Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, June 2024

Brian had some extra spots on his permit for the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne hike to see the spring runoff and invited us to join him. On the way to Yosemite and on the way home I hiked some peaks I had had on my wishlist for a while.

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Peaks of the Balkans – Backpacking through Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo

When I moved to Europe in 2018 I ended up with some unexpected extra time on my hands before starting my job in Belgium. I eventually spent that time hiking around Romania, but not before reading about a trail called the Peaks of the Balkans. A ~190km loop trail through the rural mountains at the intersection of Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo, it was one of the newer and more remote backpacking trails through Europe and it immediately captured my attention. For the next five years it would live in the back of my mind and I would revisit the idea each summer before delaying it to the next year for an ever shifting list of reasons (excuses). Finally, last year, I roped my cousin Dave into hiking it with me and he gave me the final push that I needed to sit down and plan it all out for real this time.

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