It's been some 10 days or so since I got to the Pacific Ocean. The following are some of my thoughts in reflecting back on this journey and answers to questions I've been asked.

1. What did you like best? Without question it would be the people I met. Which also means last year's trip from Washington, DC to Bismarck was the most fun.

2. What about this year? I was anticipating this year's trip to be even better than last, but that was not the case. I had to make way too many adjustments and my mind was not into it.

3. What would you do differently? The only thing I would really do different is without question I would start at Astoria, OR and go from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. When I got home this is one of the first things I heard. Why do you think he went east to west rather than west to east with the prevailing winds? Jokingly they said probably because that was the toughest way to do it: remember, we are talking about Larry Hoff!

Actually, I thought east to west would be the easiest. I thought the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers would be the easiest to go upstream and the Ohio, Snake and Columbia the toughest. As it turned out the Missouri was almost impossible because of the wing dams. The Columbia and Snake by far would have been the easiest to go upstream. Except for the stretch from Astoria on the Columbia to the Bonneville Dam at Cascade Locks the Columbia is basically one lake after another and so was the Snake to Lewiston, ID.

Only change I would have needed to make was starting my bike ride from Lewiston rather than Orofino, ID. The Ohio would have been very manageable at the right time of the year. You would just need to avoid the early spring runoff.

Actually, because of having to do so much of the Missouri from west to east, my trip became almost a west to east adventure after all.

4. What was the equipment you had with you? The big three were:
A. Kruger Canoe. If you are looking into long distance water travel, look at this canoe first. http://www.krugercanoes.com/
B. Dahon folding bike: Used for portaging and it worked great for portaging and going over the mountains. http://www.dahon.com/
C. Paddleboy Trailer: To my surprise it worked better than expected. Plus it came apart and stored easily in the canoe as did the folding bike.http://www.paddleboy.com/
I also used a ZRE paddle that weighed about 7 ounces. (a light paddle is a must). http://www.zre.com/
Other than the above I went very light. Tent, sleeping bag, rain jacket (no rain pants), light jacket, silk long johns (if it got cold at night), bike gloves, life jacket, sandals (only shoes I brought with), cap, sunglasses (bought many pair along the way because I kept losing them), paddled in shorts and t-shirt and pair of hiker pants and shirt for going to town, radio, bike repair kit and bike tubes, first-aid kit, toiletries, plus food and water.

5. What is next? I will bike/paddle from home to Stillwater, MN starting July 30. After that, not sure. I've thought about swimming across the English Channel, but then likely it will be a hike. Maybe in Norway some day.

6. Which of the three adventures did you enjoy most? Hiking the PCT would be first. The beauty and peacefulness of this journey would be hard to match. You can hike with people when
you want and be by yourself. It was also the most demanding physically. The canoe trip was a close second. Especially the first year. The bike ride was the least enjoyable. Maybe because I liked the backcountry more.

7. Would you ever do any of these adventures again? Actually yes, God willing, I definitely
plan on re-hiking the PCT when I'm 70. Maybe do the bike trip again when I'm 75 and the canoe trip at 80.

I still have some clean up work to do on this trip before I can officially say I've paddled from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Plans are to do the Missouri National Wild Scenic portion of the Missouri and Fort Peck Lake either later this fall or most likely next spring. As I mentioned earlier in a journal entry I skipped this part because I want to take my time and enjoy it. Many have told me this section is one of the top recreational paddle trips in the USA. So I plan to do it as such. Take my time (well, as much as I can) and really enjoy it. I brought a fold-up fishing pole with me and never used it, because I was so wrapped up in making time. I plan to use it when I do this section.

Hiking 2,650 some miles across the mountains of California, Oregon and Washington, biking close to 10,000 miles around the perimeter of the USA and then canoeing and bike portaging from the Atlantic to the Pacific...not sure if I should be proud of that or wonder if I'm sane. (DON"T ANSWER THAT!) I guess I should be proud for I'm not sure anyone else has done the three, let alone at age 63. Yet again, who's that foolish?!

The one thing I do know is that there are a lot of nice people in our country. Thanks again to all that helped me out when needed it and I cherish all the new friends I've made.


By the way, if you are looking for a nice place to vacation, Superior/Duluth and the north country of Minnesota and Wisconsin is a great place to put on your agenda someday. Sometimes I wonder why I go off on these trips considering the view we have from our living room.