe Coast to Coast (ECCA)

The ECCA group enjoyed a ride through the heart of the Alps today. Biking through the Alps is challenging that’s for sure, but well worth it! Today provided some stellar views of the best of Europe. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Which is more stunning: the view, or Red’s bike shorts?
I need emoji’s to properly caption this, because WOW what a view!

 

Europe Coast to Coast (ECCB)

95 km into Gaschurn, Austria today! The views were just gorgeous as they pedal their way into the Alps. Gashurn is known for great skiing, so there’s no shortage of hills in the area!

Chandler leading the way to Austria!
Rolling out!
Peep those Mountains!

 

America Coast to Coast (ACC1)

Rest day no more! ACC1 was up and early, wasting to time getting back to biking.They rode from Jacksboro to Throckmorton. Just three more days of riding in Texas!

They were up early- biking into the sunrise!
Ready to crush the miles!

America Coast to Coast (ACC2)

95 miles for ACC today into Jacksboro, Texas! It was a hilly riding day, but it was no match for ACC2. They stopped in Munster for the can’t-be-missed strudel, which provided all of the necessary fuel for this killer ride. After all of this hard work, tomorrow’s rest day will be much appreciated.

Tim’s smile screams, STRUDEL! Nom nom.
What a red-white-blue crew! Gasp! Where’s Sherry?!
THERE SHE IS! Do you think we’d post a blog without a selfie? Of course not.