Never give up.  

There will be days that you wake up and don’t feel like trying,  maybe because you’re tired or you feel like everything/everyone is against you. Keep going. 

Some days will be harder than others and that’s the truth. Ask for help if you think you may need it.  Either way keep pushing. 

Every day cannot be perfect.  Make the best of it. 

Live in the now. Don’t overplan. Just be prepared.  

Learn and grow from experiences,  that’s what helps things to keep getting better.

Most importantly – ALWAYS HAVE FUN!  

What is this post about you may be asking yourself as you read this. Well,  it can be anything.  However, in this particular circumstance I’m talking about marriage and hiking. Ya know,  they go together like a horse and carriage-isn’t that the saying?  Maybe not but it was worth a try. 

If you could not tell by now,  Snorlax and I love hiking.  We also just happen to love each other and  made that whole love thing official by getting married three years ago September 14th.

 Happy three year wedding anniversary! 

Every year we take a photo of us on our anniversary  with the photo from the year before.  This year should not be any different just because we were living in the woods.  Tradition is tradition. 

The first year we were on Cadillac Mountain in Maine. 

The second year we were on Mount Washington,  in the Whites of New Hampshire .  As you can see,  the weather was not as ideal as the first two but we kept going.  (see a pattern yet? You may not be surprised we got engaged on a mountain too). 

This year,  year three,  we were on Kinsman Mountain in New Hampshire. Also in the whites of New Hampshire.  Also not great weather.  That’s OK.  Not every day can be perfect but we are still having fun and making memories.  

You have to be able to get through the difficult,  not perfect times to get the good. 

The climbs can be fun and exhausting but that view at the end…that’s the reward. Not everyone is willing to do the work prior to that reward,  some may do it differently-that’s okay.  It’s your life,  your hike.  

The unexpected can happen- an injury,  lost item/lost one, bad weather,  bad news,  great weather, great news,  job or no job,  money or no money. You will survive!  If you want something or work at something hard enough – it will work. 

There was no running water or electricity at the venue the weekend of our wedding,  people were running late,  dates got mixed up to vendors,  and the day of it was raining.  I just knew at the end of the day if Snorlax and I both said I do,  that was all that mattered to me.  Luckily,  the rain stopped before the wedding,  the water and electricity came back,  and everything else worked out.  If I freaked out at that time and let everything get to me,  who knows how that day would have ended.  Sometimes you just need to go with the flow and do your best to have fun and make things work. 

We ended up on Mount Moosilauke September 13th this year.  The weather was great and we were approaching a town from the trail.  A majority of our friends recommended we take our anniversary photo there since it was so nice.  We couldn’t break that tradition so we waited.  Even though the day was great! 

We did make it town that night and tried getting everyone to go to one of our favorite restaurants,  the Common Man,  in Lincoln,  New Hampshire.  Everyone wanted something different and tried getting us to go to the Common Man for our anniversary dinner and go to the other place with them… We weren’t sure what the next day would bring so we stuck with our decision and went to the Common Man.  

It worked out great- the service was great,  the food was awesome.  The manager even hooked us up with a free delicious bread pudding after all those miles we have put in (over 1800 miles now!) 

The next day (our anniversary),  it was supposed to rain.  We decided to get another night at the hotel we reserved but slackpacked that day so we could still get miles in and still keep most of our stuff dry. 
We packed out beers in our packs since we could afford the extra weight since we were slackpacking. We loved providing fellow hikers on this rainy day with trail magic. 

The weather man didn’t lie.  It rained.  Some puddles were deeper than others.  I went up to my knee in some spots. 

The rocks were slick.  The climbs were steep.  The Whites have slowed down our 2.5-3 miles per hour pace to about 1-2 miles per hour pace (two if we are really lucky). 

What would typically take us 7-8 hours to do,  took us about 11. We finished the hike in the dark,  got back to the hotel around 9:30 to find out nothing around there delivered and closed at ten.  The only thing still open was a McDonald’s which was two miles away.  Two miles seems like nothing on the trail or in a car,  but when you’re looking to not hike and just want food-its a little too much.  We ended up getting a cab to go through drive thru for McDonald’s for us. 

The McDonald’s was almost cold. The fries you could tell were the ones sitting in the fryer for awhile.  We didn’t care, we had food.  

So,  most everyone who is reading this (if anyone still is) is probably thinking that our anniversary was bad. Not us!  We are out here living day by day,  going after something we have both wanted. We have our health and each other’s love – and to us,  that’s all that really matters. 

There will be bad days-it happens.  Just never give up,  live in the now,  don’t overplan,  and most importantly  have fun! 

Any fellow Nobos reading this- if you have come this far-nothing can stop you now!  Keep going! 

Now take a hike!