Wrapping up our 3rd Year -- On the Road with Maya

Apple blossoms in the White Mountains of New Mexico

Our peaceful week in Ruidoso went by all too quickly.  The spring weather was all over the place with a few days of high winds, some snow and rain and happily towards the end, some really great days. 

Apples used to be a big crop in the Hondo Valley and Ruidoso area.  Over the years apple production has dropped but there are still orchards and many apple trees have been planted in yards all over town.  Even hiking in the mountains we found a few rogue apple trees in full bloom – remnants left from old mountain homesteads. Though we missed out on the cherry blossoms back east, the apple blossoms gave us quite the show.

 April snow in the White Mountain Wilderness, Argentina Cut-Across Trail

 

Finishing off our week in Ruidoso, we took two long hikes in the White Mountain Wilderness.  It was a good way to start getting our legs back into hiking shape and to wrap up our third year ‘on the road.’  Each year as we have been traveling, an unofficial ‘theme’ evolves.  We never really plan them, but the themes ‘crystallize’ as we journey.

Interpretive sign installed after 2012 Little Bear Fire near Ruidoso
We planned to come to Ruidoso in 2012 but had to change our plans as the fire raged.

Besides being about the newness of the RV life and traveling with our dog, Maya, fire and drought in the west became our focus as we headed from Texas to the northwest part of the country.  We didn't leave Texas that year until mid-June, prime fire season, and were continually changing our plans to avoid the many fires and the choking smoke they produced.

The second year we traveled east.  As we followed the Appalachian Trail and listened to all the stories from the hikers we met, the Appalachian Trail became our theme. That was a very special trip for us as we had not spent very much time in the eastern part of our country and didn’t realize just how beautiful the east was.



 

 The marker at the start of the Appalachian Trail, top of Springer Mountain, Georgia

Our third year we went west again, leaving Texas in early April and spending some time in the southern western states before heading north.  Although we hadn’t realized it when we started out, 2014 was the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Wilderness Act.  We discovered this during our time in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico and decided then to try to hike into as many wilderness areas as we could along our way.  The Pacific Crest Trail became part of our theme, too, as we hiked 13 sections of this Mexico to Canada trail with several of those hikes also being in wilderness areas.

David and Maya on the Pacific Crest 'High Trail' in the Ansel Adams Wilderness,
near Mammoth Lakes, California

 

Now would probably be a good time to sum up some of our thoughts and statistics from this year’s journey, the year of the wilderness.  Everyone wants to know what our favorite places were and that is always so hard to narrow down.  There are so many but I’ll give it a try!

The Bristlecone Pine Forest in the Inyo National Forest of California was a big favorite for both of us.  Those 4,000 year-old plus trees are the definition of ‘gnarly.’ And it is so amazing that they can grow in the bare, white dolomitic soil that surrounds them.

Bristlecone Pine Forest, Patriarch Grove, Inyo National Forest
near Big Pine, California

We also loved the wilderness areas around Mammoth Lakes, the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wildernesses.  Parts of the Pacific Crest Trail went through this region and these were some of our most scenic hikes.  And while in California, it is never a mistake to make a stop at Sequoia National Park or the Redwoods.

Maya near a smaller sequoia tree

Oregon is always a winner and a new place we visited this year was the Sisters area.  Sisters is a picturesque music and art community nestled just east of three mountainous wilderness areas with the Pacific Crest Trail passing through.

We went to some new places in Montana, one of which was the Jewel Basin.  Although not a wilderness, it was a hiking only area and truly one of the most beautiful places we’ve been.  The Rockies in Canada and the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho finished off our ‘wow’ places for 2014.

Jewel Basin, Montana

 

So after a winter of fun, family and volunteering in Texas, here we are ready to start out on our fourth 'On the Road with Maya' adventure.  It will be fun to see what theme develops this year as we spend time in the Midwest.  This is probably our most ‘loosely’ planned trip yet as we still don’t know much more than we are going to Michigan to visit David’s brother.  But I am confident this journey will eventually have a focus too.  Follow us on the blog as we figure it out.

Maya isn't sure what will happen next...

 

David’s Stats for 2014: (out of Texas hiking and road mileage)
 

Days Hiked     153
Total Miles Hiked    734
Total Elevation Gain     102,770 feet
Number of Wildernesses Hiked   25

Days hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail   13

Miles driven on the RV   9,740

Miles driven on the Honda   10,560