Day 16: Fresh Ends and New Beginnings

By: Annika Nygren

Day 16: I’m back! Hiking Mount Katahdin with Erin and Marino’s DEXcellent group was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had!  I can’t wait to share with you some of the pictures I took on our way up!  In the rest of the Apogee world we have new trips starting today, other trips wrapping up, and new territories being explored. Let’s dive right in!

Cape Cod and the Islands (CI): Oh and they’re back! Emily and Will are so ready for CI round two and can’t wait to see what fun adventures this new group of students will bring.

Screen Shot 2014-07-11 at 4.14.00 PMMartha’s Vineyard here we come!

New England Mountains and Coast (NEMC): Go Matt! Go Midge! We are so happy to have these leaders back on the map with a fresh new group of fabulous future hikers/campers/rafters. Happy trip start!

Coast to Quebec (CQA): Watch out Quebec!  Mary and Mike’s group of bikers hopped off of their saddles to travel by foot and explore the City they worked so hard to reach! What a huge accomplishment team! This group has one last dinner together tonight and then heads back to Maine tomorrow for some sad goodbyes… what a journey.

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Exploring campground wildlife in St. Joseph-de-Beauce.

228-MMS-1405082920-attachment1-IMAG0077Hill: Conquered!

Don’t worry Mom and Dad!  Very little traffic flow here and Mary and Mike were watching closely!

232-MMS-1405085436-attachment1-IMAG0084On the ferry to Quebec city! All smiles from this crowd.

Coast to Quebec (CQB): They made it! Pete and Sherry’s group rode into Quebec last night and explored the city today! Sherry sent me a bunch of pictures and told me that they are looking forward to dinner on the town tonight!IMG_9039

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Loading onto the ferry!

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Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEX): Perks of having a blogger on trip means LOTS of pictures. Here are a bunch from yesterday’s hike up Mount Katahdin. Today, the last day, Marino and Erin’s group will be dining in Portland!  What a wonderful group; we will be sad to see them go!IMG_7053

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It’s safe to say we felt as though we were on top of the world (or at least Maine) from this view about 3/4 of the way up. 

Montana Service Adventure (MSA): The highlight section of Hannah and Opie’s Montana ride occurred today, and we’re happy to report they conquered “Going to the Sun” highway!  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, search for it on Google images because it is breathtaking.  Hannah called to check in and say the ride was AMAZING.  They started at 5:45 AM and were at the top of Logan Pass by 9:30 AM.  That may be an Apogee World Record!

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Look at all that snow!  And it’s almost the middle of July!

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Making their way up and over the continental divide.

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Some of the girls feelin’ good near the top!

Northwest Explorer (NWX): Pizza, ice-cream and SHOWERS were enjoyed by all after many days in the BC. Today’s day off involved sleeping in, doing some laundry, a large brunch, exploring Bellingham and resting up for sea-kayaking tomorrow!

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 No cook crew tonight for these guys!

Pacific Coast (PCA): A nice day off had these guys geared up for a lovely ride along the coast today. They conquered the steepest grade hill on the Pacific this morning which now means they have completed the longest, highest and steepest hills! OH YEAH!

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Pacific Coast (PCB): Daayyyy offff. Cheers to sleeping in, big brunches and service work! Unfortunately, as of posting time, we haven’t received photos from Kate and Trevor.  We’ll make sure we get some tomorrow!

Alps Explorer (AX): Border crossing today! Welcome to the Swiss Alps my friends. Jack and CCs crew are already asleep and gearing up for some great hiking and more gorgeous views “demain.”

Europe Coast to Coast (ECCA): Beautiful riding through the heart of the Champagne region today despite some rainy weather. Luckily, the skies are looking to clear up and be sunny tomorrow! Tonight both of our ECC groups will be sleeping indoors.

Europe Coast to Coast (ECCB): Chad is over visiting our ECC groups so we have this awesome shot of him with Nick and Christine’s crew!Screen Shot 2014-07-11 at 3.30.58 PM

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And another one from their time in Paris yesterday.

America Coast to Coast (ACC1): One last night in Arkansas and onto Texas first thing in the mornin’!

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 Trying Pickled Pig’s Feet… mmmm

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 …or maybe not…

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 Wonderful group shot of  our ACC1 group and their wonderful hosts, the Walls.  Keith Wall is sporting one of our silver Apogee jerseys.

America Coast to Coast (ACC2): Now Sam and Ally’s group will be enjoying the wonderful hospitality of the Walls. Laundry, southern cooking, activities, great company AND a rest day tomorrow? This place sounds like heaven.

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 Believe it or not, these are some of our kids getting some rest after today’s ride.

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Alrighty, yet another great day in the Apogee world. While some trips will sadly be concluding tomorrow, three new trips (VM2, CSA2 and CM2C) will be firing up!  Stay tuned.