Maine Huts & Trails, the nonprofit organization hoping to build 12 backcountry huts over 180 miles of trails in the remote western mountains of the state, has just announced the unveiling of their third lodging, the Grand Falls Hut. The hut is located on the banks of the Dead River, two miles below the cascading waters of Grand Falls. Each of the three huts, including the Poplar Stream Falls and the Flagstaff Lake hut, are spaced about 11 miles apart, so people can reach it within one day of hiking, snowshoeing, or x-c skiing. Now through November 7th, Maine Huts is offering a deal where you stay two nights and get the second night for half price. So for less than $150 per adult, you get to sleep on a bed for two nights, get hot showers, 2 dinners, and 2 breakfasts. The best part is that you have this vast tract of wilderness outside your window, with mountains, large lakes, sinuous rivers, and waterfalls all vying for your attention.
To be honest, every day of our Backroads family trip to the Swiss Alps was a dream, from biking the shoreline of glorious Lake Brienz to hiking 6 miles of the Bachalpsee Route high above Grindelwald, then taking the Trotti bike back to town. Yet, if I had to choose one day above the rest, it would be the day we hiked on the Eiger Trail. We took a short train ride from Grindelwald to Alpiglen to start our long uphill climb, over 3,000 feet. Lofty Eiger Peak, standing 13,020 feet, was socked in with clouds, until we were practically beside the North Face. Then the clouds started to part and we were treated to magical views of Eiger and Jungfrau and the hanging glaciers that snaked down the hillside in between. For the next hour, we walked alongside these craggy snow-topped peaks before reaching the village of Kleine Scheidegg, home to the highest major train station in Switzerland. After lunch, we left the crowds behind as we made our way on relatively level ground to the Männlichen Gondola. The only obstacle was a herd of cows we met up with on the narrow path. One cow came straight toward me and I wisely ran into the grass above the trail to avoid being trampled. My legs weren’t working too well at that point but I’m happy to see my brain was. 
We were picked up promptly at 9 am in Granada by Damir, a driver and guide for a company we’ve been working with more and more in Europe, 
Doug Mayer, founder of 
On our drive last week from the campuses of Penn State to Syracuse, we stopped about an hour south of Ithaca in the small town of Corning, New York. Here you’ll find one of my favorite museums in western New York, the 
One of the highlights of my travels in 2018 (which I very well might discuss in my upcoming 5 Dream Days of 2018 blogs) was the weekend we spent this summer at 
To celebrate