I hope that everyone has had a great week! We’re back with episode 2 of 3 in our mini series! Here is the episode, enjoy!

Our friends over at Four Wheel Campers asked if we’d be interested taking a test trip in two of their demo rigs. Not ones to pass up such a fun sounding opportunity we immediately turned to our friends Chase and Aimee of Tight Loops and asked if they’d be interest in trading in their Vanagon for two weeks to travel in a FWC!

As we crept ever closer to the US and Canadian border we found ourselves in the coastal rainforest of Washington. Those of you who have been following us for at least the last year, you know that we have fully become desert dwellers. The moss-draped trees felt completely foreign to us, but we were so hungry to dive deep into this incredible new terrain.

We rarely drive from point A to point B. Instead, we like to take the scenic route when we are “commuting”. This spring as we started to make our way, slowly, towards the US and Canadian border we wanted to find a creative route to get us off the beaten path so that we can see something new, have some fun and still get to where we need to go.

Before we get into this final episode, I want to take a moment to thank you all. This series, A Summer Adrift, was the first of hopefully many. We had no idea how this format of video would be received, but we wanted to take the time to record, write, and make something more in-depth than we’ve ever made before as a way to process this turbulent year. At the time that we started putting this series together, we had no idea that it would turn into the biggest creative undertaking each of us had ever been apart of. This is the kind of work that we want to make in the future. It’s fulfilling to be able to go out and live all of this, but it’s something else entirely to reflect on it to make a cohesive storyline out of what this summer has meant to us.

We started this episode with a bang. We were waiting for enough snow to melt off of Teewinot so we could climb it. This mountain is why we were going in and out of Jackson countless times over the summer. For those who are not familiar Teewinot is the peak that stands just to the right of the Grand when viewing the Tetons from Jackson. When we arrived after the Winds we were warmed up and ready and so was the mountain!

After being in Jackson and saying goodbye to Chase and Aimee, we ventured farther south to Pinedale, Wyoming with Peter, Shruthi, and Micah. We came here with plans to head into the backcountry for a four-day backpacking trip.

In Yellowstone, we had a few specific areas and creeks that we wanted to fish. Chase and Aimee know this area well and had an itinerary already in place before we arrived. For our second day in the park, we loaded up with a day worth of gear and hiked into the mountains to spend the day on the water.

After being in Butte we finally started to make our way towards Yellowstone National Park. We’d been looking forward to going as a group since we first got together after leaving quarantine. We were excited to finally be getting so close!

Feeling content with everything we’d accomplished in Idaho, we decided to relocate to Montana. Not moments after crossing into the state, over the radio Peter told us that he thought their van Blitz was having some problems.

Just a day or two after the hike into the Frank Church Wilderness we were ready to head back out on our next adventure! This time we were heading back into the Sawtooths with our sights set on the highest peak in the range!

When we came to Idaho we had already done a lot of research on overnight backpacking trips. We knew that this area is choke-full of them, however, this one as not on our radar.

At the tail end of the previous episode, we celebrated Owen’s birthday with a fancy dinner out on the town. Leading up to his birthday, Owen explicitly said he didn’t want me to get him anything for his birthday. But with every passing day, he was borrowing Chase and Aimee’s spare rod more and I knew that his very own fly rod was the perfect gift.

Three weeks of staying in Jackson meant that we had three weeks of watching the sunrise and sunset over the Tetons. Just about every night we all made our way out to a clearing to watch the sun dip behind the mountains and light up the sky. We came to realize that no two sunsets in Jackson are alike. We were treated to so many unique views that we’re more captivating than the last!

The episode starts out with us arriving in the Jackson, WY area for a few days of camping before heading closer to town and Teton National Park. This is one of our favorite camp spots for the wonderful views and easy access to fishing.

After leaving Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado we headed up north into Wyoming for the first of many times this summer. When we first got there we had no idea how much we’d end up doing in the state, but more on that later.

On our way north we didn’t want to rush to the National Monument, so like always, we took the scenic route through a canyon that featured some of the best and most dense petroglyphs sites we’ve seen to date.

After leaving the Capitol Reef area we moved a little further north, once again looking for a place to spend our last few days with Karissa and Linhbergh. On our way to our destination, we stopped at a shallow and cool creek to take a dip and escape the heat, if even for just a few mins.

At the end of Episode 1 we were in Capitol Reef National Park. We then made our way to this special spot outside the park for a few days to sit still and wait for our last party to arrive!

Each week I will be posting a blog post to accompany the video so we can share some behind the scenes photos from each episode and I can write a little more in-depth about our experiences! First up, episode one: Leaving Quarantine.