
Hi! We are Matt and Alison, two Chicago-based school teachers with an insatiable passion for hiking and photography. We spend our summers hiking all over the world and the school year planning our next big adventure! For the past dozen years, we have been on a mission to hike/trek/backpack the classic hikes of the world, documenting our journeys with countless photos of the gorgeous scenery and fascinating cultures we encounter along the way. We have written two books related to hiking, Plan & Go: The Wonderland Trail and Hiking Photography (Sandiburg Press).
Posts
Trekking in the Shadow of Kyrgyzstan’s Peak Lenin, Day 4
This is the final day of trekking for us in Kyrgyzstan this summer. It’s our 27th day taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of this amazing
Trekking in the Shadow of Kyrgyzstan’s Peak Lenin, Day 3
I wake up at 2 in the morning and need to use the bathroom, but I’m too lazy to get out of bed. At 5:30, I can’t take it anymore, and I finally
Trekking in the Shadow of Kyrgyzstan’s Peak Lenin, Day 2
Camp One stirs to life at 3 a.m. as the first shift of climbers awakes. Breakfast is served twice to accommodate trekkers and climbers, first at 3-4
Trekking in the Shadow of Kyrgyzstan’s Peak Lenin, Day 1
We have been trekking in Kyrgyzstan for 23 days now. We have only four days left, and we have saved the biggest challenge and hopefully the best
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 6
Today we will complete the 6-day loop known as the Heights of Alay Trek, and the day starts off with an unusual challenge. The blankets at this
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 5
We have breakfast in the kitchen yurt this morning at 6:30, which is clearly too early for company according to the little boy in the camp. He
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 4
Today is, by design, a short day of travel as we move up the valley to a yurt camp that will put us closer to Jiptik Pass, our last big challenge,
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 3
We have a two-pass day ahead of us today, so we are eager to get up and going when the alarm goes off at 6. The family is already up and at work
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 2
Rob describes the yurts that predominate summer life here in Kyrgyzstan as stationary RVs, and he’s right in the sense that the yurt performs
Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Heights of Alay Loop, Day 1
It feels like I don't sleep at all during the night, but, when the alarm goes off at 6, Matt has to shake me to get me to respond to it. My first