Odometer: 1,563 miles. Today: 110 miles. Just southwest of Colorado Springs is a fine-looking mountain with a state park. We spent much of our time here just enjoying the great views – both of the mountain and the plains below – before we learned what was actually inside this mountain! That night, we noticed someContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 11: Cheyenne Mountain”
Author Archives: Peter Ireland
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 10: Colorado with Compassion
Odometer: 1,453 miles. Today: 104 miles. Today’s objective was a tour of Compassion International’s HQ, known as the Global Ministry Center. In summary, if you are in Colorado Springs, spend an hour and visit them! You need to prearrange the visit. After a short drive from Golden and having dropped Saydee off (thanks Nora!!), weContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 10: Colorado with Compassion”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Days 7-9: Samuel and Kylie in Golden
Odometer: 1,349 miles. Around Golden: 27 miles. Visiting our son and fiancée was a change of pace. We spent a couple of nights boondocking on someone’s driveway in the middle of a lovely quiet neighborhood in Lakewood, about 15 minutes from Samuel’s apartment. We all enjoyed a walk around a local lake together, and sawContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Days 7-9: Samuel and Kylie in Golden”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 6: Great Sand Dunes National Park
Odometer: 1,322 miles. Today: 250 miles. Saydee reminded us that we needed to look at the sand dunes at sunrise, and we were soon off on the one-mile hike up to the Dunes Viewpoint. The peace and solitude made the view extra special. Intermittent clouds continuously changed how the sun lit the dunes and weContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 6: Great Sand Dunes National Park”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 5: Wilderness
Odometer: 1083 miles. Today: 127 miles. A tame American Robin helped bring in the chilly morning. After we moaned a bit about the cold, we remembered we could put on some heating! Our campground was perfectly located near the trailhead for our morning jaunt into the wilderness. The Wilderness brings a special type of solitude,Continue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 5: Wilderness”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 4: Hiking
Odometer: 956 miles. Today: 113 miles. The Evening Primrose next to Arvan at the trailhead for our morning’s walk was a good sign for the morning’s hike. With the sun barely over the tops of the surrounding mountains, we headed out on our five mile loop of the Borrego and Windsor trails. The well-graded surfaceContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 4: Hiking”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 3: Forest
Trip odometer: 843 miles. Today: 223 miles. This trip is a long meander, allowing us to enjoy the slow days. Today wasn’t planned to be slow, but that’s OK, and part of the beauty. Alpacas aren’t noisy animals and the farm roosters did not wake us. For breakfast, we enjoyed comparing a guinea fowl eggContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 3: Forest”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 2: Alpacas
Trip odometer: 620 miles. Today: 464 miles. Packing up to leave is so easy with this motorhome. Unplug and drive off! Even though we could not tell, today was a steady climb all day, climbing to 4,000 ft as we passed through Abilene and Lubbock. It wasn’t the most interesting eight hours of travel. HighlightsContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 2: Alpacas”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 1: Honey
Trip odometer: 156 miles Highway 99 marks the edge of Houston’s urban craziness. As soon as we passed under it today, the driving was less stressful and the scenery turned green. Hooray to be leaving Houston! As the traffic thinned, the flat road started gently undulating as we approached the Texas Hill Country. We arrivedContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 1: Honey”
Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 0: Tomato Soup
Trip odometer: 0 miles “I’m so excited that we are going on another trip that I can’t stop running around.” That was Saydee’s perspective yesterday as we prepped the van. This morning, she was waiting expectantly to head down the road with her humans. I was hesitant. Will this long RVing trip be fun andContinue reading “Summer ‘26 Trek: Day 0: Tomato Soup”
Reflection on Peru with Compassion International
“How was Peru?” we were asked after spending a week there with Compassion International. Adjectives or sentences cannot adequately describe our trip, and I attempt to answer the question below. The trip was tremendously emotional, seeing such poverty, yet equally joyous to witness the positive impact that Compassion’s programs are having on children in extremeContinue reading “Reflection on Peru with Compassion International”
Trail Surveying Helps Clear Trails
Summary In this blog post, I want to share how a hiker can easily and effectively capture trail-maintenance needs with just their smartphone. This applies when the trail does not have a defined process for reporting maintenance needs, though this could be used in conjunction with other processes. It took me a couple of attemptsContinue reading “Trail Surveying Helps Clear Trails”
Peru with Compassion Day 6
Our schedule labeled this day as a cultural-experience day, though I saw its main purpose as a chance to decompress from five days in poverty. It allowed me to start reflecting, and to realize that a well-dressed touristy facade or rich business district can hide extreme poverty just a few blocks away. We had hopedContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 6”
Peru with Compassion Day 5
Janet and I welcomed the one-hour ride in a comfortable coach to our first stop of the day. We were both feeling emotionally exhausted, with this trip building on top of our daughter’s wedding two days before we left. Our first stop was to pick up one of Cynthia’s sponsored girls, and we were advisedContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 5”
Peru with Compassion Day 4
Today was lighter, yet still full. We headed out at 9:45 because the church, Lily of the Valley, was close to our hotel. The area is known as Banos del Inca as it is around the hot springs by the hotel. It is quite touristy, but the more affluent facade hides poverty one or twoContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 4”
Peru with Compassion Day 3
After two amazingly full days, we were happy to have a late start at 9:45, but the rest of the day made up for it in a remarkable way! I made the most of the late start to check out our hotel grounds. We are staying at a hotel in central Cajamarca at the siteContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 3”
Peru with Compassion Day 2
We met at 6:15am to catch our 1.5-hour internal flight from Lima to Cajamarca, and then drive straight to one of Compassion’s church partners in the city. The city is at 8600 ft and we could feel the altitude. On arrival at the church, we were greeted by the church staff and participants in Compassion’sContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 2”
Peru with Compassion Day 1
Janet and I are visiting Peru with Compassion International on a Vision Trip to learn about their front line operations. Compassion’s mission is “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.” In the US, we had primarily just seen their efforts to get families to sponsor one of their children. The goal of the trip isContinue reading “Peru with Compassion Day 1”
Backpacking the Four C
There is a twenty-mile National Recreation Trail about two hours north of Houston in the Davy Crockett National Forest, starting at Ratcliff between Crockett and Lufkin. It is named after the Central Coal and Coke Company (Four C), which operated the largest sawmill west of the Mississippi there from 1902 to 1918. I finally completedContinue reading “Backpacking the Four C”
A Guide to the Four C National Recreation Trail
My research in preparation for hiking this trail led to apparently contradictory data. Official websites mentioned broken bridges and an impassable section, while a recent YouTuber thru-hiked with what looked like no difficulties. I hiked the length of the trail over two days in April 2026 and had a fantastic time! Below, I share whatContinue reading “A Guide to the Four C National Recreation Trail”
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 