Paul and Dee here, we are retired from the California State Park System , specifically from working in the public safety arena on southern California beaches. We have been active outdoors people for most of our lives, however life sometimes gets in the way of living and contributed to unplanned weight gains by the time we retired. As former premier athletes, we knew we needed to get back in shape, as opposed to just being a shape. So with five years to spare before we retired, we had an epiphany whilst seated on our couch (most likely eating chips and salsa) and watching a PBS special on “America’s Scenic Trails”. It is here that were introduced to the practice of long distance hiking…on purpose (not because you got lost). A seed was planted, and an idea was born. When we retire, we will hike the PCT…we’ll have the time, how hard can that be? While most of our athletic talents and abilities are water related, recreating on land was sort of new to us, with the exception of regular fishing, diving and back country hunting trips that have allowed us to keep our freezer full of fresh venison, lobster, abalone, salmon and halibut. (Our kids grew up spoiled with fresh game). Back packing however, and walking miles upon miles every day for months was something completely different. As we looked into it further, and began to read hiker’s blogs, that seed began to take root and actual planning began. Before we retired, we completed thru-hikes of the Trans Catalina Trail (TRT), the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), and two forays into the Grand Canyon. Each adventure was not without mishap and significant learning curves. The general theme being that Dee often has problems with gravity and negotiating terrestrial objects (aka.. clumsy). She is much better in an aquatic environment. Nonetheless, she is not one to shy away from a challenge and luckily Paul is fleet of foot and was/is there to dust her off…once he’s finished laughing of course. Since our successful completion of the PCT in 2014, we have definitely caught the thru-hiking (or long distance hiking) bug.
We invite you to follow our journeys and share our adventures… as we live our motto of “You can Wonder all you want, or you can Wander and find out.“
2MoreMiles... 
Hi Paul and Dee – I met you at the Kick Off in front of the booths. My name is Audrey Stimson. Blond hair and glasses. I wanted to know how to get in touch with you? Do you have emails? Would love to see if we could catch up somewhere on the PCT.
Hi Paul and Dee. We’re about 2 hours west of PCT mile 2007 (Santiam Pass in Oregon). Not sure of your schedule (or ours) but would be happy to assist with resupply/shuttle if needed.
Awesome. We’ll take any help we can. Still a ways to go. Kinda holed up at Kennedy Meadows at the moment healing shin splints and watching the weather
Happy Anniversary #28
I’m pretty excited to see this: 1) because you guys are awesome and I love you and hope you have a great trip, and 2) because you unwittingly created your blog on WordPress.com, where I work…and you probably didn’t even realize that 🙂
You know who to ask for support if you need anything!
Cool! If you’re still working with Nutella ask them to make a squeeze tube. Much easier for on trail consumption.
I’ll see what I can do 🙂
Awesome. WordPress question. What would be the reason that 30% of my photos don’t load fully?
Hm, can you try deleting them from the post and then re-inserting them from the Media Library (i.e., Add Media/Image)?
Problem is that I never really know if/when they don’t load properly unless someone tells me…and it doesn’t happen all the time. Last time I just made a “photo” update post of the pictures that didn’t load fully.
Hi Paul and Dee, we met you Saturday (8/16/14) on Park Ridge, Mt. Jefferson. We’d just gotten married next to Sprague Lake and my son Jordan gave you a beer, we wished we had more for you. What a cool experience chatting with you both and hearing about some of your experiences. I’m surprised we didn’t follow you down the hill with more questions. Thanks for being generous with your time. We hope you enjoyed the Timberline buffet! May the rest of your journey be enjoyable as your time on the PCT is winding down. Take care, Sherri and Nico Geerling
We’ve been bragging to all the other PCT hikers about that beer and also telling them about the wedding. You have an awesome family. Thanks for making our day. Tomorrow we tap the buffet. Here’s to a long and happy marriage.
Hi Paul and Dee, Just popping in to say hi and so glad to have met you on the Chilkoot! I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog recounting the events. Sitting here saying, Oh yea, I remember that too! I jotted down dates and times we left and arrived at the campsites but didn’t really journal like I should have. What a grand experience! If you ever get back to Anchorage/Eagle River area be sure to find us! Now back to reality and planning the next one.
Yup. Had a great time! I’m a little behind with the blog, but will catch up when we’re home and I don’t have to pexk this out with my thumbs. We would love to get together with you again, and actually are planning our trip back to Alaska next summer for a longer and more extensive exploration of Alaska by land and by sea.