Monday, June 30, 2014

Boxes galore!

Final countdown! We have joined forces. Zippy has arrived in bazerklee (Berkeley)...in three hours awaiting for Pippy to pick her up, she was invited to a kumbayah circle, was nicknamed "Hey Denver", asked if she could recite. "Hare krishna" all while hanging out at Starbucks. 
But then again, look at Zippy's outfit. A backpack, roll away, ghetto lunch bag, lost look on her face....she couldn't have fit in better. All she needed was a cardboard sign.

We traveled from bazerklee to Sonoma for the night and met up with a great friend for a glass of prosecco given to us by Pippy's supervisor to celebrate the ending of her medical internship!  Thank you soooo much to Katie a.k.a. Snack Attacker.  

Next , we drove up to Sacramento to begin our organized chaos of packing. 
10 resupply boxes sent out ranging from 8 to 14 pounds were timbuk 2'd to the great Rockies of Colorado! 

Now, to our bags. We decided to ship our bags in disguise. "Mcgivered" a recycled cardboard box into the best duffel box ever and used our handy bear bag string to secure it. 
Constructing the masterpiece...

Final product with Zippy's bag on the left in a vintage 1980's dirt bike bag waiting to check into to our Denver bound flight!

Arrived in Denver International Airport. Thanks for Zippy for pointing out my hard -to-see duffel (notice the bystanders in the back...they asked us later what we were doing). 
Unveiling of the adventure pack. 
Whoa! It's a transformer! 
Zippy wishes her unveiling was as cool as Pippy's, but she does have a cool outfit. 


We immersed ourself in the culture of Denver like adding oil to vinegar (a.k. A. Stood out like a stubbed toe) and took the locals only (apparently) bus to downtown Denver. Let's see...we meet shopping cart lady, an addict counselor who could've made lots of money that day, a how loud can you ask what time it is guy ( and he was wearing a watch), and no teeth man who needed speech therapy as he mumbled in our conversation. And because we are the duo of Pippy and Zippy, we smiled and nodded the entire time. 

And this is what happened next. 

Backpacking three blocks, we spy an old, antique, abandoned-like building with iron bars on the doors and windows and a bus full of immigrants blocking the sidewalk. So naturally, we hop, skip, and jump to the other side of the street and further analyze the scene. And then... As in any horror movie, the realization of "ohmy f***ing gosh, that's our hostel!" we really made reservations to stay there?!!"
Okay, it's 8 o'clock at night and were tired, it justs 8 hours in here and we can manage one night. Now tell me... Would you stay in a stairway that looked like this? 

And the answer is no. 

And the answer is still NO. DO NOT STAY HERE unless you want to be a ghostbuster and meet weird people. Basically, imagine sitting on the floor and feeling the floorboards creeping and moving around you and then hearing a chair making noises as if someone is sitting in the chair the entire time. And what's up with the sealed door closet with the chair in front of it? It didn't take us long to dial 1-800- getmethefoutofherepleasehotelandtaxiservice. In 33 seconds, we were on the street hailing a taxi and checked into to a fluffy Hampton hotel and dove into our king sized cocoon for the night. 

The adventure continues! 

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Unearthing the trail names...

Hello blogger peeps... it's me, the other half of "Pippy".. Where did the names "Pippy" and "Zippy" come from?

Well, one day while hiking along with a good friend named " Penguin" we were discussing " Trail names". I told her that Syd can be kind of bossy in a daughter mother way... which is like being "Snippy". And when that happens, it makes me be the "Pouty" mom.

As all good little "Penguins" do, they think very quickly, and she proudly blurts out, " You are the team of Snippy and Pouty".. And as with any fun little name, it starts to morph.

Syd quickly dispersed the idea of being "Snippy" and reclaimed a new name of " Pippy".. Why "Pippy".. Syd has the longest legs, and looks like "Pippy Long Stocking".. and when she puts her hair in braids, it's a match.



It took a while for my name "Pouty" to change for me....friends and family both agreed that the name did not fit me well as I am not a very pouty person. After a few friendly suggestions, Zippy came about and found it's place with "Pippy and Zippy"...dee-do-dah!

All will be well with skips, bumps and jumps along the Colorado trail as our adventure of being "Pippy and Zippy" begins..

Saturday, June 7, 2014

The Decision

Once upon a year ago, my mom (being her typical planner self) was asking me about how I wanted to celebrate my graduation the following summer. I contemplated a bit and simply stated " I want to do the Colorado Trail." It took her a while to register that thought....doesn't every new graduate want to celebrate with an extreme Europe trip? Not I.

She then asked "So how long is this trail?...... I replied "Mmmm....about 500 miles."
Mom: "500 miles?? you want to do the WHOLE thing?"
Me: "Yes!"
Mom: "You don't want to go to Europe?"
Me: "No, I want to do something that will be the most self-reflecting, like-affirming, most amazing experience ever!"
Mom: "Who are you going to do it with?"
Me: "I don't know...but I'm going to do it."
Mom: "Hmmmm...I'll do it with you. Can tag-along mom come?"

And that is how the adventure began!



Welcome to the official hiking blog of Syd "Pippy" and Keala "Zippy" 'Incredizoll', the daughter-mother dynamic duo who will sett off in red and purple broken-in hiking boots with a 35 pound (hopefully not more) backpack and conquer the entire 500 miles of the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango. July 4th, 2014. Bring it on.