Good evening, Wide World of Apogee! You’ve got Chad and his tin jokes again tonight – sorry about that. The good news is that we have pictures from every trip in the field today – even the elusive California Mountains & Coast. So, without further ado…
VM: Our Vermonsters were hard at work on their community service project this morning installing a brand new public garden fence in Burlington alongside an international group of Volunteers for Peace. Not content with their construction project, these guys decided, what the heck?, let’s ride 29 miles north. They’ll enjoy a well-earned rest day tomorrow on the water as the paddle sea (lake?) kayaks around Lake Champlain.
CQA: Ready. set. start the engines… After their day off of the bikes yesterday, Susie and Nick’s crew were back in the saddle and gunning north, leaving coastal hills in their wake as they turn inland. They, and everyone else in the northeast, enjoyed a stunner of a summer day today!
CQB: Meanwhile, back in Camden, it was unconventional weight lifting in the name of community service. Mia and Alex’s group moved logs all morning to build a bridge for the Coastal Mountains Land Trust in Camden. Moderately rested, they’re back on the road bright and early tomorrow morning.
NEMC: Our NEMCinators (do you see how we struggle with catchy nicknames with our acronyms? I’m worried that this may be a new low…) had a huge day today. Mount Washington. All six thousand two hundred and eighty-nine feet of it. They went up. They came down. An awesome way to finish out the major hiking portion of their trip. They’re now headed to the Great State of Maine for re-supplying and rafting.
DEX: Our DEXsters enjoyed a picture perfect morning for enjoying sunrise on Mt Cadillac this morning. Of course, they earned their view – they woke up at 1:30 AM (!) to get on the trail at 2:15 AM (!) and summited by 4:15 AM (!). It was chilly up there this morning, but, according to CC and Jack, totally worth it. You may not be surprised to learn that there was some napping this afternoon. They’ll bid adieu to Acadia tomorrow and head for the backcountry for the next few days.
CMC: Holy cow! Jillian and Tim found a very rare pocket of cell service to send us a bunch of pictures. In her message, Jillian said that they spent today hiking the stunning nine-mile bluff loop at Andrew Molera State Park. Her quote: “spirits are high as we look forward to a night among the redwoods!” Oh, and they’re ninjas, too.
CSA: Mason, Maddie and their community service dynamos were right back at it today. Here they are in the mist at the top of the Mt Britton tower after a morning that combined trail cleanup with jungle hiking. It’s a combo like ebony and ivory! They also made it to the very top of the Forest – the second, slightly more risque picture shows the group at the summit of El Yunque itself.
PCA: McKayla and Micah are in high spirits over on the West Coast as they enjoyed an awesome ride up and over the hyped Seven Devils hills south of Coos Bay, OR. You can see below that they just mocked the hills by throwing the devil horns right back at the road. Grr!
PCB: A more demure set of Pacific Coasters smiles very nicely for the camera on the other side of Coos Bay. Hannah and Shem’s group enjoyed a chilly start to the morning (Hannah called me because she said it was too cold to text…), but great riding conditions as they work their way down the coast. Tomorrow, they’ll get to throw their own horns as they take on Seven Devils.
NWX: Up in the Olympics, Josh and Addie are loving life. They have a perfect day for hiking today, and are taking advantage of trails through and over all sorts of terrain today. (We’ll chastise them for the backlit group shot tomorrow!) We may not hear from them for another couple of days as they are headed into the Olympic backcountry tomorrow. Don’t you just expect to see a hobbit pop out in the third shot below? Oh look, there’s Frodo!
TSA: Laura, Pat e tutte delle ragazze (that may or may not mean “all of the guys”…) are safe and sound in Gubbio tonight. Their group is finally at full capacity as the last late arrival made it safely today. The shot below is from yesterday’s day ride around Assisi (that’s the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi in the background). They’ll enjoy a downhill start to tomorrow’s ride that will take them to Lago del Trasimeno and it’s woeful tale of Romans, Hannibal, and his elephants.
ACCA: David and Anna’s group rested, recharged, and umm, donned grass skirts on their rest day in Socorro, NM today. It was a very good day. They’re into one of the more remote stretches of their ride tomorrow as they head ever further westward through the high, piny forests of western New Mexico.
ACCB: Meanwhile, in similar high, piny forests to the east, Mike and Danika’s group pushed through strong headwinds that made them feel every mile today. They’ve got one more day of riding before they get to enjoy the many delights of a rest day in Socorro, too.
