Elspeth Ronnander

Canoeing the Minnesota-Ontario Border

In 2014, Erik decided this should be the trip. I wasn’t super stoked because (1) there aren’t any mountains on the route and (2) it would involve lots of camping, and at the time I felt quite adverse to spending several nights in a row in a tent. In the end, Erik didn’t have toContinue reading “Canoeing the Minnesota-Ontario Border”

Kayaking the Slate Islands and Backpacking the Sleeping Giant

I learned about Slate Islands Provincial Park from my father-in-law. This archipelago extends into Lake Superior off the “real north shore” of Ontario. There are 15 islands total that were formed when a meteorite impact left a crater and the surrounding land rose up out of Lake Superior. There are woodland caribou here and myContinue reading “Kayaking the Slate Islands and Backpacking the Sleeping Giant”

Backpacking the South Dakota High Point and a Figure-Eight Loop in Rocky Mountain National Park including Longs Peak

First a disclaimer. I started this website and blog in the early months of the COVID pandemic in 2020. I’d been planning it for years but was busy finishing my book. I wanted to write about all my trips, to provide the know-how and inspiration for others. That means that most of my blog reportsContinue reading “Backpacking the South Dakota High Point and a Figure-Eight Loop in Rocky Mountain National Park including Longs Peak”

5 weeks out west: Teddy Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Tetons, Zion, and backpacking the John Muir Trail

In 2012, after Erik convinced me we should quit our jobs and spend the summer adventuring, and after doing just that on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, we shifted directions and headed west. Well, technically we first drove back “home” from Fort Kent, Maine, to Minnesota, where we shared time with both of our families.Continue reading “5 weeks out west: Teddy Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Tetons, Zion, and backpacking the John Muir Trail”

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail: 700 Miles from Old Forge, New York to Fort Kent, Maine

Around 2007, back when Erik and I were dating, we loved going to the Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Adventure Expo and there we learned about the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT). A few years later, after doing Minnesota’s Savanna Portage (link is to my book where that story resides) and our “canoe to the ocean trip-”Continue reading “The Northern Forest Canoe Trail: 700 Miles from Old Forge, New York to Fort Kent, Maine”

Backpacking the Adirondacks + Day Hiking Mount Mansfield

Soon after moving to upstate New York, my husband and I learned about the 46ers – the 46 peaks above 4,000 feet in the Adirondacks. Technically, it’s the 46 peaks initially deemed to be above 4,000 feet. Subsequently three have been to be found just under 4,000 feet (but these still count) and one additionalContinue reading “Backpacking the Adirondacks + Day Hiking Mount Mansfield”

The First One: Day Hiking New York’s Mount Marcy

When I was eight, my cousins moved from Minnesota to Colorado. They talked up the mountains and when I saw pictures of them, I wanted to be there, on top of one, to feel the wind whipping in my face, to look down on the world. I began looking at maps, specifically the Kids RandContinue reading “The First One: Day Hiking New York’s Mount Marcy”