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!

Letter to Ibex, dbBrads favorite outdoor clothing company

Ibex was first introduced to me by Sara Diers at Wander on Whidbey, one of the best little gear shops I've ever shopped at.  When she first handed me Ibex I loved it, then I looked at the price tag.  But I didn't set it down, instead I tried the sexy practical hooded garment they call 'The Shak' on and I haven't taken it off since.  Though it cost more, it's far outlasted and outperformed any gear I've had previously in 30 years of mountaineering, kayaking, bicycling and traveling.  It's warm, looks great, tough, looks great, doesn't stink and it looks great, still.

dbBrad, his Ibex Shak, and Conan on Mount Talbot, above Homer Saddle overlooking Milford sound, on the South Island of New Zealand off the Te Araroa trail and on another Freestyle adventure.

I'm so enthralled with the company Ibex, who has stood behind their gear, replaced worn garments and even provided me with additional gear in exchange for photos of ibex all over the globe, that I'm writing to them to say, I love Ibex and want to wear it everyday.  And Yessi does TuTwo and so should you!!

TuTwo magazine

Yessi Ye (Ye Chan) works for an outdoor gear retailer chain in China called Tutwo.  When we finished our Annapurna circuit trip in Nepal, they ran an article with writings from both of us and a few pictures of our adventure.

Yessi Ye, TuTwo magazine cover we created.

Now they have requested Yessi do some more writing on her adventures here in America.  Besides her interest in outdoor gear design, Yessi is turning into quite an outdoors woman.   Beyond simple hiking and backpacking, we've started looking at climbing gear and Kayaking gear.  Though much of the gear is the same, each sport has it's special gear. This next week well be climbing Glacier Mountain and Kayaking in the San Juans.  Two of the best trips you can do in the Northwest and extra delight to be had after the grueling 210 miles of trails we hiked in Big Sur/Ventana over the last 3 weeks.

Pictures of dbBrad and Yessi, on the wall behind the TuTwo sales counters.

We both have a bit of a dream of working for TuTwo together, as a team, helping them to become the REI of China.  Improving product design, product testing, refining the selection of gear they offer, leading workshops and hiking adventures for employees and teaching them how to have fun outdoors and how to use the gear they sell, and of coarse having TuTwo promote and publish  our new book, Backpacking simplified.

dbBrad and Yessi hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal in 12 days.

And if you're curious about the gear company Y-B blue products, this is Yessi and My gear company name.  It would feature the color blue and Y is for Yessi and B is for Brad.  And Y-B blue, when you can use our gear and head out into the wilderness!!

From our Book, Back Packing Simplified,  the introduction:

Yessi and I met in New Zealand.  At the time she had very little experience hiking and had never been backpacking.  I on the other hand have been hiking, kayaking, biking, country skiing and, mountain climbing for 35 years.  We met in a McDonalds the day before I was to finish a 5 month trek, The Te Araroa Trail, which is a trail crossing both North and South islands of NZ..

Yessi was the first time in my travels around the world that I’d met a Chinese woman going solo, working and hitching her way across New Zealand.  Very brave and very sexy!  We met again in Wanaka and hitched together to Christchurch where I departed for San Diego, CA.

The next 5 months was another hike for me.  This time I was hiking home to Seattle from Mexico on the Pacific Crest Trail, some 2650 miles (4000km).  Yessi followed along on my Blog.

Having finished my second major thru-hike this year, I decided I was in for one more adventure and Yessi wanted to come.   We went to Nepal each with a 10kg backpack and hiked a 300km loop called the Annapurna circuit.

There was a lot of coaching and shopping to get Yessi outfitted for this trip.  Thirty years of experience poured out of me over the following weeks as I told Yessi everything she needed for a successful trip, and why.  And we flew to Kathmandu and hiked high in the Himalaya Mountains in fresh snow and reached Throng La gap at 5413 Meters (17,800 feet). We did it safely, we stayed warm, we were light and fast and we had lots and lots of fun.  And here’s how we did it...

One Year, 3 Continents, 5000 miles hiked

2012, a year of hiking summarized.

Recently I completed a year of tramping.   In November 2011 I closed my sustainable design build business and took a year to travel, think, look and learn.

In one year of Tramping all over the globe, the Cascades in Washington State are still amongst the best places to hike.

During this year I hiked the TeAraroa Trail in New Zealand, 3000km of amazing people and magnificent terrain; the Pacific Crest Trail, 2650 miles of trail from Mexico to Canada; and then the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, 144 miles of Buddhist Himalayan Magnificence.


A lake, one of many, along the PCT in Washington

I also started a fundraiser along the way, for the American Heart Association and the Pacific Crest Trail Association called Heart on the Trail.

Leave no Trace thru hiker Mc Sasquatch meets (no pun intended) leave lots of trace multi billionaire Ronald McDonald somewhere along the PCT.

I am unsure where my professional future lies, but it will involve design.  Perhaps teaching at a university, doing product design for outdoor gear companies or helping to solve the worlds housing needs with Habitat for Humanity.  I continue to look at all options and opportunities involving sustainable design.

New Zealand, far north end of South Island, Queen Charlotte Sound, the first track of the Te Araroa  on the South Island.

This summer, I'm blessed to be working for GreenTrails Maps maping our public lands for current and future users.  All last year I told myself, 'if only I could get paid for this (hiking)'.  Well now I am.

Signs along the Te Araroa.  Hand made and not sanctioned by DoC, they are still lovely and in a perfect place, half way along the Te Araro trail  between Cape Reigna and Bluff

All this started in 2011 with needing a break.  I closed up shop for a couple weeks and did some hiking in Washington on the PCT headed the wrong way (south).  This turned out to be the right thing to do since I met so many PCT thru-hikers along the way, headed north.  



Annie, PCT 2011,  quoted 'I hate hiking, but I love the people.'
This quote will be with me always.

Until this point in my life, I carried a 50 lb pack and thought that 12 miles was a long hike for one day!  And until then, I also thought I was the only one on the trail that hated hiking.  But then I met Annie.  She shared briefly with me, but as I hiked on this cold rainy day, her thoughts stayed with me, resonating a clarity--sometimes we do things for other reasons.

Boots (2011) and Freestyle (2012), pct hikers from different years meet in Washington.  We shared tobacco and beef jerky with two elk hunters, then marched on.  This picture is the most popular picture I've ever posted apparently, given its continued high ranking on dbBrad related Google searches.

Annie hikes to meet the people and in fact I do too now.  You just never know who you'll meet on the trail -- dirty, smelly, and needing a shower and a new shirt-- A doctor, an architect, cop, game designer or even a Cartographer for your favorite map company.

Green Trails Maps
The trails are my office and
my iPhone is my computer.

So this year, swing on by my office and lets talk design, trails, or education.  Just follow the Greentrails Maps to your nearest Trail Head and look for me, dbBrad!

Along the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, 2012

The crew from 2011 Te Araroa, shown on a beach 2 days from our finish in Bluff,
It's too bad Madelein and Philipia and Brian and Annie weren't here to make the Photo complete!

dbBrad, (Freestyle) draws another heart along the PCT for Heart on the Trail.