14/06/2024
Scotland's 2025 hikes have been mapped! Let the planning begin! If you have any “must see/do”, let me know.
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Hi! WELCOME! Join me as I journey down the back roads to small towns all across this great country.
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I will show you some of the most beautiful places, introduce you to the most interesting people and show you where you can get the best food! Leaving everyone and everything behind to pursue a dream which started in 1982 is how Backtrax started. After a cancer scare in 2010, I sold, donated, or got rid of everything I owned and hit the road. This was to be a five-year journey, but with my free spirit and Gypsy soul, it has become a way of life that I can't imagine ever stopping.
29/05/2024
My soul has been reset for another week. I've been in the Nashville area for 5 weeks and this is the first Wednesday it hasn't rained.
25/02/2024
Molly ll mods have begun...
01/01/2024
I wish each of you a year of happiness, success with whatever you do, and most of all, health. May 2024 be kind to you.
03/10/2023
Well well well, looks like another Via Alpina hiker loves Nutella Biscuits also. Smart man.
13/09/2023
I'm still organizing the new RV and I have music blasting, currently old school Afroman. I step outside and I HAVE THE OUTSIDE SPEAKERS ON!🤭😬🙄 Thankful to be waaaay out in the country.
02/09/2023
Marlene (Molly) and Tom are together again.🥰😍🥰😍🥰 I made it back to the dirty South without wrecking, scratching, or damaging her in any way!
27/08/2023
TWA Hotel at JFK. A bit pricey, but we were pooped and didn't care.
25/08/2023
August 15th, 16th, and 17th. The LAST hike! WHEW! Left Zermatt and took the train to Ulrichen. A cute little village with a lot of old Swiss homes. The hike we are finishing with is one section of the Sbrinz Route that I did with a great group of women in 2015. When we did it then, a few of us got up early, hiked up to the top then took the bus back to the Gasthaus. The next morning all of us took the bus up to the top, then hiked to Riale, Italy. This time, we hiked the whole way at once. It was HOT again. It was tough. But worth every step, the views. I was excited to see Riale again. The 17th we had a spa day at the Thermal Spa in Cadarese. An hour massage then three hours in the pools. This was so needed and welcomed. Afterwards, we took the bus to Domodossola.
22/08/2023
August 13th and 14th - Zermatt and the Matterhorn. We boarded the train in Chamonix and headed back to Switzerland. Zermatt is another tourist town, but my favorite one. It was crowded, but quaint. We poked around the town for a bit, got some gelato, sat on the church steps and listened to a folk band play before checking into our room. At this point we don't even realize we have packs on anymore! As it's been for every excursion planned, it was supposed to rain when we headed up to the Matterhorn. We didn't care, and we were quite use to the rain expectations by now. We bought the tickets ($137.40) and rode the cable car up. The clouds started rolling in as we passed by the Matterhorn and continued to the top of the glacier. You can ski and snowboard year round at the top. The glaciers were magnificent and absolutely humongous! There was one picture I so desperately wanted to get, but it wasn't in the cards. Oh well, it was still amazing. The next morning as we were leaving, the Matterhorn showed his face with all his glory.
21/08/2023
August 11th and 12th. We took the train to Chamonix, France, as I had planned an excursion to see Mount Blanc. The first thing we did was find a post office and mailed home stuff that was no longer needed. We had one more hike to do, and it was a long one. When we got online to buy the tickets for Mount Blanc we found out you had to buy them three days in advance, but if you go to the ticket office early, you might get lucky. Soooo, we got up at 0600 and was at the ticket office by 0645. We got tickets. The weather was crappy, again, and was supposed to rain around 0930 - 1000. We had some great views before the clouds moved in! And Tina actually talked me into going to the "void". A glass box at the very top for great photos. Waaaay past my comfort zone. I got lucky when the clouds rolled in and we couldn't see around us while in the box!
19/08/2023
August 9th- Sonchaux to Montreux. This was the last hiking day for Via Alpina 1 and it was straight down, no more up, and I was grateful. We got off of the trail when we were closer to town as our Hostel was in the opposite side of town. We found stairs that went to the bottom, when we stepped off of the last step, I turned to Tina and said, "There were 1,439 steps!" I count stairs for some odd reason. Our quads were shaking the rest of the day. Hahaha! Montreux was the biggest city, but if you stayed along the lakefront it was quite beautiful.
August 10th we took the Chocolate and Cheese tour. Gruyères was the cheese part and the same name for the cheese (minus the "S" at the end). The village was quaint and very touristy. We visited a couple of museums and the castle then we were off to Broc to tour the Ca***er chocolate factory. Loading up on chocolate that we'd have to put in our packs wasn't the smartest decision we've made. But the chocolate was yummy!
18/08/2023
Spritz al limoncello on this 94 degree day. I have a new favorite.
17/08/2023
August 8th, Col des Mosses to Sonchaux. This was by far the most technical hike for this trip. My vertigo didn't help. The guide book said there were "boggy" sections. Huge understatement with all of the recent rain. And knowing those "muddy" parts were cow, sheep, and goat excrements... my shoes will never be the same.
I'm 5'3", there were parts where you stepped up over three feet. One rocky climb, I put both trekking poles in one hand and grabbed a rock that (I thought) was embedded in the mountain. It wasn't. I lost my confidence at that point and vertigo got the better of me. When we saw the saddle we thought we were almost at the top. Another false summit. But, our first glimpse of Lake Geneva. The climb to Rochers de Naye was next, just UP! Holy Moly! When we finally reached the top, we had to go down to Sonchaux. A steep, rocky descent.
16/08/2023
August 6th and 7th, Lenk to Gsteig, Gsteig to Col des Mosses. Two more rainy days... but great scenery! The hotel we stayed at in Gsteig was built in 1758, across the street was the oldest building which was built in 1669! Pretty cool. Col des Mosses didn't have a lot going on, but it did have an RV park down the road, which of course I had to go look around.
14/08/2023
Alpine Horn players
14/08/2023
August 5th, Adelboden to Lenk. As I looked through my pictures for this days hike, I realized I didn't take a lot. It was a cold day (perfect for hiking) with another chance of rain. When we reached today's summit, Hahnenmoos Pass, we could hear music, Alpine horn music. There, on the trail were four men playing their horns! I stopped to record them and will post that separately as I can't post videos and photos together for some reason. As we got closer I tried to get a photo but they had stopped playing and were now walking towards us. One of the gentlemen asked if we would like a photo. "Yes, please!" He then handed Tina his horn and showed her how to hold it! One of the other men walked up to me, I threw my trekking off to the side and he handed me his horn. We were shocked and beaming from ear to ear! Neither one of us could belive that just happened. Then we had the long hike down...
12/08/2023
August 3rd and 4th, Oeschinensee to Kandersteg, Kandersteg to Adelboden. The hike down was just that, DOWN. Kandersteg is a cute little village that has a Scout camp. There were hundreds of scouts, both boys and girls, and it was cool seeing all of the different nationalities mixing and interacting. On the 4th when we were to hike to Adelboden, it started pouring rain, again. So, we took the bus. We arrived in Adelboden and the rain stopped, so we decided to hike up to the 2nd tallest Waterfall in Switzerland. We got about 15 minutes from the top and the skies opened again. We took refuge under a barns overhang and waited 50 minutes for a bus. We were soaked and frozen by the time we got back to the Gasthaus. There was a giant swing that went over the mountains edge that I wanted to do, it was a two hour hike each way, the rain stopped this event also.
10/08/2023
August 1st and 2nd, Berghaus Bundalp to Oeschinensee. We got up early, went down for breakfast and sat with other hikers who were looking at the weather. It was going to thunderstorm and snow. A couple of hikers said they were going for it, we decided to do the same. We started climbing up, but didn't get far before deciding our safety was more important. We hiked back down to Griesalp and took the bus, which was FILLED with hikers who decided the same. When we got to Kandersteg, we climbed up to Oeschinensee. I've waited over three years to see this lake with my own eyes. It was majestic. Our room overlooked the lake and I didn't want to sleep. The next morning we were up early, ate breakfast and started hiking up so we could see the lake from the top. I have not felt more at peace, and completely content like I did at this lake. Once the cable cars started in the morning, the lake was packed with tourists, and I didn't mind, I was at peace. 1800 was the last cable car down and we had it to ourselves again. When we loaded up to hike back down to Kandersteg on the 3rd, we both had silent tears running down our faces. This place is truly majestic.
09/08/2023
July 30th and 31st, Lauterbrunnen to Mürren, Mürren to Griesalp. Stunning.
07/08/2023
July 29th, Grindlewald to Lauterbrunnen. I will admit, Grindlewald was our least favorite thus far due to the throngs of tourists. It was crazy packed, but, I was able to buy another pair of hiking shoes and mailed the others back to the States. Lauterbrunnen was just as touristy, but it was raining, so not too crowded. We found a laundromat! The first on this trip, and it was filled with Americans! Hahahahahaha! We dined in this evening, it was rather enjoyable, breakfast too, didn't want to waste the good food.
05/08/2023
July 27-28, First to Grindlewald. We got the chance to see all the beauty we missed the day before due to the rain. Stunning! The hike down was rough, it was just down.
04/08/2023
Just got a text that Molly II has arrived in TX! One photo as a sneak peek. (But I'm in NO hurry to get back to the states.)
03/08/2023
July 26th, Meiringen to Grindlewald First. Another crazy weather day, but still glad it wasn't 97 degrees. Took the bus to Grosse Scheidgee and hiked up to First. We went through rain, then snow, and crazy cold winds to get to the top. Again, the views. 🥰🥰🥰
02/08/2023
July 23 - 25th Berggasthaus Tannalp to Meiringen.
01/08/2023
July 23 - 25th, Berggasthaus Tannalp to Meiringen.
29/07/2023
What you do on a rainy night in Lauterbrunnen.
28/07/2023
Welp, I need to be honest as to why we've been taking busses and cable cars part of the way, besides the crappy weather. After day two of hiking, our first crazy tough day, I ended up with a blister covering my pinky toe on my left foot. It then turned into a blister on top of a blister. THEN I got a blister on the bottom of my right foot, below my second toe, and another one on my third toe. To make things worse, the tendons that run across the tops of your feet started killing me. I've been in a ton of pain. I bought new boots last year at REI and I've already contacted them, they will be giving me a refund even though I won't be back until 11 days past the one year mark. Now, I have broken them in very well, that's not the problem. The problem is, I got too big of a size, they aren't hugging my feet like they should. I bought the boots because they are MUCH lighter than my Zamberlans. I should have stuck with my tried and true. Lesson learned. I've mailed back my boots and just spent STUPID money on some Swiss hiking shoes, and it was instant relief! Now it's time to get some serious hiking on!
28/07/2023
July 22, Engelberg to Tannalp. The weather has not been the best, but I'd rather it be cold, cloudy, and rainy, than 97 again. With the impending thunderstorms and pea soup thick cloud cover (again,) we decided to take the cable car up to Jochpass and then hike to Tannalp. It was super cloudy/foggy the whole way, which was a blessing so we didn't have to see the cliffs edge we'd be hiking on. When we got to Tannalp we realized we missed a stamp. After we checked in and unloaded our gear, we hiked back to Engstlenalp. It was amazing how fast we were able to fly up and down the mountains without the weight of our packs on. The clouds lifted and we could see the views we missed the first time. (And the climb...)
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Alpine Horn players
For seven years my sweet Miss Molly protected me, kept me warm in the freezing winter, and cold in the blazing heat. We have toured this country from one corner to the next, and all over Canada. What amazing adventures we have had. Goodbye, my sweet girl. I know the new owners already are in love with you. Take care of them like you did me! Molly 2 is in production!
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The people you meet in campgrounds are the best! Yesterday, I planned on doing the North Cape Coastal drive, ending my day in Summerside, PEI, to see the performance of "Great Scot," put on by The College of Bagpiping. Before I got to the trail, it started to rain, pouring rain. I thought about my She Shed, and the fact I left all the wind flaps up, which will allow rain to get in. I decided it would be ok, but also decided not to drive the trail as it wouldn't be a good photo day. I ended up putzing around Summerside for seven hours until the show began. When I arrived home around 10 o'clock last night, I noticed all the flaps were down, and zippered on the she shed. 3 of my fellow campers noticed the canopy had collapsed because of all of the rain, and took it upon themselves to pop the canopy up, zipper down the flaps, and resecure all the lines, doing this in the pouring rain. I thanked them, profusely, this morning!
At the Temple Bar
Saw sheep being herded, so stinking cool! Sorry for the quality, they were far away.
The dog that wanted to play jumped off a boat and swam 150 yards to shore, THEN wanted to play. So we played with the dogs.
Prince Charles and Camilla drove by.
Torc Waterfall
Beautiful
Cable car with roughly 5 million people on it crossing over the water in Whirlpool State Park. Not a chance in hell!
When you rent an economy car (two months before arrival) for your drive from Great Falls to Lolo, and you have to cross over either Rogers Pass or MacDonald Pass in sub-zero temps, with fresh snow on the roads, your pucker factor will be at 100%. But the views...
This sound...❤❤❤
This sound...❤❤❤❤
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