Ludo and Flore and how we keep meeting.

Two years ago (2012) I hiked the Te Araroa Trail.  I met many people and had many experiences along the way but perhaps two of my favorite two people are Ludo and Flore.

Ludo and Flore on the PCT, Snoqualmie Pass, August 2014

We had the opportunity to hike many days together along the Te Araroa and though we all hiked our own hike separating to go different directions, we kept coming across one another.

Ludo and Flore with Mt. Adams in the background.

When I left New Zealand, I flew to San Diego where I immediately started the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  Now, two years later, Ludo and Flore have just completed the PCT and with a few extra weeks before they depart to France, we got together for another great trip on Rainier.

My MSR Reactor, best stove ever.  This is the same stove I used
in NZ along the Te Araroa Trail and now, after all my bragging about it
Ludo and Flore have one too!!

I first met Ludo and Flore near the Glow Worm Caves, just south of Waitoma on the North Island of New Zealand.  It was a brief encounter and before I knew it, they went one way and we (I was hiking with Graham) went the other.  Yet we managed to end up at the same backpackers than evening.

l2r:Yessi, dbBrad, Flore, Ludo, Mt Rainier.

At the Bog in Hut, deep in the dark wet forest of Pureora, we met again.  We shared an emergency rum over a batch of instant pudding.  Then, early the next day, our time came to an end as they went one way and I went another, again.

Yessi, Ludo and Flore at abut 6k feet n the side of Mt. Rainier.

In Ohakune we met up to share a 3 day river canoe trip along the Wanganui.  My last memory of this trip was Ludo and Flore dragging a canoe, full of water up onto a boat ramp having just capsized.  It was raining but it didn't matter because everything they owned was floating in water and absolutely soaked.  I was injured and took the bus back to Ohakune but they packed up their gear and hiked on.  This was not our last goodbye.

Yessi, Ludo and Flore on the Wonderland Trail headed around Mt. Rainier.

We met up in Palmerston North a week or so later and hiked all the way to Wellington together.  This included the Taururas, a lovely stretch of beach, some interesting rides including one by an exotic dancer and the guard cow of Welliington.

Ludo with yet another 'cool' pose!

We stayed in the same backpackers in Wellington but they left a day or two before me.  It wasn't until Nelson Lakes south of St. Arnaud that I almost caught up with them again.  It snowed several inches and running low on food, they went another way and we missed by a day.

Flore demonstrates effective poling climbing Mt. Rainier.

I did catch them again at Aurthurs Pass.  They were staying in the backpackers and when I went to do laundry, I saw Ludo's red shirt.  I knew they were nearby.  We hiked out together the next day headed off on another leg of the Te Araroa.

We hiked together to the Raikai river and hitched together along lake Coleridge.  It's a long way around the Raikai river and we hiked for several hours before we even saw a car.  As it turns out, a local tramping club just finishing a day hike with room for two.  I stayed and walked and Ludo and Flore took the ride. I watched them drive away, smiling and waving through the back window of a car.

Flore and Ludo and Yessi, always smiling and having fun.

But then a few weeks later on the Two Thumbs track south of the Rangitata river, I was with Richard, another hiker.  We had just crossed the Rangitata, started up into the mountains and camped for the night.  The trail here follows a river and it's a cold wet hike.  We camped for the night and when we woke up, we saw it had snowed in the mountains.  We hiked in icy water all day climbing up and up until we were on top of another beautiful mountain range.  As we approached our target hut, we noticed smoke coming out of the chimney.  We found this odd and as we approached the hut the door opened and out came Ludo.  Again, Ludo and Flore were at this little hut and we had yet another micro reunion.

A panoramic (Auto Stitch App) of our first camp just above Pan Handle gap.

Somehow, we ended up in Tekapo together after bumping into each other at a hut.  I was just leaving and they decided to stay the night.  We thought maybe we would meet in town two days later.  As it turns out, I camped high above the lake and walked down early the next day.  Its another long road walk around the lake and very few cars to hitch from.  One of the few, a truck, drove right past and then stopped and backed up.  When I looked closely, Ludo and Flore were in the cab. The truck was full, but they convinced the driver to squeeze me in and off to Tekapo we went.

Ludo and Flore taking down the tent just after sunrise.  Here were at 7200 feet
in the Frying Pan back country zone.

From here, we split up and I hiked most of the rest of the trip by myself, until catching up with Arnaud and Charlie, two other Te Araroa trampers. But we met again in Riverton, two days prior to finishing the Te Araroa.  We hiked the last section to Bluff, all 6 of us (dbBrad, Ludo, Flore, Charlie, Arnaud and Richard) and had a celebration/reunion at the finish.  We all stayed in Bluff that night together before, once again, going our separate ways.

Our second night camp.  We couldn't see Rainier from here,
but we could see Baker, Adams and even Mt. Hood for a brief spell.

This time, having finished the trail, we said goodbyes for good.  As fate would have it, after attempting Mt. Aspiring with Richard, I left Wanaka and headed up to Tekapo to meet Yessi.  As fate would have it, I hitched a ride out of town and got a ride a few clicks up the road.  The driver let me off at a turn off and there were two hitch hikers standing where I got out of the car.  It was Ludo and Flore.  We had another very brief hello and goodbye, and they got in the same car I just exited and off they went.

Ludo and Flore taking a quick break on a log foot bridge over one of the
many creeks you will cross on the Wonderland trail.

Now, two years later, Ludo and Flore just finished the PCT.  I met them at Snoqualmie pass briefly. We made plans and upon their finish, they came to visit for a week.  We spent a few days on Whidbey island, a few days in the Cascades and then three days on Mr. Rainier.  Even though they hiked right next to the mountain, bad weather permitted them no views of the spectacular mountain.  But we fixed that!!

Finally and sadly, Ludo and Flore and Yessi and I spent our last day together in Seattle sight seeing prior to taking them to the airport around midnight, just a few hours before they were to depart early the next morning for home, back to France.

Ludo and Flore in front of a waterfall.  Were not on Mt. Rainier anymore
but rather in Seattle Wa, at Freeway Park.

This was yet another goodbye to my good friends, but this time I know it won't be the last.  Yessi and I will visit France sometime soon and we will see Ludo and Flore then.  Perhaps they will make our wedding in China too!

Two years ago, Ludo and Flore behind bars along the Te Araroa trail in NZ..

Two days ago, Ludo and Flore behind bars once again!!
This time Yessi is with them and were in Seattle WA, USA.!

Ludo and Flore on the PCT

Two years ago, while hiking across NZ on the Te Araroa trail, I met Ludo and Flore.

F2B: Flore, Ludo, Arnod, dbBrad, Charlie Barron and Richard Wagner.
As seen on cover of Southland Times, April 21st, 2012

We crossed each others paths many times and did a lot of hiking together.

Ludo and Flore, always smiling!

We even finished the trail on the same day and were on the same front page of a local NZ newspaper.  In fact it was on this day that I met Yessi who is now my wife!!

Ludo and Flore at Snoqualmie pass, Under the Freeway
at Denny Creek.

I left invicargill, Ludo and Flore and Yessi and flew to San Diego, arriving a cool 55 minutes before I left NZ (internatinal date line) and immediately began hiking the PCT.  Yessi followed my adventures as did Ludo and Flore.

Ludo and Flore, both with new shoes.
Hiking the last 2 weeks in comfort!!

They spent the next year plus in Montreal Canada, thinking about hiking and now this year, they are hiking the PCT.

Ludo and Flore on the PCT, riding no hands!!

Actually, they are already done. Congratulations to Ludo and Flore for a successful completion of the PCT.

l2r: Ludo, Flore, Deb, TGW (The Germ Woodman) and Yessi

In NZ, i tool lots of pictures of my photogenic friends.  I haven't seen them for two years, but did run across them at Snoqualmie pass, just days before they completed the PCT.

dbBrad saying goodbye to Ludo and Flore after a great weekend

As usual, they make excellent subjects for photography and pretty darn good conversation too.

Ludo and Flore, back on the PCT.

Also to be noted are Greg and Deb who put us all up in style at their cabin on Snoqualmie pass and even gave us all high quality germs for the road!!  Thanks Greg and Deb!!

The month of March, 2014 organizing Photographs and the perception of time.

I used to keep my photographs organized in files labeled by subject.  This worked well for me for years, but now that I have  45,000 photos of projects, family holidays, design build projects.

Yessi trying on wedding dresses at 'Brides for a Cause'

Since my year of hiking in New Zealand, The PCT, and Nepal, I've changed my organizational hierarchy.  I found that after a year of such amazing adventure, it was hard to find a place for simple pictures of my town, dog, family and home.  Pictures that will never make the blog, that don't have an event associated with them, but that I want to keep.

Yessi cutting fern fonds at FrEdLey

So I changed to filing by date.  I have a folder for the year, and another for each month.  Then, as time goes on, I separate out some photos associated with events.

A quick sketch of where Yessi is from, where I'm from and where we met.

Such is the month of March, 2014.  I'm looking at photos, deleting some, moving some, remembering the month.  And what a month.  So much has happened, I had to check dates on my photos to make sure they weren't from February or January.  It feels like several months have gone by in the span of only 30 days.

Yessi on a huge Cedar stump on a piece of property on Maxwelton we wanted to buy.

When I was hiking the PCT, I had the opportunity to hike with Mark, a very generous, interesting and educated man.  His wife was a Neurologist and he explained to me why time seemed to move so fast when we as hikers were moving so slow.

Container awning finished at Clinton Property

Here's his explanation: People remember the passage of time by events.  Most people with jobs and routines only have a few events a month that aren't' part of a routine.  Thus when they remember the month, there are only a couple of items that stand out, that are new or different from the routine.  As long distance hikers, we have events every day.  A new town, a new mountain, getting lost, swimming in a special lake.  Were making several memory entries per day, rather than per month.  So when looking back and remembering, there is lots to remember and it feels like longer ago that it really was.

Power hooked up at Clinton Property

Such is the month of March, 2014 for dbBrad and Yessi Ye.  We are getting married in just 3 weeks and this month has gone by so fast, it's hard to believe we were just trying on wedding dresses 4 weeks ago.

Container moved to Clinton property with lots of cleaning up work by Yessi

Yessi carefully removes invasive plants around our beloved skunk cabbage

Moore Garden space was needed and here it is!

Yessi begins packing for our move.  After almost 2 years at our cabin on the Moore estate, we will be moving.

Fran and Ed pruning fruit trees and grapes while Benton watches along.

Giant Rhododendrons from Bill Skipe in Greenbank

BAPOW, Giant fir Beams for an Arbor project

A lovely piece of land on Saratoga we hope will soon be ours.

This is the month of March for Yessi and Brad.   Hard to believe this all happened in one month, but the dates on the photos don't lie, even if my brain doesn't want to believe it!

Yessi in the USA ~~~ 在美國yessi

No matter how big the sea may be, sometimes two ships meet.
不管有多大，他海浪，有時兩艘船滿足。
  Chinese Proverb

Yessi came to live with me this summer for 4 months.  Time went fast, too fast, and has now returned to China.  Our plan was that I would return home to China with her, but this dream was contingent on us both getting jobs for Tutwo which didn't happen unfortunately.

Christ Church Earthquake
Damage from Demolition, first at the hand of God, then at that of an excavator operator.

We had a wonderful summer hiking, camping, traveling, spending time in our little cabin in the woods, visiting with family and friends, seeing the sights, and just being together.

Yessi Ye and dbBrad in Hong Kong.
As of this point, we'd spend less than a week actually together, but almost a year since we'd met.

We met in the spring of 1012 in New Zealand, just before I was finishing the Te Araroa trail.  She followed me on my adventures on the PCT as I hiked from Mexico to Canada and then when I was done, I decided to go visit her.  This was prompted by the need for a root canal.  Such circumstance that we met in NZ at McDonald's of all places, spent one week together hitching to the other side of NZ, one day walking Crist Church and then said good by, only to meet again over a tooth ache.

Hong Kong from the water.  A magnificent city.

Somehow I have a knack for adventure and Yessi seems to like this.  She is caught between two cultures, the traditional stereotypical Chinese patriarchal family she was raised in, and one of travel, democracy, equal rights and opportunity she has glimpsed in her extensive traveling.  Adventure is within her grasp and she's ready and willing for anything.

Yessi (Chan Ye) and her family under the covered porch
that serves as entrance and outdoor living on the top floor of their building.

So we turned our quick trip to China into a quick trip to Nepal where we headed into the Himalayas and hiked the Annapurna Circuit (December 2012).  This was wonderful, with ups and downs, but we are a good pair.  Since I was to be hiking all summer for Green Trails, I suggested she come and hike with me.   A good deal, to be together, to travel hike ad adventure, and to get paid for it!  And so we spent the summer of 2013 together in the U.S.

Chan Ye, Yessi or Lil'Sherpa at 3000m elevation along the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.

My relationship with someone from another country on the other side of the planet has taught me to make the most out of the time you have.  We don't know our future, but we had 4 months together and we wanted to make the most of it.

Freestyle and Lil'Sherpa spinning prayer wheels.
At this point, she was 4 days into her first backpack trip ever and I was at 4850 miles into my year of hiking.

I think a person would be hard pressed to get more adventure, more sight seeing, more experiences and more love into 4 months. Here's a quick synopsis of our summer together ~~~

Yessi and Freestyle at PCT kickoff 2013.

Yessi and I did a lot of traveling this summer.  We also did a lot of hiking.  We hiked near the Mexican border in the desert; along the Pacific Ocean in California at Big Sur; in the Olympic mountains; in the Cascades;  and at Mt. Rainier.

Yessi in Glacier Peak Wilderness

We went up and down the pacific coast from Mexico to Canada and were able to intersect the PCT in many places.  Yessi has now hiked on the PCT many miles and is interested in doing the whole trail, inspired by my hiking the trial in 2012, and our visits to some of it's most beautiful places along the trail.

Yessi along the PCT at Lake Campo, about 25 miles from the Mexican Border.  This photo was used in the
 TuTwo Magazine that  is seen all over China.

All totaled we hiked over 650  miles this summer.  She says she still loves it and wants to do more in fact she keeps talking about hiking the PCT.  Perhaps I'll be on that trail 4 years in a row!

Yessi on the PCT at Chinook Pass, about 2200 miles from Mexico

Besides hiking, Yessi seemed very interested in a variety of activities.  She took well to glacier travel and desires to climb mountains and to learn rock climbing.  She was an outstanding cycle passenger, our mode of transportation from one end of the West Coast to the other.

Brad & Yessi in the faithful BMW.  We put 3000 miles on loaded with backpacks and camping gear on our road trip to PCT Kick off and then all around the Ventana wilderness up and down Hwy 101 and the surrounding roads between Big Sur and King City then back up the coast to Washington.

Yessi at REI, Seattle

She has my fascination for tractors, cars, motorcycles and all things that go.  Yessi wanted to drive everything from tractors to lawnmowers.

Yessi driving a tractor at North Bend at my dad's home

Yessi mowing the lawn at our cabin on Whidbey Island

Family time included a camping trip at Hamma Hamma Campground in the Olympics together with the celebration of my birthday. 

Ed, Benton, Brad & Yessi

A very, very happy birthday spent with Yessi

Somehow, we were also able to squeeze in a TuTwo tour of Langley, Seattle and many outdoor shops, including Wander on Whidbey on Whidbey Island
.  

TuTwo visitors at Langley's Second Street Market

And with the spirit and freedom only afforded in America, she wanted to go shooting.  So during our last visit to my dad's, we got out some guns and went shooting.  She did amazing well, never flinching, unafraid, confident and she hit the target every time.

Yessi giving target practice a whirl

We managed to squeeze in lots of other fun activities, like lily fighting, a game of wit and strategy with a face eating flower!

Yessi's face lost the battle

Swimming in the lake and catching crawdads in a home made trap which I can't take credit for but wish I could.  Pretty ingenuous and made by a guy that didn't finish middle school.

A tour of Boeing's Museum of History and Flight and how they make the airplanes that got her from China to Seattle, and took her away again.

.

Brad & Yessi at Boeing in front of GE's largest turbine which utilizes carbon fibre blades.  Hard to believe plastic can be used in a jet engine, but this is some of the finest most reliable and efficient engineering in the world.

Meeting the man behind Hong Kong's number one coffee chain, Pacific Coffee.  Gary's home and business are located right here on Whidbey Island.  There are about 1200 Pacific Coffees, almost 400 just in Hong Kong alone.  Several 40' containers a month get filled with coffee roasted and packed right here and sent oversees. 

Brad, Yessi & Gary at Mukilteo Coffee

We visited one of the tallest falls in Washington, 270 feet in Snoqualmie, a town I grew up in.  She didn't believe the Salmon can jump that high!

Yessi at Snoqualmie Falls

We took  ferry rides where we could see Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountians including Glacier Peak, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker, two volcanoes, and the Olympic Mountiains where we spent several weeks hiking.  On the evening of the 4th of July we took the Edmonds Ferry to Kingston and on the way were rewarded with spectacular fireworks displays from Seattle to Edmonds, to Everett, to Kingston.

Yessi, Ed and Fran on the Mukilteo ferry.

Yessi & Brad arriving in Clinton on the Mukilteo Ferry

We went to Ibex at University Village in Seattle to shop for the best outdoor clothing you can get, made from Merino Wool, right here in the USA.  Yessi  returned to China with some fashionable new clothing, made in America!!

Yessi at the Ibex Store

We had a picnic with lots of Whidbey Island locals at the Maxwelton Beach, and enjoyed beautiful views watching the sun set as a variety of local musicians filled the air with their music.  Our feelings were warm and magical as one can only get at a gathering of friends and family.

Maxwelton Beach picnic

She even got to see 'the bear'!!  Quite a coincidence to see a brown black bear with a view of Mt. Rainier, wildflowers and beautiful Yessi all together!

Mt. Rainier in all its glory

All in all, we had an amazing summer.  I sure do miss her, but we will be together soon, either here or there, but we are committed to finding a way to make it happen.

Incongruous as this seems -- sweet Yessi with a fierce weapon.
Probably very few Chinese not in the military have ever even seen a gun, let alone held one and fired it.
If this doesn't assist her visa approval, I don't know what will!!

~~~

It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.

它是由我們見面的機會，通過選擇，我們成了朋友。

 Author unknown

dbBrad poses with another Heart drawn this summer hiking for Green Trails.
Heart On The Trail has a whole new meaning now, thanks to Yessi!